Page 120 of The Perfect Mistake

I narrow my eyes at her. “I’d never do that.”

“Okay. Good. She told me it wasn’t serious between you two.”

“She did,” I say slowly. “Right. Good.”

“I honestly don’t know if that makes it less or more weird for me,” Connie says. She sighs, and there’s a world of emotions in that sound. “God. I just don’t want you to hurt her, Alec. She doesn’t need that right now.”

“I have no intention of hurting her.”

“Guys say that all the time, and then do the exact opposite,” she says. “What are your intentions? If it’s not serious?”

“It’s complicated,” I say.

“Complicated because you’re her boss, and you don’t want to mix business and pleasure?”

“Yes,” I say curtly. “Among other things.”

There are about twenty other reasons, one of which is sitting right in front of me.

Connie sighs. “I know you haven’t been particularly open to anything since Victoria… and I know we’ve never spoken about this. But don’t you think she’d want you to move on?”

I grind my teeth together. This is the last thing I want to talk about. It’d be easier if she yelled at me instead.

“Most likely,” I say.

Thinking about Victoria isn’t something I try to do most days. Not now, not with Isabel. It’s too complicated to hold it all in my head, and to reconcile the man I was with her with the man I currently am.

My sister’s voice is firm, but I can hear the vulnerability in her tone. “It’s fine if you want to move on. Have some fun. I would be your biggest supporter in that case. But did it have to be with my best friend? I trusted you with her! She needs this job and somewhere to stay while healing.”

This is much better.

“I know. Never meant for it to hurt you,” I say. The words are hard to say. They shouldn’t be, but they are. We don’t often talk like this. But disappointing my little sister is something I’ve done a lot lately.

“It’s just so… weird,” she says. She rises from the chair and glances at her watch. “I have the meeting with the marketing team. And to be honest… I don’t know what else to say. Just don’t hurt her, Alec. Be very clear about what you want.”

“Because that’s so fucking easy?” I ask dryly.

Connie’s eyes widen. She’s quiet for a moment, but then she shakes her head. “No. It’s not. But do it for her sake. She’s already looking at other jobs, and when this ends, just make sure she comes out on top.”

I knew she’d been thinking about what career paths to pursue in the future, but actively applying for jobs?

That’s news to me.

“What else did she say?” I ask Connie again. If it sounds like I’m begging, I’m too far gone to care.

“Talk to her instead,” Connie says.

She disappears out of my office, and the door slams shut, leaving me in a deafening silence that is nowhere near serene.

I bury my head in my hands.

Fuck.

I need to talk to Isabel. But tonight is Contron’s annual gala, always held a week preceding Thanksgiving, and I have to be in attendance. The speech is already prepared, the stage is set. Dad will be there too, and I know he’ll ask me about the board position again. Connie and Gabriel will be there.

But Isabel won’t.

And for the first time, I really wish I could bring her as my date.

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