“Then tell her to take her professor’s offer to apprentice at my company. She won’t even have to see me.”
“She’ll never agree to that. She hates you with the intensity of the sun, and I’m not sure anything you can do will change that.” Tobias wasn’t on top in business for being gullible. He had a sense when someone was screwing with him, and he didn’t trust William.
“It would be in her best interest.”
“What about your sons? You going to tell them about their sister? Think they’ll like the idea of splitting the family inheritance four ways?”
William’s face dropped. “I want to do the right thing by Adora, but I’m not willing to bring my own family down in the process.”
“Of course not.”
“Look, people make mistakes. Nobody needs to know about any of this except you and me. I feel bad about what happened to Maria. No need for Adora to suffer.”
Tobias cracked his neck to each side, his hands clasped behind his back once he reached the edge of the office. He watched the cars driving far below from his vantage point. William Hamilton was fueled by guilt, nothing genuine. Not love. Tobias wouldn’t allow him to hurt Adora. If she needed a job, Tobias could give her one.
“Let me know if my parents contact you about Adora again. Otherwise, don’t lose any sleep over your dirty little secret.”
Tobias left the office, feeling sick to his gut. He’d take care of William’s responsibility.
Once he arrived back at the Bennett Corporate headquarters, he took the elevator up to the penthouse. As he walked toward his office, his secretary rushed over to him. “Sir, I’m so sorry, I was about to call security.”
“What is it?”
“There’s a woman in your office. She insisted on locking herself inside.”
He knocked on the door, “Adora?”
The door opened a few inches. He smiled because he knew it had to be her. Tobias turned to his secretary. “Adora Garcia has full access to my office. In the future, don’t try to stop her.”
“Yes, sir.”
He entered the office, and locked the door behind him.
“That was a long lunch,” she said.
“I had some errands to run. You’re off early, no?”
Adora nodded. “It’s reading week. I’ll have more free time to get caught up.”
He hadn’t seen her too much in the past week between work and school. They’d had more date nights, but it wasn’t enough time together, in his opinion. “What made you decide to stop by?” He could tell something was on her mind.
Adora shrugged.
“Will you be sleeping at my condo tonight?”
“I better not.”
Now he frowned, shrugging off his jacket and placing it on the back of his chair. “Tell me why, please. Why do you insist on keeping your distance?”
“It’s exactly what you’re doing w
ith me, Tobias.” She ran her hands up his chest, reaching up on her tiptoes to wrap her arms around his shoulders. “You want me to give up everything, but you’re still keeping up all these walls.”
“I have no walls, baby.”
She cocked an eyebrow. “Sure.” Adora turned and walked toward the windows. Something was off about her, something sad and unsettled.
“Has something happened? Don’t hide anything from me.” Last week, Tobias had sent a registered letter to his parents, outlining a few of the incriminating tidbits he had on them. It was enough to get them to back off. They’d created him to be ruthless, so they shouldn’t have been surprised. They hadn’t expected him to turn against them. The moment they approached Adora they’d sealed their fate.