Semua Bab TAMING THE BILLIONAIRE; My Brother's Best Friend : Bab 11 - Bab 20

Ethan's POVI walked into the office the next morning with a little more confidence in my stride.The day before had been difficult — I wasn't about to deny it — but I'd spent close enough to the whole night working through files, piecing together what little I understood of the company's project, and creating something that I could present without embarrassing myself completely.I was not going to let Aaron Warner send me home on my second day.Without a struggle.I smiled graciously at the receptionist, strained smiled at Maxwell when he waved at me, and walked straight to the AW group meeting room.The room was quiet — eerily so — when I walked in. The large table gleamed, chairs pulled in tightly, screens blank. I exhaled a breath I hadn't realized I was holding.I loved being the first person there.Loved having a moment to just be before the chaos of the day engulfed me completely.I put my file folder onto the table and sat down in one of the chairs, my fingers tapping restivel

Aaron's POVDamn it.Damn it.Damn it.I shouldn't have done that.I shouldn't have entered his office. I shouldn't have approached that close.Hell, I shouldn't even have looked at him today.But the moment I caught sight of him—bald head bent over his damned laptop, goofy floral mugs and bedhead like he hadn't even tried to mess up his hair—one by one, all my well-laid plans I'd made about backing away fell out of the window.I'd vowed to ignore him. That was the plan.Stay professional, stay cold.And then he smiled at me—no, smirked at me, because Ethan Banks doesn't smile innocently—and I lost every shred of control I'd constructed over the past six years.And confronting him this morning with whoever the hell Betty was?Yeah, that put icing on the cake.My blood had been boiling the entire time she stood next to him, giggling over God-knows-what, leaning too close, touching his wrist like she had a right.She didn’t.No one did.I'd demanded the empty office be emptied the insta

Ethan's POVWhen I'd finally collected my nerves by collected, I meant my legs weren't going to collapse under me anymore — I slipped back into my office.It was quiet.The cup of Mandy's fake coffee was still sitting on my desk, now cold, but something small caught my attention.A piece of paper.It was creased under the cup, far enough to be noticeable.I lifted it and turned it over, smiling as I recognized her neat, curved handwriting:In case you need anything.Her number was inscribed below, with a small heart taking the place of the dot over the "i" in her name.I smiled again — this time more softly.Mandy really was… thoughtful. A burst of color, a bright place in this drab, cold office.God, I wish the boss could take a page out of her book.A joke — Aaron, knowing anything about consideration.He did not even have the decency to let any of us know what he was doing when he took off all those years ago.Was this what he had been doing? Building this empire? Building this per

Ethan's POVA week had passed since I'd been working with them, and I could safely say that Aaron was surprised when I nailed that "surprise" presentation he dropped on me in AW group on Monday.Honestly? I surprised myself too.Working with Anderson, Jonathan, and even grumpy, brooding Peter had been just what I needed.The team kept me busy — busy enough to keep my head from reeling every time I thought of him.For three glorious days, I barely even thought of Warner.No replaying that look he'd had on his face when I'd stormed out of his office. No analyzing every single phrase he'd ever used to speak to me like it held some secret message.I was just. working.And it was good.I was slanted over my screen, half-written code scrolling across my monitor, when a light touch made all three of us look up from our desks."It's open," Peter said, his tone flat and emotionless.The door opened, and to my complete surprise, Mandy came in — hair slightly mussed, glasses slightly crooked, an

Aarons pov It had been almost two weeks since I'd spoken to Ethan.Not a glance down the hallways. Not a look in the break room. Not even the slightest look at that frustrating grin when he rolled his eyes at me. Nothing.And I knew he was doing it on purpose.He'd taken a couple of days off to recuperate, my orders to Cheryl I had guaranteed that he got paid time off — but those days ran out almost a week ago. And still, no Ethan. No sarcastic comments. No infuriating laughter echoing from the far side of the office.It shouldn't have mattered that much.But it did.It bothered me enough that I’d stopped sleeping right, lying awake at night with my head on the damn pillow, staring at the ceiling and thinking about him.It bothered me enough that food had lost its taste. Coffee didn’t wake me up anymore.Ethan Banks had a hold on me, and he probably didn’t even know it.I collapsed back into my chair, gazing blankly at the glass walls of my office. Everyone else simply continued work