“I didn’t tell you this before, but she threatened me here at work last week. The other day, when I slipped out of the conference room, I actually went to ask why she was giving me all these dirty looks, and now she is threatening to blackmail me. She is mad that I’m working with you, and she thinks something is happening between us, even after I told her there isn’t.”
Fury builds inside of me. Who the hell does Sherry think she is? I noticed all the looks, but I never thought she would go to these lengths just because of jealousy.
Lizzy continues, “But yesterday, she saw me outside of your place while I was waiting for a cab, and I insisted that I dropped off some papers for you, but she threatened me again. I think she’s crazy enough to do something, and I don’t know what to do. Should we just…”
“No,” I say, cutting her off. “We aren’t going to let her win. Nothing has ever happened between Sherry and me, so I don’t know why she is acting this way. I assumed she had a little crush with the way she acts around me, but I always ignore her.”
The room falls quiet as I rack my brain on what to do. I can’t allow Sherry to get away with threatening people in my company, let alone the woman that I’m…growing feelings for.
“Don’t worry about anything. I will take care of it,” I instruct, but her face goes from upset to scared.
“Please don’t do anything, Jon.” Her voice is steady but her hands give her away, fingers worrying the edge of her napkin until it’s a soft, frayed rope. “We’ve got clients to win before the deadline, and we can’t afford distractions. Besides… she wants to blackmail me, but she’s got nothing.”
She keeps her eyes down on the Caesar salad she hasn’t touched, like the croutons might suddenly rearrange into an escape plan.
Sherry’s thrown her off—not because she’s scared, but because all she wants is to do her job, and every week a new landmine appears. Including me.
A slow burn moves up my throat. Sherry’s games were always annoying; now they’re a line crossed. A line Lizzy’s too professional to name.
I force my jaw to unclench. “Okay,” I say at last, voice low. “You’re right. But if she does anything else, you tell me. No more handling this alone. What she’s doing isn’t just unethical. It’s mine to deal with, not yours.”
She exhales like she’s been holding her breath for hours. “Alright.”
The tension at the table loosens a notch. She picks at her salad, stabbing at a piece of lettuce, while I tear into my turkey club like it insulted me. She looks up once, catches me watching her, and a ghost of her smile appears—the one that could make me forget my own name.
I lean back in my chair, wiping my thumb across my lower lip, eyes still locked on hers. “So,” I murmur, “do you want to sleep over again tonight?”
Her fork stops mid-air. A flicker of heat crosses her face before she schools it. “Jon…”
“Say yes,” I say, almost a growl. “You know you want to.”
“I’d love to.” Her lips part on the words, then close as she spears another piece of salad, buying herself time. “But I don’t know if it’s a good idea. I don’t want to add fuel to the fire now that Sherry suspects something. We have to be careful.”
I let a slow smile curl at the corner of my mouth, watching her pulse hammer at the base of her throat. “Careful,” I echo, leaning just enough for her to feel my breath against her knuckles as she lowers the fork.
It grates, watching what should’ve been fire and thrill sour into dread for her—all because of one bitter woman with too much venom on her tongue.
I hate that Lizzy’s smile dims because of it. I hate that she’s forcing herself to say no when every part of me knows she wants yes.
And yet, I get it. For now.
Lunch drifts into silence. She eats little, then retreats to her desk, back straight, eyes glued to her screen as if sheer focus could keep the wolves at bay.
I stare through glass, pretending to work while the only thing on my mind is how badly I want her back in my arms… and how badly I want Sherry out of my company.
Lizzy wants me to wait. So I’ll wait.
But only until the deadline is met.
After that? The gloves come off. And Sherry will learn exactly what happens to people who threaten what’s mine.
16
ELIZABETH
The day has been dragging as I sit quietly in the office, counting down the seconds until five, when I can clock out and go home. It feels nice that I was able to confide in Jon, but I can tell that what Sherry did is getting under his skin, as it should.
It’s been eating at me since it happened. I know deep down that she doesn’t have any information on me to blackmail me, no concrete evidence.
