Page 90 of Forbidden Boss (Manhattan Billionaires)

I awokewith a sense of clarity.

Things had come to a head, and I could no longer deny it. Working for Rome while pregnant with his baby was untenable. I had to make a decision, and I had to make it now.

Roseanne Monk hadn’t officially offered me a job, and I didn’t know if I was comfortable working for her when Rome and I hadn’t been entirely honest with her about our relationship. But shehadshown me that I had options. I didn’t need to stay at Blakely. I had a small savings account now, and I had a lease on an apartment for the next year. I wasn’t on the brink of destitution.

I had time.

Time to figure out how I’d care for a child. Time to figure out how to tell Rome about the baby. Time to face my fears and take responsibility for my part in this.

In all my relationships, I’d been happy to be put in a box that other people defined. In some cases, like my current employment, it was spelled out in black and white. I was the companion.

But if I really was pregnant, and if I really did end up with a baby sometime next summer—to be confirmed whenever I worked up the courage to go to the doctor—then I had to start sorting my life out.

I would be amother.And no matter what life threw at me, I wouldn’t put my kid in the same position my mother put me in. I wouldn’t let my own hang-ups cloud my judgment. I wouldn’t blame my child for my own mistakes and weaknesses.

I’d been hurt by so many people. I’d felt pushed aside. But no one could push me aside from this most important responsibility.

And the way I saw it, the first thing I had to do was extricate myself from my job at Blakely. My relationship with Rome was developing quickly, but it was still clouded by the fact that he paid me to stand at his side. I didn’t want that murkiness anymore. I wanted him to want me forme. I wanted him to chooseme.

For that to happen, I couldn’t work for him. There was no way of having my paycheck be contingent on my performance as his sidekick if I were to believe that he truly cared about me.

I had to quit—or at least broach the subject with him. I wouldn’t march in there and tell him I didn’t want to work for him anymore, but Iwouldsay that in order for us to continue as a couple, I couldn’t be his employee.

It was the only logical way forward.

Then, once that was settled, I could make the doctor’s appointment and figure out if I did have a baby growing in my womb. Once I confirmed it, I’d tell Rome.

First, I had to make sure that he felt the same way I did—that what was growing between us went beyond the bounds of our contract. That I was more than a companion to him. That this was real.

Only then could I face the pregnancy.

So, I dressed in my favorite navy dress with the peplum and the white piping and big cloth-covered buttons. I curled my hair and applied my makeup with deliberate care. With each swipe of my mascara brush and dab of foundation, a sense of calm settled over me.

I could do this. I might have been passed over for promotions and taken advantage of by friends and family, but I wouldn’t let myself be shunted off to the side now. If Rome truly cared about me, he’d choose me.

The company car was already waiting downstairs, as confirmed by Rome himself this morning. I nodded to Keith and got in the back seat, taking a few deep breaths to settle my nerves before heading into the office. The whole ride, I rehearsed what I’d tell Rome. I tried to play out his reaction, to predict what he’d say.

He wouldn’t be happy, but he’d come around. He’d want me to keep working for him because it was convenient to have me close, to order me around.

But he’d understand why I couldn’t keep doing that. Why I wanted more.

I had to trust in that. Had to believe it.

Otherwise, I was on my way to blowing up my entire life.

THIRTY-SEVEN

ROME

My knee bouncedas I sat at my desk reviewing emails. The little clock in the corner of my screen kept drawing my eye despite my best efforts to ignore it.

Nikki would show up today. She said she would, so she would. I had no need to doubt that.

But Cole was leaving, and my mother and brother were backing me into a corner. I’d been on edge since yesterday, and I didn’t know how to shake this sense of impending doom.

Something was wrong, and I didn’t know what.

I needed to figure out how my mother had found out about the contract. Was it Nikki? Had she broken her NDA? Was there someone in my organization telling secrets? I’d set Arthur on the hunt for the leak, but I hadn’t told Cole. What if he quit because he’d betrayed me?

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