The Boss’s Unconventional Assistant

by Jennie Adams

  Yet when Grey had stepped into his office and tossed out a rapid-fire list of things he wanted—reports and information and the latest on what was happening—and his assistant had fired right back with even more stuff, all he could think of was Soph summing it up as ‘Everything’s fine’ and suggesting he say ‘Good’ in response and leave it at that.

  He’d walked out before half the reports had come in.

  He wasn’t sure if he actually cared.

  Soph watched the expressions pass across Grey’s face and knew in her heart that they couldn’t go on this way. Maybe they didn’t have to. Maybe it would be better if she were to leave.

  Perhaps she’d already known it, deep down, when she’d cooked all those meals and frozen them so it would be easy for him to eat well until he could get the cast off his arm.

  He could do his physio without her, would obviously now start to spend at least part of each day at his office. His stepmothers were aching to have a chance to be part of his life. Providing that little bit of extra care he needed just now might be exactly the ticket for them to achieve that.

  Her heart hurt as she accepted it. She needed to go. It would be best for both of them now. ‘A lot has changed for you even in the last few days. I think I should—’

  The ringing of her cellphone in her bag stopped her before she could finish the words.

  Grey was glaring at her, eyebrows drawn down, his fingers curled where his hand rested on his knee. ‘You should what?’

  But she turned aside, reached for her tote bag and drew her cellphone out of it. ‘I’m sorry. If it’s a call from Bella or Chrissy I don’t want to ignore it.’ She flipped the phone open and spoke her name before Grey could say anything further. ‘Sophia Gable.’

  ‘Oh, thank goodness you answered.’ It was her landlady. She was panicky and upset and her words spilled over each other so fast that, for a moment, Soph didn’t comprehend the shock of what she was saying.

  But it sank in, and she gripped the phone tighter. ‘Are you certain? We haven’t heard from them since the day they left.’

  ‘Yes, dear, I’m certain. They demanded I give them contact details for your sisters, and that I get Bella and Chrissy to your flat.’ She paused to draw a worried breath. ‘When I said you should be the one to impart any information, they became quite angry.’

  ‘I’m sorry you had to deal with that.’ Soph tried to keep her tone gentle so she didn’t upset the older woman, but her heart was pounding in her chest and her palms felt clammy and cold while her mind raced madly, trying to understand.

  Grey was watching her. His expression was tight and concerned and she had to look away because she loved him and this was too much.

  ‘I’ll get a taxi and come right now. Just keep your door closed. I’ll deal with them.’ She would deal with the parents who had walked out on her and her sisters and now were back, demanding to see Chrissy and Bella and…what?

  ‘I can call your sisters—’ her landlady started.

  ‘No, don’t call Bella or Chrissy. There’s no reason they should be upset.’ Then, fiercely, ‘I can handle this. I want to do it. It’s my turn to be the one to carry the load.’

  She ended the call and hit speed dial for a taxi. ‘Yes, a taxi, please, as fast as you can.’ She gave the address. ‘It’s urgent.’

  ‘What’s happened?’ Grey was on his feet.

  Soph didn’t know when she had stood, but she stared at him blankly until she finally said around a choked sound that was half laugh, half shock, ‘My parents have returned to Australia. They want to see Chrissy and Bella. Something to do with work connections. It didn’t make a lot of sense.

  ‘They’re very committed to their working lives.’ She added the latter almost as an afterthought, but she remembered well enough how her parents’ lives had centred on their careers and advancements to the exclusion of everything. ‘I have to go. I want to be ready when the taxi gets here.’

  Soph would have bolted outside, but Grey stepped forward and laid his hand on her arm. ‘I’ll come with you.’

  ‘No, this is my problem. I don’t want any help. I’ll handle it on my own.’ She couldn’t let Grey help her because just being near him made her want to weep. And she had to protect her sisters, and that meant leaving right now, alone.

  A horn sounded outside and she snatched up her tote bag and rushed for the door. ‘I—I have to go. My landlady let them into the flat. It’s not her fault. She didn’t know what else to do.’

