Page 28 of Best Kept Vows (Savannah’s Best #6)

That was weeks ago, and since then, Jane had behaved —but that had been because I had endeavored never to be alone with her.

“So, how are things?” she purred .

“Things are fine. Should we get to the agenda points? Or…you know what, let’s cancel this meeting and book one when Marek is free.”

“You know, last night I was downtown, and guess what I saw?”

I raised an eyebrow.

She played with her phone. “You have mail!”

I opened my email and saw a picture of Lia with a man in a bar. She was laughing, and the man was gazing at her. My heart felt like it had just been dropped from a terrible height.

I put my phone down. “What’s the point of this?”

She gave me an exaggerated eye roll. “While you’re pretending to be Mr. Husband Of The Year, your wife is hanging out with men at restaurants. And I saw them both go into a building together.”

“What the hell do you think you’re doing following my wife around?” I demanded. This invasion of privacy made me sick—not as ill as thinking Lia was having an affair, though.

Is that why she wanted to move out?

No! No! I knew Lia. She’d never do that to me. But then, who the fuck was this guy, and why was she laughing with him?

“I wasn’t following her. I came across them , and then maybe I just walked to see where they’d go.”

“That’s following , Jane.” This was creepy as hell. This woman was nuts .

She let out a long, exasperated breath. “Sebastian, you don’t have to do this anymore.”

“Do what?” I asked, baffled.

“Your wife is stepping out on you, so you don’t have to be so noble anymore.” Her features softened with tenderness, and I freaked the fuck out.

I sent a quick message to Stacy on the company chat and asked her to come to my office ASAP. She said she’d be there in five minutes.

“Jane, we had a conversation, you remember, a few months ago when you propositioned me?”

She just looked at me like I was talking a foreign language.

“I reported that to HR. Now, I’m reporting your current behavior.”

“What?” She looked genuinely shocked. “How could you do that to me?”

Seriously? Hadn’t this woman worked in a company before?

Christ! I didn’t need this shit in my life right now.

“You know we have a strict non-fraternization policy at Boone Metals, and the fact that you’re implying there could be anything between us is crossing so many lines—I honestly feel like an idiot for not addressing this sooner.”

Jane’s breath hitched as she realized, fucking finally , that I was serious.

“You’re not without blame, Sebastian. You’ve been giving me hints all along. Working late at night with me. Taking me out for dinners and lunches and?— ”

“They were working dinners and lunches,” I snapped.

“You talked to me about your marital problems,” she accused.

I frowned at her. “No, Jane, I never did that.”

She gave out a harsh laugh. “Yes, you did, when you told me how you were juggling Lia’s demands with work and how she didn’t understand what you did.”

I racked my brain to remember if I’d said any of those things about Lia. The truth? I wasn’t sure. I may have mentioned something in passing, but it never crossed into speaking poorly about Lia.

“How needy she is and?—”

“ That never happened.” I didn’t need to go through my memory files for that.

Lia was not needy, and now I knew my issues with her were actually my problems with myself for putting peace with my mother, saving the company, and the kids…fucking everything before Lia.

The damage I’d done was immense. My wife had walked out of our home, and only now, in painful hindsight, was I beginning to grasp the enormity of my screw-up. I’d been a complete jackass.

I took Lia for granted and dismissed the things that mattered to her, and in doing so, I’d not only hurt her—I’d robbed myself.

I missed out on the joy of her MBA journey, the pride of seeing her graduate, and the thrill of her landing a new job. All of it. Moments I should’ve celebrated with her, but instead, I let them pass me by .

Stacy, thankfully, walked in after knocking briefly, her laptop in hand.

“This is an ambush, and I won’t stand for it.” Jane rose, her hands clenched.

“Please sit down, Jane, and let’s talk like professionals.” Stacy kept her tone light as she sat next to Jane and turned so she could face her. I stayed seated behind my desk.

Jane looked at me and then Stacy, and I saw the shift in her—she went from a woman who thought she was fighting for the man she was interested in and who was into her, to a professional who knew she was about to lose her job.

Jane sat and looked straight at Stacy. “What is this about?”

“You know exactly what this is about, Jane,” she said calmly as she opened up her laptop. “Your behavior at Artillery on”—she paused and then relayed the date—"was unacceptable, both personally and professionally.”

