I had lost the one I loved before. Lost her to an aneurysm when neither one of us were prepared for that. But you never really could be prepared for something like that.
I couldn’t help but think about the fact that Addison had medical issues of her own, and that was just one more reason I was keeping an eye on her. But I couldn’t focus on that. I couldn’t focus on the what-ifs. There were enough of them hitting me in the face as it was.
But every single little moment kept stacking against us. Saying that this was going to be too much, and we weren’t going to be able to find an easy way through this.
But what else was there? What were we supposed to do?
Addison Lily was fucking amazing. Stunning and powerful and brilliant.
I was going to do everything in my power to make sure she stayed that way.
Only I had a feeling that fate had already kicked us in the ass once, and it was going to do it again, and this was going to be a lot harder than I thought. Especially when her ex looked over at me and grinned, and I had a feeling that man was going to do everything he could to ruin this.
I kept my attention on Addison, and knew that we would kick that man’s ass.
And hopefully get her this promotion.
Even though, no matter what, everything was going to change.
But we would do it. Side by side.
It wasn’t like we had any other choice.
ChapterEight
Addison
Ihad spoken to more of my coworkers in the past few hours than I had in the past few weeks. Usually, we stuck to our own departments, and while we did occasionally have meetings, both online and in person, it was usually small groupings. This was far different. I wasn’t quite sure I liked it. But I knew that I was good at my job, and everyone here knew it.
We had done some team building exercises, including icebreakers, which made no sense to me considering all of us had known each other for so long that we shouldn’t need to break any ice. However, whatever the boss wanted the boss got. I just needed to remind myself that this was for a good cause. For the next step in the plan.
So, why did it feel like nothing made sense?
Once dinner was finally over, we had our after-dinner cocktail, or at least everyone else was having a drink. That was when people got a little crazy, drank a little too much, and proceeded to have a little too much fun.
At least some people did.
I sipped my Virgin Cuba Libre, also known as a Coke, and smiled as my boss and my nemesis talked down to me. Of course, I snapped right back and stood up for myself. But it didn’t always matter.
I had a sinking feeling that if I wasn’t perfect, didn’t do my job to the best of my abilities, I was going to lose out on this promotion. Because Harrington-Wells III loved Travis, and loved the connections he could make through Travis’s fiancée Dory.
“Oh, Harrington, do you mind if I borrow Addison right quick?”
I looked over my shoulder as Kelly, Nathan’s wife, walked up to us. “I have a business question for her, and I need that brain of hers.”
“No problem, you can borrow Lily. We’ll need her right back, though.”
Kelly grinned and tugged me away.
“Is everything okay? Do you need me to call Paisley for something?”
Kelly shook her head as she waved at one of the wives who walked past.
“Oh no. But you looked two seconds away from strangling Travis, and murder’s probably not going to get you the promotion.”
I snorted and sipped more of my soda.
“Probably not, but I could try.”