“I’m realizing that,” I say, running my fingers through my hair. I look at my phone again and slump down on the sofa. I shake my head. “What the fuck am I going to do?”
“You have to stop her. If she goes to the press with everything she knows, this could get ugly.”
“They closed the case.”
“Corruption charges can get picked up by the feds.”
My eyes widen. I shake my head. “No. No! No. What do you mean? This is supposed to be over.”
Barry shrugs. “I don’t know what the consequences will be. All I’m saying is that it’s in your best interest to make sure she doesn’t talk to the Post this afternoon.”
27
Stella
My first day at the new job is great. I already know it’s the right decision. Not only am I working with Nicole again, but Martin has lots of exciting cases lined up. I thought this was going to be a lateral career move, but it’s definitely a step forward.
By lunchtime, I’m settled in and already happy. For the first time since Ashley caught me with Adrian, I’m starting to feel like things aren’t spiraling out of control. Nicole pops her head through the door of my office.
“How was your weekend?”
“It started out terrible but ended up okay.”
She frowns, tilting her head to the side. I take a deep breath and tell her about Adrian and Ashley. Her eyebrows tell a story of her reaction. They arch, frown, come together and then apart again. She doesn’t say a word, and when I finish telling her, she takes a deep breath.
“Wow. That’s… that’s a lot to take in.”
“I know.”
“Adrian Maguire? Really?”
I laugh and shake my head. “I wasn’t expecting it to happen either.”
She grins at me and nods towards the exit. “Wanna grab a bite to eat? I need some time to process this new information.”
My stomach grumbles on cue, and I grin. “Yes, please.”
We walk out of the office together and head down the street towards a good sandwich shop two blocks away. Nicole peppers me with questions about Adrian, about the past month, about how the heck we kept it a secret for so long.
“I don’t know,” I finally say with a sigh. “I’m sick of keeping it quiet, though. I actually… I really like him, Nic.”
“Uh-oh,” she says, glancing at me sideways. “That’s bad news.”
I grin. “I know. It’s a mess.”
Before we get to the sandwich shop, we pass by the offices of the Denver Post. A woman pushes the door open and goes inside.
I frown. “I think I know her.”
“Who?”
“That woman.” I watch her stop at the reception desk inside. She glances out the window and I see her face. It hits me like freight train—I do know her. I’ve seen her more than once. I duck behind a car so she won’t see me staring.
Nicole frowns, laughing at me. “What are you doing?”
I poke my head above the car and duck down again. “That’s Adrian’s assistant.”
“The woman at the Denver Post?”
“Yes,” I hiss. I glance above the car again and see a man coming out to meet her. They shake hands and he gestures into the belly of the building. I watch them disappear, frowning.
“I have a bad feeling about this.” I scramble to get my phone out and dial Adrian’s number.
“Hey, beautiful—”
“Your assistant is at the Denver Post.”
“Right now?!”
“I just saw her walk in. What is she doing there? You told me you weren’t doing any interviews.”
He swears. “I’m not. I’ll call you back in a bit.” The phone clicks and I stare at it in shock. Nicole is looking at me, her eyebrows arched in question.
I shake my head. “I don’t know. He seemed upset and then he said he’d call me back.”
She glances at the building and takes a deep breath. “What do you think is going on?”
“I thought this was over,” I say. My chest squeezes. My lungs feel constricted, as if I’ll never be able to take a full breath again. I try to swallow past a lump in my throat and look through the Post’s doors. There’s no sign of movement.
I glance at Nicole. “If his assistant is talking to the press…” I shake my head. “I don’t know.”
“Maybe it’s innocuous,” Nicole says, putting her hand on my arm. “Maybe it’s nothing.”
I shake my head. “I saw her at the office the first time Adrian had a meeting with Theresa. Then, I saw her again at Adrian’s speech last month, when he resigned. She looked right at me and she was just… hateful.” I keep my eyes on the building and take a deep breath. “I have a bad feeling about this.”
“Yeah, you said that.” Nicole grunts. “Come on. People are staring. Let’s grab those sandwiches.”
“Not hungry.”
“I know, Stella, but we’ll be able to see the building from the windows.” She rolls her eyes, pointing to the nearby sandwich shop. “We can watch what’s going on.”
I turn towards her with my eyebrows raised. “Oh. Right.”
She grins. “Come on, Sherlock.”
As soon as we get inside the sandwich place, I take a seat near the window. “Just order me whatever you’re having,” I say without looking at her.
“Fine.”
I’m not sure how long it takes for her to order the sandwiches, get them, and come sit down, but I haven’t taken my eyes off the building. My heartbeat is racing and I’m taking long, slow breaths to try to calm myself down.
“Relax, Stella,” Nicole says as she hands me a sandwich wrapped in crinkly paper. “It’ll work itself out.”
“You don’t know that.”
“It always works out.”
“Not when your boyfriend could potentially go to prison for committing a very serious crime!”
She raises her eyebrows and gives me a pointed look. “First of all: trust me. It’ll all work out.”
I bite my lip, thinking of what she and Martin went through when they first met. I laugh despite myself and shake my head. “Stupid comment. Sorry.”
