Page 112 of It Starts With A No

Clary blinked when she realized Andrea was staring at her.

“If you want a shoulder to cry on,” Andrea gave her shoulder a pat, “I’m here.”

Clary pushed herself upright with a sigh. “I’m fine.” She ran her hand through her hair. She didn’t have time to dwell on her own issues. “It was always just business between us.”

Her gaze dropped to the ring on her hand. She was about to pull it off when she stopped herself. It’s just a replacement for the ring I lost. It didn’t mean or represent anything.

“I don’t think it’s just business.” Andrea sat next to her. “I’m not sure if it’ll make you feel better or worse, but I don’t think he was only after the loan.”

“We can’t both be idealistic a hundred percent of the time.”

Andrea licked her lips. “I was there,” she said. “I spoke with you two, then you left to pack. He looked genuinely worried. He grilled me on what the police would do to catch Gavin Ressler. He told me about the mannequin and how he already had someone working on finding out who shipped that stupid thing.” She clasped her hands together. “And honestly, you look miserable. I wasn’t being nosy when I asked what happened. Is it something that can’t be fixed?”

“Do you have a time machine that can go back and change our past?”

Andrea’s brows drew together.

“Seth and his brothers were adopted and abused by Holly Eolenfeld. Edward Eolenfeld’s daughter.”

“The actress.”

Clary nodded. “The suffering didn’t end when they finally got out from under her roof.”

“What has that got to do with you?”

“Nothing, and everything.”

“Because of your connection to Edward Eolenfeld? You weren’t the one who hurt them.”

“They just hate the Eolenfelds in general. They tried to get help, but I think the Eolenfeld name was too powerful for anyone to take what they said seriously.” She jerked her chin toward Andrea. “It was powerful enough to get your father concerned about a nobody like me.”

“You’re the CEO of EB Co.; you’re not a nobody.”

“I’m only the CEO because Mr. E made me the CEO.” Clary kneaded her neck as her phone started ringing. She sighed when she saw the name on the screen.

“Want me to answer it?”

Clary shook her head and grabbed the phone. “What do you want, Hugh?”

“You’ve been the CEO for barely a month and already you’re skipping work?”

She rolled her eyes. “I deserve a day off after all that time with your insufferable boys’ club.”

Hugh laughed. “You’re afraid of them? I’ve never seen you afraid of anything, since you know you have my grandfather backing you.”

What happened in the elevator flashed in her mind.

What else would Neil have done if she had been alone? If they weren’t in the elevator, but somewhere more private?

Mr. E would have destroyed Neil for hurting her, but she had no doubt Neil would still have done so.

She tensed her muscles to suppress the shudder threatening to reverberate through her. “What do you want?”

“Your assistant is being a—”

“Leave Tamara alone.”

“Have to say, she’s a good guard dog. She looked as if she was going to tear my head off if I tried to enter the room.”

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