Nell leaned back, a small, knowing smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. It wasn’t a mocking look; it was the look of a mentor who was watching her mentee ascend. But not in the Obi Wan/ Anakin Skywalker way.
"Addie, please. Did you think I’d hire someone with your specific brand of... let’s call it aggressive efficiency... without doing a deep dive? I knew you were a Vane the day you walked in for your first interview."
I stared at her, my tongue feeling like lead. "And you still hired me? Knowing my family's business?"
Nell shrugged. "So what? You’re a hotel princess. You have more work ethic than either of the Hilton girls."
She didn't know. She didn't know that the Vanguard hotels were just a front for a criminal organization. Just like Blackwood Holdings dealt in more than shipping and restaurants.
"Game recognizes game," Nell said simply, her eyes boring into mine. "I saw a woman who was running from a legacy, wanting to turn that inherited grit into something useful. I didn't care where you came from, as long as you were heading toward the top. That's still where we're headed, right? To the top."
Nell stepped closer, her voice vibrating with a fierce, protective energy. "We’re the two smartest people in any room we walk into, Addie. We don’t let men like your father, or idiots like the Sterlings, dictate the ceiling of our lives. If you’re unhappy here, if you’re feeling the walls close in, then let’s go. Together. We’ll form our own firm. We’ll take half the clients with us before the elevator hits the lobby."
Tears pricked the backs of my eyes. This was the merger I wanted. This was the dream I’d been building in the quiet corners of my mind for years: working with someone who saw my worth, who wanted a partner, not a possession. For a heartbeat, I allowed myself to imagine it: a life where I wasn't currency, where my brain was the only thing that mattered.
The image of Vidar Blackwood, cold and beautiful behind a massive desk, shattered the fantasy. He was a mountain that had decided to move into my path. I was trapped in one of those nightmares where you ran until your lungs burned and your legs turned to lead, but no matter how fast or how far you went, you never escaped the shadow stretching out behind you.
Vidar had looked at a map of his future and decided I was a necessary landmark. He’d decided I was going to be his wife. And there was nothing in this world—not even Nell’s brilliance—that could change a fact he had already rendered into stone.
"I can't, Nell," I whispered, the words feeling like shards of glass in my throat. I had to kill the hope in her eyes before it broke me. "I’m getting married."
Nell didn't offer congratulations; she started an interrogation. "Give me one good reason why a woman like you would throw away everything for a man."
"Love." Too bad that single word sounded like a question, not a declaration.
"That sounded like a cry for help, Addie, not a confession of the heart. What's really going on? You don't leave a partnership for a man you've never mentioned unless there’s a gun to your head."
I wanted to tell her. I wanted to scream that I was being repossessed like a piece of faulty equipment. But I couldn't. Bringing Nell into the light would only put her in the crosshairs of people who didn't understand the word no. Because at the end of the day, they weren't people.
Protecting Nell meant lying to her. It meant letting her believe I was a fool rather than a victim.
"You’re the most analytical person I know. You don't do fast. You do research. You do due diligence."
I didn't answer. What could I say? She was right at every turn.
"So, who is the lucky man? Who managed to bypass every one of your firewalls?"
I looked back out at my desk, at the framed degree on my wall, the one I’d worked three jobs to pay for. I looked at the sleek, modern furniture I’d picked out myself. It all looked like stage props now; the costume of a woman who thought she was free.
"Vidar Blackwood."
"Vidar Blackwood? Addie, that man is a headline, not a husband. I’ve seen him in the gossip rags. He has a different woman on his arm every week. He’s a player. A high-stakes playboy."
I turned toward the window, looking down at the yellow cabs crawling like beetles on the street below. I had seen the photos too. Vidar at galas. Vidar on yachts. Always with some stunning, tanned woman who looked like she’d been carved out of sunlight. And now he wanted me. The pale, corporate Irish wolf he intended to use as a broodmare and a social accessory.
I’d escaped the hell of my father’s den only to walk straight into the Blackwood purgatory.
"Wait a minute." Nell stopped mid-stride. "The Blackwood corporate arm started sniffing around our books yesterday. They were asking specifically about your portfolio and your logistics history. I thought it was headhunting. I thought they were trying to steal my best associate."
My heart gave a sharp, painful thud. Vidar had already started the acquisition before I even walked into his office. Hehadn't been waiting for me to say yes; he’d been preparing to take what he’d already bought.
"Is this the reason, Addie? You can tell me if you want to leave me. Let me at least make you a counter-offer." Nell stepped closer, her gaze searching mine for a truth I wasn't allowed to give.
"I'm not going to be working in corporate. I'm going to stay at home and focus on my new relationship."
"Bull-fucking-shit. You haven’t even been on a date in six months. You spent New Year’s Eve with me and a bottle of Scotch, complaining about the lack of intellectual rigor in the dating pool. Now you’re leaving the career you bled for to play house?"
I didn't answer. I couldn't. I just stood there, a signed asset waiting for transport.
