Chapter 32
DANE
Istood there frozen like I’d been zapped.
She was furious. And hurt.
I did that. I broke her. I had felt like an asshole before, but never the way I did now. I felt like a snake that just sank his fangs into an innocent child with zero provocation.
I knew I looked like shit after what had to be one of the worst weekends of my life, but she looked so put together. She looked good. Pissed but beautiful.
I hated that I was the one to ignite the painful fury in her gaze. I hated that she looked at me like I had betrayed her.
I did. But she wouldn’t let me explain why. It wasn’t betrayal. I was honestly trying to protect her. I had to shield her. In my eyes, I was falling on the grenade.
But she didn’t see it that way.
“Fuck!”
I reached up and tugged at my short hair. Everything was falling apart. I wanted to fucking beat the hell out of Keith. How dare he ruin the first chance at a real relationship for me? He was supposed to be my friend. He was trying to make me as miserable as his sorry ass.
“Dane.” Norma’s voice cut through my spiral. I turned to find her standing behind me, arms crossed, looking at me like a disappointed parent. “My office. Now.”
I was her boss. Everyone knew that, but Norma basically ran the people side of things. I was one of those people. At least, I would allow her to think that right now.
I followed her, aware of the eyes tracking us across the floor. Lucas looked concerned. Heidi looked curious. People pretended to be working but were clearly listening. I didn’t think anyone missed Ina’s outburst and me chasing after her like a puppy getting dumped on the side of the road.
Norma closed her office door and locked it, which was never a good sign. “Sit.”
I sat. I didn’t even bristle at being bossed around by the woman I paid to work for me.
She moved behind her desk but didn’t sit herself, just stood there looking at me with an expression that was equal parts frustration and sympathy. She reminded me of my mother in some ways. The ability to say a million words expressing disappointment in a single look was a talent.
“Why did you tell me you were actually together?” she asked.
“Because we are. Were.” I ran my hands through my hair. I knew I was a mess but I couldn’t bring myself to care. “I don’t know anymore.”
“When you came in this morning, you said you told me everything. You said you’d been seeing Ina, that it was real, that you wanted to figure out how to restructure things so there wouldn’t be a conflict of interest.” She leaned against her desk.
“You put all the blame on yourself. Said you pursued her, that the power dynamic was unequal, that if anyone should face consequences it should be you.”
“Because it’s true.”
“And now Ina is telling me it was all fake. That it was just the campaign getting out of hand. She said there was nothing to worry about because none of it was real.”
I closed my eyes. “She’s trying to protect herself.”
“From what?”
“From me. From this situation. Her dignity.” I stopped, the words catching in my throat. “She overheard me saying things I didn’t mean. Things I said to try to protect her, to get Keith to back off, but she thinks I meant them.”
“What kind of things?”
“That my feelings were strictly professional. I told Keith the relationship was fake. I gave him my usual spiel that love isn’t real.
” I felt sick saying the words again. “Keith was threatening to go to you and the board. I panicked. I thought if I could convince him nothing was happening, I could buy us time to figure things out properly.”
“Instead, you convinced Ina you don’t actually care about her.”
“Yes. I didn’t know she was there.”
“Where?”
I grimaced because I was definitely digging a deeper hole for myself. “My penthouse.”
Norma was quiet for a long moment, then sighed and finally sat down. She drummed her fingers on her desk and appeared to be deep in thought. “You’re an idiot.”
“I’m aware.”
“A brilliant businessman. A visionary CEO. Absolutely exceptional at everything you do.” She fixed me with a look. “Except this. You’re terrible at this. Shame on you.”
“I know.”
“Of all the women in the world, what would possess you to go after your assistant?”
I grimaced because I was pretty sure the answer was obvious. Ina was gorgeous. And she was forbidden. Combine the two and it was like the human equivalent of catnip. I might be a big-time CEO, but I was still just a man.
“So what is it a bit of fun or are you in love with her?”
“I think I might be in love with her.” I sighed. “Or it was heading that way at least.”
“And you thought the best way to handle that was to say the exact opposite of how you actually feel?” She shook her head. “How have you made it this far in life, with common sense like that?”
The truth hurt. A lot. I was glad Norma was being straight with me, but it was still bitter medicine.
