Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 26246 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 131(@200wpm)___ 105(@250wpm)___ 87(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26246 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 131(@200wpm)___ 105(@250wpm)___ 87(@300wpm)
“Oh, you sweet, sweet thing.” Every time Kyara said things like this, Lara always had this urge to hug the girl to her like a stuffed animal. “‘Normal’ isn’t the word I’d use to describe your childhood. But at the same time...this is going to be so exciting!”
Lara’s enthusiasm was contagious as she told Kyara all about the perks of traveling with a billionaire boss like Mr. Havington. By the time they dropped their trays at the return station, Kyara was feeling pretty excited herself, and maybe, just maybe...this might not be as bad as she feared?
Mr. Havington had said they were also going to Vegas, and since Cyrus was going to be there, too...
She should be just as excited about spending time with her unofficial boyfriend, right?
“I need to, um, make a quick call,” she told Lara when they were about to step inside the elevator.
“Sure. I’ll let Mr. Havington know if he asks for you.” Lara watched the girl go with mixed feelings. Although Kyara had been sufficiently careful not to let anyone know about the mysterious man she had been dating, the mystery wasn’t as mysterious as the girl assumed. Lara had known for a while who Kyara’s boyfriend was, and even though she had never really tried to confirm this, she had a feeling that so did their boss.
Kyara checked the time on her phone as she took the stairwell. Cyrus liked to spend the last few minutes of their lunch break vaping at the rooftop, and since it was still ten minutes to one, she should still find him there, and hopefully...
He’d be happy that she’d be in Vegas, and she herself would hopefully be just as happy, and then they’d...play cards happily ever after maybe?
Kyara took her heels off and tucked them under one arm as she climbed another flight of stairs. One last floor to go, and then—
“Oh my gosh! I knew it! I knew it!”
Kyara froze on the landing between five and six.
Was that Lloyda from Marketing? The other woman’s voice was quite distinct. It was half-shrill, half-Texan, and—
“How long have you and Cyrus been dating?”
Kyara was sure this time. That could only be Lloyda and no one else, and did the other woman just say—
“About two months now.”
“But those two months have been nonstop...”
A sound of suggestive giggling followed, and Kyara felt so, so dumb as her fingers tightened involuntarily around the rail. Nonstop what? Because in the past two months, she and Cyrus always had breakfast together, and so...nonstop what?
“When are you going to make it official?”
“We’re going to Vegas tomorrow, darling.”
The endearment had Kyara jerking. There was one woman she knew who loved to call everyone darling. Someone whose name was hovering at the tip of her tongue...
“And you know what everyone does in Vegas, right?”
Kyara could feel the blood draining from her face as the voices faded, followed by the sound of the rooftop door closing before the stairwell went quiet again except for the hum of the building.
Everyone went to Vegas to...what?
Play cards?
Watch a show?
Or...have Elvis Presley pronounce two people as husband and wife?
Chapter 3
KYARA WASN’T SURE WHAT to feel as she got back to her desk. There was always tons of work to do when you were working for a man like Lyrius Havington. Honestly, his presence in the company was one of the greatest still-unsolved mysteries in this place. He was richer than all the members of the board, including their own CEO, who was Cyrus’s father. And in the three years she had been working here, she had heard and read countless theories, but the one being most talked about was how Lyrius seemed to owe Henry Wallace something, and that was why he was trapped here.
Or so they said.
Frankly, she had never tried coming up with her own theory, and Lara had never talked about it either. Right now, she was just thankful that working for Mr. Havington meant never running out of things to do.
So she worked and she worked and she worked until Lara said it was already five, but all Kyara could manage was a wan smile and to tell her she’d like to work overtime, just so she could enjoy her weekend more.
“That makes total sense,” Lara said approvingly. “I’ll go ahead then. Give me a call if you need anything.”
“I will.” Kyara said it because she knew it was expected, but she didn’t really mean it. She knew Lara was sincere, but growing up as she had, it was still a struggle for her to accept help.
Shayla had also told her to call, text, or drop by her apartment if she needed anything, and she knew Shayla was just as sincere, but it was just so hard to un-learn things. And anyway, it wasn’t like she didn’t have any idea of what her mentor would say.