Page 13 of Bitter Desire
“He can get wrapped up in his head a lot,” I offered, not sure it was good to say that I knew Law could be a pill right off the bat when I was meeting a friendly face in his employ.
She leaned towards me conspiratorially. “That’s putting it mildly. He can be a dick.”
I laughed in surprise. “Well, kind of, but he never means it.”
She snorted at my answer. “He definitely means it, but that’s his charm.” She then turned on her heel and waved me after her. “I’m Addie by the way, his assistant. Which means I keep him running on schedule—which is honestly not as easy as you would think with a workaholic like Law.”
I nodded, even though she couldn’t see me. She was looking ahead, powering towards the doors and I hurried to keep up. “Yes, he’s very dedicated.”
“He’s obsessed more like it. He needs more rest.” She looked over her shoulder at me. “Meeting you has been so good for him. You have no idea how happy you’ve made the boss man.”
Boss man, huh? I grinned, liking Addie even more now. She was warm, open and she made you want to stop and chat. I was glad Law had an assistant that could balance him out with all the pressure he had on his shoulders. I didn’t know much about his work, on account of him not liking to talk about it when he was out of the office, but I knew enough to know there were megabucks tied up in every decision he made.
I knew he liked to be the best. That kind of performance meant a lot of hours. I was always so grateful for the time Law carved out for me.
For us.
I’d been with men without even a quarter of the responsibilities that Law had, and they had never made me feel as cared for and seen as Law did. He was there when I needed him, and not because he had to, but because he wanted to.I felt my heart flutter in my chest. The word that felt like it was too soon to say was there, loud and proud and right up front as I listened to Addie chatter. I pushed it to the back and refocused in time for her to reach the door and push it open without knocking.
“Guess who’s here,” she greeted in a sing-song tone, throwing the door wide open.
We entered the room to see Law sitting at his desk with a portfolio in his hands while the blonde that had entered earlier sat across from him with her arms folded over her chest. She didn’t look pleased. Whether that was from us barging in or what she was discussing with Law, I didn’t know. I wondered if it was normal for Law’s employees to walk into his office without so much as a knock. Addie had done it, but she was his assistant, and from what I’d picked up on, she seemed to have that kind of relationship with Law.
But the blonde?
Who was she to him?
“We’re in the middle of something here.” The blonde looked back at us with a disapproving frown, but Addie ignored her and walked forward towards Law’s desk.
“Brought Honey in. Taylor’s guarding out front like he always does. Do you want me to bring anything by for you two?” she asked, putting an emphasis on the two and made sure to look back at me as she spoke. It was like the blonde wasn’t even there.
“Hello, did you not—” The blonde began and Addie’s eyes, which had been warm and friendly just a second before, went icy.
Addie stared the other woman down. “I know you are not talking to me like that when you came in here after I explicitly told you that you were not on the docket for today. You need to pack it up and move on out.”
Law looked at Addie. “I did wonder why Katie was in today.”
“I told her no three times. She waited until I met Honey to sneak on by.” Addie crossed her arms over her chest and then jerked her chin towards the door. “Let’s go. If you want to have an actual meeting scheduled you can come with me and we’ll see what I can do.”
Katie scoffed. “I’m here now. This is business and it’s important.”
“So is Law’s schedule. You’re being unprofessional right now, and if you keep it up, I’m going to blacklist you, and you can take that right to Yakahama Corporations.”
Katie’s eyes bulged and I wondered if she was going to choke with the way she was starting to look. “You’re kicking me out, for what?” She looked back at me and then pointed one immaculately made up nail in my direction. “Her? She looks like she delivers take out.”
I sucked in a breath. Okay, so I wasn’t dressed in my best office professional attire, and maybe I didn’t look like I belonged to some beautiful-people-who-also-do-corporate-work agency, but I was presentable. At least, I thought I was. Though her comment about me delivering food hit a little too close to home.
I held up my hands and gave Addie a tight smile. “Listen, I’ll just wait outside with Taylor. It’s not a big deal.” I moved, but before I could take a step, Law spoke.
“Get out. You’re done.”
Katie didn’t move.
Neither did I.
Mostly because I didn’t know who the hell he was talking to. My heart knew, but my brain, my irrational and constantly at war with my fight or flight instincts brain, was telling me he meant me. But he couldn’t possibly mean me, could he?
What if I had misunderstood everything?What if—
