Counting On You (Counting the Billions 2)

Why had things had to go this way? What the hell had I ever done wrong by him?

I pressed my fingers against my eyelids, trying to deny the next thought that came into my head: Were things going to go just as wrong with Abby? It honestly felt like we couldn’t be far off from some personal apocalypse already, with the way that things had been going between us. I hated the idea that she might never want to talk to me again. That she might want to sabotage me, moreover.

But that was a distinct possibility, I realized miserably. I never should have found someone that I liked and hired them on as an advisor. It would be so much easier if we had just been on terrible terms right from the start, if we had always been fighting about what to do with the company or something, even though I knew that would make the whole role of advisor counterproductive. No, that was just wishful thinking.

At the same time, though, why did it have to be Abby? Why couldn’t we have met in some other way, so that she could have actually seen me outside of my business dealings and the media trail I left in my wake?

I sighed, feeling my sour mood from the previous night come crashing back full force. And in that moment, I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to sit through an afternoon of meetings. I should be there. This company was my responsibility. But no.

“I’m going home,” I muttered to Erin as I passed her on the way out of the building.

“But what about your meetings?” she called after me. “Should I cancel them?”

I shrugged but didn’t turn back to her. “Let Abby decide what she wants to do,” I called back, just wanting to get out of there. It was everything I had sworn I would never do. But in that moment, I realized that I didn’t have a choice. If I couldn’t handle being there with Abby by my side, polite and professional and more distant than ever, then I couldn’t be there.

I could do some of my work from home anyway, I reminded myself as the car pulled up at my mansion. It wouldn’t replace my presence in all those meetings, but that could at least be explained away by my illness. Or something. The others would handle that.

I sat down at my desk and tried to force myself to focus. But when I stared at the blank document in fro

nt of me, all I could see was Abby’s face, the small smile she had given me as she headed out to lunch.

I had failed her just as much as I had failed myself by running away from my problems like this. I wondered if I should call her. But she might be in our afternoon meetings even now. Maybe I could get away with pretending that it was some sort of test for her. Something I would have done to any new advisor.

Some of the others might buy it. But I knew that Abby would see right through an excuse like that. The decision to go home for the afternoon had already been made, though. Might as well make the best of it.

Chapter 10

Abby

I WAS SHOCKED WHEN I got back to the office after lunch to find out that Daniel wasn’t there anymore. I stared at Erin, wondering if I’d heard her right.

“I don’t know,” his assistant said, looking uncertain. “I guess he just really wasn’t feeling good today? You saw how he looked when he came in.” She paused. “He told me it’s up to you if you want to go through with the meetings you have this afternoon. I think everyone would be fine with me just canceling all of them, though. We have enough time later in the week that we can reschedule all of them, and it’s not like Daniel habitually takes sick days. He’s allowed to have one every now and then.”

I nodded at her. “Yeah, that’s probably a good idea,” I told her. “Go ahead and cancel all of them.” I paused, though, wondering if that was really the right course of action. Who knew if Daniel was going to be feeling any better about his meetings later in the week. This could be the very tip of the iceberg, just the start of a downward spiral out of control.

But I doubted that I was really the cause of a total breakdown. Daniel had an impeccable work record. I was sure he’d be right back into the swing of things by the next day. Or if not, then, well. He could always fire me. Or I could quit, if that was the way things had to be.

I hated the idea of that. I wanted to keep this job. But I knew that things were clearly difficult for Daniel, and it wasn’t fair for me to keep showing up to work if it made him feel like he couldn’t be here. I wondered if the only reason he hadn’t fired me already was because he was afraid I might try to sue him.

I sighed, and Erin gave me a sympathetic look. “Well, before you run over there, you should definitely see this,” she said, turning her screen around so that I could see the article on it.

I frowned, shaking my head. But I realized didn’t want to talk to Erin about the wild claims in the article. It was none of my business if this was a pattern for Daniel. I honestly didn’t believe that it was. From his interactions with his employees, I didn’t think that he had ever slept with any of the rest of them. I knew that he wasn’t the player that the media made him out to be.

Not only that, but there was plenty of other stuff in this article that was patently false. I hadn’t broken up with Daniel, for one. No, I didn’t believe any of it. And I wasn’t going to let anyone in the office believe that I did.

“Reschedule this afternoon’s meetings,” I suggested to Erin. “But I’m not going to go rushing right over there. I don’t need to give the paparazzi another reason to gossip about us. And both of us leaving in the middle of the workday would definitely do that.”

“Sure,” Erin said, but I could see that she was fighting not to grin. “I just figure that at some point today, you might want to go over there and check on him. Or something. But if not, well, that’s totally up to you.”

I narrowed my eyes at her, remembering what she had said before about how I shouldn’t get involved with Daniel if I didn’t think I could hack the media thing. Now, it almost sounded as though she was encouraging me to chase after him—to go over to his home, no less.

But I realized, it was just what she expected that any of the employees here would do if they were on good terms with Daniel. Someone needed to look out for the boss who was always looking out for everyone else. And who better to do that than someone the boss actually cared about? The person who had started this whole mess in the first place.

I didn’t really have a choice. I needed Daniel back to work the next day, or I needed to quit. Better go over there and talk to him about what he was planning on doing.

I barely made it until 5:00 p.m. before hurrying out of there, but no one remarked on my hasty departure or the fact that I had barely gotten through any of our client files that afternoon. I took the back exit again, glad to see that that secret was still safe. For now, at least.

As I headed to the McGregor estate in a cab, I wondered if any of this really affected Daniel. It had to, I thought. I had barely made it a few scant weeks with the media’s attention on me before it had all gotten to be too much. But this had been Daniel’s life since he had taken over his father’s company at twenty-two. Since before that, actually, but especially since then.