Page 42 of Savage Suit

“Megan and I have written our statements countering much of the article’s claims,” Tina announced, accepting a tablet from Megan, head of HR, and sliding it my way. “She typed them up for you.”

I grabbed the tablet and read Tina and Megan’s statements. As the only two women in executive positions, it was imperative they denounced the supposed negative experience of my female employees. Although neither one of their testimonials mentioned their coveted positions and how they were treated with the utmost respect, their words sufficed for now.

I handed the tablet back to Megan and nodded. “Very good. Release the statement.”

“All right,” she said as she placed the tablet back on the table and bent her head to focus on it, her long blonde waves falling around her shoulders.

Her lingering hope she’d marry a Keegan didn’t escape my attention. She’d backed off me when I warned her of the danger to her job. She’d fucked Nicholas, although they all thought I didn’t know. He hadn’t left Tina. Now Megan had gotten her claws into Reid.

The room’s silence annoyed me. “Update me on what’s been done to control this shitstorm before it spreads.”

“While the ladies wrote their counters, the others researched the author’s background.” Nicholas motioned to the men at the table. “I am working on uncovering the supposed ‘former employees’ she repeatedly mentioned.”

“What did you all find?”

“I discovered Ingrid Warrington is a graduate of NYU and holds a degree in Journalism, as well as one in Gender and Sexuality Studies,” Jeremey announced, looking incredibly proud because of the information imparted. He was a junior executive in risk assessment. “Also in her author’s bio, she said that she’s been married for twelve years to one Don Warrington, who happens to be a board member at Sauncier.”

My eyebrows shot up before fury set in. “What?” Those dirty motherfuckers! How dare they have the nerve to do such a thing?

“We narrowed down what former employees she might’ve interviewed. She mentioned a woman who’d once worked here under a KMG HR manager,” Nicholas stated, handing me a folder.

I snatched it and flipped through each profile, recognizing almost everyone.

“It didn’t matter that all Human Resource executives reported to Megan,” he went on.

“I’m the only woman in upper management in Keegan Enterprises,” Tina added. “While Meganisa manager, her position only pertains to KMG.”

“This Ingrid woman interviewed former employees with ties to Markus Dorset,” Nicholas said again, referring to the KMG production manager who jumped ship to Sauncier.

“With everything we’ve discovered, we think it’s safe to say the article is a ploy by Sauncier to defame this company,” Tina said, stating the obvious.

“No shit,” I deadpanned, thinking of counterattacks.

Ryan Hagen floated through my mind. Ploy or not, the exposé would cause considerable damage. Publicly hiring a new female employee and collecting the statements of the other few women who worked for us to release might soften the blow.

“I have an interview with a possible female hire for the Amage account. She has potential, and I’m scheduled to meet with her on Tuesday.” Fuck, if she showed up. She’d given me no sign which way her intentions went. “If it works out, and we set up a press conference to introduce her, we’d devalue Ms. Warrington’s claims.” Some of them. “Regardless,” I went on, “I’ll ensure a woman fills the role.”

Sauncier’s declaration of war required tactical defense. Once we regained control, we’d go on the offensive.

“We uploaded our statements to our socials and posted on the website,” Megan announced.

“What are we doing about Sauncier?” Andrew questioned. “We can’t let get them away with this.”

“We aren’t.” Fuck diving. “Those motherfuckers know this means war.”

Chapter Eleven

This day couldn’t get any worse.

After reading the bombshell article on Noah’s business practices, I tried my best to put him out of my mind and focus on the day’s tasks. However, since I left my apartment to run my errands, everything ended in disaster.

First, the only card I had on me declined at the grocery store. Later, I discovered some bills went through earlier than expected. Though my lights and water would remain running until next month, my depleted funds forced me to leave behind a lot of items at the store.

Then, on my way home, Sandy began emitting a concerning noise. Fearing she’d break down in the middle of traffic, I pulled into a random parking lot. Unfortunately, the turn killed her, and the engine abruptly died. I couldn’t restart her. My only choice was a tow truck.

Now, hours after I left my home, I’m pacing in a shabby repair shop and waiting for Sandy’s diagnosis. More than likely, I’d have to leave her behind and call for a ride back to my place. I didn’t have enough money for all my groceries, so I damn sure didn’t have enough to cover an Uber or Sandy’s repairs.

My phone rang, and I stopped pacing to dig through my purse for it. Once I grabbed it, I glanced at the caller ID. Paul’s name flashed across the screen, and my heart dropped to my knees. A random call at two in the afternoon on the day he and my sister broke up seemed too coincidental. And with the way today was going, I didn’t have much confidence he had positive news.