  Soph hurried on to the street, climbed into the cab and gave the address of her flat.

  She was about to confront the two people in the world she had never expected to see again.

  ‘I didn’t know what to do.’ Soph’s landlady met her as she climbed out of the taxi. ‘They were so demanding.’

  Soph squeezed her landlady’s hand. ‘Please don’t worry. Why don’t you go back inside and make yourself a cup of tea and have a sit down? There’s nothing to worry about. I’ll attend to this.’

  Somehow she would, and then…

  Soph didn’t let herself think any further. She couldn’t right now. One emotional overload at a time, and she did feel overloaded. Would her parents want reconciliation? Truly Soph had never expected to see them again.

  You heard what your landlady said. They want something from your sisters.

  That might not be the case, though. Perhaps they wanted to reconnect and that had just come out because they felt nervous…

  There was only one way to find out. Heart pounding, chest so tight she struggled to draw each breath, Soph finished climbing the steps to her flat.

  For a moment at the top she hesitated, and almost turned around and ran back down again. But the front door stood ajar and she pulled her determination around her and stepped inside.

  A car door slammed on the street below, but Soph’s focus was all on the couple who sat side by side on her sofa. They rose as she walked in and the only thought she could manage was: They look older.

  Then she unfroze enough to add more thoughts. They looked like strangers. They weren’t smiling. There were no opened arms or stumbling apologies.

  ‘Sophia.’ Her name sounded alien on her mother’s lips. She would rather hear Grey say it.

  Soph pushed that thought aside. The stairs creaked outside and her heartbeat was loud in the silence inside her mind.

  Why didn’t she feel something—anger, betrayal, even the glimmer of hope that somehow they were truly back and all their lives could be rebuilt together?

  Because you know in your heart that’s not what they want. Look at them. There’s no affection in their eyes. There never has been and that hasn’t changed.

  Grey’s stepmothers had tried to hide their feelings, but the feelings had been there nonetheless. Why did it all come back to Grey?

  Because you love him, and you wish you didn’t and you’re not sure you can make it stop.

  ‘Why are you here?’ Her words were so low, so tight, she wasn’t sure they had heard her. Feelings did rise then, as she realised she had wanted something—a change, some emotion from the people who had brought her and her sisters into the world and then left them.

  ‘If you’ve come to hurt my sisters…’ They didn’t want to beg forgiveness—that was clear. Soph would hurt about that later, but only a little. Only a little.

  ‘We’ve come to see them.’ Her father’s sherry-brown eyes looked into hers without showing any sign of actually seeing.

  ‘To see Bella, who was eighteen years old when you left? And Chrissy and I, who were still schoolgirls?’ Three terrified girls. The words wouldn’t stop. ‘Bella lost her youth when you left us. She can’t ever get that back. You both made that happen.’

  ‘She was perfectly capable.’ Her mother folded her arms. She was still trim, with the same bone structure that had helped Bella make a success of modelling. She turned to her husband. ‘I told you it would be a mistake to come here. We cut ties…’

  Behind the
m, someone made a low sound and stepped into the room. Soph swung around and stared blankly for a moment until Grey came forward. He clasped her hand briefly and then stood there, his shoulder pressed to hers.

  Comfort and warmth and sweetness flowed into her from that touch, and Soph marvelled that it could be so with all that was between them, but it was, and she let herself take it and stiffened her spine.

  ‘Who are you?’ her father asked as though he had some right.

  ‘I’m Sophia’s friend.’ Grey gave it as much bear growl as he had ever done. ‘And the man who can’t believe you left her and her sisters.’

  ‘We don’t want—’ Soph’s mother cut her words off. ‘We’ve come to see Arabella and Christianna. If that isn’t possible today, then we at least want contact details. They weren’t in the phone book under their maiden names.’

