Corrupted Chaos (Tarnished Empire)(15)

“Well, he chose to not be a part of the night.” I shrugged. “We can celebrate ourselves and have a good night without him.”

Lucas whooped and dragged me back through the swarms of costumed up employees to our team. Penelope welcomed us back, asked how my family was, and I continued the small talk by saying they were all well. I’d expected questions about them because I’d taken a day off to go visit Dante and Delilah in the hospital as they welcomed their first baby two months ago.

Of course, Cassie, with her dark-brown hair bouncing under the gold Wonder Woman headband, jumped in. “Happy to hear she’s doing fine with baby number one, but why don’t we talk about your four brothers instead? They all still single?” She’d gleaned this information from me just a week ago as she walked past my desk and caught a recent picture I’d displayed of my siblings surrounding me while I held our new niece.

Penelope looked confused. “You have four brothers?”

“Girl, check out her desk next time you walk by. Everyone in that photo is a sibling. One of them is in the freaking NFL.”

“Oh my God. Those are your brothers?” Penelope leaned in, suddenly very invested in talking to me. The funny thing was, that picture of us all was the worst we’d ever taken. After staying up all night worried about Delilah delivering the first child of our family’s next generation, we resembled zombies, not humans. Yet, the smiles on our faces were the biggest you’d have ever seen.

“Right? And they look like they’re just doting on that baby. Such good brothers and great dating material.” Cassie sighed, completely in love with them all.

I chuckled. “Probably only the former considering they are all still single.” I could only give them credit for being the best family. They’d been there for me as I struggled to maintain my sobriety, even after nine years. On my worst days, I kept it for them and the rest of my family. To make them proud. To show them I was worthy of their love.

“Okay. Okay. Let’s give Izzy a breather.” Lucas changed the subject. “Who’s coming to Keep Minding our Minds next week?” Lucas asked. “I’ve got an idea for bringing more people into the group.”

I winced. Lucas had taken mental health at Stonewood Enterprises to the next level over the past year, and he dragged me along for some of it. He thrived on helping others, and I wanted to be the same. I wanted to think I could aid others in their healthy recovery, but at the same time, I wondered if the only person I was made to help was Lucas.

“I should probably work while you host all that.”

“You’re so great though, Izzy. You helped me through my breakup last week when you shared your story about your boyfriend. You and Gerald are goals,” Cassie pointed out.

God. Last week I’d gone and shared how being strong when your boyfriend was away could nurture your relationship. I used Gerald and myself as examples to show Cassie she didn’t have to worry about someone cheating on her and that, if they did, it was their fault.

Except Gerald had found someone else.

And I was the fool now. And I’d made it even worse by letting Cade get to me in the elevator. I’d been reckless and irresponsible.

Thankfully, Lucas steered the conversation to a different topic. “Hey! Remember when Cassie told her ex she’d just been promoted to data analyst, and he didn’t believe her?”

Penelope blurted, “Yeah, what an asshat. Cassie’s been killing it.”

“In all fairness, I make Izzy help me with half of it.” Cassie shrugged and eyed me apologetically. “By the way, I have a work question for you on Monday. I might need your assistance with some coding.”

“Of course.” I sprang at the chance to help her. “Just put it on my task list, and we’ll get on it first thing.”

Braxton added that he might need a hand with something too, then Lucas rolled his eyes, grumbling quietly enough for only me to hear, “They’ll have you do everything if they can.”

I nudged him hard. People needed teachers so they could learn and do it themselves in the future. Plus, I enjoyed the work, even if a certain boss wouldn’t give me a promotion and my now ex-boyfriend had complained about my work ethic putting a strain on our relationship. Sighing, I straightened and tried not to dwell on it.

As the small talk continued, Lucas whispered, “Take a break and walk around. Then let’s leave. You don’t need to be here right now.”

I chewed on my cheek. I thought I’d buried my emotions, but Lucas sensed them all better than I ever could. Sometimes good friends knew the limits of your heart better than you knew it yourself.





4





Izzy





I sped off, wanting to get away from it all. Wanting to stop the thoughts. Wanting Gerald and Cade to get out of my head. I weaved through dancers and around tables and got back to the elevator quickly. I hit my floor so I could go back to my desk and decompress. Working was my happy place, even if I had to do it dressed as Harley Quinn.

The lights on our floor should have been off, but the corner office—the one that was never occupied—was brightly lit. My white Harley Quinn boots took me straight to it. I stood in the doorway, waiting for him to look up.

“What the fuck are you doing back here?” Cade grumbled, flicking his gaze up momentarily before focusing on one of the four computer screens in front of him.