Chapter 4
PLEASE DON'T REMEMBER ME
Isla
The coffee burned my tongue, but I didn’t care.
I was desperate for the relief it would bring me.
I finished the cup then pushed the button on the fancy espresso machine in the breakroom.
Why did I get so drunk last night if I knew I would have to be at work before seven?
Luckily, I had managed to get to the office on time.
Yeah, I was wearing the pant suit from yesterday, but the only one who’d noticed my outfit was Casey, and she was halfway to London right about now.
I pressed a cold hand to my forehead to ease the throbbing there.
What exactly happened last night? I glared at the slow drip of coffee refilling my mug while I scoured my blurry memories.
I clearly remembered Steve breaking up with me, the pity in the bartender’s eyes, and the handful of tequila shots.
My stomach tightened. Okay, no more thinking about red wine and tequila. I grabbed my coffee and sipped from it.
The scariest part had been waking up totally naked in a stranger’s apartment in the Upper West Side.
Holy fuck, I didn’t even know how I ended up there.
I did recall some crazy-ass dreams where I was making out with Henry Cavill and took off my clothes.
Sometimes he was in his Superman suit, and others he was just wearing a pair of soft dark pants and a cashmere sweater that made me very sleepy.
Shame washed over me. I wasn’t the kind of girl to take a guy home and have sex the first night.
Not that there was anything wrong with that.
I simply wasn’t that person. I had a steady boyfriend.
I played it safe. What I did last night had been dangerous.
My heartbeat picked up the pace the same way it had done the whole time I was trying to make my escape from the swanky high-rise earlier while it was still dark outside.
Stop it.
I couldn’t dwell on last night anymore. I had work to do. My new boss would be in any minute now. I chugged the rest of my coffee and headed back to my desk. A quick peek in the corner office told me Declan wasn’t in yet. He was running late, which, according to Casey, never happened.
Plastering a smile on my face, I sat down to finish up the schedule for the day.
He had a few meetings, and of course, a big talk with the new team.
I had already reserved a conference room for that and even printed out the agenda.
Declan didn’t like to waste paper, but he wanted everyone to have a written copy of what the next three months would look like.
I was feeling pretty good about my efficiency while thoroughly hungover, then my whole day came crushing down. Or rather, my whole escapade from last night came into full focus. Just two little words made everything play in my head like a movie.
“Bloody hell.”
I looked up to find a very angry and still insanely hot, Declan Winston Noble.
No, no, no, no. In my head, I clearly saw myself sitting in the back of his car. Why was I in his car? I met his gaze, and his scowl deepened. Does he remember? Maybe he was drunk, too. Who was I kidding? There was no way he was as wasted as I was.
“Declan, this is Isla Vendetti, your executive admin while you’re in town.” Nicolas ignored the daggers Declan was shooting my way. Or maybe he didn’t notice.
I cleared my throat and forced myself to stand. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Noble.”
Please don’t remember me. Please don’t remember me.
“Right then. I know Casey already gave you the rundown of how I work. If you have questions, you can call her.” He strode into his office, leaving me with my hand extended.
Obviously, he remembered me, and probably thought the worst of me.
I was the drunk girl who told him last night he looked like Henry Cavill and that he was so hot and so lickable.
The words echoed in my head and made my throbbing head hurt even more.
What now? Would he fire me? Casey was very clear on this one point yesterday.
Mr. Noble expected his employees to work hard and be professional.
More specifically, Casey had advised me to keep my googly eyes and flirting to myself.
Omigod, my boss saw me naked. Did we have sex?
I continued to wallow in self-pity and despair while he and Nicolas continued their conversation in his office.
From my desk, I had a good view of both of them.
Nicolas had his back to me. He was tall and broad shouldered, but Declan was bigger.
Even in that tailored suit, I could see the outline of his biceps.
And then my hungover ass decided it would be a good idea to picture him in a Superman suit.
