The Major Thorn

[Adrian's POV]

Breath still caught in his throat, Adrian stared at the man in front of him and relaxed his shoulders. For a second, he almost thought it was Russell. Raymond's fear of Johan's step-uncle was rubbing on him. Adrian let out an audible sigh. He never imagined there would come a time where it would relieve him to see this man's annoying face.

"Oh, you're here. Where's Johan?" Diego asked, putting down his hand that was about to knock on the door. His eyes flickered to Nick for a second, then gazed over their shoulder when he realized it wasn't Johan. "Is he inside? I need to talk to him."

"He's not here."

"It's important," Diego insisted. "Our team's scorecard already suffered for this month. If he still won't report to work next week, then there's nothing I can do to cover up for him. The HR Department will issue a termination letter."