Page 16 of It Must Be Love

"You okay?" Ann asked quietly so the others at the dinner table wouldn't overhear us.

"Yeah."

"Is she bothering you?"

"She works at Midas," I said nonchalantly.

"She makes you uncomfortable," Ann jeered.

"Yeah, maybe. Let it go, Ann."

At work, Naya would sometimes watch me with her big doe eyes, but she didn't try to talk to me until it was necessary. Hell, for the first couple of years at Midas, she barely greeted me. It was only when she was promoted by Ethan that I started to see her in meetings. That was when I reverted back to being the asshole I used to be when she was a kid—pushing her away, telling her as clearly as I could without saying the words that I was not interested in her.

When Ann mentioned that Naya had a crush on me, I hadn't been surprised to hear it. I didn't see her much socially anymore but when I did it was evident. Did I like it? Or did it still piss me off? I knew I wasn't indifferent to it. At work, she was professional. Apparently to the point that when I tried to be personal just now she'd ended the conversation.

None of this though explained why I picked on her at work. It baffled me just as it had Ethan and Naya's team. She probably wondered what she'd done to piss me off.

She's done nothing. Absolutely nothing!

I had to do better, I promised myself. I didn't have to become best friends with her, but I did need to treat her with respect. She deserved that.

After the meeting, I called out to Naya as everyone was filing out of the conference room. Her colleague, Mila stopped. She was the one who'd called Ethan and tattled on me. I didn't even know Naya and she were friends. But they were, and Mila was loyal to Naya. Apparently, her whole team was.

"Just Naya. Mila, you can go," I instructed.

Mila looked like she was about to say something, but Naya shook her head subtly, and Mila left.

Naya didn't move from her chair. She sat calmly with her hands on her now closed laptop. The conference room had glass walls, and I knew people would be watching to see what the boss would say to his favorite punching bag.

"Let's take this to my office." I rose and walked out, hoping she'd follow me. Of course, she would. This was work and I was the fucking CEO of the company.

What are you doing, Amias?

I didn't hold the door for her and just walked into my office and barked at her to shut the door behind her. I rested my ass against my table and pointed at a chair in front of me. "Sit."

She did as I told her to and put her laptop and papers on her lap.

"Ethan called me a few days ago and mentioned that you and your team think I'm too hard on you."

Her eyes flickered with panic for a hot second and then were serene again. How the fuck did she do that? How did she control her expressions so well?

"I haven't talked to Ethan since he went on paternity leave," she spoke softly, not looking at me. "I have no idea why he'd say what he did to you."

"Do you and your team think that?" I demanded.

She swallowed, still not looking at me. "No one has said anything to me, and I haven't said anything to anyone."

"I'm asking you then, do you think I'm too hard on you?"

She looked up finally at me, her gaze moving away from her hands that were resting on her laptop. I was feeling like a monster having this conversation with her. But she was so controlled that I wanted to shatter her cool, see what lay beneath her drab clothes and quiet shell.

"Compared to?"

"Compared…say to Ethan?"

She shrugged. "You're both very different people. Your leadership styles are different."

"How are we different?"

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