Page 1 of Tell Me All Your Lies

ONE

Cara

“I’m going to kill him.”I huff as I slouch in my black leather office chair.

“No, you won’t,” Ruby says with a light laugh.

Ruby gets out of her seat from across my desk and heads over to my espresso maker. She starts making me a latte, which usually helps calm my nerves instead of spiking them.

As my longtime assistant, she’s attuned to my wants and needs at all times, even when I haven’t gotten there yet.

Ruby stays focused on the coffee machine as it starts to dispense the espresso shot, followed by the steaming milk.

“I think I will, actually,” I say matter-of-factly as I sit upright.

Slouching is for the weak, and I am not weak. Frustrated or stressed may be words to describe how I feel, but I won’t say them out loud with Ruby here. She’ll just smile knowingly.

“You can’t.”

“Why? He’s just another man in my way.”

Ruby shakes her auburn hair as she stirs my latte.

“You know why.”

She gives me that knowing look as she approaches the desk, sets the coffee mug down, and retakes her seat across from me.

Ruby looks down at her tablet and begins scrolling through my daily agenda. Right to business, even while I’m still stewing from what happened.

“You have the call with Mr. Ross coming up in ten minutes. I emailed you the final documentation. Have you had a chance to look it over yet?” Ruby peers up from the tablet.

“Icankill him.”

She sighs and shrugs her shoulders before focusing back on the tablet.

“What’s with the shrugging?” I ask.

I lean forward and tent my fingers against my mouth as my elbows rest on my desk, waiting for her to tell me why she’s disagreeing with me this much. Usually, Ruby speaks her mind, but when it comes to this one man in particular, she doesn’t hold back.

Taking off her bright purple glasses, she rubs the sides of her nose at the indentation marks.

“Am I bothering you?” I ask.

She glares at me for the interruption and then starts to wipe her glasses with the hem of her sweater.

“Youcan’tkill him for two important reasons.”

She puts her glasses back on as I sit more upright, ready to hear her reasoning about this matter.

“Oh, please. Do share what the two reasons are as to why I can’t kill my archnemesis, who always seems to be in my way.”

She gives me a pointed look as she grips the edge of her tablet.

“For one, he’s one of your dad’s closest friends. I would dare say his best friend.”

“Fine. Only you’re forgetting that my dad doesn’t know what it is both of us do.”

That brings a smirk from across the desk.

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