Mr. Hayes gave me one last look turning to leave with Kathryn. He and his son had the same shoulders and walked with the same confident stride. Empty loss caught in my throat.
“There she is.” Alexa's voice cut through my hunger and heartsickness like a knife. If it had any more disdain, it would have melted through the floor. “There's Lena the paralegal.”
I had barely seen a perfectly curled eyelash of Alexa since arriving. One of the first things Kathryn had done upon arriving back was to send out a new team of lawyers to Houston. Alexa and the rest of the lawyers from the Houston group had been sent back to Chicago with their tails between their legs. Alexa had the good sense to stay down in the Dungeons and away from Kathryn's domain, which meant she had stayed away from me as well.
But now, she was standing in the middle of the hallway with Aiden.
Announcing my job title.
Now he knew.
My chest tightened and my stomach started flip-flopped so hard I was certain I'd never want to eat again. My forehead and stomach flushed with heat while my hands and shoulders turned to ice. He was here. Over two days of silence and now he was here, standing in my office building next to the woman who wanted to ruin my life.
He looked so handsome and fit the part of the billionaire perfectly today. There was no way anyone could mistake him for an assistant. He wore a strong black suit that fit him like the designer had made the suit with him in it. Silver cufflinks matched his tie and the ascot folded elegantly in his left breast pocket. I didn't know that a man could look that good in a suit without Photoshop.
His hair was neatly combed back and picture perfect. Not a honey curl out of place. He had shaved recently, so his jaw was smooth and clean under dark, unreadable eyes. It was the eyes that made my heart quiver. They were focused entirely on me.
“Imagine my surprise to find a billionaire in my office,” Alexa told the crowd starting to gather in the hallway. Gerald Hayes stopped in his tracks and turned to see what was going on, with Kathryn right next to him. He looked shocked. Alexa smiled at me like a snake. “He seemed to think it was yours, Lena. I informed him that paralegals don't have offices like lawyers do.”
I didn't move. She was baiting me and I wasn't going to take it. Besides, my body didn't seem to be working. I couldn't move and I certainly couldn't think of anything to say. All I could do was stare at Aiden. This was not the way I wanted him to find out I wasn't a lawyer, and this was most certainly not the way I wanted his father to find out who I was.
Alexa put her hand on Aiden's coat lapel. I knew they had met once at a legal function, but it still felt incredibly forward. She looked stunning in her pencil skirt and silk blouse draped up against him. Like something that belonged on a movie poster. “Whatever you need Lena for,” she purred to Aiden. “I'm sure I can do it better. She's barely more than a poorly trained secretary.”
There was no doubt exactly what she meant. Something inside of me broke free. Something that fed on hazelnut coffee from the blue cups.
“Shut up, Alexa.”
Alexa's hand didn't drop from Aiden's lapel, but she did startle. “What did you say to me?”
“I said shut up.” My tongue felt thick, but I wasn't about to stop. She was touching the man I loved. Even if he didn't want me anymore, there was no way in hell I was going to let her anywhere near him. I took a confident step forward, my head held high.
“I have an office, Alexa and it's actually bigger than yours.” Her dark eyes met mine and for the first time I saw why she hated me so much. She was afraid of me.
Alexa sneered. “You think you're so special--
Kathryn stepped forward and cut her off. “Alright, Alexa. I've had about enough of this. You are embarrassing us in front of a client.”
Alexa turned as if she was going to bite the head off of the person talking to her. When she saw it was Kathryn, her eyes lowered.
“Your team was responsible for this disaster, and we've had to work around the clock to fix your mistake. You've done nothing but create extra work for Lena, and I'm tired of it. You've never done a damn thing around here, and nobody's going to notice when you get fired at the end of the week anyway.”
Alexa lifted her eyes. “Ms. McDonald, I-”
Kathryn laughed an obviously fake laugh. “This debacle has given this firm so much bad press, you'll be lucky to ever get even a paralegal job again.”
My jaw should have dropped at the way Alexa was being treated, but I knew she had it coming. Karma had a way of coming for us all.
I stepped forward, and with a new self confidence. “Looks like you're not better than me after all.” I took another step forward. “So get your hands off him.”
Alexa's hand dropped instinctively to the authority in my voice. Her eyes darted to the observing crowd and she paled. There wasn't a sympathetic face among them.
“You have no idea the mistake you just made,” she hissed.
I smiled slowly. She had nothing and we both knew it. For the first time ever, I wasn't afraid of her. I had found my inner strength, and no one, not Alexa and not even Aiden was going to take it away from me.
My smile made her pale more than looking at the crowd had. She had no power over me anymore and now she knew it. I didn't even bother watch as wiggled her way back downstairs through the crowd.
I took a deep breath. It came in shaky and wasn't at all calming. Just because I had inner strength didn't mean my heart couldn't be broken.