3 - Proving My Worth

Amy’s P.O.V

Oh Damn!

For one beautiful, terrifying second, the entire universe shrank to the heat radiating off Ley's bare chest. My eyelashes brushed against the inner rims of my glasses as I tilted my face up, my lips parted, completely ready to throw my entire future into the fire for a single taste of him.

Then, a harsh, buzzing sound vibrated violently against the deck.

Bzzzzzz. Bzzzzzz. The light from Ley’s phone illuminated the dark. 

The spell shattered into a million pieces. Ley snapped his head back, pulling away from me so fast I actually stumbled a half-step forward. 

What? No… No… Go back to the moment! Mother Earth please rewind time. Please!!! Just one second more.

The desire that had clouded his eyes vanished instantly, replaced by an impenetrable wall of professionalism as he snatched the phone up.

"Pearson," he spoke into the receiver, his voice completely stripped of the warmth that had just been melting my bones. He listened, his jaw hardening.

I stood there, frozen, my face burning with a mortifying mixture of rejection, humiliation and slight anger, because; Who the fuck calls by this time of the day, interrupting a sacred moment. 

Without waiting for him to finish his call, I turned on my heel and sprinted across the deck, through the glass doors, and down the long hallways. I didn't stop until I slammed my bedroom door shut, collapsing onto the mattress. I stared at the ceiling for hours, my pulse racing.

I almost kissed him, I thought. And it looked like he wanted me too.

***

I like to pride myself as a girl’s girl. Going after a married man or a man about to wed was never on my bucket list. 

TBH, I did feel a bit bad. And that’s why I spent the next afternoon holed up at the university library until the librarians literally started turning off the lights around me. 

When I finally returned to the mansion, it was eerily quiet. There was no sign of Quinn, which was a huge blessing, I didn’t want to feel like I was just as bad as she was.  

As I passed the double doors of the home office, I stopped.

Ley was sitting on the edge of the leather sofa, his head buried in his hands. The room looked like it had been hit by a hurricane of paperwork. His suit jacket was thrown over a chair, his tie was loosened, and his dark hair was completely disheveled where he’d been running his fingers through it.

I hesitated by the door, nervously tugging at the strap of my bag. I should have walked away. But seeing him look so completely human, so utterly defeated, tugged at a part of my heart I couldn't ignore.

"Stanley?" I murmured softly.

He lifted his head, his eyes heavy with exhaustion as they focused on me. There was no coldness in them today, just a deep, weary vulnerability. "Amy, you’re home."

"I hope I am not interrupting your work," I stammered. 

He leaned back into the sofa and let out a sigh.

"You… you look like you haven't slept since yesterday."

"That’s because I haven't.” He let out a short nervous laugh. “Cons of being an investor.”

I took that as an invitation to join him. “What is the issue, maybe I could help.”

He looked at me for a long moment, probably wondering what help a ‘little girl’ like me could offer, then he shook it off and decided to give it a try.

“Well, I made a bad investment a year ago,” he narrated, “Bought a group of luxury historic hotels in Europe. But after the deal went through, I found out the sellers lied. Those hotels were used for massive, illegal money laundering. Now, the courts have frozen all my bank accounts during the investigation. I have exhausted the spare money I had and can't pay my global hotel staff or suppliers. I am facing total bankruptcy unless I am able to find a loophole that will cause the court to unfreeze even if it is one account."

I looked at the folders on the floor. Frozen bank accounts. Court orders. Fake business contracts.

“Well, I’m studying corporate law and topping my class,” I bragged. “If you don’t mind, I can take a look at the documents.”

He stared at me, completely shocked. For the first time in his life, he wasn't looking at David's chubby little daughter with glasses. He was looking at an intelligent, capable future lawyer offering him a lifeline."Sure.”

I walked fully into the room, forgot about my usual shyness, and sat on the rug.

For the next two hours, the awkwardness from our near-kiss at the pool was gone. 

We worked side by side on the floor. Every time our shoulders accidentally brushed, a tiny jolt of electricity shot through my skin, but I forced myself to focus on the numbers. I cross-referenced the court's freezing dates while Ley checked his international bank accounts.

Suddenly, my eyes caught something. "Wait, look at this. The court order says they can only freeze your domestic business accounts in America while they investigate. But the branch in Europe pulled funds from your offshore accounts. They had absolutely no legal right to touch your international cash yet."

Ley leaned over my shoulder to look at the paper. He was so close I could smell his perfume, and his warm breath tickled the loose hairs near my ear. He examined the line, and then he looked up at me, his  eyes shining with admiration.

"You're brilliant, you know that?" he said softly, the deep tone of his voice made my heart flutter. "My whole legal team missed that. You’ve just bought me breathing room."

I felt a massive blush creep up my neck. “Well... I told you, top of my class."

We shared a smile. I could have sworn the earth stood still at that moment and sparks began to fly in the air. 

"Stanley, darling! You will not believe what my designer just delivered!"

The high, piercing voice shattered our bubble like a brick through a window.

Quinn swept into the living room, flanked by two assistants carrying a voluminous garment bag. She stopped dead in her tracks the moment she saw us. We were sitting on the floor, surrounded by folders.

A flash of rage and jealousy crossed Quinn's face before she instantly covered it up with a forced smile. "Oh, am I interrupting a little... charity session?"

She strutted across the room, deliberately wedging her slim body right between us on the floor, throwing her arms around Ley’s neck. She pressed a possessive kiss directly onto his lips. Ley went rigid, his eyes snapping to mine over her shoulder with a look of intense discomfort, but he didn't push her away. He couldn't.

Okay, girl, so subtle. I rolled my eyes so back, if it could talk it’d asked me to stop. I scrambled to my feet, picked up my bag to leave. 

"Amy, you should see this." Quinn gushed, signalling to her assistants to unzip the garment bag to reveal a breathtaking, intricate lace wedding gown. "The designer finished it early. This is just one out of the three dresses I will be wearing. What do you think?"

Ley frowned, untangling her hands from his neck as he stood up. "Quinn, this is not the time. I am in the middle of a bankruptcy here."

"Oh, don't be so dramatic, darling, that’s why you have." Quinn laughed, a cold, calculating sound. 

Then, she turned her sharp eyes directly toward me. As she walked over to me, her smile widening into a trap. 

Okay, bitch, what’s going on?

"Amy, sweetie,” she took my hands into hers. 

This is getting creepy as fuck. 

“Since your parents are away and you’re living under our roof, I want to make sure you feel completely included in our beautiful new family."

I gripped the strap of my bag, a heavy dread pooling in my stomach. "Quinn, really, you don't have to—"

"Oh, but I absolutely insist!" Quinn interrupted, clapping her perfectly manicured hands together. She looked directly through my glasses, straight into my breaking heart, and delivered the ultimate insult. "Be my maid of honour.”

I looked past her at Ley. His face had gone completely pale, his eyes wide with a mixture of shock and profound apology as he stared at me, trapped by the social obligations of his empire.

Now, this was definitely where I should have said: Oh, fuck me!