Mysterious Marriage

Chapter 9 - Truth

Amilee's POV:

"My boss?" I swallowed hard and looked to David through the glass once more. This couldn't be happening, not now! "He's quite busy and you'll have to just set an appo-"

"I think he can spare a few minutes." Tate cut me off and walked towards his office doors. I stood up and quickly tried to stop him, finally being able to move but more in a panic. No, no, no, no!

Of course I wasn't fast enough and I ended up following Tate inside of David's office instead of stopping him from entering. Quickly, I had to do something. "Davi- Er, Mr. Ashbur, you have a guest." I quickly called out. David's face looked up and I swear his face instantly went into a scowl. But how could that be? They couldn't possibly know each other... "Mr. Ashbur, this is Tate-"

"I know who he is."

I froze in place and watched in horror as David stood to meet Tate. Tate stayed cool and collected and didn't display any emotion other than the small grin that still played on his lips. David came around and motioned of him to take a seat, but Tate waved it off. "I won't be long."

"What do I owe this pleasure?" David asked, more harshly than anything. There was no mistaking it. He hated Tate. I could just tell from the way he frowned to the bitterness that flashed in his eyes. I swallowed hard. I wanted to stay, wanted to leave, wanted to pull Tate out and tell him to not come back to my workplace and to just stick to the plan...

Yet a part of me wanted to hurt David just as much as he hurt me.

I fought the guilt and bitterness that festered in my soul. He didn't know, didn't deserve to be treated harshly. It was my own fault for thinking he felt the same way and waited on him to make the first move instead of just telling him how I truly felt.

I honestly didn't know what I wanted.

"I'll just wait outside-" I managed to say but Tate turned and looked at me with eyes that I couldn't discern.

"I'd liked you to stay, Lee." Tate's deep and scruffy voice asked. It was so much deeper than David's I realized. David still had a soft yet confident voice. Tate's voice boomed with authority and roughness. I took in his plea, and nodded slowly in agreement. As I looked over to David, his eyes showed confusion and... frustration?

Did I really cause that?

I stood back away from them both towards the door of the office. Tate turned his attention back to David, and he cleared his throat. "I have a question to ask you, Ashbur."

David seemed to be battling something inside. He tried not to glare at Tate as he leaned against the front of his desk. "Go on, Anderson."

I felt sick to my stomach. Tate's voice radiated through the room without effort and even made my chest vibrate with anxiety. "Would you like it if your fiance worked for me as my personal assistant?"

David's eyebrows rose in shock of his question. Honestly, I was shocked too. The way he phrased it made it sound horrible and as if Grace had been cheating on David with Tate. Where was this coming from? "You disgusting, son of a bi-"

Tate instantly held his hands up in surrender. "It was more of a hypothetical question, I should have mentioned. I'm in no way asking such a thing."

"Then what the hell are you asking?!"

Sighing, Tate rubbed the back of his neck. "You heard that I just recently got married."

I froze. Oh god. Here it was.

"Yes, actually." David chuckled and stood to his full height, which was a few foot shorter than Tate's. "I feel bad for the woman desperate enough to agree to marry such an asshole."