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“Yeah, she’s a Brazilian woman who loves being in Brazil,” Alex deadpanned. “What really brought this on?”

“I get this feeling that she’ssupposedto be here,” I admitted. “I’ve seen her in action at each of the meetings we’ve been to, and she does it like no one else. I know the company would be in good hands.”

“And you can’t fathom hiring someone else when Mia’s perfect for the job already,” Alex finished for me.

“Exactly.”

“What did Mia say when you offered her the company?”

I cleared my throat and Alex sighed.

“You haven’t even talked to her yet, have you?”

“I didn’t want to offer her an empty promise.”

“No, you didn’t want to approach the table empty-handed.” Alex groaned. “Which is why you’re calling me, isn’t that right?”

“You hit the nail on the head.”

“Okay, okay.” Alex hummed, the cogs in her head turning loud enough to echo through the phone. “So, let’s say you get all the paperwork done and you pitch the idea to her and she turns you down. Then what?”

“Then I respect her wishes,” I answered immediately. “Whatever she chooses to do, I’ll support it.”

“And if she happens to say yes?”

“Then she stays here to run the company and I come back to America to run mine,” I said, trying to ignore the twinge of pain that shot through my chest. “And I’d start looking for another assistant to replace Rae once she takes Mia’s old position.”

“You’d be okay with Mia living in Brazil full time?”

“No,” I said honestly. “But it’s not my happiness that we’re talking about right now, it’s Mia’s.”

“Right,” Alex said slowly. “Reid, you’re not thinking this all the way through. It’s valiant that you’re putting Mia’s happiness on a pedestal, but what about your own? You and Mia work together like a well-oiled machine, and I know you have feelings for her. Being apart,that far apart, I don’t think you’re ready for that.”

“It’s a lot more nuanced than that, Alex,” I told her. “I already know that having her work remotely for me wouldn’t work because our jobs are too closely intertwined. In order for her to grow, I need to allow her to. She can’t do much more by my side, and she’s wasting precious talent being my assistant.I’mwasting precious talent.”

“I know,” Alex muttered. “We’ve had this conversation before, and I remember well enough how obsessed you are with making Mia a bigger part of the corporation. But I’m worried that you might be leaving a little too much to chance.”

“No, I think I’m doing the right thing,” I argued, and this was why I needed to talk to my best friend.

After laboring over the decision, I’d backtracked and second-guessed myself until I was blue in the face. It wasn’t until Alex played the devil’s advocate that the truthfinallycrawled to the surface, and I felt more at ease with the idea of having Mia so far from me.

Permanently.

“Something changed,” Alex said again. “What happened?”

“Something did happen,” I confessed, not bothering to stop the smile from spreading on my face. “Something I didn’t expect.”

“Oh my God, you finally got laid,” Alex gasped. “Again!”

“Yeah, I did- wait, what do you mean again?”

“Hm?”

“You saidagain,” I muttered. “I never told you we’d fucked before.”

“So youdidsleep with her that night,” Alex said triumphantly, and I slapped my palm to my forehead.

“Fuck you,” I hissed.