Love & Conditions (New York Billionaires Book 2)

5| Trust

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Trust

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Chapter 5: Trust (Jules's POV)

With a loud huff, I dropped my fork onto my plate, the loud clatter, finally making Audrey blink. "What?" I asked, "what is it? Why are you staring at me like that?" 

"I'm just trying to figure you out." 

I stared at her in confusion before slowly shaking my head. "I won't even ask." 

"You seem like you're in a bad mood." 

"I'm not," I denied. 

"That doesn't convince me otherwise. Did something happen?" She was looking at me with those eyes, the kind that told me she definitely knew something but she was almost testing me, just to see if I would tell her myself. 

"Why do you ask me questions you already know the answers to? He told you, didn't he?" 

"Who? What? I don't know what you're talking about," she replied with a casual shrug and then got back to eating the chili chicken and noodles I'd taken so much time to make for myself. 

"Your brother," I gritted out. 

She froze, a single noodle dangling from her lips. She slurped it up and choked slightly while I watched her blankly and then poured some more wine into her empty glass. After taking a sip and getting air past her throat, she sheepishly met my gaze. 

"Fess up, Audrey," I said calmly before getting back to eating. 

"Well, I actually offered to have dinner with him tonight, like the kind sister I am. But he was in a bad mood too and he kept picking a fight, so I left. He was... indirectly, extremely indirectly, asking if I had lunch with you. I didn't, but when I talk about my friends, he always thinks of you, Jules." 

"I bet," I scoffed softly. 

"Just because he doesn't admit it doesn't mean I don't see it." 

"Audrey, you see what you want to see." 

She rolled her eyes at me and we both continued. "Well, putting my jackass of a brother aside, how was your day?" she asked. 

"Mediocre." 

"Mediocre? Why?" she chuckled softly. 

"Well, after I got back to The Bookmark, I remembered that working as Natalie's assistant meant being her slave. Running coffee errands, bringing her lunch, holding her purse," I groaned, running a frustrated hand through my hair. "The woman can't even wear her jacket on her own without snapping her fingers at me." 

"You seriously deserve a better job, Jules. You've worked for better people. The way you describe her, even Christian seems like a nice boss." 

"I will never admit that working for him was better than working for Natalie." 

She eyed me in amusement as I stood up, taking my empty dishes and carrying them to the sink. 

"Never," I repeated for emphasis, making her laugh softly. 

"I can't believe there was a time when I thought he was more mature than you," she chuckled. 

"Your brother?" I asked. 

While nodding, she said, "At least I can say his name around you or talk about him here and there. Every time I say your name, I strike a nerve with him."