Blair told him over a month ago she was moving.
He offered her the moon, the sky, then the sun. Everything he could possibly do, he was tossing at her as if they were hot potatoes in his hands and he knew she’d catch them no problem and serve them the way he always wanted.
For ten years she’d been his executive assistant. The minute he moved into the big wing and took on more, he’d taken a gamble by stealing her from someone else and it paid off.
“I can’t help it I’ve got some big shoes to fill,” Blair said, holding up her tiny foot.
Everything on her was tiny. Small but mighty was how he described her.
Whatever he needed, she knew before him, had it taken care of and on his desk, sometimes with a little piece of chocolate next to it.
For those grouchy days, she’d say.
It felt like he was going through a bag of Godiva a day.
“You do. Move your mother here,” he said. “I’ll get it taken care of for you. We’ve got some of the best doctors in the US right here in Boston.”
“We do, but my mother will never move to what she calls the big city.”
Blair’s mother was seventy with a lot of medical issues. As the only daughter, she felt it was on her shoulders to move in and help with care.
“But if she’s not outside doing much anyway, what’s the big deal?”
“You know begging doesn’t become you,” Blair said.
He blew a breath out and then tried to put his best adorable grin on his face.
“He’s never been afraid to do it. If he gets on his knees then you’re in trouble.”
Ethan turned his head, embarrassed at having been caught. “Thanks, Dad,” he said. Though his father wasn’t wrong.
Not that anyone ever saw that side of him other than family. Not even Blair.
In the office, anywhere near staff, he was the epitome of control.
As an heir to a billion-dollar empire, he had to be that way.
His oldest brother, Eli, had the casino as his baby, but still sat in on meetings with businesses and ventures that at some point would go to all three boys.
Egan, the middle son, all he wanted to do was play with his helicopters and lived on Amore Island just like Eli. Did Egan putsome of his goofball ways aside and sit at the board table when needed? Yep, he did.
But it was Ethan, the youngest, who was going to be tasked with running it all.
He was being primed for it and his siblings were more than willing to let him take the lead.
Not bad for the baby of the family who always got his ass busted on.
It wasn’t just Bond Enterprises though. He also had his own ‘babies’. His own investments and ventures. Things he could call his like his siblings did, but nothing was solely his, just minority silent ownership.
He wanted more. Needed more.
But all those things were stretching him thin, and with the one person he relied on to make sure he didn’t snap leaving, he was slowly losing his mind.
Add to that the fact that the woman he’d hooked up with three weeks ago had vanished before he even opened his eyes, and it had him reaching for one of the sweet truffles Blair had dropped on his desk yesterday.
He’d felt something with Nora he hadn’t in years. A spark that drilled deep and clean. She hadn’t played coy or hard to get.
She’d been open.