“It seemed like a good idea at the time,” I said, acknowledging how lame that sounded.
“It may be the worst idea you’ve ever had, and I’ve watched you make some questionable decisions over the years.” She pulled up something on her computer. “I have to take this to the board. You know that, right?”
“What? No. Norma, I told you because you run HR. You can make this work. There has to be a way to work within the rules.”
“You’re the CEO of this company. You admitted to me this morning that you’ve been in a relationship with a subordinate. That’s a board-level issue. I don’t have a choice.”
My brows furrowed. “I own this company.”
“You own a majority stake in a public company.” She said it gently but firmly.
“Which means you have a board of directors who have a fiduciary responsibility to shareholders. And if that board decides you’ve created a liability—if they decide your personal life is affecting your judgment or creating risk for the company—they can vote to remove you. ”
The words hit me like cold water. I hadn’t actually considered the cost of falling in love with my assistant. “They can’t do that. This is mine. My ideas. My tech. My intellectual property.”
“They can. You know they can. You wrote those bylaws yourself when the company went public.” She softened slightly. “I’m not saying they will. I’m saying you need to prepare for a fight. And you need to be ready to grovel, because this isn’t going to be easy.”
“I don’t care about the board.” I stopped, because that wasn’t entirely true.
I cared about Cupid’s Arrow. I’d built it from nothing.
It was everything I had worked for. Losing it would be devastating.
I would be fine in a money sense. I had more than enough for several lifetimes, but it was my pride and joy. It was my entire life.
But it wasn’t worth losing Ina.
Norma seemed to read my expression. “When you got involved with her, you weren’t thinking about the consequences.”
“No. I was thinking about her. About how she made me feel. It’s not something I’ve ever experienced before.”
“You’re in love,” Norma said simply. “So of course you weren’t thinking straight.” She pulled up another document. “I had to place Ina on paid leave. It’s protocol while I investigate.”
I sat up and leaned forward. I had to have heard her wrong. There was no way. “You what?”
“It’s standard procedure,” she said. She was acting like it wasn’t a big deal.
It was the biggest deal.
“This is her job! She needs the money!”
“It’ll be paid time off.”
“She didn’t do anything wrong!” I stood up, anger flooding through me. “This is my fault. I’m the one with the power. I’m the one who pursued her. She shouldn’t be punished for my mistakes.”
“It’s not punishment. It’s protection. For both of you.” Norma’s voice was calm and steady. “While she’s on leave, I can get control of the situation and present recommendations to the board without her being in the middle of the office gossip.”
“How long?”
“A week. Maybe two, depending on how quickly I can get everything together.”
“That’s not okay, Norma. That is so wrong. You have to know that’s wrong.”
“I did it for her,” she said. “This company isn’t so big that people don’t know other people’s business. They will find out and they will talk.”
“She packed up all her shit!” I got to my feet. “She doesn’t give a shit about your investigation. She’s not coming back!” I was already heading for the door. “I need to talk to her.”
“Dane, maybe give her some space. Let me handle this.”
“I’ve given her space. Two days of space. And it’s given her time to convince herself that everything I said to Keith was true. I need to fix this.” I shook my head. “No one can fix this but me.”
I left before Norma could argue, taking the stairs because the elevator was too slow. By the time I hit the lobby, I was out of breath and probably looking unhinged, but the burn in my muscles felt good. I was ready to run a hundred miles.
I burst onto the street and looked around wildly. Where would she go? The subway? Home? Somewhere else?
I started walking, ignoring the chill in the air. I spotted her about half a block away, walking quickly toward the subway entrance, her shoulders hunched against the cold.
“Ina!” I called, breaking into a run.
She heard me. She glanced over her shoulder, but she didn’t stop. If anything, she walked faster.
I caught up to her just as she reached the subway entrance, grabbing her arm gently to stop her from disappearing underground.
“Please,” I said, breathing hard. “Please just listen.”
She turned to face me, and the look on her face killed me. She’d been crying. Her eyes were red and swollen, her face pale. She looked devastated and exhausted.
That was my fault.
“Let me go,” she said quietly.
“Not until you hear me out.”
“I don’t want to hear anything you have to say.” The look she leveled at me would have taken down a lesser man.
But I stood strong. I was determined to make her hear me.