“It’s fine. Second of all: boyfriend?”
“Whatever, toy boy. Concubine. Main squeeze.”
“No, I believe you used the ‘b’ word, Ms. King.” She takes a bite of her sandwich and grins. “My, my, my, this day has been interesting.”
“This isn’t funny!” I say, fighting the smile off my face.
“It’s a little funny.”
“It’s not.”
“Stella, listen to me: everything will work out.”
“Shit, look!” A car stops in front of the Post and Adrian gets out. “That’s not his car,” I frown. Another man gets out as well. He’s tough-looking with a thick moustache. He glances up and down the street.
“Aren’t you glad we came in here now? I wouldn’t want to be talking to that burly dude.”
“Shh,” I say, even though there’s no chance of them hearing us. We watch the two men go inside as my heart thumps. Within a few minutes, they’re coming back out again with the assistant. The moustache man gets into the driver’s seat, but Adrian’s assistant flicks her arm to push Adrian off. She points her finger at him. It looks like she’s yelling. People walking by are turning around to stare.
“I wish I could hear what they’re saying,” I whisper.
Nicole grunts in response. She’s not laughing anymore; her eyes are glued on the scene in front of us as well. Adrian takes a step towards his assistant and puts his hand on her cheek. She closes her eyes, leaning into his touch.
They take a step towards each other and he wraps his arms around her in a hug. My heart thumps. I see Nicole glancing at me out of the corner of my eye. Their hug lasts an eternity. My heart stops beating, and my stomach falls to the ground. I could throw up.
Adrian holds her face in his hands again and she nods, and then they get in the car and drive off. I stare at Nicole, wide-eyed.
<
br /> She says nothing. Our sandwiches sit between us, uneaten.
I clear my throat. “I’ll ask him about it tonight. I don’t want to jump to conclusions. I’m an adult, in an adult relationship.”
“Of course.”
“They’ve known each other for years, of course they’re close.” I pick a piece of tomato off the sandwich for no reason.
“Definitely.”
“It’s a tense time. It’s only been a month since that all went down. There’s no reason to think anything is going on between them.”
“Let’s go back to the office. Don’t panic. You’ll talk to him tonight, he’ll explain everything. It’ll be fine. Just remember—if Adrian hurts you, I’ll cut his balls off.”
I laugh despite myself, nodding. “Thanks.”
28
Adrian
Barry speeds towards my place. I glance at Cheryl, who won’t let go of my hand. I try to pull away, but she holds on tighter.
It feels wrong to even touch her. We’ve had a professional relationship for so long, and I think I’ve only hugged her three or four times in nearly a decade.
It’s not just that, though. Touching another woman feels like I’m disrespecting Stella. I try to pull away again, and finally she lets me. She turns towards me with her eyes wide, tears brimming in them.
We don’t speak until we get to my house. Barry follows us inside, standing in the corner while Cheryl and I sit on the sofa. She glances at Barry.
“Can you tell him to leave?”
“What did you tell the newspaper, Cheryl?”
“Nothing,” she shrugs. “Not much.”
“Which one is it—nothing, or not much?” Barry grunts. She throws him a death glare.
“It’s nothing,” she spits. She sighs, turning towards me. “They’d only offered me coffee by the time you showed up. When I saw you came all the way there to be with me…” She sighs, scooting towards me.
I glance at Barry and his frown deepens.
I need to be careful. I don’t want to give Cheryl the wrong idea, but if I push her away, she could go back to the Post. It would drag my name through the mud and although the state’s case against me is closed, it could bring the feds to my door.
The last thing I want is more chaos in my life—in Stella’s life. I want stability, and happiness, and a normal relationship. I want to work for my parents’ business until I figure out what I want to do. I want to repair my relationship with Liam and try to build a bridge with Ashley.
What I absolutely, 100% do not want is another media circus with my former assistant at the center of it. I take a deep breath and turn to Cheryl.
“Cheryl, it pains me to think that you would try to hurt me deliberately.”
Her eyes widen. She shakes her head. “I only wanted you to see how fickle that bitch is! I wanted you to see that she would drop you so fast, that she doesn’t really care about you. I didn’t want to hurt you!”
“First of all, don’t call her that. And you see how dragging my name through the mud again would hurt me, don’t you?”
Tears cling to her eyelashes. She looks at me and then looks away. “I’m sorry.”
I take a deep breath. Barry slides out of the room. I see him walk down the hallway. I know he’s still within earshot, but he’s given us the illusion of privacy.
I take Cheryl’s hands in mine. “Cheryl, if I have ever led you on, I am truly sorry. You mean the world to me, but not like that.” Her face crumples, and I pause. I’m not used to these types of conversations. Usually, I’d kick her out and be done with it.
But after the weekend I’ve spent with Stella, I see the pain in Cheryl and I don’t want to worsen it. I’m sick of being a bad person, and the new me wants to face these challenges head-on. It’s not enough to just breeze through life anymore. I’ve seen first-hand how messy things can get.
