AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What new company?” Ruby insistently asked again, interrupting Stone.
“I’m going to work for her,” Easton said. “She’s a good boss.”
“Tough,” Grandmama said resolutely.
“Can you keep this between us for now? We’ve got some loose ends to tie up.” I leveled everybody with my most serious look.
“Stop wasting time and get to it. You’ll see how hard it is when you’ve got little renegades running rampant,” Ruby said.
Easton beamed, and I groaned. “We’re out of here.”
* * *
“Miss Jacobs? I mean, Mrs. Carter.”
Holly put her notepad on the sofa and worried her lip between her teeth.
“If you can hang with me just a little bit longer, I promise things will get better.”
We’d been back in New York a few days, and between playing catch-up and trying to figure out who the hell had bought a pipeline in our names, it had been tough.
“I, um—”
Demure was a word that often came to mind when I thought of Holly, but she had backbone. A necessity to deal with me.
“What’s going on? Is it Gabriel?”
“No,” she said, eyes widening. “He loves it here. It’s, well, I—Mr. Carter came by here a few weeks ago. He wanted to know if you and his father were having an affair. I didn’t confirm it, but I didn’t deny it either.” She dropped her chin to her chest, blonde hair falling in a curtain around her face.
“Why would you do that?” And why was Easton confronting Holly about that in the first place?
When she looked up at me, her eyes pled for understanding. “Please don’t ask me that.”
“I kinda have to. You’re the last person I’d expect to betray me.”
She bolted from the sofa toward the floor-to-ceiling windows of her apartment. An uneasy glance in the direction of her son’s room had my eyes following.
“Don’t ask me,” she said sharply.
I cocked my head. “You gotta give me something. That could’ve destroyed my marriage. I was doing a fine enough job of screwing it up on my own.”
“I’m sorry,” Holly whispered, the fight in her replaced by fear.
“Are you in trouble?” Holly wouldn’t have misled Easton for no reason.
I sat back and studied the woman I’d trusted for years. Her arms were folded over her stomach as if protecting herself. Her face was pale and stress lines radiated from her eyes. There was genuine regret staring back at me, yet a resoluteness.She was scared.Her priority had always been Gabriel first then CE. Well, then me, if I was honest. She was an exceptional assistant, never late to work, never questioned her role or what I’d asked of her. Hell, I’d never worked with someone who could anticipate things before they were actually needed.
“What’s going on, Holly? This isn’t like you.”
“Mrs. Carter,please.”
What was she asking of me? I’d never seen her looking so . . . terrified. It was as if someone had hurt her but she couldn’t say who. Or they’d threatened her. She didn’t defend me when Easton asked her about me and Harris. She respected Easton and Mr. Carter. One person had stirred this shit up about Mr. Carter and me having an affair. “Why are you afraid of Drew Carter?”
She hugged herself more tightly. “I’m sorry I lied. I understand if this compromises my position.” The tremor in her voice confirmed my suspicions.
“You didn’t answer my question,” I said carefully as she shrank in on herself.
“I—” She seemed to debate what she wanted to say as she stared at the hardwood floor. When she finally looked up at me, sheer terror was in her eyes. “Please.”
