“Yes, but I’m good at managing them. He’s not.”
She snorts. “You’re horrible at boundaries.”
I nod. “I know.”
Surprisingly, she lets it go at that. “What does Allegra think about your midnight visit to your assistant?” she asks lightly. “Isn’t she back from Morocco?”
“I stopped seeing her last week.”
“W-when?”
“The night you gave your notice.”
Emma’s eyes widen in surprise. “Why?” she asks and then grimaces. “Never mind. That’s none of my business.”
“I’m not the one worrying about crossing lines.”
Her mouth quirks up in humor. “You’re standing in my apartment. So… clearly.”
Our eyes meet, and despite the heavy air around us, we both grin. She looks away first.
I shrug. “I realized that temporary is better, at least for me. And she said things that were unacceptable. About people I care about.” It’s too close to the awkward truth.
She nods and chews her lip, her brow knitted. It’s one of her tells that she’s brooding about something. Silence is loud in the room.
She puts a hand on my arm. “I’m sorry. I know you liked her. If I can do anything…” Her voice is soft and slightly rough in the quiet night. She shakes her head. “I mean, in the week I have left working. Before I… leave.”
Less than a week. That’s all I have left with Emma in my life on the daily. Unless I can convince her to stay.
She drops her hand and shivers. I normally try not to watch her too closely. But I do now. Dark circles bracket her eyes. And her face is gaunter.
Suddenly, I feel self-conscious. I just showed up, crashed into her life tonight, not caring that she probably needs to sleep.
But I can’t regret it, not entirely. I learned more about Em in this last hour than I learned in years working with her. The urge to protect her, even from myself, is overwhelming.
“You need to get some rest,” I say gruffly, standing. I want to insist that she come with me, that she not stay in this apartment on her own, but I know she’ll refuse. And I can’t force her. I’ll call Duncan as soon as I get to my car. He’ll be able to get a guarddispatched right away. And I can keep watch from afar until he does. Until I can figure out how to get her into a safer home.
She nods and walks me to the door.
It’s time to say goodbye, but my feet are rooted to the floor. Her face tips up. Maybe it’s just the exhaustion I can sense, but her eyes are unguarded, raw. They gut me. And I wish she weren’t wearing any makeup so I could count every single freckle on her nose.
But bosses don’t count freckles.
Do friends?
As a friend, I feel wrong leaving her like this when I have a twenty-room mansion that’s an echoing vault of emptiness.
Emma has always been my right hand. And now I realize maybe she needs me as well. Maybe this relationship doesn’t have to be one-sided anymore. I can also be her right hand. Because I’ll be damned if I lose her.
But with every day that passes, there’s a bigger chance that I will.
CHAPTER 17
Emma
I closemy screen and lean back in my chair with an enormous sigh. I did it. I’ve almost made it through my official last day of work as Sebastian Blake’s assistant.
“Did you get the email I sent you?” I ask Matt. “You need to remind Sebastian about the invitation to the house party at Dario Mancini’s Napa estate and find out if he wants to attend. We’re already late sending in the RSVP, and it’s coming up soon, so flag it as a high priority.”
