Knots Between Us

Chapter Fourteen

Later, back at her desk, Emma tried to shake off the tension, but Connor’s voice pulled her out of her thoughts.

“I heard you knocked ’em dead!” he said, leaning against the wall. She squealed with happiness and ran over to him, giving him a tight hug.

“Oh my gosh, I’ve never been this nervous and confident at the same time!” she said, practically bouncing.

They walked back toward her desk when Lanie suddenly blocked her path.

“What have you done to him?!” Lanie shrieked, drawing the attention of everyone nearby.

Emma tightened her grip on her laptop. “Excuse me?”

“Don’t act like you’re innocent,” Lanie snapped, her voice shaking between anger and heartbreak. “You think I don’t see it? You’re sleeping with him—that’s why he keeps saving you. That’s what women like your mother teach, isn’t it? How to make a man your ladder when you’ve got nothing else to climb.”

Emma’s eyes narrowed, a flash of steel behind them. “You’re out of line,” she said, her voice cool and steady, though indignation seethed beneath her calm exterior.

Lanie scoffed, taking a step closer. “Out of line? My brother worked his ass off for this place, and you waltz in—what, a few weeks?—and suddenly he’s out the door. Tell me, how else does that happen unless you’re—”

“Enough!”

The word cracked through the air like a whip. The room fell silent. Sebastian stood in the doorway, fists clenched, jaw tight with restrained fury. His gaze flicked between them—accusation and disbelief mingling in his eyes—before locking on Lanie.

In two strides, he was beside her. Without a word, he seized her wrist and pulled her toward his office. The door slammed shut behind them, the sound echoing through the stunned silence.

Inside, the air was thick and cold. Sebastian paced the narrow space, every movement controlled, deliberate. Lanie’s voice wavered as she tried to speak, but he cut her off with a look that silenced even the air between them.

“What were you thinking?” His voice was low now, dangerous in its calm.g?” he asked, still not looking at her.

Lanie’s pulse quickened under his stare. “I was thinking,” she said, forcing a bitter laugh, “that someone needed to say what everyone’s already whispering.”

Sebastian stopped pacing. The silence that followed was heavier than his words.

“Whispering?” he repeated quietly, almost to himself. Then his eyes lifted to hers, sharp as glass. “You humiliated her. In front of the entire staff.”

“She deserved it,” Lanie shot back, though her voice faltered at the end. “You can’t just—just fall all over her because she bats her eyes and—”

“Careful,” Sebastian warned. The word was soft, but it carried the weight of thunder.

Lanie’s jaw tightened. “I’m not wrong,” she said, more to herself than to him. “You’ve changed since she showed up. Everyone sees it. You think I don’t notice?”

Sebastian exhaled slowly, as if reining himself in. “What I think,” he said finally, “is that you’ve crossed a line you can’t walk back from.”

Her breath caught, panic flickering behind her bravado. “So that’s it? You’re taking her side?”

“I’m taking what’s right,” he said, turning away before the anger could harden into something worse.

For a moment, neither spoke. Only the faint hum of the office lights filled the space between them—cold, distant, final.

Outside the office, Emma stood frozen. The slam of the door still reverberated through the walls, the sharp echo mingling with the stunned silence that had fallen over the room. Every pair of eyes darted between her and the closed door, but no one dared to speak.

Her chest felt tight, her hands trembling despite her effort to appear composed. She could still hear the muffled rise and fall of voices on the other side—Lanie’s sharp, defensive tone, Sebastian’s low, controlled anger. Each sound twisted like a knife in her chest.

She swallowed hard, forcing herself to move. The whispering had already begun, little currents of curiosity snaking through the office. She could feel them watching her—the outsider, the supposed reason for the chaos.

Emma gathered her papers with trembling fingers, pretending to focus, but her thoughts were a blur. He heard everything, she realized. The look on Sebastian’s face before he dragged Lanie away—shock, fury, disappointment—flashed behind her eyes again and again.

Part of her wanted to walk out, to escape the stares, the noise, the suffocating weight of judgment pressing in from every direction. But another part—stronger, steadier—refused.

She straightened her back, exhaled slowly, and set the papers down with deliberate calm. “We have work to do,” she said quietly, more to herself than anyone else.

Her voice barely carried, but the room stirred. One by one, the others returned to their desks, their murmurs fading into the hum of resumed routine.

Emma kept her eyes on the door. Behind it, the voices had gone silent.

That evening

Thunder rolled outside, rattling the windows. Emma lay on her side, watching the storm bruise the sky. The memory of Lanie’s accusation, the sound of Sebastian’s voice, replayed over and over until her stomach twisted.

Her phone buzzed. She reached for it lazily, half-expecting another pointless notification—until she saw the subject line.

Her breath caught. Then, with a startled squeal, she shot upright.

“Connor! Look!”

Her roommate turned, startled, as she waved her phone.

He squinted and read aloud:

“Congratulations, your design was chosen. Mandatory meeting tonight at Del Posto, 7 p.m. A car will arrive at 6:30. Business formal attire required.”

“Emmy, that’s amazing!” Connor grinned, hugging her and lifting her clean off the bed. Rory and Jackson joined in with whoops and cheers.

Emma laughed breathlessly, then froze when she saw the clock. “Forty minutes to get ready?!”

She bolted down the hall, already planning an outfit in her head.

From the living room, Jake smirked. “You know, she’s the only woman I’ve ever met who can get ready that fast and still look hot.”

Connor and Rory turned to glare at him in unison. “Don’t start, Jake.”