The thing with Brex was almost an accident, really. They were working out, Roman's back was killing him and for some reason that combined with the proximity to another attractive man gave him a noticeable reaction. Brex had noticed, had asked want me to help you out with that? and Roman had simply nodded. He doesn't normally like being touched by anyone other than himself, but that day he was super horny and the situation felt somehow safe and wrong at the same time.

"Can you tell me I'm a piece of shit?" he panted as Brex worked on him.

"You are a piece of shit," Brex promised him.

"Tell me I'm disgusting."

"You are disgusting. A disgusting piece of shit."

Brex wasn't very creative with his insults, unlike Gerri, but Roman imagined what his father would say if he could see his youngest son now, and for reasons only his therapist knows that's what tipped him over the edge. He was already planning how to fire Brex by the time he'd finished.

When Gerri is digging around for potential dirt on Roman, anything that could sabotage Roman's chance of being CEO, the Brex thing comes up, as does the face tattoo at Ken's bachelor party and the kid who Roman ripped a million dollars up in front of on his dad's last birthday.

Honestly, does the term non-disclosure not mean anything anymore?

"It's not so bad," says Gerri, flicking through the dossier she's compiled on Roman. They're in her office, late at night, most of the floor having gone home for the day. She's sitting behind her desk while he sprawls on the desk, getting a good view of her décolletage. "The worst thing is still the rocket explosion."

"Still? It was a couple of thumbs!"

"Yes, well, people are oddly attached to their thumbs. Or they were, until you blew them off."

"Okay, I know I shouldn't have rushed the launch. But I just wanted it to be ready in time for my sister's wedding. It was meant as a nice gesture."

"That's sweet but we can't say that publicly."

"Do you think I have a shot at this? Seriously."

"Well, Shiv's off the table as CEO now. It could still be Kendall but after all he's done, you actually look like the more stable option."

"And what about you?" He looks at her curiously. "Don't you want the top job?"

"Your father will never make me CEO, Roman. He's made that perfectly clear. But I could be your shadowy puppet master."

"You pulling my strings. That's really kind of hot." He drops his hand onto her knee below the desk.

She gives him a patented Gerri glare but doesn't move his hand. "If your father suspects I'm pulling your strings, he won't take you seriously and he could get rid of me."

"He'll never get rid of you," Roman says dismissively. "You've got too much dirt on him and the company."

"Speaking of dirt…" Gerri turns to the next page of her Roman scandal dossier. "Did you jerk off on your office window in broad daylight?"

"Uh. Not to my recollection." Gerri sighs and moves her knee away.