Page 124 of The Fixer

“Looking good, boss,” Estelle encouraged.

“Thank you, Estelle.”

Before she could sit behind her desk, Sterling materialized in her doorway. “Nice of you to finally join our little party.”

“Hello, Sterling.” Her tone was as crisp as a chilled apple.

“Well? What happened with the client?”

She slid into her office chair and steepled her fingers. “Fully on board. All systems go.” She didn’t miss the surprised quirk of Sterling’s brow. “You doubted me?”

He shoved his hands into his front pockets. “If I’m being honest? I’ve been a little worried about your commitment to the firm.”

“That was time wasted.”

He helped himself to one of the chairs in front of her desk. While it was an everyday move she wouldn’t have registered weeks ago, it grated today. Buteverythinggrated, including the restrictive clothing and the heavy layers of makeup suffocating her skin.

While Sterling droned on, she felt as if a colony of ants were setting up shop in her body, and she continually pulled herself back to the conversation, getting derailed along the way. She should have been able to follow easily—she was back on her meds. Maybe they hadn’t kicked in yet.

The debriefing over with—finally!—Sterling stood to leave but wheeled around. “And you saw that we have an investor dinner Friday night?”

No, she hadn’t. “I must have missed that.”

“How could you have missed it?” he blared. He craned his head toward the exterior of her office. “Estelle! I thought I told you to note—”

“Sterling,” Joy chirped, “Estelle did her job.Isimply didn’t see it. So lay off.”

“No, Joy.Youlay off.” He shook an accusing finger at her. “You don’t have the same privileges around here anymore, not when you go gallivanting off to Bumfuck, Colorado, and are too busy screwing your cowboy toy to do your fucking job!” An unattractive shade of purplish-red seeped into his skin from his neck to his forehead.

She tucked in her chin and lowered her brows. “You want to keep it down so onlyhalfof the building hears you?”

He slammed the door and speared his fingers through his hair. “I’m not putting up with your shit anymore.”

“Sterling. Have we lost any deals? Are we on the verge of losing any business?”

“Wewere,” he barked.

“I took care of it. Anyone else I should know about?”

“No.” He almost sounded disappointed.

“Look, I know my being absent has caused a strain, but you’ve been very capable, like I knew you would be. That’s why you’re my partner.”

“You’remypartner.”

“So we agree.” She fought to stuff down a tickle of anxiety that began building. She hadn’t had an attack since … not for weeks.

“No, I meantIpickedyou, not the other way around.”

Dismissing his churlish behavior, she checked herself before her anxiety could mushroom. “I’ve been holding up my end. Granted, it might have sagged a bit, but I didn’t drop it. This is no different from the timesyou’vetaken off for two weeks and left me holding down the fort.”Except I’ve held it down far more than you have.“Tit for tat. Even Steven. You’re simplynot used to being on the receiving end.” She softened her tone. “Sterling, being partners means sometimes you do the heavy lifting and sometimes I do. That’s the nature of a partnership. I appreciate that you’ve let me have the time I needed to get my mother’s estate squared away. I’ll probably need more. For now, I’m here and we’re on track.”

“You need to be there Friday night,” he gritted out.

“I’ll have to check my schedule. If I’m not available, I’ll be happy to meet with them that morning and smooth things over.” She smiled at him sweetly, though her chest was tightening.

She trulyhadn’tchecked her schedule, but she couldn’t imagine anything interfering with the business dinner. Why she was holding out, she wasn’t sure. She’d never resisted before. Maybe she was tired of being bullied, tired of these triggers that left her breathless and dizzy.

“Joy—”

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