Page 55 of In Love and War

“And yet, you’re enabling me,” I accused as he topped up my glass.

“I aim to please, Amelia. You know that.”

I blushed at the reminder. Another sip.

“Alright, let’s get this over with,” I said when he sat down again.

“First things first, why the hell do you want it back so badly?”

“That’syour first question? This might be easier than I thought.”

“I asked for the truth, you can’t lie. On any of these,” he reiterated.

“You have my word, Zackary,” I vowed as I placed a hand over my heart. “The answer to this one is twofold. Firstly, it’s weird that you have my underwear—it makes me uncomfortable. Secondly, as we both know, I’m going to eventually be your boss,” I pointed out.

The statement made him choke on his drink.

“Because there’s no way in all of hell I’m letting you take over,” I continued as he coughed and chuckled, “and having a subordinate in possession of my lingerie is obviously a no-no—gives you way too much leverage. So, for the sake of the future of my career, I need it back.”

I finished with a triumphant sip of wine. First one down, two to go.

“Definitely not the answer I was expecting,” he said, as entertained as I’d ever seen him.

“Next one, please.” I was anxious to get them all out of the way.

He turned so that we were both now completely facing each other on the couch before speaking again.

“Why did you come up to my suite on the day of the Emerson presentation?”

“I already answered this one, likemultipletimes.”

“Thetruth. You could have called.”

“Would you have picked up?” I challenged.

“Stop avoiding the question. You’ll have to answer it anyway to get your goods back.”

Alright, I guess we’re doing this.

“Why did you drag me up to your room the night before to work? We could have gone back to the Yuval office or worked in the hotel lobby or a coffee shop.”

“You don’t get to ask any questions, Amelia, that wasn’t part of the deal,” he argued, stubborn as always.

I pursed my lips, contemplating if it was even worth it.

“Fine. My original answer still stands. But I was also… curious.”

“About?”

“You already know the answer to this, which iswhyyou’re asking. Why do I need to say it?”

“Because this is my game and I make the rules.”

“You’re as aggravating as they come, I hope you know that,” I said, “and I’m under oath right now, basically. So I mean it.”

“I take that as a compliment.” He smiled.

“You shouldn’t.”