Page 3 of The Wrong One

“You are embarking on a new chapter,” she said. “You get to write it any which way you want. Make it a good one.”

“Thanks.”

After she left, I started to pick up the dishes. I put the leftover pizza in the fridge and poured myself another glass of wine. The apartment was quiet. I felt so alone. I was twenty-nine, almost thirty, and I was alone. I had my cousin and my brother, but other than that, I was alone. I’d busted my ass the last ten years to get a good education and a good job. I had what I thought was a good man. We were supposed to be married and start our family right away. I thought I would have a baby by next year. As it was going, I was going to be alone and single for years. Maybe forever. I wasn’t even sure I wanted a husband. That whole dream was tainted.

I didn’t know why I felt so alone. People lived by themselves all the time. Emmy had done it. I was being a baby. I could be by myself. I didn’t need to be surrounded by people. Being with Patrick had stripped away the tough outer shell I used to have. I grew up in Boston. I used to be tough. Patrick had moved into my life and became my protector. He handled all the bills. He ordered our meals. He bought my car. I had taken a backseat in my own life and it was coming back to haunt me. I left myself in a weakened position.

I felt like a newborn baby kicked out of the nest for the first time. I sipped my wine and looked out the window. I missed the view from my California home. My view now was of the brick building across the way. It wasn’t even a clear view. The fire escape blurred it.

“Quit moaning about it,” I told myself.

Movement out of the corner of my eye grabbed my attention. I glanced over and saw an orange tabby cat sitting on the fire escape staring at me.

Maybe I wasn’t totally alone.

ChapterTwo

Cam

Iwalked into Ramsey’s office to discuss some staffing changes. I was going to put my foot down and demand more help. I understood we were in a weird time at our company, but we couldn’t get stagnant. I took my seat on the sofa with the coffee table in front of me. I put my coffee down and waited for Ramsey to finish his call. I could tell it wasn’t a business call by the tone of his voice. We all had our normal voices and then our business voices.

He hung up and grabbed his laptop to join me. “Sorry,” he said with a sigh. “Lily’s school. I forgot to sign some permission slip. Thankfully, they let me fax it over.”

“Where are they going this time?”

“Some play,” he answered. “I’m glad she’s getting all the culture she needs with them. Though, I don’t think I want to sit through another version ofRomeo and Juliet. I will claw my eyes out and rip off my ears.”

“Harsh.” I laughed. “Is Lily still on the dancing thing?”

He sighed and nodded his head. “She is,” he said. “I’m hoping if she gets enough exposure to all this stuff, she’ll figure acting isn’t for her. She’s really smart and could do anything she wanted. Acting isn’t really maximizing her potential.”

Lily was Ramsey’s eight-year-old daughter. He had pretty much been raising her by himself since the girl was born. I never understood how he managed to juggle it all. I would have lost my marbles.

“She’s young,” I said. “She’ll figure it out.”

“I hope so,” he muttered. “Alright, I’ve been crunching numbers and I know you need more research help. I get it. Finding the right person has proven difficult. You’re not an easy guy to work for.”

“I’m easy to work for,” I argued. “I just expect people to do their damn job. I can’t hold hands. I have my own work and when I delegate someone to do something, they need to get it done.”

“I get it,” he said. “I understand, which is why I have the perfect solution. I know who we should bring on.”

“Who?” I asked.

Our company operated out of the MIT campus. It was our company but we were able to use the MIT research labs for a fee. We were on the cutting edge of everything. I loved the competition and the commitment to being the best.

“Izzy,” he said.

“Izzy?” I asked. The name didn’t register right away. “Wait,Izzy?”

Ramsey nodded. “Yes,” he said. “I know it’s a little out of her realm, but she knows the technology. She’s a damn good worker. I think she’ll fit in with the team. She’s got all the training and experience. We just need to steer her in our direction. But, she’s smart. She’s a quick learner. She’s not a flake. We don’t have to worry about her screwing off.”

Izzy. Just hearing her name did all kinds of things to my body. I tried to shut down the surge of emotions. Izzy was my white whale. Isabella Young was beautiful. She was funny and smart. She was the woman I measured every other woman I met up against. None of them came close to being as good as Izzy. I had crushed on her for years. Hell, she was the one I wanted for as long as I could remember.

But she was Ramsey’s little sister. That automatically put her in thenocategory. She was off-limits. There could never be anything between us. Ramsey would absolutely kill me if I touched her. Now, he was going to torture me by putting her under me. Not literally. Unfortunately.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” I asked.

I had to tread lightly. It was his little sister. If I put up a big fuss, he was going to get pissed and offended.

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