Chapter Nine

ISABELLA

The next few days prove to be more than a little awkward working alongside Sabrina instead of taking her orders. While the added responsibility Adam had given me offered more time with him at the office, a heap of stress came right along with it. Fortunately, Friday has finally arrived and my long week is dwindling down to just a few more hours.

I’ve never looked so forward to sleeping in.

“Are you doing alright?” Christie asks across the table, pulling my attention back to her. “I feel like I haven’t seen you very much lately. I stopped by your place night before last and you weren’t home again. I’ve missed my friend.”

“I haven’t been home much lately,” I admit, sipping from my tea and leaning back in my seat, avoiding her goofy grin. “And I’ve missed you, too. I’m sorry I haven’t been around, I’ve just been really busy at work. Adam’s got me on a few projects with Sabrina the Middle-Aged Bitch.”

“So, it’s Adam now, huh? No more Mr. Avery?” she winks, her smile widening when I bite my lip and begin to blush. “I know you can’t talk about it. I just want to make sure you’re happy.”

“I am,” I nod, biting on my thumbnail in thought before giving her my eyes once more. “I think I’m actually like… hardcore happy right now.”

“Really?” she asks, reaching for my hand and giving it an affectionate squeeze. “That’s so awesome, honey. I’m so glad. Are you two having crazy wild sex in his office?”

“Oh, my God, Christie!” I roll my eyes, making her laugh hysterically. “You’re a terrible person.”

“Perhaps,” she shrugs, arching her brow. “However, I see you’re not denying it so there must be a little truth.”

“Perhaps,” I wink, shaking my head at her applause as I move to a stand and reach for the check.

“You don’t have to do that,” she waves me off. “I can get it.”

“No, it’s my turn,” I insist as I hold it far away from her, handing it to the waiter when he returns. “You can get it next time. Rules are rules.”

“Yeah, you’re real good at following rules, hooker,” she teases, snorting when I playfully flip her off. “Anyway, thank you for lunch. If I’d remembered it was your turn, I would have ordered something better.”

“You’re such a dork,” I giggle, signing the slip and setting it on the table before pulling her close for a hug. “I love you.”

“Love you, too,” she says, kissing my cheek. “Call me this weekend.”

“I will!” I wave, making my way toward the crosswalk. My phone dings with a text alert and I start to swipe it away but do a double take when I see the message. “What the fuck?”

ADAM

I barely have time to process the sound of her heels clicking and the rapid sound of her knocking on my office door before it swings open and she pushes through, her eyes wild.

“Are you crazy?” she hisses, pushing the door shut behind her and stomping toward my desk.

“Hello, dear,” I reply, glancing up from my desk to take in her unusually tousled appearance. “How was your lunch?”

“It was… what?” she glances up, her expression making me chuckle. “Forget about lunch.”

“As you wish,” I tease, returning my attention back to my work. “Are you alright, sweetheart? I’m not trying to sound dismissive, but we have a very important meeting in a less than an hour.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t keep you long,” she answers with a shrug. “I just thought I might suggest you contact payroll.”

“That sounds dreadfully boring,” I sigh, leaning back in my seat. “Why would I want to do that?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” she sighs sarcastically, making my palm twitch. “I just thought they’d like to know they deposited an extra thirty thousand dollars into my account this morning.” As the final words slip from her lips, she drops the phone onto my desk and releases a low breath. “Adam, what the hell is this?”

“Backpay, kitten,” I admit, setting her phone back down. “I told them to.”

She stares back at me, blinking rapidly for a moment before she buries her face in her hands, releasing a long, low breath of frustration and facing me.

“Why?” she demands. “Adam, why would you do that?”

“Because we’ve been underpaying you for the last four years.”

“No, you haven’t!” she insists, the pitch of her voice surprising us both as she takes another breath to compose herself. “Please. You have to take it back.”

“No.”

“Adam, I can’t…” she sighs, biting her lip. “You can’t just give me thirty thousand dollars.”

“Of course, I can. I can do whatever I like, darling,” I argue, my attention still locked on the screen. “Besides, I’m not just handing it to you. You earned it.”

“I was just doing my job.”

“No, you were doing your supervisors job on top of your own,” I correct her. “It’s gone unnoticed long enough, Bella.”

“Please take it back,” she says quietly. I start to refuse once more before she cuts me off. “Adam, I’m serious. I know you’re trying to do the right thing and compensate me for the extra work, but just try and see it from my point of view for a second, okay?”

“Fine, honey,” I concede, turning to face her. “I’ll bite. Present your case.”

Her palms rest against the edge of my desk as she holds my eyes for a moment, searching her mind for the words she wants to say before her shoulders relax slightly and she pushes out a deep sigh.

“Look, I’ve worked at the same job for four years doing the same thing every day,” she explains. “I love my job. I loved working for your uncle and I love being with you, but until that? No one noticed me. No one gave a shit about that extra work because it was just getting done. I was just doing what I needed to do for the company I worked for and was it frustrating? Yes. Some days more than others, but I went home every week knowing I was earning it honestly and eventually, everything would just fall into place.”

“You still have that.”

“Then why do I feel like the only reason you’ve noticed it is because we’re sleeping together? Why did you specifically notice my work, but I have a feeling no one else has gotten any extra pay with their check this week?” she asks, her words stopping me cold. “We agreed that this wouldn’t affect my job and I can’t in good conscience keep that money knowing I’m getting special treatment. If I get a promotion for hard work? Fine. I’ll take the money then, but I’m not taking it for being your girlfriend. I can’t do that.”

