How to Resist Prince Charming(70)

Jesus, he missed her.

“Yep,” Greg continued. “So, you should really give yourself a pat on the back, bro, because I never would’ve hired her without your approval.”

“Hmm,” Braxton murmured.

“Don’t you just feel like her fairy godmother?” Greg teased.

Actually, he felt more like puking.

“So...” Greg asked, almost evasively. “When are you coming back to ProTech again?”

Sure. Why shouldn’t he return? Then he could work alongside Lenna where they could be one big, happy family...and then he could shoot himself in the head.

“I really need to form a partnership with you now,” Greg went on. “That way I can put Lenna under your supervision, and it wouldn’t be weird for me to ask her out.”

Braxton’s vision grayed. “Say what?”

“What do you think?” Greg asked. “Is it wrong to ask out one of your employees?”

“I...ah...” Braxton couldn’t think. He couldn’t breathe.

Greg wanted Lenna?

Of course, he wanted Lenna. She was Lenna.

“She’s been majorly bummed lately. I think I’m just the kind of guy to cheer her up, you know. She’s really hot too.”

Touch her and die, Braxton nearly growled.

He caught himself at the last second and forced a deep, calming breath. But his nausea only intensified. He couldn’t take this. Just imagining Lenna with Greg—

“Brax?” Greg called after a second. “Yo, you still there?”

“I...I’m sorry. I have a call on the other line,” he lied. Again. It was some kind of phenomenon. “It’s the office. I should take it.”

“Fine,” Greg grumbled. “Go play Boss Boy. See you at the ridge.”

“Yeah.” Braxton quickly clicked off and pressed the receiver to his forehead. He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth.

She loved her job. And Greg liked her.

Braxton barely made it to the bathroom before the bottle of booze came up, and he vomited for a solid five minutes.





CHAPTER 25




Face stiff from the smile he forced, Braxton watched his employees file into the conference room. And, yes, they were still his employees for the next few days.

“I apologize for calling everyone in for another spur of the moment meeting. But I actually have positive news today.”

He waited for a few good-natured chuckles to die down, taking a deep breath as they did.

“I’m sure most of you are aware my sister, Savannah, was in a bad car accident last year. She was in a comma for nine weeks. But what few of you—actually, I’m sure none of you—realize is that when she woke, she wasn’t...”

Braxton broke off, realizing this was going to be a lot harder to announce than he’d originally thought.

Clearing his throat, he tried to speak again.

“She thought she was someone named Clara. For three weeks, she had no idea who Savannah was, insisting we call her Clara. We weren’t sure what to do. But then, one morning, Savannah woke up.”

Braxton filled his cheeks with air so he could blow out a long breath. He glanced around, noticing everyone was silent and transfixed—if not perplexed—by his every word. Lowering his eyes, he continued.

“She became her old self again but had no memory of ever being Clara. It was like she had just then come out of the coma.”

Getting to the most painful part of his story, Braxton lowered his eyes and played with a pen on the desk as he spoke, focusing on the cap wobbling loose. “The doctors diagnosed her with Dissociative Identity Disorder.” He lifted his face and took in the myriad of shocked expressions. “Savannah has a split personality.”

A few people gasped; others covered their mouths with their hands.

Braxton lowered his face again. “I know a lot of you were concerned when she had her accident; you wanted to help. But this was something we couldn’t really talk about. It was just too...painful. Savannah didn’t want anyone to know about it either. So, on behalf of my family, I would like to apologize for not disclosing her condition earlier. But it has been a really hard year to get through, and we just couldn’t handle...” He shook his head.

“Anyway, my mother spent so much time with her she almost ended up in the hospital herself from panic attacks. It affected her enough to worry Dad. And that’s why he felt he had to leave the company for a while. He considered it his duty to be with Savannah and Mom during this time. Ergo, that’s why I ended up here to fill his place.”

He cleared his throat again, thinking he definitely should’ve brought in a glass of water with him for this little speech. “So, anyway. I’m finally getting to the good part of my story.”

He clasped his hands together and was able to give his first genuine smile of the day. “After months of experimenting with treatment after treatment on Savannah, about six weeks ago, she started seeing a new doctor, and she hasn’t been Clara once since she’s been visiting him.”

“Oh, thank God,” Tasha gasped. “So, she’s cured?”

Braxton sent his secretary a sad smile. “No. She’s not cured yet, but this new treatment is successfully keeping her other personality in regression. And as long as she continues her psychotherapy and everything progresses as it has been, she’ll be okay in a few years.”