Page 49 of Isolated (Harper Security Ops #21)

Steph shifted her attention between Landen and me, ultimately settling her gaze on me. “What are you doing here?”

I pushed my shoulders back, tipped my chin a bit higher, and said, “I thought you were my friends.”

Kasey opened her mouth to speak, but I held my hand up to cut her off.

“Having that belief, you might recall me telling you about Landen, the guy from the gym.” I stepped to the side, pointed to him, and continued.

“This is Landen. He’s not only my boyfriend, but he’s a private investigator.

And he’s helped me get to the bottom of who betrayed me.

Sabotaged me. He figured out who went out of their way to do everything possible to leave me feeling isolated from everyone I work with.

And while it might not matter anymore, considering I’ve already lost my job, I’m here today to set the record straight with every stitch of evidence I have. ”

Their faces blanched as their mouths fell open.

I reached for Landen’s hand and gave them one last look. “If you’ll excuse me.”

Sidestepping them, I continued toward Robert’s office. I knocked on the open door, and when he looked up, he was visibly uncomfortable. “Iris. You shouldn’t be here.”

“That’s the thing, Robert, I should be here. But I was fired. Wrongfully, I might add. ”

His eyes darted to Landen, likely noticing a murderous expression on his face. “Do I need to call security?”

I shook my head. “That won’t be necessary. I’m not staying. I merely wanted to give you this.”

That was when his eyes dropped to the manila envelope that I’d carried in with me. I crossed the room and held it out to him.

“What is this?”

“It’s the evidence of what really happened,” I told him.

“It’s the work you should have done before deciding to fire me.

It’s the proof that even though you think you did the right thing to protect this company by letting me go, you still have someone working here who’s also working for the competition. ”

The color drained from Robert’s face, his eyes bulging.

He opened the envelope, pulled out everything inside, and flipped through all of it.

I didn’t think he read every detail or inspected every photo as thoroughly as he might have wanted to, but he saw enough.

He knew how badly he’d messed up, because the evidence was irrefutable.

“Iris… I… I’m so sorry. I had no idea.”

“No, you didn’t. And the worst part about it all is that you didn’t respect me, or any of the work I’ve done to bring success to this company over the years I worked here, enough to give me the benefit of the doubt.”

“I tried to,” he explained. “I wanted to, but at the advice of the others, I thought the way we went was necessary.”

“And look how badly you screwed up,” I countered.

“It was easier to believe that the confident, headstrong woman was the one responsible for what happened with Horizon Solutions. Somewhere in your mind, you allowed yourself to believe that I worked so hard to achieve all that I did just to risk throwing it away. Not for one second did you suspect it was the unremarkable, unassuming software developer that would have ever been responsible. I can’t say I blame you.

I didn’t expect Brett had it in him, either.

But to think you believed I had it in me is downright hurtful and disturbing. ”

Robert remained silent, the weight of his decision bearing down on him like a lead weight.

“I can see this is going to take a moment to sink in, and when it does, at least you’ll have the proof in hand to remind you of the mistake you made.”

“Iris, I can’t tell you how sorry I am. I’d like to reinstate you, effective immediately.”

And there it was.

As quickly as I could snap my fingers, I could come back.

“I wondered if you might make that offer today,” I said.

“And thinking it was a possibility, I took the time to consider what I would do if and when it came my way. But I’m going to ask you to put yourself in my shoes for a moment, Robert.

Look back on all that I’ve been through for weeks now, the accusations about my lack of concern for my job and responsibilities.

Think about how I attempted to defend myself over and over.

And remind yourself that it was Brett who had the technical ability to keep my important emails about meeting time changes from getting to me.

He had the technical ability to affect my calendar, so I missed deadlines.

Think about the fact that every individual at this company believed the lies being spread.

And finally, think about how you and Bryan and Howard decided it was best to keep me off the Horizon Solutions case, telling the rest of the staff not to trust me with something so critical to this company.

By not doing your due diligence to uncover what was really happening and taking my concerns seriously all these weeks, you damaged my reputation with my colleagues.

You destroyed friendships. And I’d be a fool to accept that kind of carelessness back into my life.

So, I appreciate that you can see the error of your ways now.

I can accept your apology, too. But I cannot return to working for a company who has leaders that could so easily and blindly turn their backs on me. I wish you all the best.”

I gave myself just two or three beats to note the look of utter mortification on Robert’s face before I turned around.

Though I didn’t know how long he’d been standing there, Bryan had walked in at some point.

Judging by the way he cowered and refused to look me in the eye, I suspected he’d heard enough. It didn’t matter to me either way.

Because my gaze settled on the only person who mattered. Landen had a gleam in his eye, and the grin on his face showed me his teeth. The pride in his expression was undeniable as he extended his hand to me.

I took it, and the two of us walked out of the office without a care for who was watching us.

It felt good.

So good.

I didn’t think it could get any better.

But the moment we stepped outside, Landen spun me into his arms, plastered me against his body, and crushed his mouth to mine. He kissed me like he’d never kissed me before, my knees getting weak at how perfect it was.

Framing my face with his hands, he tore his mouth from mine. “I am so proud of you for what you did in there. I don’t think I’ve ever been more turned on in my whole life than I was watching you stand up for yourself. I’ve always loved your confidence, but that was on another level.”

This was it.

This was my moment to have it all.

“I love you.”

His fingers pressed in. “What?”

“I love you, Landen. I love you so much, I don’t know how to contain all that I feel for you. The way you have looked after me, listened to me, and encouraged me. There is nothing more I could need, and yet, you give me even more. So, I love you.”

His eyes got wet. “I love you, too.” His hand slid away from my face. One cupped the back of my hand as the other went around my back. He kissed the top of my head and murmured, “I can’t tell you how long I’ve been wanting to tell you that.”

With my arms wrapped around him, a smile blazing on my face, I looked up at him. He kissed my forehead, the tip of my nose, and my mouth.

“Let’s get out of here,” he said, his voice husky. “We need to celebrate all that we just said to one another, and I’ve got to do something about what seeing you do what you did in that office did to me.”

I giggled with delight, warmth infusing my body, and happily allowed him to guide me to the car.