In Bed With Her Shithead Boss (By Ellie Wynters) novel Chapter 83

Chapter 83

“Wait, how do you know about Audrey?” Blair asked, the question hitting her suddenly.

“Luca told me when we went to dinner that night.”

Blair frowned. Why would Luca tell Roman when he was married to some good little virgin bride? But she asked instead, “Why would he do that?”

“Because Audrey… Sutton disappeared, and she was pregnant with his baby. He was looking for her.”

“But he said she was a liar and called her so many names. Why does he care now?” Blair felt her anger rising, upset that Roman seemed to be defending his friend.

Roman ran a hand through his hair, looking conflicted. “Look, I’m not defending what he said or what he did. That was fucked up. But Blair, he’s been eating himself alive over this for months. He thinks he made the biggest mistake of his life, letting her walk away.”

“He didn’t let her walk away. He came back from a trip home engaged to another woman when he was involved with her and then he drove her away.”

“I know that and so does he, now.” Roman’s voice was quiet. “We don’t know the ins and outs of their relationship, but he is here now, trying to make it right.”

Blair stared at him. “Make it right? Roman, he is married. What exactly is he planning to make right?”

Roman frowned, looking at her. “He isn’t married.”

Blair laughed. “Then he lied to you because he ended things with Sutton while she was pregnant to marry some eighteen- year–old girl his father had picked out for him.”

“Blair, I promise you he didn’t marry her.”

“What… why?”

“I’m sure it’s a lot more complicated than we know.”

“Everything’s always complicated with you guys, isn’t it?” Blair snapped. “Simple answer, Roman. Is your best friend married, getting married or not?”

Roman met her eyes. “It was an arrangement. Business. It was never… real. But Luca tells me it didn’t happen and will not be happening.”

Blair felt like she might throw up. “Are you telling me Sutton has been torturing herself, thinking he’s with someone else when he’s not?”

“I don’t know what Sutton’s been thinking because you didn’t tell me any of this was happening,” Roman said, and there was an edge to his voice now. “Which, by the way, I understand why you couldn’t tell me last night. But Blair, you should have trusted me. We could have figured this out together.”

“We only found out last night that your Luca was her Luca.” Blair looked down at her hands. He was right, and she knew it. “It was her secret, Roman… him being there and your friend was a shock.” Blair shrugged.

“I know. I get it. Family comes first. I understand that better than most people.” His voice softened. “But we’re supposed to be building something here. Us. And that means trusting each other with the hard stuff. She is going to be my sister–in–law. I will protect her. We are all going to be a family.”

Blair nodded, feeling tears prick at her eyes. “I’m sorry. I hated not telling you.”

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Chapter 83

Roman reached over and took her hand. “What do we do now?”

Blair took a shaky breath. “We stay out of it. This is Sutton and Luca’s mess to figure out.” She hated that. “We just… we be there if Sutton needs us. She asked me to let her deal with it.”

“Agreed.” Roman squeezed her hand. “But Blair, if she needs a job… I mean, if she can’t stay at Cyber10 now. I can find her something, or your parents‘ company, once that legal mess is dealt with. She has options. She isn’t alone.”

Blair felt a surge of gratitude. This was why she loved him. Even when he was pissed at her, even when everything was messy, he still wanted to take care of her family.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

Roman leaned over to kiss her before starting the car. “We should probably get to work. As my soon–to–be wife told me, I have meetings.”

Blair almost laughed. “Good idea.” But she was still worried about Sutton.

The drive to the office was quiet, both of them lost in their own thoughts. Blair kept checking her phone, expecting another call from Sutton, but nothing came. The silence was almost worse than the panic.

When they arrived at Kingston’s, Blair fell into step beside Roman as they walked through the lobby. Her brain still hadn’t stopped working and worrying.

“Your nine AM with the sales team is still on,” Blair said as they stepped into the elevator. “And don’t forget you have a lunch meeting today as well.”

Roman nodded, but she could see his mind was elsewhere. “Blair, try calling her again. If she doesn’t answer, we’ll figure out if we need to go to her.”

Blair appreciated that he said ‘we. Even after everything, even when he was clearly still processing the bombshell she’d dropped on him, he was thinking about Sutton.

As soon as they reached Roman’s office, Blair tried calling her sister again from her desk.

Straight to voicemail. She tried again five minutes later. Same thing. Blair tried to work while she waited, watching the clock.

By ten AM, she was starting to panic. This wasn’t like Sutton.

Finally, she got a message. “Blair, I’m ok. Talk later.”

Blair would like to say she was relieved, but she wasn’t. Blair needed to know if Keira had talked to Sutton. Her youngest sister answered on the second ring.

“Blair? Oh God, have you heard from Sutton? I’m literally trapped on a plane with Prince Entitled and his merry band of uptight security guards.”

Blair couldn’t help but smile despite her worry. “Where are you?”

“Thirty thousand feet and climbing, living my best life as a glorified babysitter to European royalty. If we hadn’t left already, I wouldn’t be on this flight.”

“Are you

alone?” It always worried Blair that her boss would hear her.

“Define alone. I’m sitting in what His Royal Smugness calls the ‘staff section‘–which is basically economy with better snacks -while he holds court at the other end of the cabin with his security detail. They’re probably discussing whether his breakfast croissant posed a national security threat. So relatively alone, yes.”

Blair took a deep breath. “So you know about Sutton?”

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“About Luca, yes… She messaged me and I have been trying to call her since. You talked to her.”

“She called me this morning in a complete panic, and now she’s not answering her phone. I’ve tried calling six times, Keira. But she just sent me a text. Saying she will talk to me later. She asked that we let her deal with it.”

“Okay, first of all, breathe before you hyperventilate and pass out. Second, this is her battle. Although I would love to kick him in the balls.”

“I know. I feel the same. I found something out.”

“What?

“Luca isn’t married. I tried to get hold of Sutton because I don’t think she knows.”

“But there was that piece in the media.”

“Roman is friends with him and he said there wasn’t a wedding.” Blair glanced toward Roman’s office, where she could see him pacing behind his desk, clearly agitated. Roman had asked her if she had heard from Sutton after his nine AM meeting. “I need to be there for her.”

“And you will be. But maybe… a wild thought here–she needs five minutes to process having her baby daddy show up at work before she has to manage our anxiety on top of her own existential crisis.”

“I hate this. I hate not knowing what’s happening.”

“Welcome to having siblings, Blair. It’s like signing up for a lifetime subscription to worry and emotional chaos. I wish I could be there to help you stress–eat ice cream and come up with ridiculous plans, but I’m stuck babysitting the Crown Prince of Pretentious for the next few days.”

“Can your boss hear you?” Blair asked, suddenly worried.

Keira snorted so loudly Blair had to hold the phone away from her ear. “Oh, Blair, no. He’s currently in full royal mode, having what I can only assume is a Very Important Discussion about Very Important Things with his security team. Something about threat assessments and protocol adjustments. I could probably start a conga line back here… naked, and he wouldn’t notice. The man has the situational awareness of a particularly self–absorbed goldfish.”

Despite everything, Blair found herself laughing. “You’re terrible.”

“It’s part of my charm. Plus, I make his coffee exactly the way he likes it and I don’t want to fall at his feet in lust, so I’m basically irreplaceable.” Keira paused. “Where are you going with this, Blair? Because I can hear that I’m about to make a terrible decision‘ tone in your voice.”

“I’m at work. Roman has meetings most of the day.”

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