Uncontrollable Bachelor (Bachelor Tower Series), стр. 37
“To retaliate for what he knows is a false accusation,” Gabe stated. “He might take one last shot at Shannon by making sure no one has her. He could also believe you’re the culprit behind this. After all you are a well-known software genius. It also wouldn’t surprise me if he set out to…harm you both. Right now we have to hope he’s been cut off from his security force and doesn’t gain access to them again.”
Fuck. “I’m not worried about myself.”
“You should be,” Gabe said. “Carlton, my brother Renzo and his team will take over watching Jace. Josh will still be working with your team to ensure Shannon’s safety.”
“Don’t waste your men on me,” I said firmly.
“Babboo will use you to get to Shannon. Keep that in mind before you send them away,” Gabe said.
Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! The only thing I could do to help was sit tight and stay out of the way. “I don’t like this one bit.” Relinquishing control wasn’t something I’d done since the first time Ralph Hamel wrecked my life. “You guys had better not let anything happen to her.”
“Trust us. This is what we do,” Carlton stated.
Great. Trust is the other issue I have.
Once I was back in my office, I was greeted by a very unhappy secretary. “Can I have a word with you?” She didn’t wait for me to say yes before she walked in and shut the door. Betsy didn’t even bother to take a seat. “What the hell did you do to her?”
Guess word gets around quick when you break someone’s heart.
“Betsy, I don’t want to discuss this with you. But you’re more than welcome to take the afternoon off and go see her.”
“You’re giving me time off? With pay?” she asked. I nodded. “Oh, God, you really must’ve screwed up to do that. She called me crying this morning and I knew it had to be about you. But she wouldn’t say. By the way, thanks for confirming that for me. I’m always right, you know. Well, I guess not. I thought you two would actually work out this time. I know she never stopped loving you, and I figured that if given the chance, you’d fall in love with her again, too. Damn, what a thing for me to be wrong about.”
“You knew she and I had been together before?” She nodded, and I knew I’d been played. Had Shannon been in on it from the start as well? Maybe she wasn’t as sweet and innocent as I thought. Or maybe I’m just looking for a flaw so I don’t feel so fucking guilty. “I’d have thought after all this time working for me, you’d have known what an asshole I am.”
“I do. But that’s business. When she talked about you, you seemed so…different. Heck, I almost thought she was talking about someone else. But one day she showed me a picture. Your hair was short and you weren’t as filled out, but I knew you were the same guy.”
“It’s not just my looks that changed. I’m not that guy anymore.”
“So I see. And unfortunately, so does Shannon. I guess I’ll take you up on your offer and go console my friend. Mind you, if your ears are burning, it’s because I’m trash-talking the hell out of you,” Betsy said, opening the door of my office. “And if what you did was really bad, I might need the entire week off.”
She shut the door behind her before I could answer. Whatever Shannon needs. A day, a week, a month. Just be there for her, since I can’t.
Chapter 17
Shannon
“I…think I’m dehydrated,” I said.
“Damn Jace for making you cry so much,” Betsy said, handing me a bottle of water. “I swear I’m going to send every annoying sales call directly to his office phone. Heck, I might even give them his personal number, too.”
Even though I felt like crap, Betsy had a way of making me laugh. “I would say that’s mean, but….”
Betsy said, “Trust me, I could do worse. Remember, I bring him his morning coffee.”
“God, don’t even say you’d poison him,” I blurted.
She looked shocked. “Never! But I might slip a bit of a laxative in there once in a while,” she giggled. “Treat my friend like shit, now you can enjoy having the shits.”
I was laughing so hard that I rolled over on my bed holding my stomach. “Oh, Betsy, you’re evil. I love it.”
“Someone has to look out for you.” Betsy’s tone got serious and she added, “I should’ve done that before. When I sent him to have dinner with you, I really thought magic was going to happen. And when I knew you were running off together for two weeks, well, I was already doing the victory dance. I just never saw this coming. Jace is a lot of things, but he’s usually so straightforward and says what he means, you know? He doesn’t normally play these types of games.”
When I learned that Jace owned his own business, I did some research on him. I just didn’t want to believe what I read. “Guess once you’re an uncontrollable bachelor, there’s no coming back.”
“Uncontrollable? Sadly, I have to agree with you now. He’s not the man I hoped he would be for you.”
Not even close.
“Who needs a man when I have friends like you?” I said.
“You need a man so we can double date. Did you know I wanted to have you and Jace over for dinner? I thought maybe we could eat, have some wine, play some games.”
“You do have other friends, Betsy. Why don’t you invite them over?” I asked.
She shrugged. “You’re my best friend.”
“Then as my friend, can you do me a favor?”
Betsy nodded. “Anything you need.”
“Can we please stop talking about Jace? I’m pretty much done with him.”
“Pretty much? That sounds like you haven’t totally decided. Is there a chance that the two of you will get back together?” she asked, failing at restraining her excitement.
I rolled my eyes.