Page 28 of One Little Mistake
“Oh, Lexi?” She turns and waits for me to continue. “Why did you stay? I know I’m an asshole for leaving you, and I’m so sorry about that. I was blindsided and couldn’t see past my anger, but why didn’t you just leave?”
She graces me with a sad smile. “We had a deal to close, so I closed it. Mr. Douglas said he’d have the contracts to you first thing in the morning.”
I stare at her parting form, unblinking. She closed the deal. My deal. She closed it for me because I couldn’t. Completely fucking blown away, I sink to the couch.
You have your work cut out for you with her.My father’s voice rings in my ears with the last words he ever said to me, but this time, I don’t think they’re a warning. This time they sound like a promise. A promise I have no idea how to keep.
* * *
Lexi didn’t come out of her room for dinner, even after multiple attempts and food orders from three different places.Why do I insist on feeding her?I’m getting fucking weird in my old age.
Eventually, I give up and put everything away. As I’m walking through the suite turning off lights, I hear a sound that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Pausing, I hold my breath, waiting to see if it happens again. A few seconds later, I’ve almost convinced myself I made it up when I hear it—a strangled sob that twists me up in an unnatural way, and I sprint toward Lexi’s door.
Pulling on the handle, I curse when I realize it’s locked, and I’m forced to knock. Never in a million years would I have thought I would ever be trying to break into my assistant’s bedroom door, but here I am.
“Lexi?” Banging on the door, I yell again, “Lexi?” When I hear her gasp for breath, my heart stops.What the fuck is going on?“Lexi?” I try again, turning in a circle, looking for something to break down the door with.
“East?”
Her voice carries through the door, just above a whisper.
“Open the door, Lexi. Are you okay?”
I hear something thump lightly on the door, and my hand flies to touch the dark wood as if I can catch her.
“Lex, what the hell is going on? Open the damn door. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, East. I’m-I’m sorry if I woke you.”
“No. No, I wasn’t asleep. Please, will you please open the door?” A need to see her crashes through my body so powerfully I clutch my chest, wondering if I’m the one who needs a doctor.
“I’m fine, really. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Her voice is lower than it should be, almost like she’s sitting on the floor, so I do what my brothers and I always did when we were being little shits. I lie on the floor and look under her door. Sure enough, I can see just enough to know she’s slid down the door frame and is resting her back against it.
Moving closer, I sit so my head rests where I think hers is.I might be losing my damn mind.“Do you want to talk?” My voice is gentle, but I hear her gasp anyway.
Glancing down, I see her fingers at the door and chuckle, knowing she just dropped to look for me, too. “I’m just sitting here, Lex. I wish you’d open the door, though.”
I hear her sigh through the crack near the floor and listen as she adjusts herself. When the door shifts ever so slightly, I know she’s sat upright again.
“I-I just had a bad dream. Good night, East.”
“You keep trying to get rid of me,” I chuckle sadly.
“It doesn’t seem to be working, though, does it?” Lexi’s usual attitude is muted with sleep. “It’s late, East. Your five a.m. workout is going to be here before you know it.”
“But I’m the boss. The beauty of that is I can change my schedule whenever I want.”
“Not for me.”
“No, of course not. That would require me being nice, and you’ve already pointed out the Westbrook Beast doesn’t do nice.”
“Ugh, okay.” I can hear her tapping her fingernails on the floor. “Maybe you have your moments.”
I smile, knowing that non-compliment was hard for her.
“What was your dream about?”
“A never-ending nightmare.”
