Page 22 of Ansel

She gave out a humorless laugh. “Probably not.”

I blew out a breath.

She grinned and added, “But he’ll talk to me.”

“He will?”

She shrugged. “While you were climbing ladders, I was making friends and expanding my network so I could make sure you could keep climbing that ladder.”

Regret was like acid, a constant in my stomach, swirling, making me sick of myself. “I was such an asshole, Neha.”

“You were.”

“I promise to never be that asshole again.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Oh, you’re just gonna transform into a whole new person?”

I lowered my gaze and shook my head. “No, I’m going to try and evolve into being the best version of myself.”

Warmth flickered in her eyes. She reached for her phone. “Fine! I’ll call him.”

“Thank you, Neha.”

She gave me a flat, unimpressed stare and stuck her earbuds in.

She talked to Jimmy for a good twenty minutes, and while she did, I watched her.

God, she was beautiful.

It was a damn good thing she didn’t work for me anymore, because I wanted to touch her—wanted to do things the employee handbook didn’t explicitly forbid. Sure, it said “no fraternization in the workplace,” but it never warned against imagining all the ways I could fuck her on my desk.

I should’ve handled my attraction to her better. But then there was a whole list of things I should’ve done better when it came to Neha.

She had such an expressive face. High cheekbones, pouty mouth, and the sexiest eyes known to mankind—all wrapped up in a package so stunning it could stop traffic.

She smiled at the start of the conversation, but as she listened, her expression shifted—from casual to focused to ice-cold fury. By the time she hung up, it was clear that whatever Jimmy had said had pissed her off.

She set her phone on the counter with enough force to make me wince.Hopefully, she didn’t just crack her screen.

“Vanessa’s been changing Jimmy’s numbers before sending them to you.”

I tensed. “So, I’m not crazy.”

“Not about this!”

I smiled despite the clusterfuck I was in. “Noted.”

She huffed, her gaze lifting in irritation. “Jimmy’s been running the right models, but when Vanessa passes the data to you, she alters key figures. Either to make you look incompetent or—worst-case scenario—to sabotage deals, he doesn’t know.”

I let out a slow breath. “Jesus. Why hasn’t he said anything to anyone?”

“Because he just found out when I made him check the last three data sets that were sent to you from Vanessa’s team.”

I rubbed my temple and shook my head. “Now what’s he going to do?”

“Nothing.”

I raised a questioning brow. “Nothing?”

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