10. The Judge, Jury, and utioner

Chapter 10

The Judge, Jury, and Executioner

Hunter

W hen Lars arrives a moment later with a first aid kit, I can tell that Megan is slightly horrified by the prospect that he’s possibly heard what we’ve been up to behind the velvet curtain.

“Were you outside the whole time?” she asks Lars as I try holding back a laugh.

“Nah, but you’re like a beacon for trouble. I knew when I heard glass breaking that you’d be in the middle of it,” he tells Megan gruffly. “So here I am with a first aid kit…again.”

“I guess I’m a little accident-prone,” she admits.

Lars opens his kit and pulls out a few antiseptic packets as I quietly watch the interaction between them.

“You almost took the boss’s head off when you were defending that server a few months back. Why don’t you ever defend yourself like that?”

“Lars, I swear I was this close to stabbing her with one of the shards,” Megan blusters, suddenly finding some fighting spirit. “You would have had my back if I had, right?”

“Without a second thought,” he assures her as he carefully cleans her wounds.

I chuckle to myself at their budding friendship. Lars and Parker really seem to look at Megan as their new little sister, and I find something really comforting about that. At least I know that if I’m not around, one of them will always step up to protect her.

“Wasn’t Lars babysitting one of your business associates?” Megan asks, reminding me of my horrible manners.

Before her, I would have never ditched a meeting, but after her — I find myself moving a little differently.

“You sent him home in a car?” I ask Lars, already knowing that he’s handled business.

“With a bottle of his favorite cognac.”

“Good and have someone clean this mess up, Lars. Megan and I need to handle something in my office.”

“Will do.”

“Thanks again, Lars,” Megan says, gently tapping his shoulder.

“Yep,” he gruffly responds, not quite comfortable with common niceties.

Since Megan is bandaged up, it’s time to walk toward my office and deal with Diana.

“None of the guests seem to have noticed that World War Three was going on up here,” she notices. It’s business as usual on the first floor. Loud music, drunk patrons, and boisterous laughter.

I abruptly enter my office, and the server appears shaken, yet some of her bravado returns when Megan walks in right behind me.

I don’t make it a habit of harming women or children, but in this instance, I’m tempted to break my own rules. I’m not sure how I didn’t notice it before, but this girl is toxic, and I’ve clearly put a sweet lamb in charge of managing a rabid wolf. Women are truly complicated creatures.

“I don’t see why I’m here,” the girl says in a sulky tone. “I didn’t do anything. Megan broke the table because she’s just clumsy.”

I unclench one of my fists, smooth my hands down the front of my slacks, stride over to my chair, and sit down. Megan prefers to stay standing with a hand on her hip by the office door.

“Slandering staff of the Blue Whiskey is a punishable offense, miss whatever your name is.”

“Punishable?” she swallows nervously.

“Something you should be wary of because in this establishment, I’m the judge, jury, and executioner.”

Her eyes anxiously dart toward Megan as if she’s looking for help, but she still refuses to accept any responsibility.

“I didn’t slander anybody.” Her hand lifts, and she points a finger at Megan. “The group wanted Megan to make things right, and she wouldn’t.“

“That’s Miss Taylor to you,” I interrupt. Then I pull an electronic cigarette out of the middle drawer of my desk and blow a lazy puff of smoke in the air. “You seem to have forgotten that she’s your superior, not your equal.”

“Fine,” she huffs. “The customers weren’t happy with their drinks and asked to speak to a manager. Miss Taylor refused to do her job and appease them.”

“Since when does a manager have to make things right with a bad drink order?” I ask lightly, then take another puff. “That sounds like a conversation between you and the bartender.”

The server’s jaw tightens but she continues with this line of reasoning because it’s obvious that she can’t accept when she’s in the wrong.

“She may be the manager, but she didn’t act like one tonight.”

“How so?”

“Yeah, how so?” Megan chimes in angrily.

“Well, when I first brought them their first round of drinks, Miss Taylor gave me a note to pass to the man who was with the group. Then later, she had the audacity to insult me in front of the guests when all I was doing was trying to do was diffuse the situation she created.“

I’m about to interrupt, but Megan gives me a discreet shake of her head, so I lean back, waiting.

“The man showed his girlfriend the note, and that’s when she demanded that I call the manager, which I did.”

“So it wasn’t about the drinks?” Megan interjects. “Get your story straight, Diana.”

The server rolls her eyes and continues the story. “Anyway, Miss Taylor arrived, and then she made a pass at the boyfriend again, and when his girlfriend told her off, your manager attacked her.”

The server’s little story ends on a smug note. She must have taken quite a bit of time to plan out her version of events in her head once I sent her down here.

I glance towards Megan, who is watching her with a thoughtful expression.

“What do you want to do?” I ask out loud, giving her a wide berth to give me whatever answer she wants, but it better end with her being fired .

Megan suddenly crosses the room, marches towards one of the guest seats, and sits down in a graceful manner. She no longer looks angry. In fact, she’s smirking as she takes her time crossing her bandaged legs as one finger taps against the exposed metal edge of the armrest.

“I need you to call down to the bar and ask Gage to come to the office, Mr. Middleton.” I smile, and my dick gets hard as Megan gives me an order.

“This is Middleton,” I call down to the bar. “Send up Gage.”

The silence in the room is heavy and almost strategic and I can see the server’s confidence begin to falter as she waits for someone to speak. On the other hand, Megan inspects her nails as if she hasn’t a worry in the world. I love to see how her confidence has grown since I met her. She’s become less passive-aggressive and more calculated…a trait which only benefits her if she’s going to continue to be in my world.

