It was clear that the others had no idea what to make of Addison’s presence in the office. At their first opportunity, they cornered her in the break room.

“You’re back!” Tavia gasped when she laid her green eyes on Addison’s face. “How is that even possible?”

Addison wasn’t sure how to answer, and she wished she had discussed a better cover story with Tatiana, but it was too late now. She was stuck improvising.

“I don’t know what that means,” she replied dryly, turning her back to fix a coffee.

Tavia and Erica lit up cigarettes at the same time.

“It means that once Marcus kicks you out, you’re done,” Tavia explained. “There are no second chances! How did you get him to take you back?”

Addison glanced over her shoulder, stirring sugar into a black coffee. “Marcus didn’t kick me out,” she responded simply. “I left.”

A dubious silence met her words.

“You left?” Erica echoed. “What do you mean, you left?”

Sighing to herself, Addison turned and took a sip of her coffee. “I don’t know any other way to explain it. It wasn’t working out. I moved out of the penthouse and left.”

They gaped at her, as if wondering whether to believe her. Addison thought back to the words she’d spat at Marcus earlier, and she realized that they were true. No one had ever willingly left Marcus Williams. They were all happy to remain at his beck and call while he did whatever he wanted with them. Addison chided herself for ever believing she was actually in love with him.

But she knew it wasn’t just a passing thought she’d had; it still existed deep within her, and it was real, no matter how furious she was with him.

It doesn’t matter, she reminded herself. He doesn’t care about you enough. I am not a priority to him. He’s made that clear.

“No way!” Tavia finally scoffed. “You had it the best out of all of us! Why would you leave?”

Addison regretted telling them anything and shrugged her shoulders.

“Better job opportunity,” she lied, heading for the door.

“What are you doing back, then?” Erica demanded. The animus in her voice was evident, and Addison slowly turned to stare at them, a slight dread filling her as they glared in her direction.

“I’m not sure,” she said plaintively. “I guess I just can’t stay away.”

Their faces relaxed simultaneously, as if she had confirmed that she was just as weak as they were, powerless to fight the attraction they all shared for the same man. But she was not weak—she wasn’t going to settle for being number two or three or five.

“Addison, may I have a word with you?”

Tatiana appeared in the doorway of the breakroom and the receptionists lowered their eyes, like her presence humbled them.

“Yes,” Addison agreed, following the CFO out of the room and down the hall toward the stairwell, leading to the main floor of the executive suites.

Tatiana kept a brisk pace as she made her way toward her office on the opposite end of the floor, and Addison tried her best to keep up. Tatiana paused outside her door and unlocked it, gesturing for Addison to enter first.

“Do you have something already?” Addison asked as Tatiana trailed after her, closing the door behind them.

“I want to talk to you about Marcus,” the brunette responded, leaning up against the desk, folding her arms over her chest. Addison tensed, her hands clenching. “I can tell by your posture that it’s a touchy subject,” Tatiana commented wryly.

“I really don’t see what there is to discuss,” Addison replied shortly.

“He’s in love with you.”

The statement caught Addison off guard, and her lips parted to argue.

“No,” she said. “He’s not.”

“He is,” Tatiana insisted. “He just doesn’t know it because he’s lived his whole life avoiding commitment and real emotion.”

A combination of irritation and embarrassment colored Addison’s cheeks.

“Why are you telling me this?” she demanded. “Are you another one of his women?” She almost choked on the word, and she realized how embittered she had become by the thought of Marcus being with anyone else when she had once been fine with their arrangement.

What changed? she wondered. How could I have been fine for a year and then suddenly loathe the entire idea?

The answer was painfully obvious, and no matter how much she tried to ignore it, Addison knew that she was hopelessly in love with Marcus Williams.

Her mind inadvertently went to the old couple from the diner, their words spilling through her mind in a jumble of confusion.

“There is no secret, dear. When you find the right person, no matter what the circumstances, it doesn’t take work—it just takes commitment. If you ever feel like you are not his number one, if you feel like you are not loved enough, then he is not the one for you.”

“Marcus is a difficult man with many secrets,” Tatiana explained, a sardonic smile on her lips. “I have known him since I was a child, and he has always been the same: a man determined to keep his emotions at bay and not get sucked into the drama of real relationships.”

Addison glanced at her. Tatiana didn’t seem to be that much younger than Marcus… maybe five years? How could she possibly know what he was like at such a young age?

“I still don’t understand why we’re having this discussion,” Addison said. “He doesn’t want me. He made it clear from the beginning that his lifestyle is not up for discussion. And if he thought I stole that money, it’s obvious he doesn’t trust me.”

Tatiana exhaled. “In all fairness, it was me who put that bug in his ear,” she admitted. “You seemed like the most likely candidate.”

“Me?” Addison demanded, her eyes widening. “Why?”

“Don’t make me think badly of you, Addison,” Tatiana replied. “I have a high opinion of you right now, and I’d like to keep it that way.”

Addison bit her tongue and nodded. “Because I’m the new girl, isn’t it?”

“You also swept into his life like a whirlwind in comparison to some of the others. I noticed a change in him right away,” Tatiana agreed. “Something was different about you from the very start.”

Addison didn’t know what to say, so she added nothing at all.

“What are you going to do about this?” Tatiana asked, and Addison stared at her.

