Chapter 12

Jordan

I gave her a moment to collect herself, but it was more for me than it was for her. Crying women always made me uneasy. They often brought out that old misplaced sense of chivalry in me—like I was somehow responsible for the crying and it fell on me to stop it.

I’d made a woman or three cry in my lifetime. Sometimes I felt guilty about it. More often, I didn’t. But this one was shaking me more than I’d anticipated. I rubbed my jaw and watched her quietly pull herself together, straighten her shoulders and turn to face me.

Her blue eyes were clouded with uncertainty, self-questioning. I’d wanted to crack her cool façade, but this wasn’t what I had in mind. April was tender and vulnerable inside. The thickness of the walls she’d built to protect herself didn’t change that.

I took a breath and let it go. “Are you okay?”

She pressed her hands to her cheeks and shook her head.

I sighed and looked away. “She’s not going to say anything now that I’ve put the fear of God into her.”

She shook her head again, apparently still too emotional to speak.

I clenched my teeth, annoyed at how much it was bothering me to see her this way. “Weiss. You need to take a deep breath and calm down. You don’t have anything to be scared about.”

“I—I’m not scared. I’m guilty. I’m a horrible person. I—”

“You aren’t a horrible person. Stop it.”

“Everyone had to do all that because of me. Because of what I did. I don’t even know why you are covering for me like this. You—”

“Because you’re part of my team and I protect my own. I’m the only one who has the right to torment you and make your life hell, got it? She’s not—”

“But why?” Her dark brows scrunched, and she scanned my face as if she were trying to solve a puzzle. “Why are you letting me stay on your team? You could have let me go on the first day. I know you lied to her just now, about the fact that Adam knows it’s me. He doesn’t know it’s me. But he should.”

That worried me. I shook my head. “Calm down. You don’t even know what you’re saying.”

She straightened, lifting her chin. “I’m going to end this.”

I did not like the sound of that. At all. “What do you mean?”

“I’m going to talk to Adam and tell him that I’m responsible for the video, explain it was an accident, and then I’m going to apologize and resign on the spot.”

My entire body tensed and my gut tightened. “And what will that solve?”

She turned, grabbed a tissue and dried her face. “It will get Cari off my case and make me feel better.”

“Cari is already off your case. And how will it make you feel better to be dismissed from your internship in disgrace, with no chance of getting a recommendation for business school?”

She looked away, her bottom lip trembling. “So, you know how…how I was the one who made the video? And you know that question you asked Essie…about one of the people not knowing they were being recorded?”

I blinked and swallowed, suddenly feeling more than a little guilty. I didn’t say anything though, and she took that as a prompt to continue talking—even if I preferred that she drop it.

“Well, you were right. He didn’t know…the guy, I mean. It was so stupid. I was drunk and feeling pretty high on the whole experience. I’d never done anything like that before and…well, it was a bit of a fantasy, I have to admit. So, on an impulse, I pulled out the phone to record it. I figured I’d erase it right away. But…” She took in a deep breath and let it go. “I had no idea I was committing a crime. I feel wretched. And the poor guy, he had no idea. I need to find him. I need to apologize.”

“Hold the phone. Just calm down, all right? He’s fine. He’s safe. Nobody knows who he is. He has no reason to want to come after you and put you in jail. The sexual harassment stuff, well, all companies have to do that sort of training by law anyway. So yeah¸ there’s been extra inconvenience brought about by what you did, but I’ve got it handled, okay? No need to go throwing yourself on a sword in self-sacrifice. Nobody needs that kind of drama.”

She huffed. “I didn’t want it to be about drama. I’m just…I’m trying to do the right thing.”

“Sometimes it’s best not to. That’s another thing you need to learn about business. Ethics are slippery things.” And God, wouldn’t I know about that? This would have been an appropriate time to let her know that I knew all about her partner in the video because it was me.