When Gage finally arrives, Megan readjusts herself on the chair as if to make herself more comfortable. The server frowns at Gage’s presence but doesn’t say anything.

“Now,” Megan starts calmly. “Gage, can you resolve a small dispute for us?”

Gage meets my eyes and I give him a small nod of approval before releasing another halo of sweet smoke in the air.

“When Diana came to place the order for Booth Four, who was in contact with the drinks, the tray, and her? ”

Diana goes still and I watch with growing interest as Gage eyes her before saying calmly, “Nobody aside from me.”

“And where was I?”

“You were preparing a cocktail next to me.”

“Did I speak to Diana?”

“No.”

“Did I touch that tray or put a piece of paper on it?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Did I handle any part of that order?” Megan’s voice is steady.

“No.”

Megan then glares at a pale Diana. “Well, there you have it.”

“Well, he’s obviously lying!” The server blurts out.

I’m itching to step in but I can see that Megan’s put the girl in a bind. What had probably started out as a malicious prank by some college kids to get Megan fired ended with the server in the crossfire. If she admits that she lied, she might lose her job. But if she manages to convince everyone that her version of events did in fact take place, then Megan takes the heat as if I’d ever let that shit happen.

“Why would I lie?” Gage looks between her and Megan with confusion. “What is even going on here? And what the hell happened to you, Megan?” Gage asks, noticing her bandages.

“He has a point.” Megan shrugs, looking directly at the server. “Why would he lie?”

“Because maybe your manipulative ass is sleeping with him too.”

I notice a small smile vanish from Megan’s face when she addresses the server, “I beg your pardon?”

“Everybody knows that you’re-“

“Are you sleeping with someone aside from me, Megan?” I ask casually, deciding to cut in before Diana says something else insulting and this conversation turns in a whole other direction.

Megan whirls around to face me, and while I know she’s annoyed by the way I’m exposing our relationship in this situation, it’s not like everyone in this room doesn’t already know it.

I give her a flirtatious wink and watch as the anger fades away from her eyes. She presses her lips together before saying in a tight voice, “Don’t be ridiculous. Of course, I’m not.”

“Uh, and I’m offended too. I just got here,” Gage says, feigning offense. “I’m not sleeping with anyone in this town yet.”

“So, there you have it,” Megan says. “Your entire story falls apart just like this. Why would I go after somebody like Ricky when I have Hunter? But more importantly, why are you so focused on fucking with me, Diana? Do you want Hunter for yourself? Is that it?”

She looks at me nervously. “No, of course not.”

“And by the way, there’s video footage of what happened in that booth as well. I just brought in Gage to simply prove a point.”

The server is shaking now but says nothing. Her eyes dart between both me and Megan and she looks terrified. It was one thing assuming that there was a relationship out of pure spite, but to have it confirmed considering the accusations she’s just made, she knows she’s been caught.

“You’re fired,” Megan finally asserts.

“Wait, you can’t fire me.” She looks directly at me. “Can she?”

“She’s the manager.” I grin.

“Oh, hell no.” The server tries to jump out of her seat but Gage places a hand on her shoulder, holding her in place.

“Calm down, Diana,” he advises as she struggles against his hold, her eyes wet with tears of panic.

“I had no choice but to tell the story they wanted me to. They threatened me!”

“Who threatened you?” Megan asks rhetorically. “A bunch of college kids? Please. I want you to get your things out of the break room and never show your face here again. I’ve had enough.”

“And I’ll be making sure you don’t get a service job anywhere in Los Angeles,” I add lightly. “Guess it’s time for you to change careers or change cities.”

She glares at Megan with a lethal look. “The only reason you can do this is because you’re fucking his brains out.”

“Watch your tone,” I warn, ready for this drama to be over. When I fire people, I toss them out literally on their asses. There’s never this much talking.

“I’m not like you, Diana.” Megan stands, giving her a dark smile. “Unlike you, I don’t have to sleep with my supervisor to get more hours.”

When the girl’s eyes widen in shock, Megan continues. “Did you really think I didn’t know? Did you think I didn’t notice how you would leave Steve’s office with your buttons misaligned and your lipstick smeared? I notice everything in this club, but I stayed out of it because it didn’t affect my check, and frankly, it was none of my business.”

“I didn’t–”

“And I would have ignored your petty jealousy after my promotion had you not gotten involved with those customers tonight. They were rude, and they assaulted me, and you did everything you could to help them. The fact is, whether you like it or not, is that I’m the manager and I have the right to make staff decisions. So I repeat, you’re fired. Now get out before I have security toss you out.”

Megan has never appeared more fuckable than she does right at this moment. She was already sexy and can suck a mean dick, but now that she’s coming into her own power — I want to fuck her senseless right now.

“Remember what I told you earlier, Diana? The judge and jury have spoken, and I suggest you follow directions if you don’t want the executioner to get involved. I do not give out lenient sentences,” I threaten.

“I’m leaving!”

Finally.

“I’ll walk you out,” Gage offers as he escorts her out of the office.

“I don’t need you to walk me anywhere!” She screams at the top of her lungs.

“I’m doing it anyway.”

When the room clears, I look hungrily at Megan and consider how selfish of me it would be if I fucked her for the second time tonight.

Her legs are bruised.

She just fired her first employee.

But all I can think about is spreading her limbs from east to west and fucking her silly on top of my desk.