“What, you think he’s pranking me or something? Or just trying to make me feel more pressure?”
“No. I mean, listen, don’t get me wrong—you’re brilliant as shit, totally capable of handling a merger like this. But it’sSasha. This is just his way of putting the screws to you, trying to get the best possible performance out of you. I bet, in his eyes, it’s like putting tons of pressure on a piece of coal to form a diamond.”
“Form a diamond or make me go insane and quit and move to a convent in the mountains. One or the other.”
She shrugs and grins a bit. “Hey, you’re the one who decided to be a numbers queen.”
“You got me there.” I take a sip, and she watches me carefully. “What’s with the evil eye?”
“It’s a curious eye. Just wondering why you’re suddenly on a decaf kick.”
I haven’t told Angie yet, and I feel like a total piece of crap for keeping the fact that I’m pregnant from my best friend. But now’s not the time. I still haven’t quite figured out what I’m going to do about Sasha, so I’ve just kept it to myself. It hasn’t been easy, and I’ve felt more alone than I ever have before.
“Just not feeling like spazzing out in the middle of the coffee shop with a caffeine overdose. I’ve been basically mainlining espresso since Sasha put me on this thing.”
“Understandable. Well, I was going to ask you about your dating life. But something tells me there’s only room for one man in your life these days.” She glances up and over my shoulder. The AngelCorp tower is visible in the distance, and I can even spot the windows of Sasha’s top-floor office from where I’m seated. It’s like there’s no getting away from the guy.
“And you’d be right about that. How about you? How’s Hinge life?’
“The less said, the better. But it’s sure as hell preferable to wading through finance bros. No offense.”
“Oh, none taken in the slightest. Speaking of finance bros, whatever happened to that one you were seeing who lived in Logan Park? The one with the Ethereum tattoo on his wrist? That still a thing?”
Angie makes a face of total disgust. “Not even a little. And first of all, he said that was temporary ink—got it at a launch party or something. And second, that’s ancient history. We don’t talk about temporary tattoo guy.”
I smirk into my latte. “Uh-huh, until the next one, that is.”
“Bold of you to assume you’ll get to meet the next one,” she says with a smirk, flipping her hair back. “Not to mention that this guy was, like, five months ago. You’resoout of the loop.”
“Sorry, time flies when you’re the personal whipping girlof the CEO.”
“God, no kidding. You’ve been practically living there. Does he at least let you out at night? Or are you living in a storage closet?”
I groan. “Don’t get me started. I’ve been chained to this merger for weeks. If I so much as think about anything non-merger-related around Sasha, it’s like he knows and shoots me a total death stare.”
“The big guy’s still terrifying as ever?”
“Always. But…” I hesitate. I haven’t told Angie about what happened between Sasha and me. Telling her would lead to telling her the other news, and that’s too much to dump on her during our first hang in a while. But I can’t keep her totally in the dark.
“But what?”
“It’s weird. You remember how I had to lay down the law for him a month or so ago when this project started?”
“Sure do.”
“Well, he actually backed off. He’s giving me space, letting me work without breathing down my neck, asking for updates every two seconds.”
She raises an eyebrow. “He’s letting you exerciseindependence? Our little Sasha?”
“Believe it or not, yeah. And it’s nice, like he actually trusts me.”
A mischievous glint forms in her eye. “Orhe’s just so busy with his mob stuff these days that he doesn’t have the time to hover over you.”
“Hismob stuff?”
One of the biggest rumors at AngelCorp is that Sasha is associated with the Russian mob. No one knows for sure, but I wouldn’t doubt for a second that a man like him has been into some shady stuff.
“Come on, you really believe all that?”
