Page 19 of Broken Deal

You do not yield.

You do not show weakness.

You have to be strong. Normal. Fake happy. You’ve done it for years now, what’s one more day?

Shaking my head and straightening my shoulders, I walk to my cubicle, finding the biggest bouquet of blue roses I’ve ever seen. With a frown, I grab the note that’s placed on top of the flowers.

Looking forward to tonight.

-Lorenzo

This is definitely unprofessional territory, but it doesn’t stop my stomach from fluttering as I trace his impeccable handwriting with the tip of my index finger. I put the note back in the envelope, a faint smile tugging at the corner of my lips.

We’re having dinner tonight, and that has my body on high alert. I don’t know how he’s going to act, and I also haveno idea how I’m going to feel around him. This is gray territory for me, because not only do I have to work with him, but he’s part of my circle now. I’m going to have to see himconstantly.

As I’m sitting at my desk to get this endless amount of work done, I hear quick steps and voices approaching our offices. The office door opens, but I’m still flipping papers, not paying any attention to the chaos happening behind me.

“Ma’am, you can’t come in here,” Ethan, our office assistant, says quickly, striding after whoever came in like they own the place.

“Like hell I can’t,” the other voice yells, and the hair on the back of my neck prickles at the recognition of that voice.

Amelia.

My eyes dart upward as I quickly turn around. And there she stands, with a scowl on her face, yelling in the middle of the office.

Cursing internally, I grip her arm firmly and lead her out to the lobby. “What thefuckdo you think you’re doing, barging in here?” I whisper-shout, looking around for signs of Max. If he gets wind of this, he’ll have a parade with this information.

She gets out of my grip. “You’re not answering my calls.”

I wave my hand around. “I’ve been a little preoccupied. Working myself to the bone to take care of Mom.Rememberher?” I ask, my tone heavy with sarcasm. “What am I saying? Of course, you remember her. You called her, pretending you wanted to find out how she’s doing.”

She tenses her shoulders, lifting her chin in a sorry excuse of a challenge. “I hadn’t spoken to her in a while.”

“Stop trying to feed me that bullshit,” I spit.

I take a moment to inspect her. It’s been a while since I last saw her. She’s gotten skinnier, and her hair is a box-bleached color, chopped up unevenly. The bags under her eyes are more pronounced than the last time I saw her, and her blue eyes are dull and lifeless.

“If you’re here for money, I don’t have any,” I continue.

She shakes her head, her eyes darting around, refusing to look me in the eyes as she bites her nails. “I need a place to crash. Miles and I.” She sighs. “We broke up.”

“You two are always breaking up just to get back together,” I say, feigning boredom. “Remind me again how this is my problem?”

I’m not a particular fan of Miles—or this relationship—for many reasons.

“This time is for good.” She sniffs. “He got another bitch pregnant.”

I press my thumb and middle fingers against my forehead, taking a slow breath in and out. “Amelia, no. You can’t stay with me. I don’t have the space or the mental capacity to deal with you.”

Proud of you, girl. Keep going. Stand your ground.

“I don’t want to stay here. The last thing I want to be is around you,” she retorts, crossing her arms. “I want to stay at Mom’s.”

“No,” I hiss, my shoulders tensing. “So help me God, Amelia, if you show up at Mom’s,” I warn.

She tilts her head, her eyes dancing with amusement. “What exactly are you going to do?”

That’s a good question. There’s nothing I can do from here.

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