3

Amanda took a step back as her sister sashayed onto the balcony. Unexpectedly, she ran into Lucas, who was standing behind her.

His hand came up to wrap around her waist to steady her. As if burned by his touch, she pulled away quickly and stepped farther from him.

Rebecca smiled widely at Lucas and stuck her hand out. "Hello. I'm Rebecca Lemaiyan. It's nice to finally meet you."

Lucas accepted her greeting. "Lucas Erikson."

Rebecca waved her hand in dismissal. "Everybody knows you. My father wouldn't stop gloating about bringing you here. Tell me. What is it about this shabby company that drew you from New York?"

Amanda's eyes narrowed. Shabby? Of course, Rebecca never passed up an opportunity to put her and what she cared about down.

"I wanted a new challenge," Lucas replied. He arched an eyebrow. "But I believe it's far from shabby."

"Oh. I know your type."

"Do you?"

"You like working on broken things." Her eyes flickered to Amanda for a split second. "Then once they're working, you get bored and move on to the next. It gives you a high, doesn't it?"

"If something is no longer exciting, it does become boring."

Amanda cleared her throat. "I'll leave you two."

Rebecca turned to her. "What's the hurry, sis? Come on, tell me. Are you okay? I was worried you'd have a hard time at today's party. You didn't have to come, you know. Everybody would have understood."

Amanda scoffed. "Excuse me? I'm fine. It's my company's party and I wanted to be here."

"Your company? Not technically, but okay. But you know what I mean. After what happened with the last CEO—"

"Mind your own business, Rebecca."

"Calm down, I'm just looking out for you."

"Leave me alone!”

"Ladies?" A new voice interrupted, and Amanda cursed viciously in her mind. Keith.

Rebecca turned to her husband, a pretend frown on her face. "I'm worried about her, but you know how she gets."

"Amanda is fine. Right, Mandy?" Keith asked, standing beside his wife and looking over at her.

Amanda clenched her teeth together as she stared back at him. Mandy? The nerve of him! He had no right to call her that. She was of half a mind to walk past them and leave when he turned his attention to Lucas.

"Hello, Lucas. Congratulations, my man." The two proceeded to exchange a handshake and hug.

My man?

Were they close? Or had they met in the course of the week Lucas had been at the company?

With one final glare at her sister, Amanda slipped away while the two men were caught up in conversation.

She grabbed a flute of champagne from the first server she came across. She savoured the fruity taste of the wine. Hopefully, it would help her relax and stop thinking about killing the three people on the terrace.

Come to think of it, they were perfect company for each other. Two lying men and an insufferable sister.

For her peace of mind, she needed to steer clear of all of them.

Tyra appeared, a glass of wine in hand. "So, what do you think?" She wiggled her brow in suggestion.

Amanda blinked, trying to bring her mind back to earth. "About what?"

"Mr. CEO," Tyra replied.

"Oh."

"Oh?"

"I'll look at his details to see whether he's as good as Dad keeps insisting."

Tyra sighed impatiently. "You know damn well I'm not talking about his work performance."

Knowing it was useless to act clueless with Tyra, she said, "I don't know, he doesn't look all that striking to me."

Tyra gaped. "What?"

She shrugged.

Tyra frowned. "Did you see him under the light?'

"Yes."

"Are you blind?"

"He's not my type, that's all."

"You're kidding with me. I know your type."

"Maybe my type changed, Tyra. Have you considered that?" She gulped down her drink and replaced it with a new one from a passing server. "I'll go say hi to Elizabeth."

She didn't wait for Tyra's protests as she made her way over to Elizabeth Jane, who was the head designer at Lemaiyan Fits.

Tyra's frown didn't let up as she watched her friend walk away. What the hell was wrong with her?

"Mandy?"

Amanda turned to find Keith standing beside her. She was standing at the end of the room, staring at the city lights through the glass windows. A quick sweep of the area revealed that Rebecca was nowhere in sight. She was doing a good job of avoiding a certain group of people. Maybe some were working just as hard to get her alone.

"I told you not to call me that."

He scratched the back of his neck. "Ah, sorry. I keep forgetting."

In the same way you forgot about me when you met Rebecca?

She kept the snide remark imprisoned in her brain.

"What do you want?" she asked.

The man had been together with her sister for seven years now. Married for three. In all those years, Amanda did an impeccable job of avoiding him.

"I was worried about you."

Amanda stared at him in wonder. Was he out of his mind? Worried about her?

"Why on earth would you be?"

"You didn't deserve what happened," he said.

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"I'm sorry, I don't know what to say—"

"Then don't say anything. I don't need your pity. I'm handling my stuff well. Go back to your wife."

His eyebrows pulled together. "Please, Mandy. Don't you think it's time we went back to being friends?"

"You're funny. Do you actually believe you're any different from him?"

"What?"

"He lied to me. So did you. You cheated. So did he. Actually, you're worse. You cheated with my sister. How the fuck do I always attract men like you?"

"I thought we were past this."

"We're not past anything, Keith. I don't need you to fool me twice to know the kind of person you are."

"I did not cheat on you. We were not dating."

"Is that why you ghosted me once you went abroad? Because I didn't deserve an explanation for your sudden change of mind? Did you figure out my feelings and think it was the perfect opportunity to cut ties with the clingy, naive nineteen year old kid? Was that it? Does the fact that we were not dating mean my feelings were invalid?"

"Am—"

"You know what? This evening is already ruined, and you're making it worse. Don't come near me again."

She brushed past him, making her way towards the exit.

Maybe coming to the goddamn party wasn't such a good idea after all.