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“Wow,” Lythe said once I’d finished. “I should probably be more shocked about the Coleton thing, but I’m honestly trying to get over the fact that you got into Adrian White’s pants.”
I groaned. “Oh, come on. That can’t be the most interesting part.”
“I don’t know,” she said, laughing. “I’d be lying if I said I’d never wondered what was behind those fancy slacks of his. The man may be a nightmare, but he’s a gorgeous one.”
“That’s my sort of boyfriend you’re talking about,” I teased.
“So is he actually nice to people he sleeps with?” Lythe asked. “I can’t picture it. Does he get you flowers? Massage your feet?”
I laughed. I needed this. It felt normal, and I was already feeling less gloom and doom about my situation. “We’re still finding our rhythm. As soon as we halfway made things official, we had to pack up and move to New York. And now he’s extra busy getting set up at the new job, so…”
“So no foot rubs yet?”
“No much of anything,” I admitted. “Except the way he practically mauls me whenever he gets a rare break from work. Not that I’m complaining,” I added. “It just feels like we’re kind of in a holding pattern until things settle down. But who knows when that’ll be.”
“Relationships are hard. Maybe see if you can get him to agree to take a little time off tomorrow and do something with just the two of you? I bet you’ll feel a lot better.”
“Yeah. That’s a good idea. I’ll try.”
“Oh, and Jules? Our new boss is a total dweeb. So I’m blaming you for helping my former hot boss get promoted and stealing my eye candy.”
I grinned. “You need to make up your mind. Was he the worst boss ever, or do you want him back?”
“I framed a picture from a company retreat of him and put it on my desk. So he can stay in New York, I guess. But I will miss those beige slacks he wore sometimes. That man looked like he was smuggling giant peaches in the back of those things.” Lythe let out a low, catlike growl.
“God,” I said, grinning. “It sounds like I should be glad we moved. Otherwise you and I would need to have a word or two about boundaries.”
“He’s all yours. I just liked looking.”
I thanked Lythe for the advice and ended the call, feeling significantly better. I was overreacting. Adrian getting a new secretary for the office made sense. After all, he was right. I couldn’t be in the office and have access to some of the people she would. It was just practical, so I was going to stop being dramatic and get over it.
Eventually.
When he came home tonight, I’d see about accomplishing the impossible and getting him to take a break from work to take me out.
26
Adrian
The Coleton Central offices were a hub of activity at the highest level. Everybody there was hand selected and hyper competitive. I had to admit if I wasn’t planning on tearing the whole thing down, I could’ve enjoyed working with these sorts of people.
I met with Noah
Noah had on his thick glasses and his dark hair was gelled back from his forehead. Travis was dressed well in a gray suit with a white undershirt and a red tie. His hair was unruly as usual.
To tell the truth, I’d been dreading this conversation. Me and the guys hadn’t had an official chance to sit down and talk over what I’d done in regards to Jules. Telling her what we were doing was supposed to be a team decision, and I’d done it on my own.
“I think it’s okay,” Noah said. “If she was going to tell her father, she would’ve done it by now.”
Travis wasn’t taking it as well. “Maybe, but what happens when Cassanova over here fucks up? What about when he forgets her birthday or gets on her nerves? Where do you think she’ll go first to make him pay?”
“Stop it,” I growled. “Jules isn’t like that.”
“So you say,” Travis said. “But women are vicious when they’re cornered, man. They go for the fucking throat. You don’t think she’ll pull out the nuclear football if things go bad and sink us all?”
“No,” I said. “I don’t. I think she has her own vendetta against her father. She wants to help us do this. She’s not just promising to keep quiet and let us do it. She wants to help,” I repeated.
Noah shrugged. “Could be useful. She may be able to accelerate the process of bringing them down if she’s willing to get her hands dirty.”
“How so?” Travis asked.
“She’s got a direct line to the guys at the top,” Noah said. “I’ve been digging for months now and I’ve got dozens of threads to pull. But with a company this big, we need every bit of ammunition we can get. I’ve got financial records, witness testimony of wrongdoings by Coleton, documents submitted by former employees, medical experts willing to testify about research they’ve had blocked… I’ve got an arsenal, but if this goes to legal, jurors are human. Jules could be a final nail in the coffin, so to speak.”
