Page 621 of Manhattan Bossholes

I bristled. It was only a matter of time before she found out, but I couldn’t bring myself to be the one to tell her.

“Not sure,” I answered quickly. “I have a lot of other concerns on my plate at the moment.”

“I bet,” she laughed. “Felicity keeps me up to date on everything. You guys are busy!”

I hoped my nod would be enough to clue her in that I was in no mood to talk.

“I heard about spa day,” she giggled. “Maybe I need to come work for Veritique? If you need a kickass librarian, I got you!”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Nina sighed and pushed the elevator button again as if it might summon it faster. “This elevator is taking forever! Maybe I need to take it up with building management?” She elbowed me with a wink.

I cleared my throat and took a step away from her. Thankfully, the blasted thing finally beeped, and the doors opened. I held my hand out to gesture for her to get on ahead of me.

“How’s Tyler?” she asked as the doors slid closed. She pushed the button for her floor. “I texted him this morning, but I haven’t heard back. We talked about me possibly joining him on a walk with Boris today.”

“He’s already taken care of Boris,” I said through gritted teeth as I activated my keycard so the elevator would go all the way to my penthouse.

Nina’s brow furrowed. “Well, that’s weird. I wonder why he didn’t reach out to me? Do you know what he’s up to today?”

My jaw clenched at her relentless cheer and endless inquisition. Abruptly, I decided she needed to know the facts about Tyler, the sooner the better.

“You really want to know what Tyler’s up to today?” I fired back at her. “Sleeping off his latest high, that’s what. Remember his friend Jerry from Frankie’s Tavern?”

Nina’s eyes were wide. She nodded slowly.

“Well, it turns out that Jerry isn’t just a friend, he’s Tyler’s dealer. I caught them with a bag of heroin. So, between that and all of the drinking, you could say Tyler is pretty fucked up at the moment. When I left him, he’d nodded off on the couch—who knows how long he’s going to be passed out. So that’s why your little buddy is missing in action today. He’s an addict, Nina.”

She processed the information in silence for a few seconds.

“But…he told me he was doing better…”

I let out a harsh laugh. “Yeah, that’s what addicts do. They lure you into believing they’re okay and then they relapse. And the cycle repeats, over and over, until you lose all hope.” I took a step closer to Nina, and she shrank back. “Want my advice? Forget about Tyler. He’s a lost cause. You’re better off with your book boyfriends. No one can compete with them anyway.”

My speech ended right as we hit her floor, and Nina got off without saying another word to me.

Good.

The rest of the ride was mercifully silent. I’d had just about enough of the rest of the world for the day. The only being I wanted to connect with was waiting for me at the door.

A quick walk later and Boris and I were back in my dark apartment. It felt right, keeping the lights off. My dog seemed to understand I needed comfort, so when I took to the couch Boris joined me, resting his head in my lap. Not dozing, but watching me, as if he was trying to figure out if I was okay.

Which I most certainly wasn’t.

I was hungry but not, exhausted but wired. I hated feeling out of sorts like this. Aside from the Veritique PR bullshit my father had left behind for me, my life before Felicity had been even keel. Predictable. It had balance. Now? I snorted softly, causing Boris to pick his head up and stare at me.

Now nothing made sense, which was too close to the way I’d felt when everything went to shit with Carolina. Our breakup had been hell, and the aftershocks had lasted longer than I ever could’ve imagined. I wasn’t about to put myself in that position again. I needed to remain in control of my life, my emotions, if I wanted to keep moving forward.

Look at Tyler, for fuck’s sake. Roxanne had left him ages ago and he was still pining for her, despite the way the breakup had gone down. Tyler and I had both handed over our hearts and were left worse off because of it. I wasn’t going to make that mistake again. Breaking up with Felicity was the right decision. All I needed in my life was my focus, my business, and my dog.

Boris seemed to read my thoughts. He reached out to slap my hand, to ask for more pets, and I was happy for that moment, stroking his soft fur.

It helped me forget about the ache in my chest I couldn’t understand.

22

FELICITY