The ballroom was silent for 3 seconds. Then the room erupted.
"Who's Miss Parker?"
"What did Mr. Hayes just call her?"
"Wasn't she supposed to be a former employee?"
Ethan's lips moved. "Mr. Hayes, is there some misunderstanding?"
Owen glanced at him. "What exactly am I misunderstanding?"
Sweat broke out at Ethan's temples. "Her name's Natalie Parker. She used to be our office manager. She's probably here over the personal history between us, and she's not exactly in a stable place right now."
I tilted my head. "Your former office manager?"
"Yes." He clung to it like a life raft. "She handled the odds and ends—booking travel, ordering lunch, running expense reports. I always owned the company's core R&D and business side."
Owen laughed under his breath. "Mr. Cole, I went through t
