Page 104 of The Love Destroyers

“I work for Ellie,” I say. “Not you.”

Her eyes flash fire, and she shoves his arm. “He’s right. Alfie ismyassistant. You don’t get to fire him!”

“I just fucking did.” He crosses his arms, trying to stare me down from four inches beneath me. “I’m not going to let this pretty boy talk to me like that.”

“Thanks, man,” I say carelessly, even as anger flares through me, demanding something of me. This man destroyed something that’s precious to Emma—and I want to destroy all of him. His relationship. His career. His life. “Your girlfriend thinks I’m pretty too.”

He uncrosses his arms, which form fists at his sides, and I’d like him to try. I’d fucking love it if he did. So I grin wider,cocking my head. Asking for it. But he must realize he wouldn’t come out ahead in any physical altercation, because he flattens his hands and says, “You’re pathetic. A thirty-year-old assistant. By the time I was thirty, I’d made my name and reputation. I won’t bring myself down to your level.”

“I un-fire you,” Ellie insists, looking back at me. “You’re not fired. Only I can fire you.”

“Like hell,” Jeffrey snaps, his face still red. “He tripped me, and he’s baiting me. He’s gone.” His gaze shifts to Nicole, and he says, “You’re lucky if I don’t sue the company.”

My gaze finds Ellie. “Are you really going to let him talk—”

Nicole grabs my arm, her fingers digging in.

Grinning, she says, “Oh, this is how we know meditation is working. It brings suppressed feelings to the surface. I’m sensing a wonderful cleansing.” She smacks her hands together loudly. “Yes, this has been fantastic. Now, I must ask you to go up to your rooms and listen to the song I’m about to text you. It’s twenty minutes long, but it’s worth it, because it will help you cleanse the rest of those wild emotions. Ellie, I’m going to count on you to make sure Jeffrey does it. I can see a non-believer from a mile away.”

He looks mutinous, but Ellie grabs his hand and white-knuckles it. “We’ll do it.”

They turn to leave, but he looks over his shoulder and says, “He’s gone, and that’s final.”

I blow a kiss at him. His face flushes red again, and for an instant I’m sure I’ll have what I want—an excuse to have a go at him. But they exit the room, bickering loudly enough that they’re probably waking up sleeping babies, and Nicole shouts “Namaste.”

As soon as they’re gone, she turns to me. “I’m sending you home.”

I’m not really surprised. Even if Ellie gets her way, Jeffrey’s going to be watching me. I’ve fucked up. I don’t want to go home, though, where I’ll be sitting alone. Feeling the sting of knowing I couldn’t even help Emma properly, so I say, “Come on, he was being a prick. The whole thing was an accident.”

“Yeah, sure. The next accident’s going to be a fist in his face, and then we’ll really be fucked. Can you take an uber?”

I rub my head. “Yeah, I got this.”

“You don’t got this,” she says bluntly, then watches me for long enough that her failure to blink bugs me. “You’ve become a liability. You were the second you showed up in that hilarious shirt. He probably already suspects something is up because of what Emma did in Ellie’s hotel room, and you’ve been acting like a jealous boyfriend. Maybe he thinks it’s over Ellie, but we don’t want him asking questioning.”

I swear under my breath, feeling even more like a fuckup.

“So, are you still pretending you’re only doing this for the money,” she continues, “or are you ready to admit you’ve got it bad? Remember, I’ve seen your search history.”

“I don’t know what I’m doing,” I say, feeling the truth of that down to my bone marrow.

She raises her eyebrows. “If you want a chance with her, you’re going to have to tell her everything. Look at it this way, you can claim lawyer-client confidentiality.”

“Not for certain things,” I say darkly. I strongly suspect that Nicole knows everything about my past. She’s made a point of letting me know with little aside comments and digs ever since she tracked me down in New York. She knows, and she doesn’t seem to judge, even if she takes every possible opportunity to laugh about it.

I don’t hold that against her. Laughing at life is the only way to get through it while keeping your feet.

“Maybe not,” she says, poking me. “But you’re going to have to see her for the rest of your life. How’ll it feel watching her settle down with Jeffrey the Sequel someday if you didn’t even try?”

“Probably like it felt pretending to be nice to that dipshit,” I admit, trying to block out the thought of Em with someone else. Even if he was a nice guy with a 401-k who calls his Mom twice a week, not Jeffrey 2.0, it makes me feel like my chest is caving in.

“That was you pretending to be nice?” she scoffs, her eyes glittering. She studies me for a moment before adding, “You’re worried you’re not good enough for her.”

I snort. “Oh, I know I’m not good enough for her, but that wouldn’t stop me. What if I tell her, and she freaks out? That wouldn’t be a good situation for my brother and sister, and I’d still have to see her.”

“But at least you’d know you weren’t a coward.”

Damn, she’s got me there.

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