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Victoria didn’t understand what had gone wrong. One moment, everything was great, and the next, Alexa had turned into the ice queen.
“Alexa… can we talk?”
Alexa flashed an empty smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Sorry, Victoria, I’ve got to run.”
Victoria sighed as Alexa sped out of the house. Honestly, she hadn’t expected anything different. She’d been trying to get Alexa to talk to her for two weeks now. Every time she asked what was wrong, Alexa denied that there was a problem, but there clearly was.
Alexa barely spoke to her anymore, limiting herself to answering Victoria’s questions with single sentences. They hadn’t touched in two weeks. Alexa kept to her side of the bed and on the two occasions Victoria had tried to initiate more intimate touches, she had claimed to be too exhausted for it.
Victoria just couldn’t understand it. They hadn’t had a fight or anything along those lines. How could Alexa’s attitude have changed so drastically overnight?
Victoria worried that Alexa simply didn’t feel the same anymore, but for it to happen so quickly made no sense. Regardless, she was constantly on tenterhooks, dreading the moment she was sure was coming… Alexa breaking up with her.
Victoria didn’t have time to make a more concerted effort to get Alexa to talk to her this morning. She was due in court. It was the first day of what promised to be a very long battle with Rossi Corporation.
She got dressed with little enthusiasm before heading out to meet Luke and Macy at the courthouse. Both were clutching briefcases and doing a good job of hiding their nerves, but Victoria knew them well enough to see past their deceptively calm expressions.
They all knew what was riding on this case—the success or failure of the business.
As they walked into the court room, Victoria did a double take. What the hell was Alexa doing here? For one wild moment, she thought that Alexa had come to support her on this big day, but how would Alexa have even known where to be? They had barely spoken about anything over the past two weeks, let alone work.
Then Victoria realized where Alexa was—on the opposite side of the courtroom to her, surrounded by people who had to be lawyers, judging by their clothes.
Victoria wondered if she’d walked into wrong courtroom. “Luke? Are we in the right place?”
“Of course. You can sit right here.”
“What is Alexa doing here?” Victoria hissed, desperately hoping that Luke would say something to help her avoid the crushing truth that was threatening to sweep her away.
“Alexa Rossi? She’s the CEO of Rossi Corporation—your opponent.”
Victoria swayed on her feet.
What thefuck?
How the hell had this happened? Surely, she couldn’t have been dating her greatest rival and not know it, right?
Not talking about work had seemed like a sensible thing to do at the time, but now Victoria realized what a fool she had been. Alexa showed no surprise to see her there. How long had she known?
The answer came to Victoria like a punch in the gut. Two weeks. It must be. That’s why Alexa had been acting so weirdly. She somehow found out who Victoria was, and instead of confronting her, she’d… what? Pretended everything was okay? She certainly hadn’t done a great job of it. What had she been thinking?
Anger boiled up within Victoria’s chest. Alexa had had no right to keep this from her! She should have said something the moment she realized. Maybe they could have… what? Worked it out? How in the world were they supposed to work it out?
They were bitter rivals. Enemies. Fuck, Victoria wasliterallysleeping with the enemy.
What ramifications would this have on the case? Was that why Alexa hadn’t said anything? She wanted to give her side the advantage of knowing about their intimate relationship, while denying Victoria the same advantage.
Victoria’s venomous glare was wasted; Alexa was looking determinedly away from her.
“Luke, we have a problem.”
“What’s wrong?” Luke looked at her and did a double take. “Victoria? You’re as pale as a sheet. Are you feeling well?”
“Not particularly,” she said through gritted teeth. “The… the CEO. Alexa Rossi. I’m in… she’s my… ugh. We’re dating.”
Luke dropped the file he was holding, sending papers scattering over the floor. Macy quickly bent to pick them up,but Luke was too busy goggling at Victoria to notice. “You didn’t think to tell me this before?” he hissed.
“I didn’t know before!”