“About what?” she questioned.

Tatiana grunted as if she was in physical pain. “Are you purposely playing dumb?”

“If you’re asking me about Marcus,” Addison started, “I am not opening my heart to a man who can’t commit. That’s not what I want, nor what I deserve.”

“Fair enough,” Tatiana said, nodding her head. “Have you told him that?”

“With all due respect, this is not your concern,” Addison said shortly, crossing her arms defiantly across her chest. She wondered how she had suddenly ended up having such a conversation with a woman like Tatiana Dupris.

“This company is my concern,” Tatiana retorted. “And unfortunately, Marcus Williams is the CEO of this company, so managing him is a part of my job.”

Addison’s jade eyes narrowed as she tried to understand what Tatiana was saying.

“So basically, your interest in this is keeping Marcus happy,” she said dubiously, and Tatiana shrugged.

“Someone has to run interference when the man is losing control. And honey, you make him lose control.”

A jolt of pleasure surged through Addison, but she tried to maintain a stoic expression on her face. “So what do you want from me?”

“I want you to assert yourself and tell him what you want from him. You’ll never know unless you ask, will you?”

She makes it sound so simple, Addison thought forlornly. But in the depth of her heart, she wondered if there wasn’t some element of truth to what Tatiana had said.

“I’m not saying it will be easy,” Tatiana told her softly, a surprising warmth in her tone. “But only you know if it’s worth it.”

Addison stared at the woman hopefully, her heart swelling. Did she and Marcus stand a chance, or would she just leave this place, rejected once more?

Before she could say another word, the intercom buzzed.

“Ms. Dupris, Mr. Williams is on his way—”

The door flew open, and Marcus stood at the entrance, an elated expression on his face. “I’ve had my eye on the reports all morning. Someone took another five grand out of the Kissinger account an hour ago.”

The women exchanged a glance, and Tatiana suddenly grinned in satisfaction.

“I knew it!” she exclaimed as she pushed herself off the desk. “Didn’t I tell you?”

“That’s all well and good,” Marcus said, shooting Addison a nervous look. “But we still don’t know who it is. I don’t know how we’ll manage to track down the culprit without bringing in a tech expert.”

“No,” Addison said slowly, an idea unexpectedly popping into her mind. “Not necessarily…” She pulled her phone from her blazer pocket as Tatiana and Marcus watched her, curiosity painting their faces.

“What do you have?” Marcus demanded impatiently, stepping to her side. Addison showed him what she was looking at. “Your emails?” he asked in confusion. “What’s on them?”

Addison shook her head.

“I’m not sure,” she said slowly, digging through her trash folder. “But Melissa sent me an email by accident not too long ago. She asked me to delete it, and I did.”

“What was on it?” Tatiana asked, her brows raising with interest as she joined the duo, staring at the screen as Addison opened the email with the subject line, “Take a look at this.”

“I don’t know. She told me that there was sensitive company information on it and that Marcus would be furious if I read it,” Addison replied, clicking the header.

“There is no reason for Melissa to have any sensitive company information,” Marcus growled, but Tatiana shushed him as she reached for Addison’s phone.

“Oh, wow,” she mumbled, scanning the data. “It’s the Kissinger report! That was her next mark!”

“Who was this email meant for?” Marcus asked, grabbing the phone from the CFO, his face stained red with anger.

“The c/c is to Erica,” Tatiana pointed out. “What do you want to bet that she was sending it to Tavia?”

A deep, furious silence followed her words, and Marcus shifted his gaze downward, a mixture of humiliation and rage on his face. Addison couldn’t help feeling… bad for him.

“They were all in on it together,” he spat, the venom in his tone toxic. “After everything I did for them!”

“I’ll deal with them, Marcus,” Tatiana sighed, but Marcus shook his head.

“No,” he said flatly. “This is my mess and I will take care of it.”

“What are you going to do?” Addison asked, her heart racing. She wondered how the women would handle being confronted with such a betrayal, and she was not sure that it would end well for Marcus.

“Don’t worry about it,” Marcus growled, spinning to leave.

Addison hurried to catch up with him. “You’re not doing this alone!” she said. “I’m coming with you.”

“No!” Tatiana and Marcus exploded in unison.

“This has nothing to do with you, Addy,” Marcus said, turning to her, his expression tender. “I have to deal with this myself.”

“Well, you should’ve thought of that before you dragged me into this,” she reminded him shortly. “I’m coming too.” He began to shake his head again, but for once in her life, Addison stood firm against him. “I am not taking no for an answer!” she told him. “If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t even know who was responsible!”

Marcus looked back at Tatiana helplessly, but she grinned, a twinkle in her blue eyes as she nodded approvingly at Addison.

“She has a point, Marcus,” the brunette commented. “The least you can do is allow her to see this through before she walks out of your life forever.”

Addison heard the near mocking note in Tatiana’s voice, but she ignored it, studying Marcus’ face to see what effect her words had on him. Even though he seemed hurt at the prospect, he turned once again to leave Tatiana’s office.

“Fine,” he said curtly. “But I’m doing all the talking. Is that clear?”

“Crystal,” Addison chirped, casting one last look at Tatiana, who grinned at her disarmingly.

“Go get ‘em, tiger,” she chuckled, and Addison inhaled sharply.

The moment of truth was on the horizon.