It did count for a lot, and none of it pleasant. Ally had worked her ass off every day, and had missed her chance to finish college because of those five torturous years spent working to make sure Rick had a career. She’d made a plan, stuck to every single thing she vowed to do so she and Rick could have the perfect life together. She’d always told herself if she could just hold things together while he was in school, she would have her chance. And now, that carefully planned outline had been erased like it had never happened, leaving her nowhere. Just years of empty space.
Ally didn’t respond, nor did she look up at the man to whom she’d given five long years of her life. He didn’t deserve it.
I have to keep moving. I’ll survive.
Exiting the house, she closed the door behind her. She was in her car and on her way to Sully’s before she could see Rick come bursting out the front door in only a hastily donned pair of jeans, cursing because she was already gone.
Ally arrived at Sully’s ten minutes late for work, but she did her job, no one even suspecting that her entire world had just tumbled down around her, her plans for her future gone.
When she arrived back home, exhausted, Rick was gone. She dragged her tired body to one of the extra bedrooms, her body and mind completely drained. Ally knew if she stopped for even a moment to think about what had happened, she’d lose it entirely, and that wasn’t something she could afford to do right now.
Blanking her mind, pushing all thoughts of the past aside, she let her worn-out body succumb to a mind-numbing sleep.
Chapter 1
One Month Later
Ally Caldwell never needed to actually see her boss, Travis Harrison, to know he was making his way to his office. He was like a force of nature that everyone shied away from, the whole upper floor of the luxurious high-rise Harrison building going from a buzz of activity to absolute silence whenever Travis the Tyrant entered the top floor from the elevator, every employee freezing like a deer in the headlights until he passed, each one breathing a sigh of relief as he moved by them without acknowledging their presence. Nobody wanted to be singled out by Travis Harrison, because it usually meant trouble.
Ally sighed, beleaguered. Most days, she thrived on doing verbal battle with one of the most obnoxious men on the planet. But today just wasn’t one of those days. Since her world had collapsed last month, she didn’t have the energy or the desire to do battle with Travis anymore, but she did it anyway, just because he could be such an ass**le.
Pushing her glasses back onto her face and turning back to her computer, she murmured to herself:
“Five…
“Four…
“Three…
“Two…
“One…”
“Coffee, Alison,” Travis’s booming voice demanded right on time as he strode through the automatic doors to his spacious private office, walking purposefully into the reception area without even looking at her.
Ally rolled her eyes. In the four years that she’d worked for Travis, she hadn’t fetched him coffee for the last three years, but he never stopped trying. “I’d love some, Mr. Harrison,” she replied, not looking up from her computer screen. “Cream only, please,” she reminded him politely, like she did every single working day. Some days he cursed her; other days he would grudgingly get his own coffee but wouldn’t say a word. Ally wondered which way it would go today.
Travis hesitated at the door to his private office, turning around to glare at her. “Four damn years, and I still can’t get a cup of coffee in my own office?” he complained obstinately.
Ally swiveled in her chair and folded her hands on her desk. “Of course you can,” she answered reasonably. “I made a pot this morning.” She gestured to the small kitchen behind her. “And I only stopped fetching for you like an obedient dog three years ago.”
Maybe if you’d thanked me just once, I’d still be doing it. Jackass!
Travis straightened his already pristine tie as he moved across the room, entering the kitchen without another word. Ally cringed as she heard the slamming of glass on glass as Travis poured coffee. Really, maybe she shouldn’t have stopped getting his coffee for him years ago; his awkward skills in the kitchen had cost Harrison a lot of money in glassware replacements. But she’d made a stand, refusing to do his bidding like a personal servant because that was exactly how he’d treated her. She worked her butt off to do good work for Travis Harrison as a secretary and assistant, hoping that maybe she could use her work experience at Harrison to go back for her MBA, but she drew the line at doing everything he demanded now. Ally had learned a long time ago that if she gave in to Travis just a little, he’d push her to the limit, continue to treat her like a personal servant. And she had way too many other responsibilities now at Harrison, and more important duties than fetching his damn coffee. So she’d stopped fetching for him altogether unless it was related to business and not a personal need, rather than drive herself crazy trying to please him. There was no pleasing Travis Harrison, and the words “please” and “thank you” simply didn’t exist in his vocabulary, even when dealing with his peers. Just the fact that she still had her job was testament to her value here at Harrison Corporation, which she supposed was the only validation she was ever going to receive. She may not have applied to an MBA program, but she’d learned enough in her undergrad work to know exactly how to make herself nearly indispensable to Travis, and she’d done it in a year. And the moment she realized just how valuable she was as an employee, she’d stopped taking a lot of his crap.
Travis exited the kitchen, slamming a mug on her desk as he passed. “You can add your own damn cream,” he said abruptly, moving toward his personal office with his own coffee as he added, “I’ll need—”
“Your schedule for the day is on your computer, along with the information you requested yesterday,” she finished for him.
“And I have a meeting—”
“With Jason Sutherland? I know. It’s already on your schedule. He called me.” He’s a considerate billionaire. Ally smiled as she picked up her mug of coffee and the two packets of creamer Travis had left on her desk. He’d even added a stir stick. Obviously he was playing nice today…for now. Lately, he’d been doing that more and more often. Not to say that he was exactly pleasant. Today, he was obviously in a mellow mood, which meant he was merely hard to get along with. No doubt, he’d eventually show his “bastard” side. He always did.