Total pages in book: 23
Estimated words: 22016 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 110(@200wpm)___ 88(@250wpm)___ 73(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22016 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 110(@200wpm)___ 88(@250wpm)___ 73(@300wpm)
“That works for me. And Stone, I just want to go wherever you are. And I love you, too.” I steal a deeper kiss than ever before. My heart thumps out of control.
My phone rings, so I pick it up. It’s a habit of mine since I’m always working—or at least I was. The screen shows Adriana’s number and a picture of us making faces. Demi sees it, and I can see that she’s still a bit worried. “Hey, brat. What’s up? Don’t tell me you’re taking another week off?”
“Um…Stone. I’m calling to say I’m giving notice,” she mutters so low that I almost don’t hear what she said.
“Giving notice?” Why the fuck is she quitting?
“Yes, my two weeks’ notice. I’m getting married.”
“What? To who?” Demi gets tenser in my hold, but I’m losing my shit. She can’t just get married out of nowhere. “Who the fuck is he?”
“Relax, bro. I’m sorry, but it’s Gray Masterson.”
“What? I’m going to kill the bastard. You can’t marry him.”
“Sorry. Gotta go. Love you,” she exclaims and ends the call.
Demi tilts her head and asks, “Did she say bro? Are you related?”
“Yes, she’s my little sister.”
“I thought you and her…”
“And if Riley made you believe that, then she knew exactly what she was doing because she knew Adriana is my sister.” I see relief in her eyes.
Then her curiosity gets the better of her, and she wants details. “So, what’s with the guy?”
“He’s rumored to be on the wrong side of the law. We had it out once when he tried to buy me out. He’s only with her to get at me. The bastard.” I could kill him. I’ve got to call my parents and let them know so they can try to talk her out of it.
Chapter Eleven
Demi
I’m about to leave school when the Dean approaches me. “Ms. Sweets, may I have a word with you?” he asks. I can sense the tension in his stance.
“Of course, sir.” I knew this was coming.
“Please follow me.” He leads the way to his office, then closes the door. “Please take a seat.” He unbuttons his suit jacket and neatly takes a seat. “Ms. Sweets, I must be quite frank. I have learned that you and Mr. Harding have begun a relationship.”
“Yes,” I admit with not an ounce of shame. If this causes me to fail, I won’t even care one bit. I’m taking over for Stone’s sister and have been receiving training these last two weeks. She’s gifted, and I feel like such a dumbass for even believing Ms. Riley’s lies. Looking right at Adriana, I can see the family resemblance.
“And when did this relationship start?”
“After the start of my second week at the company.” A small fib, what’s a day or two.
“So you didn’t know Mr. Harding before this?” he asks, taking notes on his laptop that’s tilted away from me.
“No, but what bearing does it have on the issue?” I challenge. I get that it’s not a good look on Stone’s part and it makes me appear a victim, but it’s nowhere close to accurate.
“Only that you were intentionally selected.”
“You all did the selection process. Mr. Harding and I had no knowledge of each other before we met. And in fact, I’d been poorly treated by his staff until I met him.” Well, just the bitch under house arrest. Liz Riley will be going away for a long time.
Apparently, Stone wasn’t the first boss she attacked. They didn’t send her to prison, just sent her to a mental hospital. She got out after fooling everyone of her doctors and the lawyers. Because of a technical error, she was given a clean slate on her criminal record, leaving Stone unaware how dangerous she truly was.
“That’s unfortunate. However, we must stop all internships to the company because they’ve crossed lines that we didn’t anticipate.”
“I’m sure that’s a matter to take up with Mr. Harding. As of next week, I’ll be working for Mr. Harding part-time until I graduate.”
He narrows his eyes that are full of suspicion at me. “He hired you as his assistant? I know he needs one after reading about the attack.” His words are laced with revulsion.
“Yes, which you have not even asked about. I didn’t work this hard to get my double degrees to be his assistant. I’m taking over for one of his design team members who happened to be leaving to start a family.”
“I’m sorry. That was quite rude of me. Forgive me, but the idea that one of my students was taken advantage of by someone we put in their path strikes a chord with me. Are you well from the attack?” My brow raises because there’s a story behind that concern, and it seems like a personal one. The Dean is probably about as old as Stone, so I could see him having an affair with a young college student or something like that.