Page 41 of My Forbidden Boss

Undefinable.

Adeline deserves better than that. She deserves everything and if I have to grovel, beg, plead and denounce god I will.

I won’t have her ashamed. Of me.

Of us.

Because there is an us. I’ll make sure of it.

I stalk the hallway and see Adeline. My pace slows. Adeline is talking to Andrea, who should be with her sister, but is back where she always is. A permanent fixture at Blue Sky.

My unrestricted access to Adeline is over.

Adeline is pale. Her face pinched. I don’t like the shadows under her eyes, or the way her shoulders slump at whatever Andrea says to her.

“Adeline,” I say, her name a balm to my frayed nerves.

Words dry up when her startled gaze falls on me and her shoulders tighten. Fractionally. Enough to make me stop.

All I want to do is drag her against me, run my fingers through her hair, breathe in her scent, and let go of the tightness in my body. I don’t. I can’t. Not in front of Andrea. Not until I have Adeline’s permission can I do those things in front of other people. I go against every urge riding my body to reach for her.

“Mr Chandler. I’m glad you’re in,” Andrea says.

I turn my focus to Andrea, seeing the line between her brows and the disapproving turn of her lips. Has she always been like this? I’ve never noticed.

“What’s going on, Andrea?” I ask.

She blanches at my tone, but recovers quickly. Her narrowed gaze slides to Adeline and back to me. “May I speak with you in your office, Mr Chandler?”

Adeline clutches her hands in front of her, her gaze on the floor. Silent. Irrational anger flares. I don’t want to scare Adeline. Don’t want to purge out what runs through my mind, so I nod my head, walk into my office and lean against my desk, crossing my arms, wanting to hear what Andrea has to say. Wanting her to give me a reason to send her away.

Andrea closes the door behind her. I watch Adeline through the glass. Her back curves and she slides onto her desk chair. She stares at her computer, hands clutched atop the desk, head dropped, eyes closed. Resigned.

It takes everything I have not to go out there for her. It’s the need to know what Andrea’s done to her that keeps me locked against the desk, feet planted on the carpet.

“What the hell did you say to Adeline?” I ask.

Andrea’s brows flick upwards. Her shoe scuffs on the carpet, confidence stripped. I’m pleased. I won’t have anyone treating Adeline as ‘less than’, and that includes a long-standing member of my staff.

Andrea clears her throat. I frown, wanting her to come out with it. I’m not my usual conciliatory self and it throws Andrea off. She smooths a non-existent loose strand of hair against her head and into her tight bun. “You don’t enjoy hearing bad things about the staff, but I caught Adeline accessing files she hasn’t clearance for.”

“And what files are those?” I say.

“Your private hard drive for one,” she says. If she’s expecting outrage from me, she’s mistaken.

“I gave her my permission to access that drive.” I don’t offer her an explanation of why. She shouldn’t second guess my actions because I’m the boss.

Andrea’s mouth falls open. “But…”

“What did you say to her?” I ask again.

It takes a moment for Andrea to recover. “I told her she shouldn’t have access and that I would report her to you. Mr Chandler, no one has access to your drive but me.”

“And now Adeline. She is my second PA and needed to take over while you weren’t here. In future, before you berate a member of my staff, ask me first if it’s warranted,” I say.

Andrea is shaken, as she should be. She dips her head and offers a quietly spoken, but not before I catch the shine in her eyes, “I’m sorry, Mr Chandler.”

“I suggest you get over this dislike you have for Ms Rayner. She’s here to stay.” She’s going to be more than my PA, but I keep that to myself.

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