  She made a frustrated motion with one slender hand. ‘One member on the Board who must agree to employ us has met Arabella. The woman asked if there was a relationship, mumbled something about a fashion show and designer clothes and jewellery. She wants to meet Arabella’s husband, and Chrissy’s. She’s holding out about our contract. We had to be in Melbourne today, anyway…’

  It all made sense then. They had found Soph because she still went by the name of Gable. They didn’t even know who Bella and Chrissy had married, and they could have found out, checked newspaper records, if they’d been prepared to invest any effort rather than expecting life to come to them, as usual. It was so…sad.

  Grey gripped Soph’s arm again. ‘Let me see these people out. They’re hurting you.’

  The pain was in his gaze, buried deep in his eyes—for her, and for Chrissy and Bella. She shook her head and wanted to press into his side, turn her face into his chest and forget all this.

  Be strong. You have to be strong.

  She turned back to her parents. ‘It’s up to Bella and Chrissy to decide whether they want to see you.’ She wouldn’t arbitrarily decide for them, though a part of her wanted to. ‘Give me your contact details. I will pass them on.’

  Her mother opened her shoulder bag and reached inside. ‘How do we know you’ll do that?’

  ‘Because she said so. Because she’s your bloody daughter, in case you’ve completely forgotten that.’ Grey stalked to the doorway and stood there menacingly.

  ‘I don’t feel like I am, though.’ Soph searched both their faces one last time. Tipped her head to the side. She saw Bella in her mother’s slender lines, Chrissy in the shape of her father’s nose, herself in the colour of his eyes.

  But these were just things, genetic markers. Soph drew a deep breath and let it out again and, unbelievably, found a smile. ‘I don’t feel like a daughter, but I know what I am. I’m a sister and a sister-in-law, an aunt and an honorary granddaughter-in-law. A friend and an employee and a rabbit owner. Those are the things that I am and, you know, it’s all right. It’s totally and completely all right.’

  ‘I guess we’re a little late. It seems our sister has said all that needed to be said.’ Bella stepped into the room. Chrissy entered behind her.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  WHAT were her sisters doing here? Soph frowned and didn’t comprehend until she glanced at Grey and saw the answer in his eyes.

  His mouth tightened. ‘I know you wanted to do this alone but how could I let you? And I didn’t know if I’d be enough.’

  A chunk of her heart shattered into little pieces because he was kind, and good, even as he kept her locked out of his heart.

  You would always be enough, if you wanted to be.

  Their parents were putting their case to Bella and Chrissy. Though Chrissy looked ready to explode and Bella looked as coldly angry as their mother simply looked cold, Soph’s eldest sister merely raised a hand to stop their flow of words. ‘Leave your card. My sisters and I will discuss your proposal jointly, as we’ve done with every issue we’ve faced since the day you abandoned all of us.’

  Their mother frowned. ‘That doesn’t suit—’

  ‘They’re not going to listen. We’ll find some other way. I expected some maturity…’ Their father took his wife by the arm and drew her towards the door. She hesitated and then dropped the business card into Bella’s hand on the way past.

  Not another word was said. Not even a final goodbye.

  And then they were gone. Grey drew a shuddery breath and slapped the door shut, and for a long moment they all stared at each other.

  Then Bella tossed the business card on to the coffee table. She held out her arms and Soph rushed into them. With a stifled sob, Soph pressed her head to Bella’s chest as she had when she’d still been in school uniform and scared so silly she couldn’t speak. ‘It was my turn to bear it, Bella. I’ve never done enough, and they were so horrid. Why couldn’t they just have wanted to see you and Chrissy?’

  ‘And you, Soph.’ Grey’s voice was fierce as he said it.

  Chrissy rushed forward and wrapped her arms around both her sisters. They stood there in the middle of the room, hugging, until Bella said, ‘It’s all right to cry. You can cry for yourselves, for us, but don’t you dare shed a tear for them. They had all our tears…’

  She couldn’t go on and there were a few tears then, but they each heaved in deep, shuddery breaths moments later, wiped their eyes and separated.

  ‘What can I do?’ Grey’s question turned all three heads, but it was Soph who couldn’t drag her gaze away from him again.

