Page 90 of Sinful Blaze

My heart sinks into my gut.

Conrad.

“Ugh.” I send him to voicemail and shove the phone into my desk drawer. “Take a hint, asshole.”

Hazel frowns. “Was that?—”

It buzzes again, louder and angrier now that it’s inside the drawer. I yank the drawer open and hang up on him again.

“Super annoy?—”

Again.

Hazel grabs the phone from my desk and answers. I try signaling for her to stop, don’t talk to him, but she blatantly ignores me. “Daphne Covington’s phone. How may I direct your call?”

I narrow my eyes at her.

She simply grins and winks at me before returning to her professional mode. “I’m sorry, but she’s unavailable. No, I mean she’s unavailable to you. Specifically you. No, I won’t. No. No, and no. Mister Ewing,” she says with her professional laugh, “I don’t think you understand what the word ‘no’ means. You will not speak to Ms. Covington, and you will cease any and all attempts to contact her after this phone call. Understood?”

I cringe. All these dramatics have got to be unnecessary, right? I have this under control! Ignoring him is better than baiting him. Right?

… Right?

“Okay, I’ll try saying it again in very tiny words for your very tiny brain.” Hazel’s voice drops into a far more threatening tone. “You no call Daphne no more. No. Call. Daphne. Okay? No more. No, no, I don’t want to hear your excuses. Man up and eat the shit you threw.” She hangs up and hands me back my phone.

I don’t know if I’m feeling pissed, violated, or relieved. “I can handle him.”

“Really?” Her brows nearly hit her hairline. “So how is he still able to call you?”

“I…”

“Need to block his pathetic ass.”

“How do I do that?” I pull my phone away when she reaches for it again. “No, not literally. I mean, how do I block someone I spent over half a decade with?”

“Easy. Go to ‘Contacts,’ hit his name, and then ‘Block This Caller.’”

I’m about to roll my eyes at her when I spot someone else standing in the doorway. “Sofi! Hi! Um…” I glance at Hazel, who looks smug enough to rope Pasha’s sister into this debate and I don’t think I want that. Hazel is tough enough without reinforcements. “What’s up?”

Sofi glances between us, her expression just as skeptical as Hazel’s. “I heard about the necklace and came by to see it for myself. Now, I’m glad I did. Who’s calling you?”

“Nobod—”

“Her ex.”

I shoot my best friend a deadly glare. She pointedly ignores me and focuses on doing exactly what I don’t want her to do. “Sidney Conrad Ewing can’t take a fucking hint. He’s been blowing up her phone nonstop. I was just telling Daph she needs to block him.” She grinds the last two words through her teeth and a side-eye.

“Agreed.” Sofi nods at the phone in my hand. “Block him. Be done with him.”

Officially feeling cornered. “I’ll take care of it.”

“Right now.”

Okay. Not loving the pushy version of Sofiya Chekhov. “I said I’ll take care of it.”

“You don’t understand.” She walks over to the other empty office chair and slides it up to my desk with a sigh. “How do you think it looks? That your ex, who is clearly toxic, can still call you? And text you?” She leans forward. “Because you allow him to?”

Something churns in my stomach. It’s not my baby, and I don’t like it. “But I keep telling him to stop.”

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