Chapter 21 Damian #2
I take off my suit jacket and roll my sleeves up before lowering to my haunches to try to stop the mess from traveling any further.
“Do you need something, Devin?” I snap as he just stands there, watching me.
“No, no. I’m good,” he replies quickly.
“Then I suggest you leave.” I may have made it seem like a suggestion, but he takes it for what it really is, an order, and hurries from the room.
I wad up the soaked towels and gather new ones before continuing to clean the floors.
Brittany from the marketing team comes in and gasps.
“Um, Mr. Edgerton, do you want me to get the mop for you?” she asks in her quiet, timid voice.
“No, I want you to stand there and watch me clean this up,” I snap.
It isn’t fair to her. She has nothing to do with this, and the person who did I already sent out of the room.
I take a deep breath to get my head on straight.
“Oh, don’t mind him, hon. He’s just mad that he got his loafers wet,” Louisa says as she strolls into the kitchen.
“They’re Italian leather,” I gripe. “And how did you know to get that?” I gesture to the mop bucket in her hand.
“Word travels.”
“Fantastic,” I say darkly.
Brittany turns on her heels while Louisa helps me clean the milk off the floor.
“A thank-you would go a long way, Mr. Edgerton,” she says as she pours the milky water down the drains while I do one last pass with the sponge.
“You’re my assistant. You assisted me. That’s your job,” I tell her.
She sends me her trademark side-eye, and I chuckle.
“Thank you, Louisa. I appreciate your assistance.”
“You’re welcome,” she says pleasantly. “You know, poor Devin is almost in tears that he’s about to lose his job.”
“He nearly broke my arm.”
“Oh, you’ll be just fine,” she huffs, not even sparing a glance at the reddish bruise that’s already forming. “You’ve been quite the bear lately. Anything you want to talk about?”
“I’m always like this.”
She makes a face. “You were. Until you weren’t. Now you are again,” she says cryptically.
“Just say what you want to say, Louisa. I’m not in the mood.” I haven’t been able to focus, my sleep has been shit, and my fist is doing nothing to quell my tension that has lodged in my spine.
“I’m not saying anything.”
I toss the sponge in the sink and wash my hands.
“She working with Trent and Danielle, if you’re looking for her.”
I dry my hands and throw the dish towel on the counter, pretending I don’t know who she’s talking about. Inside, my stomach drops, anxiety swirling through my veins.
“Who?” I huff, lacing my voice with annoyance.
“The same person you always go to when you’re in a mood.” She cocks her head at me and then turns to leave. “Don’t fuck it up,” she sings as she walks out of kitchen.
Fuck. Little does she know, it’s Brielle who’s got me in this mood. And there is nothing there to fuck up since our night together was a onetime thing.
Still, Brielle is going to flip. She had been adamant that no one find out that we were spending time together when we actually were.
She’s extremely cautious of her surroundings before she even looks at me.
Always casual and cool when I stop by her office.
I know it must have been me that gave us away, but I don’t know how.
I’ve been professional. Treated her the same as everyone else. Kept my distance.
At least I try to.
She pulls me in like a magnet though. Over the past two weeks, I may have found a reason or two to stop by her office. I may have asked for more updates to the Vitales’ marketing plan than I usually would this early in the stage.
I scrub my hand down my face.
She’s going to kill me if she finds out Louisa even suspects anything.
But what’s surprising is how little I care if people know.
Being romantically linked to an employee is a bad look for a CEO.
My standing with the board could be severely diminished, their trust in me irreparably broken.
It isn’t that I’m unaware of that or that I don’t care.
Because I do. I’ve put everything I have into this business.
I’ve built it up, brick by brick, and I want nothing more than to grow it into something even bigger and better than it is today.
But would I risk it all?
My father’s voice is in my head, screaming at me to run. His warnings about letting a woman into my life suddenly holds a lot more weight.
I’m not sure I understood his situation before.
It always seemed so reckless to me that he would marry someone without a prenup, just blind faith that it would all work out.
And when it didn’t, when he left the business he helped build, heartbroken and betrayed, I felt bad for him.
But a piece of me always thought he was naive to ever think it was going to end differently.
How my perspective has changed over the course of a few months.
I still wouldn’t risk it, but I understand it. The desire to believe you can have it all.
I’m starting to think I want it all. I want more. I want her.
I think another conversation may be in order because there is no way in hell I’m done with her yet.