Grace lowered her voice. “He is already arguing with them.”
Of course he was.
For nine years, Daniel had treated every locked door like a misunderstanding and every boundary like an invitation to negotiate. When we first met, he had been a charming real estate consultant with perfect suits and carefully practiced humility. I had been building Hayes & Rowe Interiors out of a rented room above a bakery in Brooklyn. He said he admired my ambition. Later, I realized he admired access.
Access to my clients.
Access to my credit.
Access to rooms where wealthy people said things they would never say in public.
By the time I understood that, he already knew exactly how to smile at my board members, flatter my vendors, and make himself seem necessary. It took me two years to separate my company from his influence without frightening investors. It took another year to separate my heart from the version of him I had created in my mind.
Now he stood in my lobby, shouting loudly enough that Grace no longer needed to keep the phone close to the receiver.
“You tell her I’m not leaving until she fixes this!”
I pressed the intercom button. “Grace, put me on lobby speaker.”
A second later, my voice filled the marble lobby below.
