I doubt she realizes it would be quite a while before she’d see any profit if I deducted this from her pay. It was an artifact from the tomb of Nefertari, the queen of Egypt, born in 1300 BC.
“Don’t worry about it. I hated it anyway.”
She looks up at me with a question in her gaze, clearly not believing me. She walks to the kitchen island, laying the shirts over the countertop.
She doesn’t push it; she simply watches as I place the rest of the pieces inside the bag.
“The housekeeper can sweep the rest up.”
I look back up at her to see her eyes rimmed with moisture. She quickly turns away, walking toward the elevator.
“Ka—Miss Dawson.”
She stops, still facing away from me as she pushes the down arrow.
“Are you okay?”
Her head nods right before she disappears into the elevator.
She’s the most unorthodox agent I’ve ever encountered. Is she baiting me?
I’ve got to find out more about Kate Dawson and who she’s working for.
CHAPTER 9
KATE
“I have beensick to my stomach for days, thinking about what I did. The gorgeous woman—his fiancée or whatever—who came to see him needs to be told what happened.”
I’m hiding in the abandoned restroom stall at work, spilling my guts to Mel on the phone. It’s only my fourth day, but I don’t know how much longer I can work here.
Mel’s been crashing at Nikolai’s place, so I haven’t seen her. I can’t hold it in any longer that Mr. Bradshaw is engaged.
“But shouldn’t he be the one to come clean? You had no idea he was engaged when you met. Approach him later anddemandthat he tell her.” She is fired up about the news, and she’s usually thespeak now, think latertype.
I scoff, “Oh, right, so I can get fired for the second time in less than a week and have to search for a job again? My résumé is still out there, but every viable option doesn’t pay nearly enough for me to afford Dad’s care facility.”
Ugh, why don’t men wear engagement rings too?
Just another double standard, I guess. He’s free to screw around with unsuspecting females until the vows, but she’s already got his mark on her.
“Hmm, if you could find out a little more about the fiancée, maybe you could figure out if approaching her with an enormous apology and some kind of peace offering would help you not be labeled as some gold-digging psycho,” Mel says. I hear the sound of a faucet in the background as she rinses someone’s hair.
“But what if she’s the type to say it was on purpose? The coincidence of me getting hired the next day is what I can’t shake. That seems suspicious, no matter how you slice it, like I stalked him at that bar just to get in good with the boss or something. Either way, she’s engaged to a billionaire, and she looks like a supermodel. I’m sleeping on my best friend’s couch, and I can’t afford my own apartment if I lose this job. I’m the one out in the cold here.”
I start to feel a little panicky when I realize that I am going to have to find another job.Why can’t I get out of this rut?
Mel offered for me to stay with her permanently, but she lives in a miniature studio, and we’ve tried to room together before. It’s much better for our friendship if we have separate residences.
“Okay, but she is with a cheating jerk billionaire, which isn’t the worst thing ever, but it still sucks for her that he’s like that.”
I sigh. “I know, Mel. Trust me, I feel like a shithead. I was literally screaming at the girl who homewrecked my relationship last week. I want to tell her—I do. I just want to do a little snooping first and see if she’s...you know, a girl’s girl. Not the type to just jump to the defense of her man and blame me for it all.” I stand up to go back to my job from hell. “I don’t want to stay here, honestly, but I cannot afford to quit until I find something else. There’s just no way.”
“Of course not! You shouldn’t have to quit. I would do some digging on the girl to see what your next move should be, and then maybe you could request a transfer to another department. I don’t know. Don’t panic. It’ll all work out.”
Her plan sounds slightly better than hiding in a restroom stall to have a meltdown.
“Okay . . . thanks for listening to me vent.”
