Emma

The conference room door leads me outside where I still hear Knox’s voice which struck Ethan down. My stomach twists. He didn’t have to humiliate him in front of twelve people. He just chose to.

Ethan’s desk sits only a few steps from mine right in the open-plan bullpen which looks straight into Knox’s glass-walled kingdom. I find him sitting at his laptop with tight shoulders while he pretends to type. The screen is dark. He’s not even looking at it.

“Hey,” I say softly.

He looks up at me. The smile he forces doesn’t reach his eyes. “Emma. Do you need anything?”

I pull the spare chair from...