“Who the hell do you think you are?“ Aaron stormed furiously.
“I’m the same person I always was, but there have been a few changes in my life. I’ve had to reorganize my priorities.“
“What’s the matter? You can’t wait to get home to hop into bed with that new husband of yours? Is that it?“
Aaron took two steps into the office, his face a mask of fury. “You should have told me months ago that you weren’t getting what you needed in bed. I could have handled that end of things for you. It’s just that you always seemed so damned frigid – I got the impression you weren’t interested in sex.“
“Stop it, Aaron;“ she said crisply, getting to her feet to collect her coat and purse. “You're totally out of line.“
“Damn you, I need that report by Wednesday.“
“Then you’ll have to stay late and work on it yourself.“ She started to slip into her coat.
“You can’t do this to me, you little bitch.“ He reached for her.
Diana was so startled by his hand on her shoulder that she yelped, more in surprise than real pain. It was when she swung around with an angry protest that she saw Colby materialize in the doorway behind Aaron.
“Get your hands off of her, you bastard,“ Colby snarled. He was already moving through the doorway, leaping toward Aaron Crown.
“Colby! No! Don’t hit him. I don’t want you hurt again.“ Diana grabbed Colby’s arm. He shook her off as if she were nothing more than a kitten.
“You stupid son of a…“ Aaron lashed out blindly as Colby spun him around. His clenched fist caught Colby on the shoulder.
Colby didn’t seem to notice the blow. He used his grip on Crown to send him spinning up against the wall. Crown hit it with a thud and sank to his knees.
“Get your things,“ Colby said to Diana. “Take everything you need. You’re not coming back.“ He looked at her as if he expected an argument.
Diana said nothing. She finished putting on her coat, collected a few personal items from the drawers of her desk and picked up her purse. Then she picked up a red pen and scrawled her resignation across the face of the report she had been working on for Aaron.
Crown inched his way to his feet, using the wall for support. He glared at Colby with baleful eyes. “You’ll pay for this,“ he hissed.
“Not likely,“ Colby said carelessly. “If you do decide to go to the cops, tell them you were manhandling my woman before I ever laid a hand on you. If you don’t explain that part, I will. Come on, Diana, let’s get out of here.“
“You can’t leave, Diana,“ Aaron hissed, “If you do, I guarantee you’ll never work here or anywhere else in this town again.“
Diana looked at him. “This is some kind of macho power play, isn’t it? But you don’t have the power to keep me from getting a job outside of C and Y and I don’t like macho power plays, Aaron. They bore me.“ She started toward the door, conscious of Colby close behind her.
“I was right about you,“ Aaron yelled at her. “You didn’t deserve that promotion. It’s a good thing for this company that I talked management out of giving it to you two months ago. I told them you weren’t ready for it. I told them you were just another flighty woman who wasn’t really interested in a long-range career, that you were perfectly content where you were.“
Diana whirled around. “You told management I wasn’t ready for that promotion? That’s why I didn’t get: the position?“
“And I was right to do it, wasn’t I? You’ve proved me right. You ran out and got married to the first man who’d have you, and now all you can think about is getting home early every night to screw your new husband. You’re not management material. You’re just a thirty-four-year-old spinster who’s finally discovered regular sex. Obviously you can’t get enough of it.“
Colby started to swing back toward Aaron. Diana stopped him with a hand on his arm. This time he hesitated, glancing down at her.
“I’ll handle this,“ she said firmly. She could feel the muscles bunched in his shoulders, but he didn’t argue. He stood waiting as she stepped around him and went to stand a couple of feet from Aaron.
“I’ve got news for you,“ she said smoothly, her eyes brilliant with anger, “I am not only going home to be with my husband, I am going home to prepare for my baby. And you’re quite right. Both of them are far more important than my job here at C and Y.“
He stared at her, openmouthed. “You’re pregnant? Pregnant?“
“That’s right, Aaron. I only came back to Carruthers and Yale because I needed a short-term, fill-in job. A little work to fill in the time until I was ready to resign permanently. Come on, Aaron. What did you expect? You didn’t really think I’d come back here to work on a full-time basis for you, did you? After what happened a couple of months ago? I knew then there was no future for me here. I never intended to come back at all until I got pregnant.“
“Why you little…“
“Say it and I’ll rip your tongue out and feed it to you.“ Colby’s voice was very even.
“Get out of here,“ Aaron snarled. “Both of you. Go on. Get out of here.“
“We’re on our way,“ Colby said agreeably. He took Diana’s arm and steered her toward the door.
Diana didn’t resist. She was suddenly very eager to leave. But when she saw the ring of curious faces out in the hall, she couldn’t hold back a cheeky grin.
“I leave him to you with my compliments. Just don’t trust him any farther than you can throw him.“
“We heard,“ Milly said. “So he was the one who kept you from getting that promotion. That fits when you think about it. He can’t afford to lose you, Diana. He’s just barely smart enough to know that.“
Behind Diana, the door to her office slammed shut.
“The Crown Prince is not amused,“ Milly observed. She grinned at her friend. “Good luck, Diana. We’ll miss you around here.“
“You mean Aaron Crown will miss her,“ muttered another man. “Crown got used to relying on Diana to save his bacon. I’ll bet he doesn’t last six months without her. Especially when none of us is going to go out of our way to cooperate with him.“
“Sounds like a good idea for an office pool,“ someone said. “I think I’ll start a Guess the Date Aaron Crown is Forced Out Due to Incompetence Pool. Who wants in?“