Page 59 of The Damaged Billionaire's Obsession

“Bonnie—”

“Do not fucking speak to me ever again!” He takes a step towards me. “And don't even presume to crowd my personal space. After Dreadlite, I’m done with Acercraft. From now on, if you need to communicate with me, you can go through Jordan, my line manager, and once you decide you’ve had enough of my insolence, you can fucking fire me.”

My eyes are misty with unshed tears, but my voice is unwavering. I’m grateful when the elevator doors open, and I leave without a backward glance. He doesn’t follow me.

Chapter 17

Ethan

The next few days,I repeatedly try to speak to Bonnie and fail.

I understand why she would be hurt over my admission. My gut twists when I remember the look on her face as she struggled not to cry.

But I still need to get her ready for the L.A. expo. I know she’s adapted the program for VR and made some changes in the Dreadlite program in a way that will make it incompatible with their system in L.A.

I send her screen messages and emails, which have remained unread. She changed her calendar settings, so no slot is bookable without her permission. I could override this, but I don’t. I don’t go to her office. I’m hardly on the tech floor, so going there is likely to draw attention. She doesn’t work late anymore, a change I’m sure she made to avoid running into me after hours.

Two days before she’s due to leave, I still haven't reached her. I have no choice but to pull her personal phone number from her file.

Me: It's Ethan. I need to talk to you about that program you’re taking to L.A.

Bonnie: Stalkerish much?

Me: It’s crucial that I see that version you’ve got.

Bonnie: What, so you can sabotage it to make sure I fail and you can say you were right? No way.

Me: Quite the opposite. I’m trying to help you. That version you have will not work in L.A. I know you’ve upgraded it, but I need to rewrite it. I’m here in the office. Send it or bring it over, and I’ll rewrite it to make it compatible for the LA team’s VR settings.

Bonnie: And you think I can’t do that? If that’s your only reason to hound me, you’ll need to try harder.

Christ, this woman is stubborn.

Me: Bonnie, I’m being serious. This is the last time I’ll offer.

Bonnie: So am I. And it's Ms. Russo to you.

I laugh out loud at how ridiculous she’s acting. Fucking petulant child. God, I’d love to spank her silly.

Me: Stop acting like a child and let me help you.

Bonnie: Don’t do me any favors. I can write another one if I need it. A better one.

Me: Bonnie…

Bonnie: I’m blocking you rn. If you need to contact me, use the proper channels.

And she actually blocks me. I decide that's the final straw and I let her be. After all, she’s right; she’s got Jordan, who is her line manager. I hope for her sake that he and Sajid can sort her out.

I’m in the middle of a conference call on the following Monday afternoon when Jordan bursts into my office. I excuse myself, mute the audio, and turn off my camera.

“What the hell, man?”

“Bonnie’s run into a little problem in L.A.”

Tonight is the expo conference.

“Okay?” I school my features carefully. “What does she need?”