In order to be taken seriously, Lexi has had to become something she hates; emotionless, ruthless and a little bit brutal. But despite the tough exterior, she has one weakness, a green-eyed man with a smile that makes her stomach flip and ego so bi...
"Lexi?" Harry questions the minute my dad leaves the room after showing him his new workspace, an office that is twice as big as mine has ever been, a rectangular meeting table sitting in front of his desk to one side and a leather couch on the other.
"Leave it, Harry, you're fighting a losing battle," I dismiss and try to walk out but he is darting past me to close the door, his body blocking the exit.
"What happened while I was gone?" he pushes, and I close my eyes and tilt my head to the ceiling, hoping the tears of disappointment don't fall as I twirl the ends of my hair.
I've become far too emotional since I was in hospital, part of letting go and dealing with things rather than bottling them up means I now have a much harder time trying to conceal them.
My eyes are still shut when I feel his hands softly cup my jaw, bringing my face to his and his lips lightly pecking mine.
"Baby," he whispers almost silently into my mouth in comfort before finding his voice. "I'm sorry I wasn't here, I can see how much things have changed, but I need to know if something happened? Was there a reason your dad took everything away from you?"
He looks far too concerned and although I want to completely believe his speech in the lift, I'm still not even sure if he can be trusted.
He said he would do anything for me, that this has all been to keep me out of harm, yet won't tell me what I need protection from. What if Harry is the one in the wrong? The bad guy? What if I've fallen this hard for someone who is a criminal, or married, or into something I would never condone?
He senses my hesitation and his eyes burn into mine, attempting to convey the trust he keeps insisting I can place in him.
"I was sick, I told you already. I had to spend two weeks in hospital and even after that, I couldn't work the long hours anymore. He said I was too weak mentally, not up for the responsibly of being on the board anymore and that I had shown everyone that I was never going to amount to being anything more than someone's assistant."
Harry's lips part in disbelief, a myriad of emotions cross his handsome face, from anger to pity and all the way around again.
I step back out of his embrace and he starts to pace.
"How can anyone treat their own family like that?" he growls.
I laugh sharply into the air and he stops to look at me as if I've lost my mind, which by this point, I may have.
"Family?" I yell, hysteria crackling through my voice. "You heard him, I'm just 'staff' to him, Harry! He has never treated me like my brothers and I was fucking stupid enough to think all this time that if I just worked longer, tried harder, did more, then he would see it, but I've always been on the outside. He never lets me in on anything, like I will fail or fuck it up and I've tried for years to show him that I can do it but it's never enough! Even the jobs I worked on never felt like mine, once I have done my part it was whisked away for the "adults" to handle it."
I don't know what I've said but I swear I see a hint of a smile on the edges of Harry's lips.
"Lexi," he says taking a step towards me. "You are intelligent, hard-working and incredibly competent. You've proved it to me, to your brothers, to you colleagues, and to Alan so many times. You don't deserve to be made to think anything less and you shouldn't let him squash all of that ambition I saw behind your eyes when I first met you."
His face is as sincere as his words and just hearing someone say them out loud is more than I ever expected in this shitty life I've subjected myself to.
"Thank you," I choke through building tears. "But, I think if someone like 'the great Alan Patterson', my own father, thinks I'm not good enough, then maybe that's my reality. I was ambitious Harry, but that was before. This is who I am now... Alexa Patterson - Admin Assistant," I tell him honestly and walk out the door.
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A/N:
Our poor girl is beat down!
The answers are coming but Ambition is coming to an end soon :(
