Page 68 of The Enemy of My Enemy Is… My Fake Boyfriend?

The rest of the day I thought about it, all through work and client meetings, glad that my mom was out of the office for the day and that my dad was on a completely different floor. I needed a few days to get my own shit together in order to face them and their concerns about Ethan.

At my final consultation, the woman I spoke with said something about creating a French feel for her soiree, and that she wanted long tablecloths. I stared at her for a moment, wondering if sheknew, but when she just blinked at me innocently, I breathed out a sigh of relief, realizing it was a strange coincidence.

As I packed my stuff up and got ready to leave, there was a knock on the door, my assistant handing me an official-looking envelope.

Something about it felt off. Rarely did I receive such formally presented mail, and my suspicions were right because once I opened it, I had to practically pick my jaw up off the floor.

"That fucking asshole," I hissed.

Shoving the papers in my bag, I headed out the door, one thing on my mind. I had to see Ethan.

***

I'd never been to his office before, but I knew where it was. It actually wasn't far from me, so I decided the walk would do me good.

Maybe by the time I got there, I would have everything straight in my mind.

But that wasn't the case, because I was still a mental mess as I walked into the sleek, glass-walled building, bustling with people rushing in and out, their energy palpable. It all fit Ethansomehow, I thought as I walked to the reception desk and checked in.

My name had already been cleared. Interesting. And I was told to head up to the seventy-sixth floor.

I had to admit my heart fluttered and soared right along with the elevator. Had I actually missed Ethan?

After spending every single minute together for our trip and then not speaking to him for days, my little life had seemed downright lonely. I'd tried filling the emptiness with my sisters, even going out with some friends one night. But it hadn't been the same. As much as I hated to admit that.

Right now, my life was strangely tied to Ethan's, and I found myself wanting to share things with him, small things like how I'd grabbed a chocolate croissant for breakfast and it'd been good but not as good as the ones in Paris. Or that I'd walked past a florist and smelled the same flowers that had been on our table at the soiree.

Getting off the elevator, I had a moment of panic as I realized what all these things meant. I was falling for Ethan. He was becoming an integral part of my life.

And that was bad. Infinitely bad.

He'd made it clear in the beginning that this was all for revenge, and all I'd done was cross lines repeatedly.

God, I felt like I was going insane. One minute wanting to hug him, kiss him, throw myself at him, even just talk to him, and the next, all I wanted to do was run.

But I had to run. I really did. I couldn't do this again. I just couldn't put myself through it.

Whirling around, I frantically pushed the button for the elevator, praying that no one would see me, that Ethan wouldn't spot me on his floor.

I pressed it again—over and over and over—glancing up at the numbers displayed above the closed elevator doors. None of them were even close.

Panic and adrenaline made my limbs shaky, and I looked around for the stairs. It was crazy to run down seventy-six flights of stairs unless there was an emergency, but I didn't care. To me, thiswasan emergency.

I spotted the sign for the stairs and hurried toward it, pulling the heavy door open with all my might, in the world's biggest rush to make my escape.

"Aria?" a familiar voice boomed out. "What the hell are you doing?"

Oh, good God.

It wasn't too late. Ignoring him, I let the door slam behind me and rushed forward, my heart racing as I began to run down the stairs.

Twenty-Two

Aria

Footsteps pounded behind me, and then someone grabbed my arm. I whirled around to see it was Ethan, holding onto me, looking at me like I was insane.

"What the hell, Aria?" he seethed. "Why are you running away from me?"

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