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“Not quite yet,” I say as I tug her toward the shower.
I turn the water on warm and we spend the next few minutes splashing together. Afterwards, I wrap her in a towel and hold her, delighting in how small she feels against me.
In the room, I dress quickly. Because if I stay naked for too long, I’ll seduce her again and we’ll never make it downstairs.
She’s still fixing her hair when she gives me a nervous smile. “You should probably go first. I don’t want anybody to know.”
That you’re sleeping with your boss. I understand what she’s trying not to say, and I hate that it’ll matter so damn much. If the world knows we’re sleeping together, my career goes on. Hers could be seriously impacted for years to come.
She runs her fingers through her hair, arranging it into an artful braid. She gives herself a grin in the mirror.
Her face is flushed, and her eyes are shining. The fact that I’m responsible for that look makes me feel like the luckiest bastard on earth.
“Don’t forget about your promise, Cinderella.” I duck and kiss her on the cheek. The gesture is affectionate, but it feels right somehow.
I have a smile on my face as I leave the room, but it quickly disappears. Standing in the hallway is my daughter with my best friend.
Atlas gives him a goodbye kiss then she disappears into the elevator. The reality of the situation sinks in slowly. Eric is fucking my daughter.
As he turns back to his room, there’s an unmistakable smirk on his face. It fades the moment he spots me.
I follow him into the room with the rumpled sheets. Hell, her perfume is still hanging in the air and all I can see is red.
Before I can even register what I’m doing, my fist is connecting with his jaw. The explosion of pain in my knuckles is a welcome sensation, grounding me in the moment.
“How long ago did this start?” I massage my knuckles as I consider a second punch. “You get off on this, Eric? Sitting across from me in meetings knowing that you were fucking my daughter?”
“I love her,” he says, wiping away blood.
I hate the words even more than what he’s done. How dare he fall for my little girl. “I thought you were my friend. This is not what a friend does, asshole.”
“It was a shitty move and I’m a dick. You think I’m happy, Michael? You think I wanted to feel the way I do about your daughter? You think I haven’t been walking around every day for two years, hating myself?”
I don’t give a damn what kind of hell he’s been in. He shouldn’t have touched her. “You’re done. Don’t bother coming into work tomorrow. Don’t reach out to me and you sure as hell better avoid Atlas.”
I don’t wait for him to acknowledge my words as I storm from the room, rage fueling my every step.
8
KATIE
I can’t find Michael at the party, so I drift from the event room to look for him and that’s when I spot Atlas in the yellow chair. She’s talking on her phone and judging from the sound, she’s crying.
I only catch part of the conversation but enough that I can put the pieces together. She finally had a moment with Eric, but Michael is angry at them.
I can’t blame him for feeling betrayed.
When Michael appears to comfort his daughter, he doesn’t notice anything but her pain. I see the way it hurts him, twisting his expression into one of helpless rage.
But I also know the moment Atlas makes her decision. She’ll need help. At least, if she plans to get to Eric in time, so I disappear outside.
As soon as she leaves the fancy hotel, I greet her with a smile and the keys to the limo.
“We’ll get there in time,” I reassure Atlas, hoping my words are true.
Michael might be angry with me later, but they’re in love. He’ll come around. He’ll have to if the determination on his daughter’s face was anything to go by.
“Why do you put up with him?” Atlas asks as we speed along the interstate.
