*Olivia*


    “Come on,” Ava said and raised her eyebrows. “Alexander was totally undressing you with his eyes back in the elevator. You guys have undeniable chemistry. It would be a shame to waste it because you’re afraid of getting your heart broken.”


    I slumped against the front door and sighed. “Ava, you don’t-”


    But I paused when I heard shuffling outside the door. My stomach swooped. That noise sounded like footsteps. Was Alexander still outside the door? Or was it someone else?


    “What were you saying?” Ava asked and looked at me with confusion since I’d paused in the middle of a sentence.


    I put a finger to my lips and made a shushing motion and widening my eyes at my friend. Ava got the hint and immediately stopped speaking. With my heart mming against my chest, I put my ear to the door and listened closely. The footsteps sounded like they were growing fainter until they werepletely gone. The leftover silence seemed almost too loud to me.


    I scrubbed a hand down my face and sighed. After the day I had, I wouldn’t be surprised if I had hallucinated the footsteps.


    “You okay?” Ava asked and tilted her head as she took in my defeated expression.


    “Just a long day,” I said.


    “I know just what will cheer you up.” She turned and headed to the


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    11:46


    kitchen.


    I sat on the couch and tried to calm my racing heart. Ava came back with two ice–cold beers and handed me one. It wouldn’t be my first choice for a drink to unwind after a hard day, but it would have to do. I took a long drink from the cool ss and tried not to wince at the slight bitterness. After two sips of the bubbly drink, my shoulders loosened slightly, so at least that was something.


    Ava folded her legs under her to get morefortable. “Why won’t you give Alexander a chance?” she asked and took a sip of her beer. “I think you would make a great couple.”


    “It’s not about giving him a chance.” I ran a hand through my hair and tried to organize the swirling thoughts in my head so that I could get my point across. “If things were different, of course I would want to be with him. He’s handsome, smart, sessful, and most importantly, a good, honest man. But Alexander will always be a part of the Green family. He can’t escape his duty. Ultimately, he has to marry someone of high status. Not his assistant. I’m the one whose job it is to n his dates. Not go on them with him.”


    I winced at how bitter my voice sounded even to my own ears.


    “Do you still think that Alexander could be gay?” she asked. “Maybe his family wouldn’t be epting, and he has to hide who he truly is from them.”


    A shiver ran down my spine as I remembered Alexander’s warm body pressed against mine earlier today. I swear I had seen lust explode in those dark eyes of his.


    I bit my lip and shifted in my seat. My pulse quickened from just thinking about how close his lips had been inches away from mine and his warm breath in my ear.


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    11:46


    12a8 Wouchers


    “Honestly, I think that whole situation had been a misunderstanding,” I told her. “But who knows.” I shrugged. “Alexander might be bisexual. I don’t think he’s gay. Especially because of the way he looks at… women.”


    My cheeks heated. I had been about to say that because of the way he looked at me, but that sounded too arrogant. But I had noticed the way his eyes darkened when he studied my face, thighs, or any of my exposed skin. Alexander definitely wasn’t unaffected by my presence. I knew that to be true.


    “Oh, I’ve seen the way that man looks at you. He definitely isn’t fully gay,” Ava said and winked suggestively at me.


    That made us burst intoughter, and I enjoyed the moment of lightness thanks to my beer and just being in the moment with my friend.


    When we finished our drinks, Ava’s expression turned serious. She put her empty bottle on the table, and her grim expression made my stomach stiffen.


    “I have another recording to show you that I captured from Chloe’s ne,” she said. “It’s very…strange.”


    I nodded cautiously. “Let’s hear it.”


    Ava picked up her phone and tapped a few buttons. She put it on speaker, and it began to y.


    Chloe’s loud voice red through the speakers, making my hands tighten into fists.


    “Come on, let’s just make out a little while your mom is overseeing dinner,<i>” </i>Chloe said on the recording.


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    11:46


    “No. get off of me.” Ethan replied, his voice filled with repulsion


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