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“Tori.” Why do I hate him calling me that now? Victoria sounds so beautiful rolling off his lips. “You don’t need to do this. You can walk away right now, and I would totally understand. This is my mess to solve, not yours. I’m used to my life being turned upside down. I got through it four years ago, and I can do it again now. I don’t want you hurt in any way.” The hurt and sorrow in his voice makes my heart stutter for him. He is talking about when his grandfather found him in Australia. He mentioned it briefly in Rome, but the details were vague. I know there’s more to the story, and I decide right now that I want the chance to find out everything about this man. What happened to him back then and everything in between.
Taking a deep breath, I stand taller. “I said I won’t lie for you. But if you tell me I’m your girlfriend, right here, right now, then I won’t be making it up, will I.” Shrugging my shoulders at him in the most stressful moment since we met, we both start laughing uncontrollably.
“You want me to ask you out, like behind the school toilets in primary school?” Leaning down, he kisses me on the forehead.
“Yes,” I say, pretending to demand that he does it.
“Victoria Packer, will you please be my girlfriend and let me hold your hand? And tomorrow, I promise to share my sandwich with you at the lunch table,” he says, kissing my cheek as the smile creeps up my face.
“Depends, what’s on the sandwich?” I whisper as his lips are now hovering just off mine.
“Whatever you want, beautiful.” His breath on my lips seals my fate.
“Okay then,” I agree, leaning just that fraction more so we are again kissing like the world is about to explode. It’s hot and passionate, expressing everything we can’t seem to say to each other right now.
Bashing on the door makes us jump.
“I’ll kill him,” Nicholas growls as he takes me in his arms, almost squashing me in a hug that tells me how grateful he is for what I’m agreeing to. Little does he know I would have done it even if he hadn’t agreed to my request.
My little giggle escapes as we pull apart. “Shall we go slay this bitch?” I ask as I take his hand and open the door.
“Fuck yes, we will!” Flynn says when I open the door. “I knew we would be good friends.” He grins at both of us as we straighten our clothes, and Nicholas puts his jacket back on, placing his phone in his pocket before taking my hand again.
We start our walk down the corridor toward the boardroom, and to anyone else we would look like an epic scene from amovie when the characters are walking together in formation.
Don’t mess with these men, and they are about to find out that I’m more frightening than all these guys put together.
Just push me, Jocelyn, and see what I mean.
You’d think walking into the boardroom would make me feel nervous, but I’m far from it. If there is anything I hate, it’s a bully, and that’s what this woman sounds like.
Not that I don’t think Nicholas can handle her all on his own, because it sounds like he has been doing that for the last four years. But sometimes, you need another woman to think like her opponent.
If she wants to play games, then bring it on.
“What is she doing here?” the only woman in the room screeches from the other end of the table.
“Thought I would bring my girlfriend to watch me explain to one of my employees how this company is run. Especially since I own it and control it,” Nicholas conveys to her in a very firm but controlled voice.
“Not for long,” she replies with the most fake smile on her face, pretending to be so sweet. “My great-uncle, the founder of this company and your precious grandfather, would be rolling over in his grave at what has been revealed today.”
Feeling his body tense, I squeeze his hand to pull him back into the moment. She is baiting him, and I’ll be fucked if I’m going to let her get away with it.
With the sweetest voice I can muster, I put her back in her place, as only a woman protecting her man can. “Oh, you must be Jocelyn, the cousin. It was so kind of Nicholas’s grandfather to give you this job, seeing as he knew he could never trust you to be in charge of any part of this great company. I would have thought you got over being passed over by now, but obviously, you are still holding the childish grudge that Nicholas inherited what was rightfully his father’s, and of course, then his.”
She sucks in a breath as she is about to start her ranting.
“Sit down, Jocelyn,” I say. “Shall we get on with this trivial meeting then? Nicholas and I have some plans this afternoon, and you are interrupting them.”
Take that, bitch.
This time, Nicholas is almost breaking my hand with his squeeze, but I know it is to say thank you.
You’re welcome, my asshole.
The boys might have your back, but I’m right beside them.
ChapterFifteen
