Page 22 of Hooked on Marshall

“Too bad someone else disrupted you,” he says quietly.

“It was nothing,” I say quickly.

Too quickly. He frowns and walks over to stand in front of me. And I feel a bit cornered.

“Lana, is the person who’s been reaching out to you these last few days the real reason you won’t commit to being with me?”

“What do you mean?” I breathe.

“Come on, Lana,” he says. “More than once, you’ve gotten a message on your phone that has upset you. And I’m not going to lie about what I saw in your message thread when you were in the hospital, either.”

“What?” I gasp. “What did you see?”

He takes a step closer as his face darkens. And I have a feeling that my dirty little secret is about to be a secret no more.

“Who is Jonas? And why do you want him to leave you alone?”

Seventeen

She visibly pales. When she shakes her head, she sways on her feet. I reach out to steady her but end up catching her when her legs give out. Yet again, I lift her into my arms and carry her into the office. Even with the lights off, I’m able to settle her on the loveseat. Then I flip on the light on the desk so I can keep a hand on her. When turn my attention back to her, she’s curled into herself and turned her body away from me.

“Lana,” I say gently. “Talk to me.”

She shakes her head. I sit on the edge of the loveseat and rub her shoulder. She’s shivering.

“Lana,please,” I beg. “I don’t like seeing you like this. You don’t deserve it. Let me-”

“I do deserve it,” she chokes out. “We knew the rules. And we broke them. I thought we…I thought he was…”

She breaks down crying at this point. So, I pull her up into my chest so I can hold her and give her some kind of support. No, I don’t like what I just heard. But judging what I know of her character, she wouldn’t have engaged in such an affair without some type of coercion. Which is all the more reason for me to make sure Jonas Freeman doesn’t get to her again.

“Just take a deep breath,” I tell her. “We’ll figure things out, okay? Whatever you need, I’m here for you. Please believe that.”

She nods against my chest. Still sobbing quietly. I caress her back and rock her slightly until she settles. Then I offer her an outlet that I think she needs.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“I…it’s so embarrassing,” she whispers.

“We all make mistakes, Lana,” I say gently. “All we can do is learn from them.”

“I’mtrying,” she moans. “That’s why I’m so scared to…”

“To what?”

“To be with you,” she chokes out.

“Tell me why,” I offer. “So, I can understand. No judgement.”

She inhales a sharp breath and shudders. So, I say that magical word.

“Please.”

She inhales another deep breath. Then she sits up, just barely putting some distance between us. I wait, and she finally starts talking.

“I was hired by Mass Marketing straight out of college,” she says. “It was an entry level position that required more grunt work than marketing, but I knew I’d have to start somewhere. I worked hard and managed to snag every promotion that became available. Just after the new year, I was made a team leader. One of many who reported directly to Jonas.”

She takes a shaky breath before continuing. She won’t look at me, but at least she’s talking.

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