What the hell was wrong with me? I was about to lose my job.
Drooling over my new boss was a bad idea—a horrible idea.
“Good luck today.” Nicolas stopped by my desk on his way out. He stuffed his hands in the pockets of his trousers and beamed at me. “Louisa is joining me for lunch today. She’ll stop by before noon. If you wanted to say hi, that would be a good time to do it.”
“Thank you.” I smiled, feeling all warm inside.
Of course, he wasn’t doing any of this for me.
He was being kind and generous because he wanted his wife to be happy.
Louisa and I had unresolved issues. No doubt Nicolas had already figured that out.
He wanted her to have closure. I wanted more than that.
I wanted to get to know my sister. We were the same age; we should be friends.
My older sister was almost eight years older than me.
To her, I was the pesky little sister she had to watch after school while Mom was at work.
Whatever Nicolas’s reasons for helping me, I was glad he was on my side.
Maybe he talked to Declan and asked him to give me another shot.
The idea that now I had a brother-in-law who stood up for me made my heart melt.
I couldn’t lose this job. More than my new career was at stake.
I had a shot at getting close to Louisa and her family.
I had a shot at being friends with her. Did I ever fantasize about being besties with her and doing everything together—talk about boys, stay up late watching movies, or call her in the middle of the night because my boyfriend broke up with me and I got too drunk? Maybe.
The key to getting to know Louisa was to convince my new boss that I didn’t deserve to get fired over something that happened outside of work. So I put on a big smile, grabbed the agenda for today, and walked into the lion’s den—err, his office.
When he didn’t glance up from his desk, I offered a polite and very professional-sounding greeting. “Good morning, Mr. Noble.”
He inhaled deeply then slowly raised his gaze to meet mine. Jesus, the man was beautiful with his chiseled jaw, full lips, and intense blue eyes. Knowing he was also wicked smart and a god with computers had my nipples standing at attention.
Crap. Okay, no.
Think professional.
I cleared my throat and stepped closer. When I did, he sat back in his chair and glanced away for a second, almost as if he couldn’t stand the sight of me.
He did want to fire me, but Nicolas must’ve asked him to let me stay.
I didn’t care if he hated me. No, I did care.
But I had to make myself not care. Last night wasn’t who I was.
He couldn’t judge me based on that one thing.
He couldn’t judge me period. Who did he think he was?
Anger replaced some of the shame from before, and I stood a little taller. Screw him and his judgy pants.
“I have the agenda for today. We have the conference room for the day, and it’s all set.”
“Are you expecting a gold star for doing your job?” He cocked an eyebrow.
And damn it if that British accent wasn’t doing things to me.
“Of course not. I was just letting you know.” I stumbled over my words.
“Ms. Vendetti.” My name on his lips sounded like some sort of promise.
I leaned in, anxious to hear what he would say next. “Yes.”
“The phone is ringing. Tend to it.” He returned to the notepad in front of him.
Shit. “Of course.” I scurried out of his office and picked up the phone. The call had already dropped but I pretended it hadn’t. “Mr. Noble’s office, how can I help you?”
The rest of the day went more or less the same way.
Nothing pleased Declan. When I brought him coffee, it wasn’t hot enough.
When I brought him papers to sign, he didn’t like the color tabs I had chosen to mark the spots where he needed to sign or initial.
When I brought in his next appointment, he scowled at me for not announcing Mr. Bryant first. His freaking door was wide open, and I could see he wasn’t busy, so why did I need to announce him first as if we were at court?
The man was insufferable. As the day wore on, he seemed less and less attractive.
Okay, no that was a big fat lie. He seemed even hotter.
Especially during our introductory meeting.
He had already figured out how the hackers had been able to access the servers and had done a quick mock design of how the new infrastructure should look.
His design was smart, and to use Casey’s word, elegant.
Everything about Declan Winston Noble was exactly that—smart and elegant.
From the way he wore his expensive suit, the way he spoke, and his overall energy and passion for his work.
