Page 186 of Hot Tycoons Boxset

I narrow my eyes. “What do you mean?”

“Are you going to marry Ian?” she asks simply.

I feel a jolt at the words. “What? What kind of question is that?”

“It’s just a question. He got you a ring.”

The spurt of happiness that rises inside me is quickly dampened. “How do you know that?”

The way her lips are curved is almost unnatural. Her eyes are glittering and don’t match that off smile.

“I ran into him just now at the office, and I saw the ring. So, I came to ask you.”

“You found out that Ian might propose to me and you decided to come to my apartment and ask me what I would say? You feeling okay?” I say, slowly, trying to make sense of her actions. “That’s a weird thing to do.”

“You shouldn’t say yes.”

“Excuse me?” I find anger stirring in my soul. “What the hell? Why not?”

“He’s not good for you. Men are just tools, you know. You use them to get to the top. In the end, it’s just us women. I thought you knew that.”

Her words chill me to the bone. “Please tell me you’re joking.”

Jenna’s smile fades. “He’s not good for you. You deserve much more than what he can give you.”

“Are you drunk, Jenna? Why are you behaving like this?”

“You can’t say yes to Ian.” This time there is a hint of veiled fury in her tone, and it makes me grit my teeth.

“You’re being a bitch. Maybe you should go home.” My words trail off as I stare at the door at the end of the hall. This time I speak carefully, “I thought it was odd that somebody was dropping envelopes right at my door, but nobody in the lobby saw a stranger walking in.”

She watches me, not saying a word.

I open my mouth, struggling to say the words. “You’ve been doing it. The letters, the gifts. You tried to kill Ian.”

I wait for her to deny it.

I want her to deny it, but a slow smile curls on her lips, and suddenly I understand Sarah’s devastation from a few months back when her dearest friend turned out to be her worst enemy.

Jenna had been my roommate in college. She was there when I built this business from scratch. We spent almost every waking moment together when I was setting this company up. She is one of my closest friends.

She turned down my offer to have a stake in the company and refused to take a proper position, choosing to be my assistant.

“Jenna.” This time there are tears in my voice. “Tell me that’s not true.” When she doesn’t say anything, I grab at the door frame to steady myself, overwhelmed with grief. “Damn it! Just say it!”

“I love you,” she says, and my heart breaks.

“No. No. You can’t. We’ve known each other for ten years. You can’t. You wouldn’t do this to me. Tell me you didn’t do this!”

“I had to look out for you,” she says, simply. “You and I make sense together.”

The pain in my chest intensifies, my heart hurting with the betrayal and loss as I whisper, “But we’re friends.”

“I’ve loved you since the day you moved in. You were so beautiful. And so kind. You had such a harsh tongue, but with me, you were always so gentle. I knew that you loved me back but when I saw you with Dylan from the hockey team; you remember that day? I realized that you were trying to come to terms with your feelings for me.”

I am trying to think through this haze.

I lean against the door, and I end up walking backward into my apartment.

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