Page 40 of Enemy Boss

I don’t reply to that because I have no words. At least not ones that won’t end up with me getting a fist in my face, something I would prefer to avoid if I can. And I owe my deadbeat dad nothing, so I don’t feel like I need to defend him.

“I wanted to express my condolences actually,” Ross says after a moment of silence. “I’m sorry to hear that you lost your job and your boyfriend.”

He spits out the word boyfriend like it burns his mouth, but I ignore that for now. I’m more taken aback by the fact that he knows this. How can he possibly know it? Even if he was following me, and saw me crying in the car, he wouldn’t know why. Even if he took a guess, he might be lucky and guess I had been fired or dumped, but both? Nah. I’m not buying it.

I’m almost certain Sam must have caved and gave him my address because I know Harriet wouldn’t, but she can’t have told him about this because she doesn’t even know herself yet. And even if Harriet had stabbed me in the back, which I know she wouldn’t, she wouldn’t have had time to receive my text, read it, and contact Ross in time for him to get over here when he did. None of it makes sense.

“How do you know about that?” I ask.

“The words you are looking for Max honey is, thank you for your condolences,” Ross says.

Here we go. Even before he showed me his violent side, he had this pompous side where he thinks everyone should have the manners of a really formal setting at all times.

“Thank you for your condolences,” I say. “But how did you know to offer them?”

My wording must meet his standards this time because he doesn’t make an effort to correct me. He doesn’t answer my question either. He just winks and taps the side of his nose. Maybe I should tell him that it is rude to answer a question with a gesture and it is also rude to withhold information you have been asked about. But I know better than to start an argument with him.

Well actually, no, that’s not true. I’m going to end up arguing with him to get him to leave, I know that much. But I know how to pick my battles and I am not going to get into an argument with him this early on or by the time I try to get him to leave, he will have riled himself up into the kind of temper that scares me; I’m certain that if I had stayed with him, that temper would have caused him to kill me one day. And to be honest, I don’t care if he has manners or not.

I am curious if my guess at Sam spilling my address is true though and while I’m asking questions and not getting yelled at for it, I decide to ask one more. I don’t really expect an answer other than another nose tap, but I decide to ask anyway.

“How did you find me here?” I ask.

“Oh, it was easier than you might think,” he says. “I just followed your bestie around for long enough that eventually, she came here.”

Sorry Sam I say inside my head. It shows how easy it is for someone determined to find me to do it without anyone even knowing about it. It’s kind of a scary thought, but I don’t have time to worry about that now. I have enough of a scary situation to deal with as it is without starting to think about others.

“I can’t say I was happy about the Cullen development,” Ross says. He says Cullen in the same hissing tone he said boyfriend earlier. “But don’t worry. I’m not mad. Well maybe I am a little bit, but I get it. I understand what you were trying to do, that you wanted to make me jealous. Well honey, it sure worked but I will forgive you for seeing him behind my back, because I know that now you have my attention, you won’t do it again.”

I don’t even know where to begin to process that. He really is more deranged than I have ever known him to be, to the point where it’s actually scarier than him yelling the odds at me.

“I didn’t do anything behind your back,” I say. “We weren’t together when Cullen and I got together.”

“Ah so sweet that you are trying to save my feelings, but there’s really no need to. Like I said, I have already forgiven you,” Ross says. “But please don’t imply that there was ever a time we weren’t together in spirit even if not in physical proximity.”

“No,” I say. “We didn’t have some sort of long distance romance. We split up, Ross.”

“Shh now,” he says, his voice gentle like he is soothing a baby. “Let it go Max. None of that matters now, I’m here with you and this time I am not letting you go again.”

That is a horrible thought, but I still can’t quite get past the fact that he thinks we have been together this whole time. Like what? How does he even come up with this stuff?

“Ross, please. Be rational here. We haven’t spoken in well over eight months. How can you possibly think we are still together,” I say.

“Ok, ok, we’ll play it your way. You always did like to get your own way,” Ross says giving me an indulgent smile, like he’s doing me a favor. I suppose in his mind he is. God what a condescending prick he is. How did I ever find this man attractive? “We broke up.”

He puts broke up in inverted commas, telling me he still isn’t taking this seriously.

“I don’t even know what to say at this point,” I say and that is completely honest.

“You don’t have to say anything honey. I know you needed that time to figure things out and that’s good that you have been able to do so. Don’t get me wrong, I missed you, but we have our whole lives ahead of us now and we get to spend them together without you always wondering if you made a mistake because you know for sure now that you didn’t. The universe brought us back to each other.”

“No, you stalked my friends, got my address, and forced your way in here. That’s not the universe telling us to do anything,” I say.

If I had taken a moment to think it through, I wouldn’t have dared say that to him, but as it is, it’s said now and there’s nothing I can do to take it back.

“You never were a romantic,” Ross muses.

Chapter 30

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