“I do? How?”
“A bonus, of sorts. What would you like?”
“That's a pretty broad question.”
“All right, let me narrow it down for you. You get a five a day vacation, anywhere in the world, with all expenses covered. How does that sound?”
“If I can bring a friend, it sounds perfect.”
A rush of jealous heat spread through me. How was I going to deny her if that “friend” turned out to be Brendan Savage?
“What friend did you have in mind?” I asked, regretting the words as soon as they escaped my lips. Asking probably made it sound as if I would have put stipulations on her reward and it likely made me sound exactly what I was—jealous.
“Meg, my best friend. She and I have talked about taking a trip to Hawaii for ages, and this would be a great opportunity to do that.”
I breathed a subtle sigh of relief, thankful she hadn't said Savage.
“Consider it done. There's a long weekend coming up next weekend. I'll give you two extra days off to make it five days.”
“Thank you, Asher. This is very generous of you.”
“You deserve it. However, since you’ve chosen Hawaii, I hope you and Meg won’t mind putting up with me on the flight. I have some friends there I’ve been meaning to visit. An old buddy of mine owns a resort there, and I'd like to catch up with him. We'll take my private jet.”
She smiled. “I think Meg and I can handle your company for the duration of the flight. It'll be tough, but we'll do our best,” she teased.
I laughed along with her. It was so good to hear her laugh and see that genuine, carefree smile on her face. I saw something else there, too, an intense sparkling in her eyes as she laughed. She was doing her best to suppress it, but it was there.
“Great! It's done, then. I'll see to it that all the arrangements are made.”
“Thanks again, boss,” she chided as she left my office and closed the door behind her, leaving me with a little optimism that maybe Brendan Savage was, in fact, no longer in her life. I could only hope that when I met with Matt later that afternoon, he could confirm.
***
I hadn’t met with Matt in over a week. At our last meeting, he’d informed me that Savage had called Lilah several times, but she had only answered twice. They’d had drinks once, but it didn’t appear to be intimate. So, I’d been holding out hope that Lilah had given Savage his walking papers—straight off a cliff.
As I was on my way out of the building, I didn’t have to wait for my meeting with Matt to get an answer to my question about Savage and Lilah. A black Bugatti sat by the sidewalk and sitting in the driver's seat was Brendan Savage, grinning smugly as he always did. My heart immediately began to hammer, and I felt a cold sweat breaking out on my back when I saw Lilah walking around to the passenger door to get in.
I hung my head and trudged off to meet with Matt, a host of negative emotions flooding through me. What could I do? She was free to make her own choices.
I just wished one of those choices had been me.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Lilah
After I'd double-checked that I'd packed everything I needed, I called Lilah to see that she was on schedule to leave.
“Hey, Lilah, are you and Meghan all set to go? Should my driver pick you both up from your place, or should he pick you each up from your own places?”
“I was just about to call you,” she replied. “There's a problem. Meg can't go. She's come down with something.”
“Oh, no.”
“Yeah,” she said. “She thought she ate some sushi last night that was a bit off, and when she got sick for the fourth time at work this morning, her boss insisted she go get checked out. She says she'll be fine, but she's stuck in a hospital bed the next couple of days because the doctor said she was not only dehydrated, but severely sleep deprived.”
“I'm sorry to hear that. Do you still want to go? I can't reschedule it, I'm afraid. At least, not for some time. You know how much work there is to get done over the next few months, and there are no more holidays or long weekends for a while.”
“I know,” she replied. “I told Meg I was going to stay here with her, but she argued with me and insisted I go. So, I guess it’s just you and me on the flight there. I’m sure I’ll find plenty to keep me busy, even without Meg there.”