Page 42 of Fractured Empire

“Exactly what she said,” Jenna agrees quickly. “I’m so happy for you, even though I’ll miss you and your perfect glass skin. Taking care of you has been one of my favorite parts of working here. You gave me a chance before any other big clients did.”

My heart gives a warm, funny beat hearing the sweet genuine words.

“I’ll miss you both as well,” I admit with a sad smile. “But I’m excited too. I feel like a new chapter of my life is beginning. Like some other, unknown part of me is being unlocked, and I can’t wait to get to know her.”

“Being married can do that,” Ellen says wisely. “There’s nothing quite like sharing your life with someone and learning who you are through it all. You’ll discover things you’ve never known about yourself, and he’ll do the same.”

“Wow,” Jenna murmurs before I can reply. “You make it sound like an awakening.”

I see a smile crest on Ellen’s lips. “Everything in life can be an awakening if you allow yourself to welcome it.”

I’m taking in her words, letting them absorb and mulling them over when a loud crash sounds from the not-so-far distance. Glass breaking, from the sound of it. Sharp and brutal, followed by an echo of sprinkling coming from the shards hitting the ground. The lobby, I realize in horror.

Jenna and Ellen both gasp, and if on instinct, the women move to block me from the door. My heart skips and flutters warm, watching them jump to protect me despite it not being their job in the least. They have no responsibility to protect me from harm, only to not inflict it upon me themselves and yet they jump to my defense just as fast as my guards would.

Andreas is already at the door with his hand on his pistol, opening it slowly to check in with the man outside of it. The two of them speak in low voices, and I understand that there’s no real threat immediately by the way Andreas relaxes his shoulders. Still, he doesn’t take his hand off his gun, not entirely.

“What is it?” I ask, sitting up and pushing past Ellen and Jenna’s shoulders to get a better look. The two women look reluctant to let me up, but don’t try to stop me as I get to my feet, clutching my robe tightly around my chest.

Looking hesitant to reply, Andreas turns to me and frowns. “It’s Ms. Contos. She’s been outside for a few minutes, demanding to be let in to see you. When she was denied, she took a crowbar from the back of her car and threw it through the front window.”

My blood runs cold and I blink, hardly believing my ears. Demanding to be let inside? I can see Chloe doing that any day of the week. But property destruction when denied? It seems impossible.

She’s always been the kind of girl who calls her father when she needs something done. She doesn’t get her hands dirty and has consistently insisted that it’s beneath her. Why would she commit a crime when there’s always someone else she can instruct on doing so? Most women in our position feel the same way, or at least, they’ve been conditioned to act the same way.

“Chloe?” I finally ask, swallowing down my disbelief. “Are you sure?”

“We’re certain,” he confirms with a stiff nod.

Of course they’re sure. They know Chloe, they’ve all seen her thousands of times at this point.

“There’s no need to worry, Katya.” Andreas looks behind me to nod to Ellen and Jenna. “Enjoy the rest of your treatments and we’ll contact your father to take care of her and the damage she’s caused.”

My stomach drops painfully and my head shakes immediately. “Don’t call Linus, call her father. She’s emotional and not thinking clearly, she doesn’t need to be reprimanded by her father’s boss, it will only make her more upset.”

Andreas opens his mouth, likely to disagree when another crash sounds.

“Call her father,” I repeat with a wince. “And I’ll talk to her until he gets here.”

“I shouldn’t allow that⁠—”

“You can protect me,” I argue, interrupting him. “She can’t hurt me, not with all of you here. She can break things and we can replace them, but Chloe knows she can’t cross a line further than this.”

At least, I hope she does.

Andreas still hesitates, looking like he might completely refuse my orders when I reach around him and grab the door handle. Reluctantly, he allows me to pass him and commands his man beyond it to contact Mr. Contos. Whether it’s to give me privacy, or due to their own fear and discomfort, Jenna and Ellen don’t move to follow us.

When I get to the lobby, Chloe is inside, having climbed through the large broken window. All the other glass around her is intact, leading me to believe it took her two hits to break an opening wide enough for her to get inside. None of the men lay a hand on her, but they stand firmly in a line, preventing her from coming any further.

Her hair is wild and untamed, like she’s been dragging her hands through it, and her makeup is smeared under her eyes from crying. I can smell her before she seems to even notice me. Vodka.

Of course she’s drunk, I realize, almost relieved.

I’ve never known her to make a habit of being intoxicated, especially in the middle of the day. But alcohol would explain her actions, at least make them more believable. The stuff is poison to your inhibition, and can make even the most level-headed people become belligerent and bold.

I feel her eyes swing to me in an instant as I step between two of my men, keeping them close to my back just to keep them from intervening and pulling me back.

“There you are,” Chloe says, her voice half-slurred. “I’ve been yelling for you for ages, didn’t you hear me?”