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“Neil came onto me,” I blurted.
“Woah, what? Hold on,” he said. Moments later, a door clicked shut on his end of the line. “Neil did what now?”
“He came onto me.” I tried to keep my voice down, but I was freaking out. “He didn’t grope me or anything, but he kept touching his knee to mine and looking at me weird, and I feel sogrossand stupid for not seeing it earlier.He asked me if I was lonely. What do I do?”
“Holy shit. Hold on, I’m trying to keep myself together.” He took a few deep breaths. “First of all, you didn’t do anything wrong. Second of all, the moment Neil steps into this office, I’ll kick his ass. Third of all… I don’t know. Can you just leave? Get some space to figure out what to do in your own time?”
“I can make up an excuse.” I was hungry, though, and the sea bass looked good. But not good enough to choke it down and have a guy I viewed as an uncle come onto me. “That I’m sick or something and need to go home.”
“Do that. I’m so sorry, Taylor.”
“Thanks.” I let out a shuddery breath. “I’ll go do that.”
“Call me if anything else happens, okay?”
“I will.” I ended the call and ran cold water over my wrists to calm down. Then, I scrubbed my hands, even though they weren’t even dirty.
I couldnottell Ethan, Harrison, and Cody about this. They already hated him, so they’d rip Neil limb from limb. I just needed to get out of here to bide my time and figure out how to handle him, especially with the gala coming up soon. I wasn’t going to let him ruin it or ruin me.
CHAPTER32
Ethan
Taylor getting ready for a big gala was a full-day task. We took her to the spa in the morning, where she stayed for several hours. Then, a hairstylist and makeup artist came to her apartment and got her ready. Both took over an hour. After that, she put on her dress, which required a second set of hands.
The wait was worth it, even though seeing her was also a punch to the gut. She stepped down the hallway of her apartment, her pale pink ballgown trailing behind her. It hugged her body up top but flowed outward at the bottom. Seeing her updo, I understood why it took so long. It was elaborate and pulled back from her face, showing off all her natural beauty. She truly looked like a princess.
“You look beautiful,” I said, resisting the urge to reach out and touch her.
“Thank you.” Her cheeks flushed, even under her makeup.
“You do.” Harrison looked pained. He was still struggling with the breakup. All of us were, but he was by far the worst at hiding his feelings. “Ready to go? Cody’s pulled the car up.”
“Yeah, I’m ready.”
I didn’t want to let her out of my sight, but I had to. She was going to pre-event drinks at a senator’s brownstone. Because of space limitations, we couldn’t actually go to the event with her, but the senator’s security team was good. Taylor insisted that she’d be fine, and since we were her employees, we had to give in.
But we were going to be outside waiting, getting updates from their security. I had to be okay with that, at least for about an hour and a half.
We walked her downstairs, ensuring her dress wasn’t caught in any doors, and helped her into the car. Cody’s eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw her, but he composed himself and gave her a simple compliment.
The drive to the senator’s home wasn’t long. The area was teeming with security, to my relief. Someone escorted her inside. Her bright smile warmed me from the inside and eased my worries.
Someone guiding traffic told us where to park, not far away from the house. Cody parked and sighed, pulling out his phone.
“At least we have time to get some shit done,” he murmured to himself. “I got that friend of mine to look into Neil more, and he’s just emailed me.”
“Friend of yours, meaning a hacker?” Harrison raised an eyebrow.
“Maybe, maybe not.” Cody shrugged. “And by that, I mean absolutely.”
Even I snorted at that. I wasn’t going to give him shit for doing so, especially when it came to Neil. Something had happened during Taylor’s lunch with him. She had rushed to the bathroom looking pale and suddenly wanted to leave without finishing her meal. She’d gone home and locked herself away. Maybe she had just been sick like she claimed, but I didn’t believe her excuse.
The smirk on Cody’s face faded as he read through what his friend had sent him, making my stomach sink. Soon, a look of horror set in on his face.
“What? What is it?” Harrison asked.
“Is Neil at that event in there?”
