Page 122 of With Us

His face scrunched in confusion before he shook his head. “This is him holding back because he hasn’t taken complete control of everything.” Once again, he seemed to measure his words carefully before continuing. “In regards to previous girlfriends, I can’t say. I’ve worked for him for more than five years and have never seen him with a woman during that time. But he’s generous when it comes to those he loves and cares for. And since he hasn’t bought you everything under the sun, yes, he’s been holding back.”

The burning jealousy was replaced with the empty ache and bittersweet pain. “I miss him,” I whispered.

“So go see him.”

I gave a noncommittal shrug.

Going to see him would weaken my resolve without getting me any closer to the truth. Without those answers, I didn’t know what I wanted to do or where we stood. It was like my life was at a standstill, and I didn’t like it.

“Pizza?” Ben asked, changing the subject. “We can even skip the toppings and just go straight extra cheese.”

“Deal. Want to watchSuper Trooperswhile we eat?”

“How many times have you watched that movie?”

“Ever?”

“In the last two weeks.”

“Only a few times as of rightmeow. I switched to Mel Brooks for a while.”

Shaking his head as I grinned, Ben called to order the pizza. After he dialed Luc, the ringing going through the SUV’s speakers.

“Hey,” Luc greeted.

“What’s—” Ben started before Luc interrupted him.

“Hi, Dahlia. See you tonight, I’m bringing cannoli cheesecake home for dessert.” I didn’t have the chance to respond when he continued. “Ben, take me off speaker.”

Ben pressed a button and put his cell to his ear. He barely said a word, just a few mumbles of acknowledgement. “I’ll get them on it,” he said before hanging up.

“Everything okay?” I asked, though it clearly wasn’t.

Ben’s whole demeanor had changed as he drummed his fingers impatiently on the steering wheel. Just like when Theo would negotiate, Ben’s eyes were sharp and there was an edge to him.

“Just some stuff at Amaric,” he said.

“Oh no. Is the news coverage hurting the business?”

My heart hurt at the thought of Theo losing his company and all he’d worked for.

Laughing, Ben shook his head. “No, not at all. The opposite.”

“Really?”

“Theo and Luc are able to be picky about what companies they work with because they’ve got a waitlist a mile long. It’s doubled in the last week.”

I was surprised he was sharing so much, but I wasn’t about to turn away the info.

Maybe Ben is the ‘weak link’ I should be focused on.

“Even though it’ll be a while before Theo is able to do any work?” I asked.

He shrugged. “They don’t seem to care. Someone tried to hack into Amaric’s files to get the waitlist information, likely trying to poach the work while Theo is unavailable. Luc is working it from a tech angle. He wants my side to go through the security footage with a careful eye.”

“Shouldn’t you be there helping them?”

“Watching hours and hours of security footage isn’t exactly the chaos and excitement I thrive on. If they find something good, I’ll get involved. Otherwise, there’s a pizza waiting with my name on it.”

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