Torn: Part Three (An Alpha Billionaire Romance) (The Torn Series Book 3) by Sky Corgan Page A

Especially the young ones. If she doesn't have credentials, then she doesn't have a track record to examine. Just because she's the niece of one of your church friends doesn't mean that she's a good person.”
    “Holden Oliver Longworth! Would you shut up?”
    Even though I'm a grown man, it still makes the hair on the back of my neck bristle to hear her use my full name like that. It means that she's had enough, that she's only moments away from hanging up on me.
    “Listen, Mom,” my tone softens, trying to calm her anger. “I'm only saying this because I care. I don't want to see some stranger take advantage of you.”
    “And I'm only saying this because I care. Butt out. There are a lot of things I can do without you, and this is one of them. If it blows up in my face, it's my own fault.”
    “But Mom, it doesn't have to if you just let me hire someone for you. Hell, you can borrow my housekeeper if you need one immediately. I'd hate to let—”
    “Holden.” She stops me. “Holden, I've got this. She'll be over in a few minutes to start work. I don't want to be all stressed out when she gets here.”
    “Wow. You've been keeping this a secret from me for how long?”
    “I just hired her on Saturday,” she sounds surprisingly innocent as if she actually feels guilty.
    I'm silent for several moments, the cogs in my head turning. While I want to trust my mother's judgment, she's far too kind and gullible. This is a woman who once fell for an email scam where a complete stranger asked her for money to help his supposedly dying wife with medical treatment that he couldn't afford.
    “I'm coming over for breakfast,” I say finally.
    “But you have to work.” The alarm in her voice tells me that she knows exactly why I want to come over.
    “I'll see you soon.” I hang up the phone before she has a chance to protest further. It buzzes almost immediately with her returned call, but I silence it.
    Whether she likes it or not, I know what's best for her. Doing her friend a favor by hiring her niece will inevitably turn out to be a mistake. If I can't make my mom fire this girl, then I can damn sure make her quit on her own.
     
    ***
     
    Firing people is something I'm good at. I'd even go as far as to say it's a sick pleasure of mine—knowing that I'm ripping someone's livelihood away from them. It gives me such a rush, especially when they're angry. They can yell and scream and curse all they want. At the end of the day, I'm in power.
    Of course, that doesn't apply to good employees with a long tenure. Then again, if they're getting fired, then it means they did something to screw me over. There have been few people that I've let go over the years where I've actually felt a twinge of regret. I learned long ago not to take such things personally. If you get your own feelings tangled up with business, it just makes things messy.
    Getting rid of this girl should be fairly easy. Intimidating people is my specialty. And once she knows that if she works with the mother then she'll have to deal with the son, she'll go running. I know everything to say to have her scampering off with her tail tucked between her legs.
    I take long, confident strides to the front door of my mother's house, a house I bought my parents when I first started making a lot of money. As my eyes drift over the doorway, I scowl. They could have had any house they wanted, something grand and unique, but my mother insisted on this one, a fairly simple house in an upper-middle-class neighborhood. I'll never understand what she saw in it, but as long as she's happy.
    For a moment, I think about using my key and barging right in. There's no point in going into overkill mode, though. Besides, it's far more courteous to knock. I may be here to make this girl quit, but I'm still a gentleman, to some extent. I smirk inwardly at myself before ringing the doorbell. My mother has been expecting me, so there's no point in using the intercom system.
    I smooth down