do, Nikki? Stand here and do nothing? I need to see her and explain. You think I don’t know full well that she’ll run to him? That she’s probably already with him.”
“Explain what, Lex? She won’t listen to you. I’m warning you, do not attempt to approach her. Let me speak to her, or I swear to God I’ll chop off your balls and wear them around the city as earrings.”
“I’m sorry, Nikki, I can’t. I need to see her.”
“Don’t be a stubborn asshole. Once again, you broke her, and once again, I’m left picking up the pieces. When I met that girl, she was broken beyond repair. I don’t know exactly what else you did besides leave her. You might think this is fixable, and maybe it is, but you need to back off right now.”
Lex stares at me, defeated. His eyes no longer shine that green that he is known for. Instead, they look dark, the ramifications of this situation weighing him down. With his shoulders fallen, he walks away to the entrance of the hotel before disappearing through the glass doors.
Heading back to the car, I ask Rocky to take Will home as I head into the office.
After a quick drive, I enter the reception area and catch sight of Eric sitting in his office. I walk in, closing the door behind me.
“What the hell happened, Nikki?”
“Look, Eric, I don’t want to get into the semantics. How is she?”
“A total mess when I found her.”
“When you found her?”
“Yeah, on the floor of the basement. She was crying. She texted me to meet her.”
“And now?”
“She’s in her office. She asked that no calls be transferred to her because she’s working on the Mackenzie case. She seems to be okay now. I can’t believe Lex screwed her over again. I mean, those photos. Wow! Can’t the guy keep his beautiful dick in his pants?”
“Are you fucking kidding me, Eric?”
“Excuse me?”
“I can’t believe you actually bought that bullshit,” I bark, infuriated by his thirst for gossip.
Stunned, he lets out a laugh. “What, you’re defending him now?”
“It was a piece of poorly written trash with a pathetic attempt at Photoshop. Do you think that a man who flew back to Manhattan and almost blew a multi-million-dollar business deal would do that if he didn’t love her? Do you honestly think that a man who makes billions of dollars a year would be stupid enough to fuck another business associate when he’s trying to win back the only girl who holds his heart? It’s people like you who keep these fucking tabloids running. Honestly, Eric, I expected more from you.”
“Nikki, I’m sorry, but—”
“No buts, Eric. Stay out of this. Do not poison her mind, you understand? That girl is hurting right now even though she won’t admit it. All your he’s-a-jerk-and-you’ve-got-Julian talk isn’t what she needs right now.”
I storm out of his office, furious at his narrow-minded attitude. Taking in a deep breath, I head toward her office. I don’t knock. There’s no point, so I barge in unannounced.
Charlie is silently typing on her computer. What concerns me is how normal she looks. Her hair is pinned up in a perfect bun, her clothes are neatly pressed, she’s flawlessly made up, and if you didn’t know Charlie like I know her, you would think nothing is wrong at all.
She looks up for a brief moment, stunned to see me but is quick to bow her head and continue typing. The moment she looks into my eyes, it’s there staring me in my face, the sparkle in her eyes has vanished without a trace.
“So what, you’re not even going to talk to me now?”
“What would you like me to say, Nicole?”
Wow, she must be angry to be calling me Nicole.
“Well, for starters, Charlotte, a smart woman like yourself can’t possibly believe the trash printed in that tabloid.”
“Drop it. It’s over.”
“Over? It just fucking began, Charlie!”
She stops typing and adjusts her glasses. The silence is irritating me as I stand there tapping my foot waiting for her response. She lifts her head to meet my gaze as if on autopilot, unable to show any emotion.
“Why do you even care, Nikki? If you take his side, then you might as well go fuck him and to hell with you both. That’s probably what you really want. I saw the way you were looking at him, asking him a thousand questions. He’s yours for the taking.”
The words hurt, there’s no doubting that. At this moment, my