Page 67 of The Bossy Billionaire

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I feel like death as I pretend to stock the shelves and dust the books. I got home late after Ben, Eddie, and Tennyson came in their jet and picked me up from New York. They peppered me with questions the entire way home, and for the first time, I was completely honest. To say they were shocked to hear that Amy is back was an understatement. To learn that I had fallen in love with Huxley caused them to pause, before I noticed the look of pity I try so hard to avoid these days. The pictures that were spread across the social news this morning were even worse. A few images of me with Huxley and Amy accosting us in the street. The media are having a field day, and I thank God that Willow is in town at the moment and can help me through it all.

He has been calling me nonstop this morning, but I have ignored all calls. I can’t even process last night at all. It was all so perfect, until it wasn’t. I know Huxley is in pain. I can hear it in his voice messages. But me being with him will cause even more turmoil. I know that. I love kids and I can’t put myself in front of his child. In front of Amy. They are his family. They need a chance at making that a success and me being with Huxley will not be beneficial to that.

I don’t even have to ask to know that my brothers have probably blown up his phone. They are obviously livid with him. I’m not there yet. I am still in shock and confused. By now, he will know that I am back at Bloomers. His first few voicemails were frantic about my safety, and I felt bad that I didn’t leave a note, but not wanting to snoop in his apartment, I simply left without a trace. I swallow as I look around, noticing Katie slinking around the back of the store with a box of books to shelve. My shadow has been here all morning, looking out for me, and for once, I am grateful because my leg is really aching and my eyes are sore from wearing the contacts last night. My body aches from the tension it holds, and I am so tired yet couldn’t sleep, my mind racing, my heart bleeding. I am back hidden behind my glasses today, helping me feel safe and secure, rugged up in my sweater and jeans.

“Do you want a coffee, Luce?” Dwayne asks, and he is the only one in this shop smiling today. I know I still need to talk to him, but I don’t have it in me.

“No thanks, Dwayne,” I say with a soft smile, pretending that I am fine when, really, I am crumbling inside. As I walk away, I feel my cell vibrate in my jeans pocket and pull it out. Huxley’s name flashes on the screen, and I grip the bookshelf so I don’t fall over. I should answer. I should talk with him. I can do it. I am strong enough now. My heart thuds as I answer his call.

“Hi, Huxley.”

“Hey, Luce,” he says, sounding exhausted. “I was so worried about you. You left without a word. With the security issues you have at the moment, I freaked out when you were gone.” The small amount of hope I had that he missed me is replaced by the feeling of me just being a burden and yet another thing he has to worry about due to my security issues.

“Are you okay?” I ask, completely ignoring the statement, knowing that my brothers have obviously told him I am safe. Trying to remain strong and steady.

“Yeah… No… I don’t know.” He is not making much sense. “I am on my way to Whispers for a few days.” My heart breaks a little more, knowing that he is not coming to me. I understand it. I know that Whispers is his place to think. I swallow roughly, keeping the tears that threaten at bay. This is the right thing. This is what needs to happen.

“I got a surprise, a fright, and it was like someone raised up from the dead. I just need to sort some things out. Whispers always helps clear my head.” He doesn’t tell me what they spoke about. He doesn’t tell me he is a father. He doesn’t know I overheard it, and the fact he isn’t telling me himself makes me feel even worse. He could have come to me, a little voice in my mind pipes up, and I push it down just as fast.

“Are you and Amy…” I start to ask but can barely get the words out of my throat that is drying up by the second.

“Sorry, Luce. I gotta go. We are just descending now. I’ll call you later,” he says, ending the call quickly, and I pull my cell from my ear and look at it.

“You alright?” Katie asks from nearby. I didn’t hear her come up at all, but by the look on her face, she heard my end of the conversation.

“I… don’t know,” I say honestly. It feels like my heart has been sliced by the same metal that pierced my thigh two years ago. The one guy I thought I could rely on. The one person who I thought was for me.

