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For a few days now, I hadn’t even been able to look Nalani in her face, too pissed off about the news she’d so cavalierly dropped in my lap.
I didn’t believe for a second she’d simply “forgotten.” The woman was too put-together for that. I’d seen what her calendars looked like, knew how organized she was.
And even if shehad“forgotten”… the sneaking around was out of character.
And unnecessary.
So I didn’t believe that shit.
“I thought we’d put a time limit on this,” Shiloh said from the doorway, pulling me from my thoughts. When I looked up, she was tapping her watch. “I told you, at ten we were getting out of our feelings to get some shit done.”
I blew out a sigh. “Shi… I appreciate your attempts to motivate, but I’m not in the mood.”
“Glad I didn’t ask that then,” she said, stepping fully inside and crossing her arms. “My job is to keep you together, so that things around here keep running. You’ve been licking a superficial wound for like a week at this point and ignoring your schedule.”
“Superficial? There’s nothing superficial about the timeframe my wife and I agreed on.Contractually.”
“I’m not saying there is,” Shiloh countered. “I’m saying that her delay in getting her birth control removed isnotwhat you’re turning it into.”
I scoffed. “So you’re telling me you believe sheforgot? Please.”
“Yes, actually.” Shiloh shrugged. “The whole point of long-term birth control isto forget it,” she argued. “Tonothave to think about it every day. Or ever, until you get the notification every couple of years that it’s time to replace, but since you don’t have to worry about that…”
“I’m well aware of how long-term birth control works,” I griped. “That’s not the point.”
Shiloh nodded. “Right. Thepointis that, somewhere between you railroading her into a quickie wedding, having the wedding, and then coming back to deal with an accounting clusterfuck and corporate takeover, she should’ve remembered to have the birth control designed to be forgotten removed. ’Cause you wanted her to. Did I miss something?”
My nostrils flared as I blew outanothersigh, this one exponentially more exaggerated than before. “You’ve made it clear what side of this you’re on. You can close my door on your way out.”
“I’m not on anybody’sside, Ri. I’m trying to get you to seelogic. You know, that thing men seem to think they’re the kings of?”
“My logic is perfectly sound. What makes you think it isn’t?”
“Your hella emotional response to what happened,” Shiloh answered, shrugging. “You’re being a little irrational. Just a tad.”
“Fuck off, Shi.”
“I willnot,” she insisted. She dropped into the chair across from my desk. “Not until you snap out of this and give your wife some grace. She’s probablynotlying. And if she was… well… can you honestly blame her?”
I frowned. “Excuse me?”
Shiloh sucked her teeth. “Come on, Ri, think about it. You blew into her life like a damn typhoon, wrecking everything she understood about… hell, everything. You used your resources to needle your way into a position that mostly benefitted you and youstillhaven’t told her the full truth about why. Only the most hurtful possible angle. From her point of view, you stole her mother’s legacy, forced her to marry you to get it back, and now she’s supposed to get pregnant, making herselfeven more vulnerable.Toyou, of all people. You should probably count your lucky stars if delaying the possibility of having your kid is all she plans to do to you.”
“I haven’t done shit her own damn father didn’t make possible.”
“And you think that absolves you?” she asked. “I mean, listen, I understand that the rules are different around here, that everybody has their motives, all that. But you can’t put a woman in a desperate situation and then get mad when she makes desperate moves, which, again, isnotwhat I think happened.”
“I don’t pay you for your opinions.”
Shiloh lifted an eyebrow, a mischievous grin I wasnotin the fucking mood for spreading over her face. “Don’t you though?” she asked, propping her hands on her chin as she leaned into my desk.
She really thought I was fucking playing.
“Listen, you’ve worked for me a long ass time. You’re family, Shi, so I’m trying to be cool right now. I suggest you get the fuck out of my office, okay?”
“Oooh.” She laughed, pushing up from her seat. “Okay,Mr. Serious.But think about what I said. You’re being a jerk and you should really reconsider. Not everything is a personal slight against you.”
“Shiloh.”
