Page 31 of It's About Time
“You had no right to hire her! What the actual fuck, Dad?”
Standing from his chair, he leans forward against his desk, his eyes penetrating mine. “It would serve you well to remember who owns this firm and has the authority to make decisions that affect not only you, but other people.” I don’t respond. “Now, did you speak with Tori like I told you to?” I let my silence bear my response. “That’s what I thought. You need to talk to her, Elliot. Everyone makes mistakes, and Tori’s eager to right her wrongs.”
Fighting to keep my voice level, I reply, “This wasn’t just a mistake, Dad. She agreed to marry me, I put a goddamn ring on her finger, and then she walked out on our wedding day with the boss she’d been fucking behind my back.”
“Thank you for the vivid recap,” he says dryly. “Good to know your gift for theatrics extends beyond the courtroom.”
Blowing out a breath, I reach up to push a hand through my hair, but the gel slicking it back makes that task virtually impossible. “She broke me…”
“And don’t you think hearing her out might help repair what she broke? Maybe give you two a second chance?”
“Ha!” My fake laugh earns me a glare from my father. “If you think there will ever be a second chance between Tori and me, you’re sadly mistaken.”
“She was everything you wanted, Elliot. Obviously, there was a reason you wanted to marry her…”
“Yeah, delusion.” I turn on my heel and leave my father’s office, heading straight toward mine. The second I’m inside, I lock the door and start pacing the floor, wondering how on earth I got here.
I know one thing for certain—there is no way in hell I’d ever entertain a relationship with that woman again, and I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure there’s no doubt in anyone’s mind about it.
Yup. Over my dead fucking body.
***
The next morning, I enter the office hoping that the nightmare from yesterday was just that—a nightmare. I debated texting the boys to let them know about Tori’s return, but part of me is in denial and wants to see if she even chooses to stick around.
The front receptionist desk is empty when I walk through the front doors, a wave of relief rushing through me as I greet one of the paralegals at her desk and then make my way down the hall toward my office, eager to get lost in work so my mind has something else to focus on.
But when I get there, Tori is standing right next to my desk, placing a cup of coffee by my computer.
“You must be lost.”
She jumps, clearly not expecting me. But she’s inmyoffice, a place she is no longer welcome and never will be again. “Elliot. I, um…”
“You can go.” Sidestepping around her, I wait for her to move from my desk before placing my briefcase on top of it. Nodding toward the coffee, I say, “And you can take that with you.”
“But it’s just the way you like it…two sugars, no cream.”
“If you think bringing me coffee is going to fix things, you’re just as delusional as I was, Tori.”
Her brows lift. “So, are you saying there’s a chance we could fix things?”
My mouth drops open with shock. “Did you hit your head as you fled from our wedding and forget what you did to me?” Her bottom lip starts to tremble. “Save your tears, Tori. They aren’t going to undo the damage you’ve caused, the damage I’ve been working to repair. Now leave, please.”
I see one tear fall down her face before she spins around and rushes out the door. Letting out the breath I was holding, I shake off our encounter, turn on my computer, and log into my emails, blocking out her existence until I know how I’m going to handle this.
That woman cannot work here. Honestly, I can’t even wrap my head around the fact that my father either doesn’t see or doesn’t care how this will affect me. I understand that people make mistakes, but what Tori did wasn’t some careless lapse in judgment. It was life-altering, and somehow my own father can’t see the potential damage that forcing her back into my life could cause.
I’m so lost in thought as I read through emails that I barely register someone entering my office until I hear their voice.
“What’s up, Grumpzilla?”
My eyes land on Dilynne standing in front of my desk, Bites & Bliss Bakery bag in hand, smacking her gum. Her red bandana is tied around her head, she has on black overalls today with a white tank top underneath, and her lips are covered in that deep cherry red lipstick that makes me wonder what it would look like smeared all over my cock.
None of that this morning, Elliot.
“Can I help you?”
Herhead tilts to the side as she studies me. “Be careful there, Thorne. You keep scowling like that and you’re gonna need to start using that face cream Laney is getting all of us hooked on.”