Jane’s cheeks reddened slightly, embarrassment flickering across her usually composed face. “It was just friendly?—”

“You crossed a line,” Stacy shut that down. She looked at her computer screen again. “You said, words to the effect, Sebastian, you’re handsome. Why don’t you take me home, and we can see where the night takes us.”

Her eyes widened, shock rippling through her. “I never said that. He’s lying. Making it up.”

Stacy pursed her lips. “I have talked to Mona Corbet on your team, and she has corroborated the incident at the Artillery, since you told her about it. You said words to the effect: His wife was there, and you should’ve seen her face. He wants to be with me, and now I hope he ? — ”

“Stop.” Jane put a hand up.

“And you’ve apparently had another incident just now.” Stacy turned to face me. “Sebastian, can you tell me what happened.”

Jane stiffened.

I picked up the phone, opened the image Jane had sent me, and showed it to Stacy. “Jane showed me this photo of Lia, and said that?—”

“ Enough ,” Jane snapped. “What is the deal you have for me?”

“No deal.” Stacy turned her attention back to Jane. “You pack up and leave. I have an HR manager and a security guard waiting outside to help you with that.”

She slid a manila folder to Jane. “Here is what you need to sign to get your severance, which is three months’ salary, as negotiated in your contract.”

Jane flipped through the papers and then glared at me. “After all that I did for you, this is the thanks I get?”

“Jane, your choices are signing this, or we will sue you for sexual harassment,” Stacy’s tone was level but ominous.

“What?” Jane’s eyes were ready to pop out.

“Yes.” Stacy picked up a pen and put it on the manila folder. “Read it and sign it. Then, you’ll be walked out of the building with your belongings. If you’ve forgotten anything, it will be mailed to you. From now on, you only talk to me at Boone Metals, and no one else. ”

“You’ll fail without me,” she blurted out, directing her rage at me.

A strange calm settled over me—steady, clear, unlike anything I’d felt in years. I had already failed in the ways that mattered most, and the sting of that truth no longer frightened me. I didn’t care about professional success anymore.

What haunted me was everything I’d neglected: my family, my marriage, myself.

That was the failure I wanted to face and fix.

Jane’s expression hardened, eyes turning cold. “You’ll regret this.”

Oh, I had regrets, but firing her wasn’t going to be one of them.

“Jane, please read the severance agreement. Please stop addressing Sebastian.” Stacy was like an unmovable stone who kept pressing Jane.

Jane stood up abruptly, the chair scraping loudly against the wooden floor. “You’re making a huge mistake,” she said to Stacy, then picked up the manila folder and stomped out of the office.

“Well, that went as well as it could.” Stacy closed her laptop and smiled at me. “I have crafted a message about her departure to the company. I’ll send it to you shortly. Take a look at it. Review it.”

I nodded. “Will do.”

Stacy got up, and I gestured for her to sit back down. “Please.”

She did as I asked.

“How long have you worked here? ”

“Fifteen years.”

“Dad spoke highly of you.”

Warmth flickered in her eyes. “Your father was… special . You’re a better leader, but I think he was a better businessman, more cutthroat.”

“Is that a compliment or a diss?” I mocked.

Stacy laughed. “Definitely a compliment. How is Abraham doing?”

“He’s got a few weeks to months left.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, Sebastian.” Stacy was sincere in her condolences.

“You know we’re not doing well.”

“Yes.”

“I…”—I shook my head, unable to put the words out into the universe by telling Stacy—“I’m selling Boone Metals.”

She didn’t look surprised at all. “High time.”

“You’re not upset?”

“Am I sad that the company I worked for is going to be sold? Yes. Will it be sold piece-by-piece, or will a new owner keep it as is? Who knows! Either way, I’ve had a good run here.

I turned fifty this year, and I’m thinking of maybe retiring from the corporate gig. ” Stacy looked relaxed as she spoke.

“How will the rest of the team respond?”

“No one will be surprised. There will be uncertainty, of course, but companies are bought and sold all the time.”

“Will you, please , stay through whatever the transition looks like?” I requested .

“Yes, I will.”

After Stacy left, I exhaled deeply, feeling, oddly, lighter. I’d just made a choice based not on ego or legacy but on clarity and conviction, and it felt damn good.

My father had been right—I’d wasted years chasing approval, forgetting the only people whose approval truly mattered.

Now, I was determined to change that.

I looked at the photograph Jane had sent me of my wife again—and I needed to fuck up this asshole so he’d stay the hell away from Lia.