? When you bring the drink to meI taste it.? ?That?s disgusting? I shoutat you, ?you have put too much milk in the tea? and I throw the cup against th...wall.? ?Now clean that up, but first youmust lick up the spilt tea from the floor?.?You really do not want to, but you can see the mad expression on myface, and you know that if you do not do as you are told something painful willhappen to you.? So you get down on yourknees and lick up the tea from the floor. ?That?s what I like to see Roy, a man. Settle this on your terms.”I waved at the room. “That’s what this was supposed to be about: forcing him to come to me, to face me on my terms.”She shook her head. “You faced Heisler for me. Now you’re facing Neil for Leanne. You can’t wait for him to come to you, because it’s tearing you up.”“So, I go to him, not his trap, but him?”She nodded. “Just don’t let him kill you.”“Well, as long as I wear the vest Dalton left me, he’ll only knock me down.”“You know what I mean,” she said. “Don’t give. . now that is an idea!”“What is?” Tony asked, bewildered by the sudden mirth in Harriet’s voice.Harriet gave him a smug smile. “Do not worry. I may not be as skilled in tearoom politics as my mother, but I have eyes to see and intuition. Let your wife save your career, my darling.”“Will you tell me what this is about, Harriet?”“I don’t think so, my dear. You are an honourable man after all, and you might ruin my schemes with your scruples.”After the bitter cold of the last months Tony felt true. Ryan led Lucy to the stairwell door, holding it open for her. He followed her up the stairs, watching her ass sway as she climbed. Silently wishing she would stumble. Her skirt was short, just not quite short enough to show her panties as she climbed. It was Ryan who stumbled, tripping over a small carton that blocked the upstairs door open. Lucy stretched her legs to place the box on the top shelf then stood aside to let Ryan place the large one on the bottom shelf. Lucy stepped closer to Ryan.