Page 25 of Broken Wheels
Dix raised his eyebrows. “Really? CrossBow is currently listed as having nearly a billion dollars in assets. Does your daddy have enough money to buy us out, Chris?”
He paled. “It’s Christopher.” He tried to inject some authority in his voice, but Dix knew bluster when he saw it.
He grinned. “You know what? I think I’ll call you Chrissy. I mean, you seem to like doing that to others.”
This time Christopher scowled. “Joshy likes the name,” he insisted.
Dix pushed the palm of his hand into his eye, trying to quell the niggle of a headache forming there. “Yeah, I sincerely doubt that. Anyway, Dr. Malone isn’t leaving the building, so you can take yourself back to wherever you came from.”
Christopher set his jaw. “I’m not leaving without talking to him.”
Dix closed his hands into fists. “I can make your life very difficult if you don’t leave on your own. But you know what? I’m inclined to be generous, for Dr. Malone’s sake. Now, before I regret this outburst of generosity, why don’t you go on and?—”
“I already said no. And I’m intrigued. Do you have a hearing disability or is it just learning in general you have a problem with?”
This guy was really pissing him off.
Dix took a deep breath. “You have a choice to make, then. You can leave and never come back here, or?—”
“Or what? You’ll make me disappear, never to be seen again?” Christopher sneered. “I know your type. You’re all talk.”
Dix smiled. And you just pushed me too far, asshole.
“You’ve got it all wrong, Chrissy. Although, I promise you that if I wanted to, I could make you disappear.” He smirked. “But you won’t be dead—not at the start, anyway.” He circled Christopher, taking measured steps. “They’re going to be finding parts of your body in the strangest of places. And the best thing—well, for me at least—is that you’ll be alive the entire time.” He leaned in close. “I’m gonna make sure nothing happens to you. Because you’re a bug beneath my heel, and only I get to choose when to squash you. Every time I slice something off, I’ll remind you that you had an option to walk away, and you chose not to.” Dix straightened. “Now, I’ll give you one last chance to leave. If you choose not to, then may God have mercy on your soul, because I will surely have none.” He folded his arms once more. “Your call, Chrissy.”
Christopher’s complexion was like milk. “I—I’ll have your job!” he snarled, but his voice was shrill, broken even, and Dix knew it. The guy was nothing but bluster. He would leave, and Doc would never hear from him again.
Dix called the two men back into the room. He gestured to Christopher. “Escort this guy from the building.” Without a second glance, Dixon left the interview room and headed back to his quarters.
He stopped at the bedroom to check on Doc, and found him sitting up, leaning against a mound of pillows.
Dix perched on the edge of the mattress. “Hey, why aren’t you sleeping?”
Doc shrugged. “Bad dream.” A slight shudder rippled through him. “I did call out to you, but you weren’t here.”
Dix was cursing Christopher Alfonse Mackenzie the Fifth right then. It was a damn good thing he’d left.
“I had to deal with a visitor. Apparently your parents sent him to bring you home.”
Doc groaned. “Tell me they didn’t send Christopher.”
“Well, I could tell you that, but it would be a lie.”
He rolled his eyes. “Man, they don’t listen. They never do.” He peered at Dix. “Christopher is my ex.”
“Yeah, I know.” When Doc frowned, Dix managed a smile. “You mentioned his name once.” He was still confused as fuck. “What the hell did you ever see in someone like him?”
Doc’s eyes were huge. “Me? Nothing.”
“Then how did you end?—”
He held up a hand. “It’s a long story.”
Dix stood, grabbed the armchair, and dragged it closer to the bed. “I’ve got time. If I’m needed, someone will call.” He settled against the cushions. “This I’ve gotta hear.”
Doc sagged even further into the pillows.
“My parents believed I’d meet Christopher, fall in love, and we’d live happily ever after.” He snorted. “That wasn’t ever going to happen.”