“Ms. Vendetti.” His voice boomed from his office.
This late in the day, almost everyone had gone.
I had been sitting at my desk waiting for him to dismiss me.
Casey had mentioned he liked it when his assistants stayed as late as him.
I grabbed my iPad in case I needed to take notes and strode into his office.
I had been so busy and flustered all day, I hadn’t noticed what a gorgeous view of the city he had.
The tall windows let in plenty of light during the day, but at this late hour, his office was dim-lit.
He seemed so at home sitting behind his mahogany desk with all those books lining the wall.
I knew the books weren’t his, but the whole thing just suited him.
He belonged in this corporate world the way I yearned to do one day.
I glanced down at my hands. I’d waited a lifetime to fit in, not just here, but in the world in general, with my family, my boyfriend’s family.
Everywhere I went, I just didn’t seem to click.
“Did you need something?” I asked after a minute of standing in the middle of his office in complete silence.
“This is for you.” He pushed an envelope toward me and shot me a quick glance before he returned to his work on the computer.
I slowly stepped forward as my eyes welled up with tears—I had a pretty good idea what the envelope was for. When I opened it, I found a check made out to me for five thousand dollars. What did this mean exactly?
“What is this for?” I asked.
“I’ve arranged for someone else to take over for you in the morning.”
“You’re firing me?” I leaned my palm on his desk. And I didn’t care that my Brooklyn accent had shown up in my question. I was pissed. He jerked me around all day, only to fire me now? He was a real bastard for stringing me along. “You can’t do that.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“I mean. Why?”
“I think we both know why, Isla. I can’t have.” He stopped to swallow as if looking for the right words. “I expect everyone on my team to behave in a manner that makes Noble Consulting proud. I do not need my people to waste their time around the water cooler talking about sex clubs and gambling.”
“What? What are you talking about? What club?” I skipped the sex word because, wow, that single syllable sounded way too hot coming from him.
“The Crucible, from last night. It’s a sex club. Are you seriously telling me you didn’t know that?”
Hold up. What? Was this about me going to a sex club or me knowing he was at sex club. “I didn’t know. But now that I do. I promise, I won’t tell anyone.”
“What?” He furrowed his brows.
“Well, you know. You were there, too.”
He raked a hand through his hair. “That’s not what I meant.”
“Oh, so you can hit a sex club, but I can’t?”
“I’m not having this conversation with you. Good luck to you, Ms. Vendetti. Shut the door on your way out.” He pointed at the check in my hand.
I glanced down at it. “Is this bribe money or pity money because you feel like a jerk for firing me?”
His head snapped up, eyes wide in surprise. Did he really think I was going to stand here and take it? He was being unfair. This double standard was bullshit.
“Neither. It’s severance pay.”
Really? He was going to play the “nice guy” card now?
The last two days came crashing down on me like a tsunami—the disappointment of wanting this opportunity so much only to get a position that had nothing to do with programming, then Steven breaking up with me at a sex club that I didn’t know was a sex club, and now getting fired after working my ass off all day.
Yeah, I lost my shit. This was too much.
“You know what? You can keep your stupid job and your pity money.” I ripped the check until I couldn’t rip it anymore and let the pieces fall on his desk. Screw Declan Winston Noble and his pretty face and fancy job. “You don’t have to fire me. I quit on grounds that you’re a total bastard.”
“I already fired you.” He pressed his lips together.
Or maybe he was gloating. I couldn’t tell. Either way, I didn’t want him to have the last word. My pride hurt. My heart hurt. Everything just hurt.
“I don’t care.”
“And that’s just fine.” His low tone filled the air around me.
“Fine.” I turned on my heel and marched out of his office, slamming the door on my way out. By the time I reached my desk, I lost the last of my self-control and let the tears go. At least he had waited until everyone had gone home before he fired me.
The worst part was that now I had to go to my apartment in Brooklyn and face Steve.