Read Just One Night, Part 3: Binding Agreement for Free Online Page A

you considering me for the job, Mr. Costin?” I manage to sound a little more composed this time.
    But my composure is tenuous, more so when Mr. Costin takes his time answering me, studying me with those cold eyes. “Maned Wolf has business relations with many of our clients and Robert Dade is a personal shareholder in the rest. He has more pull and influence in the business world than any other man in LA. I had to let go of Tom because keeping him could have cost us all of our accounts. I wasn’t given a choice. I don’t like it when people take away my choices, Kasie. Do you understand that?”
    I nod.
    “Your words!”
    “Yes, Mr. Costin,” I say quickly. So much for being powerful and in control. This roller coaster of emotion is too extreme for me. I want to get off the ride.
    “I also like Dylan Freeland, the cofounder of this company. He may no longer be that involved in the day-to-day operations here but he is still a key player in all our major decisions. Do you know what it was like for him? Being cornered? Feeling like he has to make decisions to elevate someone who caused pain to those he loves while ruining a man who has always served his company—the company he built —with honor?”
    Honor. Tom Love doesn’t deserve to have the word associated with him. And yet I hadn’t felt comfortable with his firing, either. It hadn’t been based on his sexual harassment of me; it had been based on lies. I have no defense against Mr. Costin’s attacks.
    I force myself to hold his gaze. I can see there’s more he wants to say. Insults and accusations that he’s working hard to hold back. He’s yet to accuse me of sleeping my way to the top even though that’s clearly what he thinks I’m doing. He hasn’t told me that I fucked around on Mr. Freeland’s godson only to then get rewarded for opening my legs to a client. Does he want to call me a bitch? A slut? What would he do to me if he wasn’t afraid of repercussions?
    And that’s when it dawns on me, he is afraid of repercussions. His anger has no teeth. I lift my chin. Sticks and stones. I can bear this. I have to bear this. It’s no less than what I deserve and, honestly, it can’t hurt me.
    “If Mr. Freeland is upset, I’m truly sorry about that. I’m sorry you’re upset, too,” I add, “but that was never my intention. I’ve worked here for six years and none of my clients have ever had a complaint.”
    “I wonder why,” Mr. Costin says dryly.
    Again I squirm. He says so much without saying anything at all. Still I push forward. “I just led a team on a major project for the first time. While I realize that most people who are moved into a supervisory position such as Tom’s—”
    “You should refer to him as Mr. Love. You owe him at least that respect, don’t you, Kasie?”
    I wait for the sting of that insult to fade before I continue. “I realize that normally, someone stepping into Mr. Love’s managing partner position have led more than one team but if you talk to the executives at Maned Wolf, I think you’ll find that I did an exemplary job. I believe we’ll have that account for quite some time along with many lucrative projects.”
    “ Quelle surprise.”
    Behind him I see the city laid out. The tops of buildings and little cars that look to be no bigger than matchboxes crawl through the crowded streets. Everybody is going somewhere and everybody has to deal with the irritation of the traffic and the long stoplights. But eventually they’ll get to where they want to go. The trick is not to let the road rage get to you.
    “Do I have the job, Mr. Costin?”
    Again he waits before answering but this pause isn’t as intimidating as the last one. We both know his choices have been taken away.
    “Start tomorrow,” he says coolly. “You have a lot to learn. Your entire experience here has involved things like Corporate Finance, risk, marketing and sales, and so on. You have zero experience with Health Care Systems and