Or at least that he will be.
Please let everything be alright.
After what feels like an eternity, the door opens. I hold my breath, hoping to see Ethan and talk to him, but it’s Ryker who comes out.
“Is everything okay?” I ask him.
If I can’t get an update from the surgeon himself, maybe I can get one from the other doctor in the room.
“No,” he answers. “There’s a chance the acquisition of Odermatt Corp. might not push through.”
My heart stops. What?
“What do you mean?” I ask curiously.
“Exactly that, but the details are complicated at this point.” He gives me a puzzled look. “Have you been waiting here the whole time?”
“Yes,” I answer. “I’m worried about Ethan. I was with him when…”
I stop talking as I notice Ryker’s eyebrows arch slightly. Blood rushes to my cheeks as I realize I’ve just slipped. Shit.
“I mean Mr. Hawthorne,” I correct myself quickly. “Mr. Ethan Hawthorne, that is. Sir Ethan.”
Ryker narrows his eyes at me but doesn’t speak. A lump forms in my throat.
He knows.
He backs me against the wall. I swallow and clutch the scarf around my neck. Ethan’s scarf. Shit.
“So it’s true,” Ryker says. “Ethan’s sleeping with you.”
What does he mean? He already knew? Did Ethan tell him? I thought we weren’t supposed to tell anyone.
I grip my chest. What do I do? Deny it? But if Ryker already knows, if Ethan already spoke to him, I have no choice but to tell the truth.
I draw a deep breath. “Yes.”
Ryker nods. “I see.”
I hear the disapproval in his voice.
“I’m sorry.” I look away as I feel a stab of guilt. “I didn’t mean for this to happen.”
“But you allowed it to.”
I did. And I know I shouldn’t have. That’s why I can’t look him in the eye.
“I’m sorry,” I tell him again.
I don’t know what else to say.
“I’m not saying this is entirely your fault,” Ryker tells me. “But I’ll tell you this. Both of you are making a mistake. Ethan is your boss and you’re his assistant.”
I know that.
“That means Ethan is never going to allow himself to feel anything for you, which means he’ll only hurt himself. And you’re going to get hurt, too. Is that what you want?”
Of course not. Why would I want to get hurt? I didn’t even ask to fall in love with him. It just happened. But I did ask to have sex with him, even knowing that it was wrong. Why? Because I thought the pleasure would be worth the price? Did I even stop to think about the price?
I’m a fool.
“When that happens, the two of you won’t be able to work together,” Ryker goes on. “You’ll lose your job. Ethan will lose a good assistant. Who knows how that will affect his work and the company?”
I do. Ethan will keep working hard for the company. He isn’t going to let anything get in his way. But do I really want him to do that without me by his side? Do I want to watch him succeed from afar?
“Hopefully, it’s not too late. Ethan can be stubborn. He goes after what he wants, sometimes without caring about what he loses along the way, but he also knows when to give up. If you’re smart, and I know you are, Miss Quinn…” Ryker looks into my eyes. “You know what to do.”
He holds my gaze a moment more before he starts to walk away. I stay where I’m standing, unable to breathe, unable to move. His words feel like an iron ball chained to my foot keeping me in place, weighing me down so much I might just sink into the floor.
“Oh, and I don’t think Ethan will be coming out of his room anytime soon,” Ryker adds once he’s a few feet away. “So please go to your room. Rest. Tomorrow, I might ask you to help me with something.”
“Yes, sir,” I mutter.
He heads over to the elevators. I walk slowly to my room. When I finally get inside, I sit on the floor by the bed. I take off the scarf around my neck and stare at it. Before I know it, tears fall on the wool.
Did I really think Ethan and I could keep doing this, traveling around the world and having sex? Did I think no one would find out? Did I think we’d just be able to get away with it?
I’ve known it was a mistake to sleep with Ethan from the start. Still, I did. And I kept doing it. Not just that. I let myself fall for him. I even started hoping that he’d fall for me. But that’s not going to happen, is it? Not according to his brother.
Ethan is never going to allow himself to feel anything for you.
Of course not. He’s my boss. He’s the head of his family’s company. To him, the company and the family always come first, which means he’ll never do anything to cause them trouble.