Page 12 of Keep Your Friends Close and Your… Work Enemy Closer?

Mona passed me the tablet, and the two of us ordered a bunch of food and drinks to be delivered to our room while the birthday girl hit the stage, starting us off with some '80s tunes. Before Mona could input her credit card info, I slyly used my own credit card, telling her Veronica had told me to expense it. Which she hadn't of course. But I knew Mona was on a tight budget, and itwas hard to watch people like her pay when I literally had more money than I needed.

After we'd finished the ordering and getting everyone's requests, I headed for the bathroom again, regretting that large iced tea I'd had before I'd left work. Thankfully, it wasn't too crowded yet.

While I washed my hands, I checked out my reflection in the mirror, admiring the smoky eye makeup I'd done in the work restroom. My sisters Astrid and Aria had taught me well. I took a quick picture to send to them, wondering what they were doing tonight.

Since Aria had found Ethan, I hadn't seen her as much. I vowed to never let that happen with me. So far I hadn't met a single man that made me want to spend that much time with them. As far as I was concerned, they were good for one thing and one thing only.

With dick on my brain, I headed down the hallway and back to our private room, spotting a group of tall, hot guys standing in a small alcove to one side, deep in conversation. Speaking of dicks.

Straining my ears, I tried to hear what they were talking about, picking up one interesting tidbit.

"Why don't you fire her?" someone asked.

One of them turned right then, and to my shock, it was fucking Jared.

"Dee!" he said, his face lighting up with a grin.

My heart started to pound for some strange reason. In this dim lighting, he looked different somehow. And tall. So damn tall.

"Hey," I said, trying to glide past without stopping.

And I was almost there when someone said, "Aren't you going to introduce us to your friend?"

"Right," Jared said, stopping me in my tracks. "This is Cordelia, or as I like to call her, Dee."

It was weird because even his voice sounded different, deeper, more resonant. Maybe it was because of the music pumping through the place. That had to be it.

His friends took turns sticking out their hands and introducing themselves to me in all my five-foot-two-and-a-half-inch glory doing my best not to seem like such a shrimp, shaking their hands with all my strength.

Looking up at them, I realized I knew them, especially once they said their names—Xavier, Landon, and Gabriel. Three uber wealthy men in their thirties who ran a media empire and practically ran the city as well, ridiculously attractive, eternal bachelor types, models hanging off their arms at pretty much every event I'd ever been to as my real self, Annalise Stratton, society girl, rich girl, nepo baby, daughter of Alexander and Catherine Stratton, whatever you wanted to call me.

How the hell did Jared know these guys? I glanced back and forth between them all, trying to figure out the connection.

"So where's the big party?" Jared asked after an awkward beat, leading me away, his large hand on the small of my back practically burning a hole through my top.

We entered the room, Jared's hand falling away. Marcella was on the stage, now with Mona, still on an '80s binge apparently. Trying not to cringe at the off-tune squawking, I sat down on the couch, hoping Jared would find someplace else to sit.

But of course, he didn't. He plopped down right beside me, making me tilt a bit toward him with his weight. When had he gotten so big? I'd never really noticed it before. I looked at his thigh beside me, nearly double the size of mine.

The song ended, and after a raucous round of applause, the room quieted while the next person prepared themselves.

I turned to Jared. "So how do you know those three billionaires anyway?"

"Those guys?" His brows came together in thought. "Just from back in the day. College."

"Hmmph," I grunted, watching as he swallowed hard.

Something was off about him. I just had no idea what. And you know what? I didn't really care.

The food and drinks soon arrived, and everyone went nuts, especially when Mona announced loudly to the entire room that Veronica said to expense everything to Insight Ink.

Anxiety snaked through me. Not because of the money. But what if this got back to Veronica? What if someone thanked her and she had no clue what they were talking about?

Fuck.

This is what happened when I tried to be nice. It might just bite me in the ass.

I tried to take a few more bites of my lobster slider, but I'd suddenly lost my appetite. Pushing my plate away, I leaned back and took a long drink of my cocktail.

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