Katie looks at me with the familiar look of pity I have become so accustomed to, and I clench my teeth. Not again. I am not going back to that. To the media making me front page news. I need to control the narrative. I need to control my life; otherwise, other people will control it for me. I am not the same woman I once was. Now I need to prove it.

“I am going to become the face of Bloomers,” I say to her suddenly, and she looks at me with raised eyebrows.

“Cool…” she says warily.

“I am going to make Bloomers a huge success,” I say, feeling firm and strong in my decisions, confidence warming my bones. My shoulders pull back, steel determination now filling my veins. When Huxley mentioned this a few weeks ago, I balked at the idea, but I have been warming up to it, and now I am all in. It is time.

“Of course you are!” Katie says like the cheerleader she is, getting on board immediately as she stands upright, her shoulders back like she is ready to go to war with me.

“Let’s get Willow on the phone. We need a strategy.” I nod, and the two of us strut to my office, where we stay for the entire afternoon. Katie looks at me in glee, while I remain focused, pushing the hospital, my leg, and Huxley to the back of my mind. I am worthy, goddammit, and I am going to show everyone exactly what I am capable of.

CHAPTER FORTY - LUCY

It has been exactly two days since I heard from Huxley and two days since I put on my new suit of armor. I am not going to say it hasn’t hurt. My chest feels almost solid. I thought he would call again. Perhaps he is waiting for me to call him? But I can’t. I need to give them time. To sort out if they are going to be a family. I am not going to intrude. I am not going to be a homewrecker.

But the shock that was on his face when he saw Amy was real, and he is probably going through a lot of emotions right now. What if Amy is with him in Whispers? I shake my head to dislodge the thought. Maybe she is, maybe she isn’t. Time will tell, and until then, I can’t sit and wallow with a broken heart. I did that for the past few years already, and now I need to girl boss the shit out of my business and my life.

With Katie and Brian’s help, I have a whole new wardrobe, care of my brothers. I have worked with Katie and Eddie on building out the new literacy program funded by the Rothschild Foundation and put together a schedule of how many classes I can run from Bloomers per week. Her team is already working on the program specifics and the intake enrollments, with plans for us to start in another month or so.

The foundation has paid an upfront sum of money so I can get the shop in order, and I have already organized some carpenters to come take a look around later today. Admittedly, my brothers did more than they needed to after the rock-throwing incident with new windows, new carpet, and new shelving. But I can get the walls repainted and the back stairs fixed, as well as some extra shelving in the stockroom and a bigger area for the program adjacent to the kids area.

I look at the coffee station and sigh. I have come to the realization that I am going to remove the barista coffee from the shop and focus on the books and the literacy programs, which means, regardless of his work ethic, Dwayne no longer has a position here.

Willow spent all day with me yesterday, briefing me on media protocol, giving me mock interviews, and I had my first radio interview this morning that went better than expected. Questions about my love life came up, as well as the hospital, and of course Harrison’s campaign, and while I did falter a little, I remained impartial and was able to turn the conversation back to Bloomers and the new literacy program. A skill that I hadn’t mastered before, but now that I have done it a few times in practice with Willow, I feel more and more comfortable.

Willow suggests a few more radio and print interviews before we move on to any that are face-to-face. It provides a good training ground, ensuring that I am confident in the questions and can school my facial impressions before I get in front of a journalist who watches my mannerisms. I have a newfound respect for Harrison in all this. He fronts the media and the public every day; the way he must school his features sometimes surely gives him a headache. I smile thinking about him. He is currently on the West Coast, but both he and my other brothers have called me every day. What I would have once found suffocating, I can now clearly see that it is love.

Unfortunately, Tennyson is threatening to fly to Whispers to beat Huxley up as only big brothers can. Harrison, I can tell, is extremely disappointed in his friend, but I try to remind them both that I am okay, and Huxley deserves to be with his family. I wonder if he has a little boy or a little girl. I wonder if they look like him. Ben and Emily are both helping me with the business side of things now that Huxley isn’t around. Who knew there was so much legal paperwork surrounding bringing educational programs into a private business.

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