She was quiet on the phone. “I guess our work is done.”
I wasn’t sure if she meant all of us or just my work with her.
“Does Andi know she was targeted?”
“Yes. But I’ve told her that I believe her.”
“What about your brothers?”
“I haven’t talked to them yet. They’ll think I’m letting her off because of how I feel,” I said, knowing I was about to confess my love for Andi to my grandmother.
“So, you’ve finally owned up to the fact that you’re in love with her?” she said.
I jerked and looked at the phone. How did she know? “You knew that?”
“I’ve been around a long time, Noah. I know love when I see it, even when it manifests as bickering.”
I was quiet for a minute. “This won’t make things weird between you and Andi, will it? Or me and you?”
“I don’t know why.”
“What if it doesn’t work?”
“I’ll be mad if one of you hurts the other, but I understand life is messy. Besides, I’m retiring soon, and while I’d like Andi to stay with the company, she’s a talented woman who may want to spread her wings.”
Had I been worried about nothing all this time?
“I know with the completion of this project, our deal is that I won’t pester you to work for me.”
“I’m having the IT team run a few more things, and I’ll have a report to you tomorrow.”
“Well then, I can try one more time to convince you to take over as head of technology.”
For the first time ever, I considered her offer. It would keep me here near Andi. And while she was brilliant and could go anywhere, I knew she had a fondness for my family, even without me, and would likely stay if given the right job after Gran left.
“Think about it and let me know tomorrow,” she said before I could formulate an answer. “And Noah, thank you for saving the company—”
“It wasn’t just my work, Gran.”
“I know, but without your work, Chen might be walking into my office right now.”
“Let’s hope he’s on a plane heading back to Hong Kong.” I said.
“Let’s hope. I’ll see you and Andi tomorrow.”
When I hung up, I saw Andi standing in the hallway. “When I woke up and you weren’t there, I was afraid you’d been a dream.”
I hated that for a moment she’d been scared we weren’t real. I stood and went to her, giving her my cocky grin. “I’m your dream come true baby.”
I scooped her up and carried her back to her room and did my damnedest to make her believe that this dream was coming true.
The next day, Andi insisted that we arrive separately to work.
“They already know about us,” I argued. “Probably because you told the wives.”
Normally she’d snap back, but in her eyes, I saw fear. “What if they don’t believe me? What if they think you’re blinded by your feelings for me?”
I pulled her to me. “They won’t and if they do, I have a secret weapon.”