  His fists were clenched and his jaw looked ready to crack. She suspected he would agree to almost anything right now if he thought it would help them. Oh, God, she loved him so much, and he loved her. He did, somehow, to some degree, at least enough to feel this way, to want to protect her.

  It’s not the same. Don’t fool yourself that it is.

  ‘Maybe we should just go…now that they’ve left.’ She didn’t even know what she was saying.

  Bella shook her head. ‘Not just yet.’ She turned to Grey. ‘Thank you for calling Chrissy and me. You did the right thing and, if you wouldn’t mind, maybe a pot of Chai tea? Soph will have everything you need in the kitchen.’

  Her sisters had realised, of course. Grey’s protectiveness—and, no doubt, all sorts of feelings parading across Soph’s face too. If only they knew it was all totally hopeless.

  Grey cast one sharp, protective glance towards Soph and then dipped his head and disappeared into the tiny kitchen.

  Soph loved him for that too, for letting her have her sisters even as she ached for him and had to deny that ache.

  Bella took her arm and gave it a gentle shake before she led her to the sofa and sat beside her.

  Chrissy pulled the armchair close and sat down.

  They left room for Grey on Soph’s other side, a significance she didn’t overlook.

  ‘Do you have any idea how wrong it is to say you never did enough, Soph? Whatever has made you think that?’ Bella chastised her and hugged her at the same time, and then sat back and waited.

  ‘I was too young to do anything.’ She had thought it didn’t matter, that she had control of her feelings and had accepted that Bella and Chrissy hadn’t asked more of her, but apparently it had stayed with her.

  ‘We all did our part.’ Bella squeezed her hand. ‘All of us, Soph.’ Her eyes filled again and she frowned and blinked the moisture away. ‘I worked to earn enough money to feed and house us because that’s what I could do. Chrissy finished her studies and then got a job because that was what she could do.’

  ‘And I played with school friends on weekends and goofed off and spent more time begging you both to let me do your hair than I did on anything else.’ How could that possibly be considered a contribution?

  ‘You were happy.’ Chrissy broke in with the words. ‘Don’t you see, Soph? Bella was terrified and I was almost as terrified and, when we both secretly thought it was all going to sink, you shared your beautiful loving heart and showed we weren’t making so much of a mess after all.’ A te
ar rolled down her face.

  Soph reached for her sister’s hand and held it against her cheek.

  Bella nodded her agreement and her eyes darkened with remembrance. ‘I kept things to myself. In trying to keep my own fears at bay I sometimes kept too tight a rein and didn’t let you and Chrissy in as much as I could have.’

  ‘You couldn’t help that—’ Chrissy started.

  ‘I know.’ Bella held up her hand. ‘We all did the best we could.’ She turned to Soph and smiled. ‘I remember your offers of help, Soph, and I could have given you more responsibility. The truth is I needed your joy and your happiness and your freedom. I didn’t want to do anything that might take that away. There were days when your smile and the knowledge that you were happy kept me going.’

  ‘You’re saying that was my contribution.’ Soph was stunned, but the memories were there, tucked away—Bella’s smiles, Chrissy’s laughter as Soph had done insane things with her hair.

  Bella nodded. ‘Yes.’

  Grey came to the edge of the room, teapot and cups on a tray. ‘Soph?’

  Just her name, softly spoken, and she wanted to cry all over again.

  ‘Thanks.’ She swallowed hard. ‘Thanks for the tea.’ And for your care, even if it hurts to receive it.

  He sat beside her, his big body tense, protectiveness rolling off him in waves.

  Bella poured the tea and passed the cups around. ‘I’m going to drink this in one gulp, I think. It’s been that sort of day.’

  The sisters all laughed a little then, a release of tension, and Grey made a huge growly noise in his throat and managed to wedge his body half behind hers so his chest cradled her shoulder as they sat there.

  ‘I realise I’m intruding.’ Grey spoke the words with his gaze on Soph’s face. He seemed to be asking what she wanted him to do, but telling her he wanted to stay…

  Soph wanted him to stay, but this was sympathy, so she would leave him, as she had decided she must. Her mouth trembled.