With an opportunity of a lifetime to make her entrepreneurial dreams come true, Thea finds it getting increasingly harder to hide her attraction to her boss, Aiden Steele - not knowing that the man under all the cold layers has a secret worth millio...
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If I was desperate to find a silver lining in all of this, it was the fact that the Mallory merger had finally gone through, and I was no longer supposed to report to Mr Ridgely. He'd earned my respect with the way he worked, and his knowledge in the field undoubtedly made him the absolute best, but it wouldn't kill him to be nice to people every once in a while. Vivian, his assistant bought doughnuts for us, looking relieved that she could go back to her normal schedule instead of dealing with the mess of us in that ugly conference room. After almost ten days of gruelling work and a lot of elbow grease later, we were finally free.
I wanted to cry. Instead, I held it in till I could finally go upstairs to see Lydia and tell her how happy I was to be back to working with her. Anything was better than working with Ridgely. Quinton, one of the guys from the team invited me out for drinks with the rest of the men, and I agreed to the idea. I told them I'd meet them at the bar after I finished winding up my things and they left the room quickly, obviously eager to get the fuck out and celebrate.
Debating if I needed to go upstairs or just leave, I reached the elevators before I could make a decision. Fine. It'll be a short and quick visit upstairs and then I'd be off getting wasted and actually celebrating a successful day at work with some friends. It would be fun.
When I reached the thirtieth floor, the silence of the place was very welcoming. Finance was filled with shouts across the hallway and tons of chaos, and HR was pumped up with pop music all the time. This was calming. Lydia appeared to be drowning in paperwork when I turned in the hallway, drawing her attention to me.
"Hey, cupcake!" Her bright smile made my day feel better than it already was, and as I hugged her, I felt all the stresses of the day disappear.
"I think we agreed you'd call me something less embarrassing." I blushed.
She pinched my cheeks in response before getting back to work. "Need help?" I asked, already tying my hair up and away from my face. Lydia passed half the pile to me, and I sat at my desk, sending a quick text to Quinton: Something came up ☹ Have a beer for me!
Barely twenty minutes in, there were the ominous footsteps on the marble floor before the doors to Aiden's office opened. I didn't look up from my work, afraid I would lose my spot on the sheets.
"Lydia," His voice was calm, even though everything about him screamed don't-fuck-with-me, "Have I employed Thea to be your assistant?"
Oh boy. Is that even something to be pissed about?
"I actually offered-" I stood from my seat, but Aiden only looked at me with a tilted head, and my mouth dried up. His stance was menacing, looming over us like a demon from hell. I gave Lydia a sideward glance and she just shook her head ever so subtly.
"Pack your stuff and wait in the lobby, Thea. We have somewhere to be." He said before turning away from me completely, eyes on Lydia. "Finish these files on your own and then drop the Western Union proposal to my home."
