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Abusive?
That mother fucker.
I clenched my teeth, the mere thought of someone hurting Joanna making me feel irrationally angry. I also wondered how it had happened in the first place. Joanna was so smart, beautiful, and independent; it just didn’t seem plausible that she would let anyone treat her that way. But then again, that had to be the reason she left to begin with…
“Yeah, looks like you want to strangle him too,” Tobias said, his words slightly slurred. “It was that Zander guy I was telling you about.”
I leaned back on the couch, my mind spinning. I began to wonder if Zander was the reason Joanna had suddenly been acting so distant. I knew she was hiding something from me.
Was this it?
“She’s ended things with him now though, right?” I asked.
Tobias nodded. “Yeah. They’re a done deal. That’s the only reason I haven’t gone after the creep myself.”
“Well, that’s good to know.”
“Sure, but…”
“But what?”
Tobias’s face screwed up. “Something still isn’t right. I think she’s already seeing someone else.”
My ears prickled again. “What makes you say that?”
“The way she’s been acting,” Tobias said, shaking his head. “I’ve always been close with my sister, but she’s always been too damned secretive for her own good. And her secrets always manage to get her in trouble. And when she’s in trouble, she comes to me. The whole cycle is getting old, to be honest. If she could just learn to be upfront for a change instead of handling everything on her own before problems get out of her control, she wouldn’t wind up in all the messes she gets herself into. Sometimes it keeps me up at night, wondering what she would do if she couldn’t always count on me to clean up after her.”
I cleared my throat. “Well, as long as she’s not with Zander anymore, it doesn’t matter right? As long as she’s happy…with whoever…”
Tobias shook his head. “I’m her big brother. I deserve to know who she’s with. She doesn’t know how to read guys the way I can. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have ended up with someone like Zander in the first place.”
“After dealing with Zander, she should know how to recognize a good man from a bad one now.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.” Tobias huffed. “I love my sister, but her
taste in men sucks. Mark my words, if she doesn’t end up with another creep like Zander, she’ll run right into the arms of a playboy. I’m going to find out what’s going on though. She’s living under my roof, so she’s not going to be able to keep it a secret for much longer.”
I swallowed down the rest of my beer in practically one swallow, avoided eye contact with my best friend. The guy who has practically just threatened me.
Of course I fell for his sister.
And now he was after me.
Thank God he didn’t know it yet.
CHAPTER 14
Joanna
When the lunch hour arrived, I was nothing short of starving. I gladly shut my laptop and slid away from my desk, where I stood and stretched, desperately needing a break. My head was so thoroughly swimming with numbers that I still saw them when I closed my eyes.
At least until visions of Anderson began to fill my head.
I sighed, wishing so much that I could go see him. We were remaining cautious at work, not wanting to trigger the suspicions of Tobias, or anyone else for that matter. I had never been one to engage in workplace relationships, and doing so seemed to go against everything I stood for. But, I was helpless in controlling my attraction to Anderson. Besides, our relationship had technically started before we became coworkers, so on some level, I used that as justification. Plus, there were other issues to be concerned with when it came to Anderson that greatly overshadowed the fact that I now worked with him.
Even though it hadn’t been long since we first started entertaining each other, having to sneak around was already starting to wear on me. I had contemplated simply letting the cat out the bag more than a time or two, curious about how Tobias would react. After all, Anderson was his best friend. Wouldn’t he be happy for us? I wanted to believe he would, but at the end of the day, there was no way to be entirely sure. Furthermore, I got the feeling Anderson wasn’t ready to tell Tobias yet. So out of respect for him, I kept quiet. The timing simply wasn’t right.
“Hey Joanna.” Startled out of my thoughts, I looked up to see Libby heading my way. She smiled warmly. “I was wondering if you’d like to join me for lunch?”
