Page 13 of Before I Knew

I shook my head. “No, my boss just hates him. Because a lot of times we go for the same developments, and they win.”

“Because the Cages are a little savvier than your boss. You know that. That’s why you work for your boss. You’re always fixing everything he messes up.”

I held up my hand. “I don’t have time to worry too much about that. But look at him.Look at him.” I held up my phone to her and waved it around.

“What am I supposed to be looking at? He looks like a dude. With hair. That seems to be a little dark. Sometimes he has abeard in these photos, sometimes not. And he looks to do a lot of galas. That sounds boring.”

I turned the phone back to me, and scrolled, realizing that he was indeed on the arm of a different woman in practically each one. Gorgeous statuesque women and variety of color of dresses. All for galas. “Oh, this is so stupid. This is Aston Cage. That means I was in the group chat of theCage family.”

“They aren’t gods. Though your boss would’ve loved that.”

My gaze shot to hers. “He can never find out. No wonder they all ghosted the chat right before I left. They had to be freaking out.”

“It’s not like they’re going to divulge family and business secrets in a group chat. At least I would hope not. They seem smarter than that.”

“But it’sAston Cage.”

“Is he a playboy or something? I’m an accountant. I don’t know these things,” Isabella said with a sigh.

“You’re a brilliant accountant, and no, I don’t think so. Maybe. That doesn’t matter. He’s gorgeous.”

“He’s a man.”

I laughed at that, shaking my head. “Maybe you’re the one who needs to go out and meet somebody.”

“The next time I get added to a family group chat, maybe I will. But I have enough in my life to deal with. Especially because we’re going to be late. Now go to this coffee thing. Let one of us live a little. You’re going to be fine.”

“I can’t believe you of all people are the one pushing me into this.”

“I’m living vicariously through you. Your job is more fun, your life is more fun, and you’re going to meet a CEO who could take over the world. I don’t see the problem here.”

“I see a very big problem here.”

“What’s the worst that can happen?” she asked, sounding so much unlike Isabella, I was afraid we had somehow switched places.

“Are you kidding me right now?”

“I have your phone tracked, and I’ll put an AirTag on you. I’ll know where you are at all times.”

“That sounds a little more like the real Isabella,” I said with a laugh, as I hugged her tightly. She patted my back, and then pushed off me.

“Now let’s go. I’m not in the mood to deal with assholes on the highway. Which is every day.”

“Thank you for getting here before the sun even rose.”

“It’s because I love you. And I needed to make sure that our tracking is going well.”

I laughed at her, and we made our way to our respective jobs, that tension writing the back of my mind the entire time.

Work seemed to go at a slog all day. I enjoyed my job. I enjoyed strengthening businesses and figuring out which player was best for which position, but my boss of Howard Enterprises didn’t play well with my ideas. But it was my job to make sure that we didn’t go under and break the rules.

I wasn’t a CEO. I wasn’t a CFO. I was someone who had to have my hands in a thousand pots at once. And I enjoyed it. That meant I had to keep my mind on task, and I wasn’t doing it very well because I was sitting here wondering what the hell I was going to do.

“Blakely, do you have the report?” Mr. Howard said from my doorway, and I smiled at him. The man didn’t specify which report and could have just emailed me. He didn’t have to walk across the office just to ask me about a report that was probably already in his inbox and printed out in triplicate because that’s how he liked things. Who needed to save trees?

“Which report?” I asked.

He scowled at me, and I knew that was probably the wrong thing to say. “You know, the report. The one I’ve been waiting on.”

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