I gently tap the end of my pen on the paper in front of me as I consider her words. When my eyes move back to hers, the inner turmoil there is more than obvious. I can’t stand knowing I’m the one who put it there.

“Adam…”

“Fine,” I relent, pulling a low sigh of relief from her.

“Oh, thank God,” she starts, falling into the chair behind her. “Thank you,” she says. “Just tell me what payroll needs me to do and-”

“No, I already told you I wasn’t taking it back, Isabella. If a promotion is what it takes to settle this then-”

“What? Adam, no!” she complains as she shoots back out of the chair. “You don’t need to do that! Jesus, baby! Just take the money back.”

“Bella-”

“Take it back or I swear to God, I’ll give every dime of it to charity.”

“Do what you want with it, princess. It’s your money,” I shrug, pulling the phone to my ear, holding a finger up for a second to dial my assistant. “Margaret, can you please make sure we’re set in conference room B for four-thirty? Thank you.”

“No, it isn’t!” she continues the second my phone call has ended as she begins to pace. “Oh, my God… Everything is just spiraling out of control.”

“What are you talking about?”

“This, Adam!” she complains, throwing her hands up dramatically. “Too much is going on right now. I can’t handle all of it at once. I don’t have the nerves for it.” She finally stops, rubbing her temples as she closes her eyes and releases a long, low sigh. “Santa merda…” she mumbles under her breath, the Italian filth making my cock swell. “Adam, I can’t-”

“Stop,” I cut her off, pushing away from my desk and gesturing for her to come closer.

I’ve never seen her so vulnerable before. Something about it tugs at me deep, calling to the one thing I’d been struggling to keep at bay ever since she turned up on my doorstep all those nights ago. Something in her eyes tells me she feels it, too. Maybe she has for a while, but I was just too stubborn to see it. When she nods and makes her way over, I lean back in my chair and pull her into my lap, cradling her against my chest.

“Baby, just calm down. Talk to me.”

She visibly relaxes as I rest my hand over her legs, stroking her skin beneath the hem of her skirt. I gently rub her lower back, willing her erratic breathing to steady out and after a moment, it finally does. When I think she’s calm enough to continue the conversation, I press my lips to her hair and give her thigh a light squeeze.

“Look at me,” I order gently, pulling her troubled gaze back to mine.

She chews on her lower lip in thought for a moment as she sits upright, her grip on my shoulders softening as she absentmindedly begins playing with the hair at the nape of my neck. Her other hand raises to her lips and she begins biting on her thumbnail until I give her a soft swat on her ass.

“Don’t bite your nails, darling,” I say quietly, watching her lower it into her lap and release a breath. “What’s wrong? What exactly is too much?”

“All of it,” she admits, swallowing hard to hide the tears that threaten. “The job, the money, the secrecy, you…” she trails off. “Before all this, I came to work, I went to the gym, I spent most nights on my couch binging on ice cream and Netflix and I called my mom every weekend. That was my life, Adam and now? I haven’t been home in over a month, I have zero downtime. Everything is different and I’m not saying it’s a bad thing because I’m really happy, but I think I just need some time to feel normal, you know?”

“Honestly? No,” I shake my head. “Honey, I don’t know. Aside from you, this is my normal.”

“Dio mio…” she whispers, rubbing the bridge of her nose. “You must just be exhausted like… all the time.”

“Sometimes,” I chuckle, kissing her hair as I pull her closer to my chest. “But if you tell me what you need, darling, I might be able to help.”

“I don’t know,” she sighs, glancing out in front of her for a second. “I think I just need a second to catch my breath. Feel normal. Just a day or two here and there where I don’t have to think so much about everything,” she admits, looking over at me. “Maybe we could spend this weekend at my apartment. Would that be alright?” she asks. “I’ll make dinner and we can kick back on the couch, eat ice cream and do something random like… I don’t know… laundry?”

“Well, I’m admittedly not great at kicking back, but if you just want to spend some quiet time alone together, we can do that at my place, princess,” I offer. “I’ve got a full kitchen. I can give the staff the weekend off. It’ll just be me and you.”

“Okay,” she finally whispers after staring back at me for a moment. “I mean, I guess if that’s better for you.”

It’s impossible for me to miss the slight twinge of disappointment in her expression. She tries to hide it with a small smile, but it never reaches her eyes.

“What is it?”

“Nothing,” she shakes her head, stifling an eye roll when I raise a brow at her lie. “I was just really excited to spend some time at home. Can’t we just go there instead?”

“No.”

“Not even one night?” she asks, making me shake my head. “Why not?”

“Because it’s impractical for me,” I say bluntly. “I need to be near my office for work, Bella. Not to mention, there’s little to no privacy at your place. If anyone sees us coming or going together, it creates an entirely new level of potential problems that we’ve both agreed neither of us want.”

“You won’t compromise on this at all?” she asks. “Not even for one night?”

“No, sweetheart. Spending the night at your apartment doesn’t work for me. If you really want to go home, I’ll take you after work and we can spend a few hours there. We can do whatever you want over the weekend, but we’ll sleep at my place. That’s my compromise.”

“Alright,” she finally concedes, her fingers brushing mine as I lean in and kiss her cheek.

“Do you have your class at the gym tonight?”

“No,” she shakes her head.

“Okay, well we need to get to this meeting and then we’ll call it an early day, just head out from there. Sound good?”

“Yes,” she nods, rising from my lap.

“Go get your things,” I order quietly as I gently pat her on the ass. “We’re due in the conference room in five minutes.”