“Listen,” I said slowly, squaring my shoulders, lifting my chin. “I know it’s late, and it’s clear you’re just doing your job here. I applaud and thank you for that. But this is an emergency, and I know my father is here. He’s always here and his driver is right outside.” I looked at him, straight in the eye. Begging, pleading. “You need to let me through.”
He hesitated. Looked around. But then he shook his head. “I’m not going to be able to do that, Miss Reyes.”
I closed my eyes, refusing to break in front of this man.
I couldn’t believe I wasn’t being let into the place I’d worked my entire adult life. I couldn’t believe I couldn’t go into the place I had hoped for so long to own one day. I couldn’t believe my father hadn’t answered his phone any of the times I’d called. Not even once. I—
“Boss?”
My eyelids lifted, seeing a face I wasn’t expecting to be here at this time.
“I can’t believe it’s you,” Kelly continued, her heels clicking in my direction. “Whoa, what’s with the glow-up? You’re slaying the runway, boss. And the hair. Oh my God, your hair is all wild and… beautiful.”
For an instant, I looked down, taking in my jeans, boots, and overall practical wear. Then I shook my head. “Kelly,” I said, my eyes finding hers with enough gravity to make her blink. “Can you please let…”
“Billie,” the man said when I looked at him. “Ellis.”
Kelly looked over at him. “Really?”
Billie sighed. “I’m fifteen years her senior, ma’am. And the resemblance to her name is purely coincidental.”
“That is hilarious,” Kelly murmured, inspecting him and not even cracking a smile. “Are you new here?” Billie’s mouth bobbed, clearly surprised. “You’re cute. What’s your handle, not-really-billie-ellis or something like that?” She whipped out her phone. “I would—”
“Kelly,” I called, my voice desperate and tired and… hopeless, if I had to pick. “Can you explain to Mr. Ellis that I need to get through so I can deal with that emergency we talked about on the phone?” She blinked at me. “He seems to believe that my access has been revoked, but I very clearly remember being asked by my father to come here. Today.” I made a face at her. “You remember, right?”
My former assistant started nodding slowly. “Ohhhhhhh. Right. Yes.” Her head turned around, searching the empty hall, before returning her attention to us. “The emergency,” she said more confidently. “Billie, do you want to be the guy who didn’t let the big boss’s daughter in during the”—she lifted her hands, slicing the air—“major-est crisis of the year?”
Billie frowned, but some pink spread across his cheeks.
“Exactly,” Kelly agreed. “That’s not a great look, is it?” Billie shook his head. “Great. Now, open the barrier so she can save the day.” She placed a hand on her hip. “Unless you think a woman can’t be the hero. Is that what we’re dealing with here?”
“Wh—What?” His eyes widened. “No. I am a feminist.”
She gave him a grin. “Barrier, please?”
It took him a few seconds and a curse but the glass gate that granted access to the office area opened up.
I sprinted through the hallway in the direction of my father’s office, hearing Kelly’s heels following behind.
“Boss?” She called, and when I didn’t turn or stop, she sped up. “Whoa. You run fast in those things.” I did. I might be starting to love my boots. “I’m so sorry I kinda cold-shouldered you, but I really had no choice—”
“That’s okay, Kelly,” I assured her, turning a corner.
“Okay, phew,” she answered, now a little breathlessly. “Now that that’s out of the way, there’s something you should know before—”
“I know,” I interjected, speeding up. “And I’m going to stop this some way or another.”
“But, Boss, they’re…”
I reached the door, vaguely aware of Kelly setting a hand on my shoulder and saying something, but I was not wasting a second more. I’d let this go on long enough. I was taking back control and putting a stop to David’s manipulation. I was telling my father I knew everything and stopping the transaction. I threw open the door.
Two heads turned in my direction.
“Adalyn,” my father said in a shockingly calm and cold voice that made me pause.
I opened my mouth to say something, any of the things that I’d rehearsed in my head, but all I could think of was What’s David holding in his hands? Because that couldn’t be—
“Hey, sweet-tea,” David said with a smile I couldn’t believe I’d ever found anything but a sneer. “Oh wait, do they drink sweet tea over there?” His eyes trailed up and down my body, a shiver crawling down my arms. “Well, that’s definitely a surprise. Why are you dressed like some… lumberjack bimbo?”
I heard Kelly scoff behind me.
My father rolled his eyes and said, “David.” As if this man hadn’t just disrespected me and that single warning was enough.
Why did that suddenly irk me so much? That disregard for what was said to me in front of him. That lazy way in which he trusted that I could handle myself. I could, but shouldn’t he be doing more than that?
David shrugged. “My apologies. Hey, I have a surprise for you.” He lifted what he’d been holding. “Cool, huh?”
My throat dried. It was one of the Miami Flames jerseys. I recognized it. Except for the sponsor printed at the front it. That was new. It was the logo of the energy drink. The one with my face.
My jaw fell to the floor. I— Focus, Adalyn. I turned my attention to my father. “I know.” Something faltered in his expression. My heart thrummed in my ears. “I know everything, Dad. So you can stop this.”
“David,” he immediately said. “Give us a minute.” He started to complain but my father held up a hand. “Alone. This is not your office yet.”
Yet.
David’s eyes found mine as he walked toward me, and when he passed me, he winked. It made my skin crawl.
The door closed behind me, and only then did I allow myself to move forward, closing the distance to the now vacant chair across from my father’s desk. I’d sat there not that long ago. Only now it seemed like it had been a lifetime ago.
