I stare her down, refusing to engage in something so high school petty.
Maybe she wants a fight. She wants me to roar and scream and give her more leverage to skewer me, but I’m the bigger person.
I’m not giving her a damn inch.
I’m also not going to break down and sleep with her just so she’ll play nice and show some basic decency.
No, this bullshit only ends one way, and it has everything to do with Lena Joly helping me buy breathing space.
V
Woof!
(Lena)
I am not upset.
I will not get upset.
Idefinitelycan’t afford to get upset, because that upsets Dr. Ezzie.
Just in case my body betrays me, I repeat the mantra two more times.
Doing it, that’s easier said than done, especially considering my hands are still shaking after that awful encounter with Harry every time I think of it.
Yes, even though it was a couple days ago.
Ugh.
Years have passed, and it still feels like a trauma response. My body’s still hardwired to reject him in the most visceral way possible.
Smarmy, soulless asshole.
It’s embarrassing that I ever thought I loved him. Me, Lena—the girlie who hands out tough love advice every time a friend panics over a guy.
God, the way I held Elle’s hand last year during her whole fake-engagement-turned-real with billionaire hottie August Marshall ... Where would my bestie be without me?
I have a good head on my shoulders and a heart wrapped in barbed wire. I can forgive my younger self for a lack of judgment.
It’s going to be okay. I’m older and wiser and determined to never let a man like Harry walk all over me again.
Sighing, I suck in a deep breath and knock gently on Dr. Ezzie’s door.
“Come in.”
I am not upset.
I step inside her adorably cramped office, closing the door carefully behind me. Dr. Ezzie sits at her computer. The usual laser focus gleams in her eyes, but her shoulders are slumped.
Crap.
This doesn’t look good already.
“Hi, Lena. Is everything okay?” She gives me a tired smile.
“Um, mostly. I actually just wanted to talk to you about a man you met with a couple days ago. Harry Jay.”
“The investor, yes.” Her brows knit together. “You know about that? Do you know him?”
