Page 10 of The Stranger

“I passed you in the building’s lobby once,” she states. “I told you how much I was enjoying my internship with your company.”

“Hmm,” I hum, scrubbing my free hand over my jaw. “I can’t say I remember that encounter, but I have over three hundred people working for me, Miss St. James, and a constant rotation of interns. It would be impossible for me to recall every interaction.”

This time Abigail deflates and Delilah raises her head and looks up for what may be the first time tonight.

“You own a large corporation and you’re dating my youngest daughter?” Mr St. James asks, but it comes out more accusatory than a question, which only seems to further piss me off.

I notice Delilah’s shoulders slump out of the corner of my eye, so I slide my hand under the table and place it on her knee, giving it a slight squeeze.

“You say that like you find it hard to believe.” My words are more aggressive than I expected, but I already know I’m not a fan of this man. His lack of regard for his youngest daughter is clear.

“How did the two of you meet?” Delilah’s mother asks.

“I interviewed her for a position at my company,” I lie.

My mother told me that fuckface’s father fired her from his dental clinic after the breakup, which sounds like grounds for unfair dismissal, and I will discuss that with Delilah when the opportunity arises.

Delilah’s head snaps in my direction, and those fucking doe eyes are looking at me almost pleadingly. I squeeze her knee again, letting her know to remain calm. I’ve got her back, and I don’t want her to do or say anything that is going to blow our cover.

I’ve always prided myself on my honesty, and I’m pretty sure I’ve told more lies in the past hour than I havein my lifetime, but I’m enjoying putting these people in their place.

“You’re seriously not going to employ her though, right?” Abigail screeches. “She has zero qualifications.”

My attention moves to fuckface, and my eyes narrow because I’ll bet her losing her job was his doing. “She was a receptionist at her last employment, was she not?”

“Yeah, and she was fired,” the evil sister declares.

“Unjustly,” I retort.

“She went MIA for over a week,” fuckface grumbles. “My father has a business to run, and she left him in the lurch.”

“She took compassionate leave when she found out her sister was shacking up with her fiancé. Anyone in her situation would’ve done the same.”

My eyes move between the two of them, and I note they have no comeback for that. I stare them down, gunning for a reaction, but when Delilah abruptly stands and excuses herself from the table, I’m left feeling bewildered. I hope I haven’t upset her, but it needed to be said. This entire injustice flabbergasts me. I didn’t come here to make waves, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to sit here and let these arseholes try to rationalise their despicable treatment of her.

Before I have time to react, the dick ex is out of his seat. “Where are you going?” Abigail whines.

“Give us a moment,” he replies.

When he follows Delilah out of the room, I also rise from my seat. I will not stand by and let him disrespect her any further.

I head in the direction they did and find them in the front room. Delilah has her back to him, and I can tell by the bob of her shoulders that she’s crying. I feel like a cad, but regret soon turns to rage when fuckface grasps hold ofher arm. He lost the right to put his hands on her when he fucked her sister.

“Li,” he whispers. “I’m sorry, okay, I never meant for any of this to happen.”

I inwardly scoff. Is he kidding? He knew exactly what he was doing. If he tries to claim he slipped and accidentally fell into her sister’s vagina, I’ll punch him.

“Leave me alone, Kayne,” she cries, trying to shrug out of his hold.

“You moved on pretty quickly. Did the last four years mean nothing to you? You can do so much better than that arsehole.”

Okay, I’ve heard enough.

I take a step in their direction. “That’s rich coming from the likes of you,” I snarl. “You moved on while you were still engaged. And you may be right, she probably could do better than me, but she deserves way more than she ever got from you.”

“Mind your own business,” the dick retaliates. “I’ve heard enough from you tonight.”

I’ve barely touched the surface of the things I want to say to this idiot.