Page 37 of Daddy Billionaire Dragon

I gather up the papers that are strewn all over the floor. Lex needs to see these anyway, so if I take it to him, it might give me a legitimate excuse to get into a conversation with him.

I am disappointed when Lex is not in his office. I can’t face going back to my office just yet, so I head to the break room. With a sigh of relief on finding it empty, I put on the kettle to make myself a cup of chamomile tea. I am still pretty shaken up from what I saw. Just as I am about to fill my cup with hot water, I see something outside the break room window.

No! It can’t be happening! Am I not going to get any respite? I force myself to look and see something zip past. My hands are shaking so badly that I spill the hot water all over the floor. Some hot water even splashes on my hands. With a yelp of pain, I rush to the sink and drop the cup into it with a loud clatter. With trembling fingers, I turn the faucet on, allowing cold water to run over my scalded fingers. I am finding it difficult to breathe, and I am close to tears. Am I imagining it all? Am I losing my mind?

I collapse on a nearby chair with a large wad of kitchen roll wrapped around my fingers. Angry red welts are already beginning to form. My eyes keep darting to the window, but of course, there’s nothing there now.

“Hey, everything alright?” TJ is standing in the doorway. His voice makes me jump nearly a foot up.

“Yeah. Yeah,” I say, pushing hair out of my face with my good hand. He looks at me uncertainly and nods.

“No. Everything is not okay,” I say in a small voice with my head bowed and my gaze fixed on my feet. He moves forward to occupy the chair in front of me.

“What happened? You can talk to me,” he says, leaning forward in his chair, trying to get a look at my face. I haven’t interacted much with other partners other than during the meetings, so I don’t really know if I can dislodge all my woes on TJ. But then again, he is the head of Security. No matter how crazy it makes me sound, I need to talk about this to someone before I actually lose my mind.

I open my mouth and close it again, not knowing where to start. I don’t even know if Lex has told the other partners about our Paris trip. I don’t know if they are on board with the whole thing. Lex has been very conscientious about keeping our private lives private. None of the other execs or secretaries even have a hint that I slept with Lex. Some of them have of course noticed how strained things have become between Lex and I, but they have attributed it to me being relatively new and to Lex’s busy schedule.

“Well… last weekend, Lex took me to Paris,” I say, tearing my gaze away from my feet to search his face. His expression doesn’t change. Lex had once told me that the partners are more like brothers to him. So of course he’s told him. You don’t keep stuff like flying a woman halfway across the world on a date from your closest buddies. But that doesn’t stop me from feeling somewhat embarrassed. Knowing that they all know is suddenly making me very conscious.

“Hey, it’s okay,” TJ gives my hand a gentle squeeze. “Lex might behave like an ass from time to time, but he would never, ever disrespect you in any way.”

I look up at him and nod. His words are reassuring.

“Ever since we got back, I’ve been feeling as if I’m being watched. Actually there was one incident before Paris as well,” I tell him about being followed on the subway. Once I start, the words come tumbling out. I tell him everything, right to what transpired just moments ago. I am reliving all those feelings of acute fear, and I’m in danger of experiencing a full-blown panic attack. My breath is coming in short gasps. Sweat is dotting my eyebrows.

“Hush, it’s alright. Come here,” he says, taking me into his arms. I am so glad for the support of his arms around me. I was half afraid I was going to pass out. I lay my head on his shoulder, unable to stop the flow of tears.

“What’s happening here?” Lex’s angry voice makes us break away. “What the hell are you doing, TJ?”

Lex roughly pulls TJ away from me. His jaw is clenched tight, as are his fists, and a vein is throbbing at his temple. I have never seen him so angry before.

“Lex! It’s not what you think,” I rush forward. I feel as if I have swallowed a bucket of ice. He ignores me completely as he continues shooting daggers at TJ.

“Leave us, Nic,” he commands without looking at me. I look from TJ to him and back to TJ. TJ, instead of telling Lex that we weren’t doing anything wrong, just leans back in his chair, crosses his arms over his torso, and grins arrogantly.

I make no move to leave.

“Give us a few minutes alone, will you please, Nic?” TJ says, smiling at me.

I stand resolutely for a few seconds, then throw my hands up in the air and stalk out of the room. If they want to act like Neanderthals, they are more than welcome.

Chapter 18 - Lex

I had been looking for a chance to talk to Nic ever since I came to work this morning. I had even wanted to go with Chuck to pick Nic up. But I had to come in early today. I knew the minute Nic came in. I could sense her. The connection, or whatever it is, has grown much stronger since we returned from Paris, even if I’ve been doing my best to ignore it.

I tried to talk to her then, but she was in a meeting, then I was in a meeting. And then I saw her in the break room. With TJ. With his arms around her. TJ is a notorious flirt, but I could have never ever believed that he would try his moves on Nic.

My blood is boiling and my nostrils are flaring as I look at him grinning up at me. I know he is goading me. I take one step forward, closing the distance between us, and pull him out of the chair by the collar of his crisply ironed shirt, and my eyes are boring holes into his skull. It seems to have no effect on him at all.

“Let go, Lex,” he says mildly, grasping my hands.

“No!” I protest, giving him a shake. I am so tempted to land a punch on his mouth and wipe the grin off it. But there is still a tiny part of my brain that has retained its rationality which stops me from doing so.

“I’m just going to say it one more time,” he says without raising his voice. I glare at him one final time before shoving him aside.

“How could you do this to her?” I accuse.

“Do what exactly?” He sits on the edge of one of the tables in the break room, leisurely crossing one ankle over the other.

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