Page 19 of Protected By My Best Friend's Brother

Ms. Hastings,

Please have the final Project Phoenix numbers ready by 8 AM. We’ll need to present a united professional front to ensure the vote’s success.

Lucas Walker

CEO, Walker Enterprises

I stare at the screen, reading and rereading the cold, impersonal words. Words that could have been written to any employee, not the woman who knows every one of my tells, who can anticipate my thoughts before I’ve finished forming them, who makes me better in ways I’m still discovering.

My finger hovers over the send button.

This is the right decision. The only way to ensure the board takes Project Phoenix seriously. The only way to protect Emma’s work from being dismissed as the pet project of a CEO with clouded judgment.

Even if it means pretending there’s no electricity between us.

Even if it means sacrificing what could be the best thing in my life for what’s best for the company.

Through the glass wall, I can see Emma still working, determined and focused. She pushes that escaped strand of hair behind her ear, a gesture so familiar it makes my chest ache with longing. She deserves this chance. Her work deserves to be recognized for its brilliance, not overshadowed by speculation about us.

With a heaviness in my chest, I hit send.

A response arrives a few minutes later:

To: Lucas Walker

Subject: Re: Tomorrow’s Board Meeting

Mr. Walker,

Understood. The final numbers will be ready at 8 AM.

Emma Hastings

The terse reply feels like a door closing between us. But it’s better this way. Project Phoenix deserves its chance. Emma’sbrilliant ideas deserve to be judged on merit, not overshadowed by rumors about our relationship.

I glance from my computer to see her still in the conference room. Even from here, I can see the rigid set of her shoulders and the way she’s typing with more force than necessary. She knows what’s happening. She understands the game Garrett is playing. And like me, she’s putting the work first.

Because that’s who we are. People who believe in building something that matters, even when it costs us personally.

Tomorrow, the board votes on the future of sustainable technology at Walker Enterprises.

I can’t let personal feelings jeopardize that.

No matter how much it hurts.

No matter how many times I have to remind myself that professional distance is the right choice.

Even if maintaining that distance feels like slowly tearing myself apart.

Chapter Eight

Emma

Three days after the Johnson presentation, Lucas walks right past me like I’m invisible.

No good morning. No quick smile. Not even that professional nod he gives everyone else. He strides straight to his office, suit perfect, expression distant like we didn’t spend six hours saving the company together on Tuesday.

I freeze mid-step, coffee cup halfway to my lips. The hallway suddenly feels too bright, too exposed, as colleagues glance between us with poorly disguised curiosity. Three days of this corporate cold front, and the entire office has noticed something’s wrong.

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