Streamlined operations made for more efficient companies, and more efficient companies produced bonuses for shareholders. Corporate downsizing wasn’t a job for the faint of heart. He had to lock away his emotions and become what they paid him to be: a bastard who raked in the dough.

He glanced over at Karen Davies, head of Kimsell Medical’s HR department, the edges of her severe blond bob curling under her chin. After the board of directors had approved Sam’s recommendation for a deep 15 percent layoff to save the company from imminent bankruptcy, she had solicited recommendations from line managers about who should stay and who should go. Ultimately, the CEO was responsible for the terminations, but Karen was the public face, and it was Sam’s job to assist her.

Forty years old, and with nearly twenty years of HR experience behind her, Karen didn’t miss a beat. She smiled wide, blinding poor Tyler with her newly whitened teeth. “Thank you for the work you’ve done here. I’ll go through the logistics and then answer any questions you may have.”

“You have the right to consult an attorney.” Sam slid the legal documents across the table. So far, so good. Tyler was in shock. If he recovered too quickly, vital minutes would be lost while they listened to stories about medical bills and mortgages, car payments and student loans.

Karen held up an envelope like she was on a game show, tempting poor bewildered Tyler with a secret prize. She was enjoying this far too much. Sam suspected she had a sadistic streak that had only now come out to play.

“If you sign today, we can give you your severance check now, or you can take up to five days to review the legal agreement with an attorney and wait.” Her cold smile broadened to reveal the canines she had filed down to sharp points.

Very few waited. Stunned and terrified, most of them went for the easy money. Tyler didn’t disappoint. He grabbed the pen that Karen had placed in front of him and signed on the dotted line.

After Karen had gone through the termination logistics, Sam walked Tyler out the door. “I know this is all a shock, but it could be the best thing that has ever happened to you. Now you are free to do anything, be anyone, start a new chapter of your life. Once you put the past behind you, the sky is the limit.”

“I like that speech,” Karen said when Sam returned.

“It doesn’t mean anything.” He’d felt compelled to do more than just give the redundant employees a farewell nod after his first week on the job when the guilt had almost overwhelmed him. Although he couldn’t stop the process, he could, at least, give people hope.

“I love the whole termination process.” Karen fiddled with the knot in his tie, pressing her free hand against his chest. “It gives me tingles. You must be jacked at the end of each day.”

Sam bit back a sigh. Something about these termination situations made every Karen, Julie, Claire, Alison, Sue, and the occasional Paul or Andrew want to drag him into bed. Human resource managers were a horny bunch.

“Maybe after we’re done, we could get a drink.” She licked her lips like a predator about to feast. Karens were the worst. He rarely walked away from a Karen encounter with all the buttons on his shirt.

“I thought you got custody of the kids in your divorce.” He tried not to sound too hopeful. “Don’t they need you at home?”

She ran a finger over the buckle on his belt, her voice dropping to what he assumed was meant to be a suggestive purr. “They have sleepovers.”

Single and thirty-two, Sam didn’t find the word sleepovers as arousing as Karen clearly did.

“I heard you used to be a doctor.” She leaned up to nuzzle his jaw. “James got a doctor kit for his tenth birthday. I could be your naughty nurse. What’s your specialty?”

Sam thanked God he hadn’t started a residency in obstetrics and gynecology but, given the situation, heart surgery was not much better. He also couldn’t help but feel sorry for poor James, who clearly hadn’t been asked if he minded sharing his toys with his mom. “I didn’t finish my residency. I was planning to be a cardiothoracic surgeon when I decided to make a career switch.”

She grabbed his hand and put it on her breast. “My heart’s hurting now. Maybe you can fix it.”

“Karen . . .” His voice caught when her long red nails grazed over his fly.

“The boardroom is free and I have the only key.” Her talons locked on to his belt and she tried to yank him forward, but at six feet tall and 180 pounds of gym-honed muscle, he wasn’t that easy to push—or pull—around.

“Tempting as it is, I have plans for the evening.” He disengaged her hand, claw by manicured claw. Usually he had no qualms about slaking the thirst of a frisky HR manager with a casual hookup. With a sister to care for and a downsizing business to run, he didn’t need the complications of a relationship in his carefully ordered life.

Tonight, however, he had to pick up his sister, Nisha, from rehab and then take possession of his new office. His business partner, Royce Bentley, had incited a mini riot at a company he had helped downsize with his callous handling of the redundancy process. The disgruntled employees had retaliated by vandalizing the Bentley Mehta World Corporation head office to the extent that the landlord terminated their lease to do a full renovation.

“Tomorrow, then. I’ll bring the doctor kit and you can . . .” She grabbed his tie and pulled him close. “. . . Give me a physical.” A statement, not a question.

Sam made a mental note to bring an extra shirt. He didn’t have the heart to tell her that she wouldn’t be banging strangers on the boardroom table for long. As soon she finished with the mass layoffs, Karen would be meeting with the CEO for a personal version of Thank you and get out. Sam’s recommendation for a 15 percent cut across the board included HR.

“Remember that speech,” he said to her on his way out.

“Why?”

“You might need it one day.”

* * *

• • •

SAM parked his black BMW M2 outside the Sunnyvale Rehab Clinic. With its tinted windows and aftermarket black rims, his vehicle was more suited to a drug dealer than a corporate downsizer, but since they were both considered disreputable professions, he figured it was a good fit. Although he didn’t need the power of the TwinPower Turbo six-cylinder engine to flee from the police, it had saved his ass more than once when the employees he had fired came looking for someone to blame.

He checked for traffic updates on his phone after opening the trunk for his sister’s wheelchair. Nisha was usually exhausted after her rehab visit and would want to get home as quickly as possible. He had picked up the keys to his new office from Nasir two weeks ago, and they had agreed he would move in today. If the traffic was good, he should be able to accomplish both tasks and make it to the gym for a late-night workout.