Page 155 of The Price of Scandal

“Damn, that hurts without gloves,” I muttered, shaking out my hand.

The office flooded with people. Derek and Jane ran in, followed closely by building security.

Derek stepped over Lita and gathered me in his arms.

“Are you hugging me or stopping me from hitting her again?” I asked over the commotion.

He pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “Both. Are you all right?”

He nudged my chin up and looked at the blooming mark on my jaw. His hands slid down my arms, and he frowned fiercely at the bleeding scratches.

“I’m pretty freaking great, Price.”

“In that case, I think we need to schedule a meeting,” he said.

“About what?”

“About the prospect of a joint venture.”

“We’re already fifty-fifty partners.”

He squeezed my arms. “Marriage, Emily. I want to marry you.”

“Did Jane deprive your brain of oxygen too long?”

“Yes.”

I grinned up at him and brushed a kiss over his mouth. “I’m willing to discuss the potential benefits of a… merger sometime in the future. But first, I want the biggest pitcher of Bloody Marys available to mankind.”

“I’m never going to get to use this stun gun,” Jane whined, standing over Lita’s wailing form.

His smile faded. “Emily, there’s something else you need to know. Lita wasn’t working alone.”

I stopped him with a hand to his chest. “I know. I’ll deal with it later.”

The washroom door opened, and Lona, the unflappable journalist, stepped out. “Is it safe to come out?” she asked, eyeing Lita who was screeching about lawsuits through the hands that covered her bleeding face.

“Lona, I’d almost forgotten you were in there,” I said cheerfully. “Oh, and your recorder was on this whole time. How embarrassing.” I handed it to her.

“Florida is two-party consent,” Lita snapped as security hauled her to her feet. Beautiful, big drops of blood dripped onto the white crepe of her dress. “You can’t record me without my knowledge. Miss Goody Two Shoes should have known that,” she said snidely.

“Well,wecan’t. But the SEC can if they suspect fraud is being committed. Have you met Agent Busto?” I asked.

On cue, one of the men who had entered with security stepped up. He had a shaved head and a neck nearly the same circumference. “Ms. Smith?” he said with all the charm of a grumpy Steve when Frank the macaw refused to shut up. “The SEC has a few questions for you about your dealings with La Sophia.”

50

Derek

“Ithink your job here is done,” I said, tucking Emily under my arm as Lita was escorted from the building by the SEC and security.

“Ha. Literally.” Her laugh sounded a little brittle around the edges. “She’s probably not going to get any jail time,” she predicted.

“Maybe not,” I agreed. “But she’s also not going to walk into another cushy seven-figure job either. I’ll make sure of that.”

“What the hell happened to Lita?” Trey Stanton, in pink shorts and flip-flops, stormed up to Emily. “What did you do to her?”

I felt her stiffen under my arm and stepped between them. “You’ve handled enough today,” I told her. “Let me take this one.”