I take a deep breath, pulling my hands away from hers. “You are amazing, and beautiful, and intelligent.” Her eyes widen as she looks at me. I sigh. “And you will make someone else very happy one day. I’m sorry if you’ve been holding yourself back because of me.”
Her lower lip trembles and I hate every minute of this. I hate that the woman I depended on for almost my entire career is now someone I won’t be able to rely on at all. I hate that my selfishness over the years prevented me from seeing this. I hate that she’s felt this way about me and I didn’t even notice.
Cheryl takes a deep breath. “Do you love her?” She lifts her eyes to mine, tears dropping down her cheeks.
I gulp, sighing. I nod. “Yes.” My heart thumps as I say the words out loud.
Her mouth presses into a thin line as she tries to stop from crying. She takes a deep breath and then nods. “Okay.”
She stands up and I do the same. She gives me a long hug, and then puts her hands on my shoulders. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking straight. I won’t go to the press.”
My instinct is to trust her. She smiles sadly, shaking her head. “I feel like an idiot.”
“Me too.”
She chuckles sadly and nods. “Goodbye, Adrian.”
I walk her to the door and close it behind her. Barry clears his throat. “What do you want me to do?”
“Nothing,” I sigh. “She’s been through enough.”
“But Adrian—”
“I said nothing.” My eyes are hard. “I still trust her.”
Barry shakes his head and says nothing. I can tell he doesn’t approve.
“I’m sick of being an asshole, Barry. I’m sick of threatening people, of doing underhanded deals, of doing anything I possibly can to climb some imaginary ladder. Look where that got me!” I scoff and lift my eyes up to the ceiling. “I want to change.”
Barry sighs. “You’re making a mistake.”
“Maybe. I need to call Stella. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
He grunts, and then steps past me and out the door. I walk back to the kitchen and pour myself a glass of water, and then I slump onto a chair. I take a deep breath and call Stella.
“Hey,” I say, suddenly exhausted. “How was your day?”
“It was okay.” She’s strangely quiet for a few moments. “How was yours?” The tension in her tone makes my chest hurt. I don’t want walls between us. I don’t want anything between us except love, openness, and honesty.
“My day was terrible. I want to see you.”
She lets out a relieved sigh. “Your place or mine?”
“I’ll come to you,” I say. I’ll always go to her. I’ll go to her wherever she is, whenever she needs me or in this case, when I need her. Within minutes, I’ve gathered my things, locked my house up, and made it to her place.
When I pull up outside, I realize that her house is starting to feel a lot more like home than mine is. Every time I come here, it feels like I belong. My shoulders are already starting to relax and I smile as her porch light flicks on. The front door opens when I get out of my car and I smile.
“Were you waiting for me?”
Her face is tense, but she squeezes out a smile. “Never. I just needed some fresh air.”
“Good timing.”
I wrap her in my arms and bury my face in her hair. I inhale, squeezing her against me and I realize that it’s not her house that feels like home—it’s her.
She feels tense, so I pull away and cup her face in my hands. Worry lines her face as she searches my eyes. She bites her lip.
“What happened today?”
I stare into her face, sliding my fingers along her jaw. I smile, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Today, I realized I’m in love with you.”
29
Stella
I blink. That’s not what I was expecting. Adrian chuckles and kisses me. We go inside and I tilt my head at him.
“What happened with your assistant?”
“I tell you I love you and that’s the first thing you say?” His eyes are sparkling and he grins, shaking his head. “Unbelieva
ble.”
“First of all, don’t pressure me into saying it back.” I fight off a smile. “Second of all…” I bite my lip. I spent all afternoon wondering, holding back the evil thoughts that snaked at the base of my skull. We stand a foot or two apart.
“Second of all…?” He arches his eyebrow.
I take a deep breath. “I saw you outside with her. I…” A blush creeps over my cheeks. “You were hugging her and I wasn’t sure…” Adrian takes a step towards me and wraps his arms around my waist.
“I found out this morning she was going to go to the Denver Post and talk about the deal with Hansen Constructions. She said she was going to give them evidence.”
“What? Why?”
Adrian sighs. He closes his eyes and rests his forehead against mine. “Never mind.”
“Tell me.”
He opens his eyes again and cups my cheek. “She’s in love with me, apparently. And jealous of you.”
I frown. “What?”
Adrian shrugs, pulling away. “I don’t know. I found out this morning, and I called her. She was… upset, to say the least. She told me she was going to talk to the Post, but it wasn’t supposed to be until tonight. She must have gone straight there after talking to me, and I didn’t realize until you called me.”
I stare at him. “And did she? Give them evidence, I mean?”
“She didn’t have anything to give.” He takes a deep breath, shaking his head. Then, he takes my hand in his and looks me in the eye. “She just wanted to stir things up between you and me. You know, two months ago, I would have threatened her, fired her, and probably made her feel like a piece of dirt. But you taught me not to do that. I told her that I didn’t feel the same way, and that I was in love with you.”
My eyes widen. “You told her that?”
He nods.
“How did she take it?”
“Better than I expected.”
Ruined: An Enemies to Lovers Romance Page 13
