Chapter 134

Logan waited until Dawn had sent Hazel out of office on some trivial tasks. Logan had texted Hazel, asking him to keep him informed of just what Dawn wanted from her. So far, the tasks had been arbitrary, typing and filing, and now, running out to get her lunch. Food from one place, a specialty drink from another.

Once he was sure Hazel was gone, Logan went to the HR department and located Dawn’s office. Oddly, despite not being the department head, she had the largest, corner office with towering windows that looked down at the streets below.

She sat behind her desk comfortably, with her legs crossed and her arms draped over the sides of her swiveling chair.

“Ah, Logan. There you are. You might want to close the door behind you.”

Suspicion immediately rankled his nerves. “What about the rule not to have closed doors?”

“That’s only between a boss and his subordinate. We’re equals here,” she said.

She saw them as equals? They were anything but. Logan was CEO of this entire region. Dawn wasn’t even the supervisor of her own department.

Stubbornly, Logan refrained from closing the door.

Dawn lifted a brow. “Maybe you’d like everyone in the office to see what I have to show you.”

Shit. Logan had no idea what evidence she had to show him today, but for her to be this confident, it had to be something that would put Hazel and his reputations at stake.

For this reason and only this reason, he finally complied and closed the door.

“Good,” Dawn said, smirking. “I like a man who listens.”

“Get on with this, or I’ll throw you out of here right now, to hell with the consequences.”

Maybe Dawn held many of the cards right now, but Logan was no pushover. He was not about to let himself be disrespected like this.

Logan was a man of power and high-breeding. He’d find a way to survive any storm Dawn tried to send his way. In fact, he’d bring a hurricane of his own. He might have lost Dylan as his lead lawyer, but he had others. Many, many others, who were all good at their jobs.

Dawn sobered slightly, her smile slipping. Uncrossing her legs, she pulled her chair more fully under her desk. Then she opened her laptop. After a few taps on the keyboard, she opened her file manager, and then a movie file.

“Perhaps you will recognize this,” she said. Pressing play, she turned the computer more fully toward Logan.

The movie was security camera footage from an elevator. Wait – was this that same morning?

In the footage, the doors to the elevator opened, and Logan and Hazel stepped inside. Soon after the doors close, Logan stepped into Hazel’s space. They were standing closer than any work colleagues had any reason to be.

The intent was clear.

“Strictly professional? You lied right to my face,” Dawn said. “I suspected you two from the start. It was something of a surprise that Hazel would try so hard to push for stricter harassment rules, given the nature of your relationship, but I never look a gift horse in the mouth. Instead, I keep my eyes open.”

Logan and Hazel didn’t kiss, but the evidence remained damning. Something like this would tarnish both his and Hazel’s reputation. He could shield Hazel by taking full responsibility and forcing himself despite Hazel’s objections, but that would make him a social pariah.

If he ever wanted to advance in his career, he needed this evidence to disappear. That meant playing ball with Dawn.

“What do you want?” Logan asked.

“What does any hardworking individual want?” Dawn tapped her chin. She pretended to think about it.

“Money,” Logan said.

“Five million dollars deposited into my bank account, and this video mysteriously vanishes,” Dawn said. Her confidence returned full force. She didn’t smile, but there was a wild look in her eyes, the kind a ravenously hungry man might give the sight of a five course dinner.

In Logan, Dawn saw a way to quick money. In Dawn, Logan saw just another leech.

In his younger days, he might have said to hell with it and told Dawn exactly where she could stick her blackmail.

But he was mid-career, with hopes of advancement. His grandfather had given him this chance to prove himself. If he blew this now, would he be given another chance? Likely not.

“I need some time to think about this,” Logan said. “That is a sizeable sum.”

“It’s peanuts compared to what I could ask for, and we both know it,” Dawn said. “But sure. Take a day. I need an answer by tomorrow, however. I’m not going to be questioned for why I withheld this proof for so long.”

“Tomorrow,” Logan confirmed.

I returned to the office carrying three different bags of various items Dawn had asked me for, in addition to her lunch. With all this running around, my lunch hour was dwindling down. At this rate, I’d have to take bites while working at the tiny desk Dawn had given me outside of her office.

Stumbling with the bags, I headed there now. I arrived just in time to see Logan leave Dawn’s office. His face was dire, all severe lines. His shoulders were stiff, his muscles tense.

“Lo—Mr. Hatfield?” I corrected quickly. Last thing I needed on top of everything else was to break HR’s new rules while I was standing in the middle of the HR department. “Are you alright?”

Logan reached forward and plucked away some of the bags from my arms. He lowered them down onto my temporary desk.

“I’m fine,” he said and tried to give me a smile. It was fake, far too clunky and lacking the usual mirth in his eyes.

I wanted to probe him for the truth, but this unfortunately wasn’t the place. These doors had ears, here in HR. Instead, I snatched his suit jacket off the back of my chair and handed it to him.

My shirt had fully dried mid-lecture from Dawn about dress code. Though I would remember in the future not to wear this bra without a tank top over it. It was simply too risky.

Logan accepted the coat, but he didn’t pull it on. Instead, he tucked it under his arm. He hesitated then, like he had something else to say. I waited patiently for him to say it.

“About the high society party,” Logan said.

“Yes?”

“We should find you a dress as soon as possible,” Logan said. “When you’ve finished your work with Dawn for the day, come to my office, and we’ll go to the usual places.”

The usual places meant stores I’d never in my life be able to afford on my own. I doubted an assistant needed a dress all that fancy. No one was going to be looking at me, after all.

Logan must have seen the confusion on my face.

“I will not have my assistant embarrass me by wearing a cheap dress,” he said.

Oh. Yeah, that made sense. Even if he could have worded it nicer.

“Very well, Sir,” I said.

Logan nodded, and stepped around me, moving toward the elevators.

“Where’s my lunch, Hazel?” Dawn called from within the office. “You are wasting time!”

With a curse, I grabbed the bags and went into her office.

I placed her salad down. She took one look at it, and smacked it off the desktop.

“What the hell is this? I said vinaigrette, not whatever this is,” she snapped. With an affronted breath, she said, “What does he even see in you?”