Chapter 6

"I want her fired!" Lisa shrieked, pointing a manicured finger at Carra. "I want her blacklisted from every agency in this city!"

Kylie marched over, holding a termination notice. She shoved it toward Carra.

"Hand over your ID badge, Carra," Kylie demanded. "And you will apologize to Lisa right now, in front of everyone."

Lisa hid behind Kylie's shoulder. She looked at Carra and mouthed the words, You are dead.

Carra stood her ground. She reached up, unclipped her plastic ID badge from her lanyard, and slammed it onto Kylie's chest.

"I'm not apologizing to anyone," Carra said, her voice steady despite the adrenaline shaking her bones.

Lisa pulled out her phone. She dialed a number and put it on speaker.

"Daddy," Lisa whined into the phone, her voice dripping with fake tears. "My publicist just hit me. She's crazy!"

A gruff, older man's voice boomed through the speaker. "Who? Give me her name. I'll make sure she never works in Hollywood again. I'll ruin her!"

Carra closed her eyes. She picked up her purse. She was done. She was going to walk out of this toxic building and never look back.

Ding.

The sound of the private VIP elevator arriving echoed through the silent office.

The polished steel doors slid open.

Four massive men in identical black suits stepped out first. They moved with military precision, instantly fanning out and securing the hallway.

Then, the temperature in the room plummeted.

Jory Elliott stepped out of the elevator. He was wearing a flawless, charcoal-gray bespoke suit. His face was a mask of absolute, terrifying authority.

Kylie gasped. The termination notice slipped from her fingers and fluttered to the floor. She recognized the CEO of the entire EK Group immediately.

Lisa Finch, however, was too stupid to know who he was. She saw a handsome, powerful man and immediately puffed out her chest.

Lisa strutted forward, swaying her hips.

"Excuse me," Lisa purred, trying to touch Jory's arm. "Security is terrible here. They just let anyone wander in while I'm being attacked."

Jory didn't even blink at her. He didn't acknowledge her existence.

His dark, predatory eyes scanned the room and locked onto Carra.

He bypassed Lisa completely, his long legs eating up the distance until he was standing right in front of Carra.

The entire office held its breath.

Jory reached out. His large, warm hand brushed against Carra's cheek, gently tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear.

It was an incredibly intimate, possessive gesture.

Lisa's jaw dropped. Kylie looked like she was going to pass out.

"Why did you run away this morning?" Jory asked. His voice was low, but in the dead silence of the office, everyone heard it. "I woke up to an empty bed."

Carra's face burned. She tried to take a step back to put distance between them.

Jory didn't let her. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her flush against his hard body, locking her in place.

He turned his head slowly, looking at Kylie.

"Who," Jory said, his voice dropping to a lethal whisper, "is suspending Carra?"

Kylie's knees literally buckled. She grabbed a desk to keep from falling.

"Mr. Elliott," Kylie stammered, sweating profusely. "She... she assaulted Lisa. Lisa is a priority talent."

Jory let out a dark chuckle. He turned his dead eyes onto Lisa.

Lisa shrank back, suddenly realizing she had made a fatal error.

Jory didn't speak to her. He tilted his head slightly toward his assistant, who was standing behind him with a tablet.

"Find out who is on the other end of that phone call," Jory ordered, pointing at Lisa's phone. "By tomorrow's opening bell, I want negative risk assessments on all his shell companies on my desk. Notify our partner banks to freeze his credit extensions immediately. Let him bleed."

"Yes, sir," the assistant said, tapping furiously on the screen.

"You're bluffing!" Lisa screamed, her voice cracking with panic.

Two minutes later, Lisa's phone rang. It was her sugar daddy.

She answered it on speaker.

"You stupid bitch!" the man screamed hysterically. "What did you do? The EK Group's legal team just flagged my accounts and my main lender is pulling out! I'm ruined! Don't ever call me again!"

The line went dead.

Lisa dropped her phone. It shattered on the floor. She collapsed to her knees, sobbing uncontrollably.

Jory looked around the terrified office.

"Carra Roach no longer works here," Jory announced.

He shrugged off his suit jacket and draped it over Carra's shoulders, hiding the bruises on her neck from their prying eyes.

He kept his arm tightly around her waist and guided her toward the VIP elevator.

"Mr. Elliott, please!" Kylie begged from behind them.

The bodyguards blocked her path.

Jory and Carra stepped into the elevator. The doors slid shut, cutting off the chaos.

Carra ripped the jacket off her shoulders and shoved him in the chest.

"Are you out of your mind?" Carra yelled. "You just painted a target on my back for the rest of my life!"