Page 107 of Until It Was Real

He shrugs. “I wouldn’t need to be an asshole if you’d just come out and tell me what happened.”

“You’re not going to give up, are you?”

“Nope.”

“Why don’t you ask Dakota? She works for you. She’s required to answer you.”

“You work for me. You’re required to answer me.”

I shake my head. “She wouldn’t tell you, would she?”

“The woman is Fort Knox.”

“I’d be Fort Knox if I was a drug addict, too,” I mutter.

“What?” He explodes. “My assistant is an addict?” He jumps to his feet. “That’s cause for immediate termination.” He begins to pace the room. “I’ll need you to write a witness account. I don’t want her suing me.”

“Easy enough. I saw her injecting herself in the stomach in my hall powder room.”

He freezes. “In the stomach?”

I nod.

“And you didn’t find this odd?”

“I wasn’t concerned with the location. I was more concerned with the needle.”

He collapses in a chair. “She didn’t tell you. She told me she didn’t want anyone knowing, but I figured she told you.”

“You knew?” My jaw aches from how hard I’m grinding my teeth and I force myself to stop. I can’t believe this. Eli fucking knew I was dating a drug addict and didn’t tell me. What the actual hell?

“Listen.” He clears his throat. “I think there’s been a misunderstanding.”

“A misunderstanding?”

“Dakota isn’t a drug addict. She’s a diabetic.”

My whole world spins on its axis. Dakota is a diabetic. I can’t believe this.

“A diabetic? But how? And why didn’t she tell me?”

He shrugs. “I don’t know but guessing by your reaction to seeing a needle, she might have been afraid of your reaction.”

“No.” I shake my head. “Don’t blame this on me.”

He holds up his hands. “I’m not blaming anyone. I’m merely pointing out that had you asked Dakota for an explanation, she could have explained she’s not an addict.”

“I did ask her…” I snap my mouth closed when I remember I didn’t ask her for an explanation. In fact, when she tried to explain, I wouldn’t let her. Am I the asshole?

Eli pushes to his feet. “I’m glad we resolved this.”

“We didn’t resolve shit.”

“Sure, we did. You’re an asshole. Dakota isn’t an addict. Problem solved.”

“How is the problem solved?” As far as I can tell, the problem is worse than when he arrived. It’s a big pile of shit I not only stepped into. I also stomped around in it before dragging shit everywhere.

“I assume you’re going to grovel for forgiveness since you jumped to conclusions,” he says as he leaves.

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