Page 24 of Jett

“You'd do that?” she scoffs, sounding defiant.

“Of course I'll do that. I run a business, not a summer camp.”

“Mr. Knight, I put up with a lot. You're not the easiest person to deal with, and I know you’ll struggle to find someone to replace me quickly.”

“It's not impossible,” I toss back, furious.

“Well then, I quit.”

She hangs up. Just like that.

I stare at the phone, stunned. What the hell just happened? “What the fucking fuck?” I toss the phone down on the desk with more force than necessary.

I run a hand through my hair. Great. Not only has my assistant resigned, but my nanny has quit, too. I now have no childcare for Brooke. Just when I’m supposed to head to Bermuda for three weeks. My patience is wearing thin.

The phone on my desk rings. I grab it, barely holding in a sigh. “Yes?”

“Mr. Knight, the board meeting is about to begin,” says the receptionist. I force a breath out, my frustration threatening to bubble over.

“I’ll be there in five.” I hang up, dragging my hand down my face.

With Anna quitting, I’m staring at another problem. I can’t leave for Bermuda without Brooke. I won’t do that again. She’s getting older, and she notices these things. She said it to me the other day, with that look in her eyes, “Daddy, I don’t see you a lot.”

It gutted me.

Now, without childcare, I’m backed into a corner. There’s only one person I can count on to pull me out of this mess. One person I can always rely on. One person who has one month left to work for me.

Cari.

Chapter 11

JETT

My assistant is the last person I want to take to Bermuda for many reasons. But I have no choice. Anna’s quit, and I don’t have time to hire someone new on such short notice. Certainly not someone I trust with Brooke.

I step into the office, unfamiliar tension coiling in my chest—something I haven’t felt in a long time. I pull my usual act together, striding in like I own the universe, but inside, I’m anything but steady. My mind is on overdrive. I’ve been burying thoughts I shouldn’t have been having for months now—ever since Cari’s mother passed, she’s become a different version of herself. Stronger, but more vulnerable. It's messed with my head, and now I’m stuck in this impossible situation.

And now she’s handed me her resignation letter. I haven’t been able to sleep properly in days, trying to figure out why she wants to leave a well-paying job with good perks.

Worse, I didn’t even catch wind that she was unhappy working for me. It hurts more than it should.

I brace myself as I come out of the elevator and walk down the hallway that leads to her office space. I have to walk past her desk in order to get to my office. It adds to my torment, having to see her numerous times a day, knowing that she’s just outside my door. It’s becoming harder to shut her out of my mind.

She’s standing by the tall filing cabinet, her back to me. A charcoal gray pencil skirt with a black satin sleeveless blouse, her hair pinned up in that neat, tidy way she always does.

It shouldn’t affect me, but it does. I try not to think about what it would look like if she let that auburn hair tumble over her shoulders.

But I do.

Damn it, I do.

The idea that she’s leaving me, gnaws at my stomach. She has such a good deal here, better than she could get anywhere else. But if she wants to go, I can’t force her to stay.

Except … I don’t want her to leave.

She turns around, and her eyes lock on mine as she catches me staring. I freeze for a second, cursing myself.

She blushes, her cheeks turning the lightest shade of pink. “Y-you’re back,” she stammers, her voice shaky. “I wasn’t expecting you until tomorrow.”

---