Chapter 18
Ian
I sat across from my laptop, leaning on the desk, and pushed hair from my eyes. I needed a haircut, but didn’t have the time.
I let out an exasperated sigh as I scrolled through an earning-potential spreadsheet for some of our new tech I was looking at the numbers, staring at them with everything I had, but nothing was clicking. Not really.
Working always seemed like something that was difficult when I had Kate on my brain. I really couldn’t stop thinking about what would happen that we were back together. Especially since we weren’t going to keep it a secret.
Would Ben and Michael make my life a living hell and leak whatever “proof” or “evidence” they had against my dad?
Would my company suffer? Hell, even if they didn’t say anything, it was possible my company would still suffer. I was pretty much useless when I thought about her at work, anyway.
I leaned back in my chair. I had so much on my mind that I didn’t really know how I’d read any of the document at all.
I wanted to confront the Murphy’s; I also wanted to confront my dad but that wasn’t an option. But more than anything I just wanted to know the truth. Wanted to know what was going on.
I had a pretty in-depth scenario on my head about what had actually happened with Dad and Michael, and I was sure it was probably wrong, but I couldn’t help but try and make sense of it all.
I also couldn’t help but have Kate on my mind at the same time.
It seemed the more I thought about them, the more I ended up thinking about her.
I blushed at the notion of having her in my arms once again. I smiled as I zoned out, thinking only of her. I was so zoned out that I barely heard my office door open and close.
My head snapped up to look at the intruder, and fell immediately when I saw who was standing there. Amelia. My ex girlfriend and Murphy’s current attorney.
Seeing her in my office caused my stomach to drop and whirl with nausea. I wanted to say that I couldn’t believe she just entered without so much as a knock, but I could believe it. She was that kind of person. Manners weren’t her thing. She traipsed in acting like she owned the joint.
She might have been a terrible girlfriend, but she was an amazing lawyer. I had to give that to her. Granted, her moral compass was lacking, but that’s why we broke up. She chose defending BioResearch over dating me because of the money they offered her. To hell with any conflict of interest. I was disposable.
Part of me hated her — and none of me liked her — but I did respect her ability to do her job.
“What do you want, Amelia?” I groaned.
I pushed my desk chair away from my desk slightly and looked at her.
“I just wanted to come by and say, ‘no hard feelings,’ to you,” she said. It was funny. Amelia was the only one that could have made that sentence come across with sexual intent. “And I hope there are no hard feelings on your end, are there?” she asked, biting her lip as she continued to walk slowly and seductively toward my desk.
Her hips swayed with every step, and as sexy as it was in a general aesthetic sense, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. Amelia basically did the opposite of arouse me.
She pissed me off and made my balls retreat into my body because she was so damned evil.
“Whatever, Amelia. You did what you had to do.” I sighed. I was trying to get rid of her. “So if that’s it, I need to get back to work.”
“I’m just so glad the case was dropped,” she laughed, just before leaning over my desk. Her cleavage would have been visible from space as she used her arms to subtly squeeze her breasts together and lean further over on with her hands beneath her chin as she propped herself up directly in front of me. “I really didn’t want to take you down. I hated it when you had to take over the lawsuit.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” I asked, as my head shifted to look at her.
“I mean, I never meant to be against you; just your dad.”
“Not that,” I groaned, my mind suddenly whirling. “Go back. What do you mean ‘take me down’?”
She laughed, like a damn demon would if it was thrust in the same situation. There was no empathy; there was no compassion. It was just a ruthless sort of laugh. “The evidence, Sweetie,” she giggled, again showing just how empty of remorse she really was.
My eyes narrowed and I glared. I hated feeling like someone was being condescending toward me. I hated it more than anything.
“Cut the shit, and tell me what you mean,” I said, anger more than likely shining through with my words.
“There was just a lot of evidence against John. Way too strong for you to ever win the case.” Her words sounded nonchalant. Like I was just supposed to accept it and not wonder about it.
I was getting uncomfortable.
Not only was it not appropriate to talk about with her, but I was also nervous for a whole other reason.
I was nervous because I knew that the lawsuit could, very well, be back on now that I had completely gone against the deal I’d made with Ben.
I started uncharacteristically fidgeting, and I could only hope she hadn’t noticed. I wasn’t the type to be intimidated, or easily stirred by anyone, let alone my ex-girlfriend.
“Would you like to explain yourself?” I asked. “I mean, what did you guys even have?”
“It doesn’t matter now,” she smirked, evilly. “So don’t worry your pretty face about it.”
She basically crawled over my desk and went to touch my chin, but I didn’t let her.
I pushed my desk chair back farther, out of arm’s reach, and looked at her warningly. “Well, Amelia, I’m glad you didn’t, ‘take me down’ too, but right now, I really have to get back to work.” My wording was smug, full of myself and I seemed to pull off the whole I-don’t-give-a-fuck routine.
And that’s exactly what I was going for.
She dropped her hands away from her face and stood up straight, her feet firmly placed back on the ground and her body finally off my desk.
She smirked, without saying anything, and turned to leave, each step making me feel more anxious than the last. I almost regretted letting her leave without explaining more. Almost being the key word. Because I wasn’t sure that I would ever fully regret Amelia leaving.
But still, with every step she made, she got further away, and immediately I felt myself grow cold. My arms braced around my stomach, which started whirling and aching nervously.