Chapter 68

“But….” [frowned. “It doesn’t seem like she and Alicia get along either.”

Gabrielle cleared her throat immediately. “Those aren’t mutually exclusive. She doesn’t likeAlicia–and she doesn’t like you either.”

Iglancedat her side profile and manmired, “You’re the only person i feel like I can really trust right now. ”

She answered simply, “I know.”

“I mean it,” I said. “I really trust you.”

That made her turn to look at me sharply. “What’s going on? Did something happen?”

“Nothing”

I shook my head and gave her a small smile.

So, I was really hoping Gabrielle would never He to me.

We got out of the car and headed in together when we arrived at the Ford residence.

But right there in the front courtyard, I saw two people I had absolutely nodesireto runinco–Jonathan andAlicia.

The Ford residence’s front yard was massive–about an acre of openspace, with a long, covered walkway that looked like it was built just for show. You had towalkthat path to reachthemain entrance. Rare flowers bloomed all year round along the sides, each season bringing its distinct scent,

Up ahead, I saw Alicia tugging at Jonathan’s arm.

“Jonathan, the project team still doesn’t respect me,” she whined. “I spent months onthatproposal–can you take a look at it for me?”

Jonathan gaveaquiet hum and then subtly pulled his arm away from her grip, pretending not to notice.

Alicia stared down at her now–empty hand for a second, then smiled like nothing happened. “When do you think I can transfer intoyoursecretarial team?” “You’re already part of the secretarial team,” he replied coolly,

“Toow,” she mumbled, lowering her head. “But I just… want to be a lile clower to you..‘

Jonathan frowned at her, but she jumped to explain herself. “Your grandpa told me to learn from you, remember? Nowthatthe Zimmer family’s company is struggling,ifI don’t step it up, we’ll be left in thedust…”

s secretary,”

Gabrielle leaned in next to me and let out a quiet snort. “If she were really all about personal growth, she wouldn’t have settled for being his s Iraised an eyebrow but didn’t comment. After all, I’d made the same kind of mistake once too,

Grille went on, “Come on. Her real goal is to lock Jonathan down. That’s the only way to save her family’s business. You think she’s gonna make it on her own? Please.Notin this lifetime.”

“You seem pretty uptodate on what she’s doing at the company,”Isaid

course I am,” Gabrielle replied samply“Youhaveno idea how ridiculous she’s been. She’s not there to work–she’s there to scope out whether Jonathan has other women around. She’s paranold as hell. The whole secretarial team has been under her radar.”

lauglied under her breath. “Goodthing Jonathan’s personal assistant is a guy. If it were a woman, he probably would have found an excuse to get her fired.”

“St reallyhasthat kind of power?” Iwassurprised, Jonathan always seemed like someone who drew a firm line between work and personal matters. I didn’t think held let her get away with that.

“She not stupid,” Gabrielle said. “She knows when to pull back so jonathan doesn’t resent her.She pushes past far enoughtomake herself seem important, but never crusses a line that would actually piss Jonathan off.”

“That’s wheir she andIare different ”

I gave a wry simile. “The old me probably didn’t know when to stop. I was impulsive and dramatic. No wonder things turned out the way they did.” There wasio trace of pity inmyvoice. I talked about my past sell like she was someone else entitely.