The Boss Project by Vi Keeland

The line moved up, so the guy pushed his cart forward. I followed, but Merrick didn’t. When I looked up, I found him staring at the little girl.

My brows furrowed. “Merrick?”

It was like he didn’t even hear me. He just kept staring. I finally rested my hand on his arm.

“Merrick? Are you okay?”

Through my peripheral vision, I saw the guy in front of me turn back around. Merrick’s eyes shifted to him and narrowed to daggers. My head volleyed back and forth. The man was also now staring back at Merrick.

Feeling a bit freaked out, I stepped in front of Merrick and nudged him a bit. “Merrick. What’s going on? Talk to me.”

He shook his head. “Nothing. I’ll meet you outside, okay?”

“Yeah, sure. If you’re okay?”

His eyes shifted from the man to the little girl one more time and held for a moment. Then he stormed toward the front door.

I blinked after him, unsure what the hell had just transpired, before turning back to the man with the little girl.

“Do you two know each other or something?”

He lifted his daughter from the cart and held her tight. “I’m Aaron Jensen.”

The name meant nothing to me. I shook my head. “I’m confused. Should that be familiar to me?”

The man looked at his daughter. “Eloise’s mother was Amelia Evans.”

“Amelia, Merrick’s ex?”

He nodded.

I stared at the little girl. “How old is she?”

“She’ll be three in two months.”





CHAPTER 25

Merrick



Three years ago



“What the fuck did you just say?” I had to have misheard this guy.

The flight instructor looked at the nurse. He had cuts and dirt on his face and burn marks on his arms. “It’s her ring—Amelia’s.”

The poor nurse looked panicked. “Ummm… Okay.” She looked between us and spoke softly. “I’ll let you know when I have an update, Mr. Crawford.”

“What the fuck are you talking about? The ring from Amelia’s hand is your ring?”

He shook his head and looked down. “She was never going to marry me. She made that clear from the start.”

“The start of what?” I raised my voice. “What. The. Fuck. Are. You. Talking. About?”

“Amelia and I have been seeing each other. It began right after she started flight lessons. I’ve always known about you. She never kept you a secret.”

Well, she obviously kept some secrets from me. “And you’re…engaged?”

He frowned. “I bought her a ring a month ago. I thought maybe if she knew I was committed, she might take things between us more seriously. It was just a fling for her. I was the only one who wanted more. But she turned me down… Said she was going to marry you. I wanted her to keep the ring, but she wore it on her right hand. She never planned for us to be more than we were.”

“Which was what exactly?” My head was spinning. It hadn’t even sunk in that Amelia was in surgery, and now this? I raked a hand through my hair. “You were fucking her?”

Aaron frowned. “I should go…”

“Go? You shouldn’t fucking be here in the first place.”

He kept staring down. “I’m sorry you had to find out this way. And I’m sorry this happened.”

“Were you in the plane with her?”

Aaron nodded. “The landing gear only came down on one side, apparently. I didn’t know until after they pulled us from the wreckage. If I’d known, I never would have let her land the plane. She didn’t have enough experience.”

I was quiet for a long time, letting things sink in. “Why aren’t you hurt more?”

“We landed on the pilot’s side, and the top caved in. The passenger side held.”

My heart wanted me to punch this guy in the face. But my head wouldn’t let my arms or legs move. I just stood there, shell shocked.

Eventually, Aaron took his jacket from the chair behind him. “I’m going to go. I hope she’s okay. And I’m very sorry, Merrick. She loves you.”



• • •



Maybe I would’ve left by now if she’d had anyone else. But Amelia was on her own for the most part, except for me. She had been since high school. Well, apparently, she had fucking Aaron, too. I’d spent the last eight hours while she was in surgery trying to piece it together. Actually, if I were being honest, I’d been trying to understand Amelia Evans since the night we met years ago in college. I’d sort of come to terms with the idea that there were parts of her she was never going to let me see. I always felt like she hid them as some sort of self-protection mechanism, since she’d been in and out of foster care her entire life and never fully trusted anyone. But I wasn’t sure I could accept that some of those missing pieces of her were with another man.

The nurse had come over and given me updates every few hours. The last time she’d said it would probably only be another hour. Since that had been almost two hours ago now, I was getting antsy. Just then a doctor wearing blue scrubs, with a matching blue surgical cap and mask, walked over to the nurses’ station. When the nurse pointed at me, I stood.

Taking down his mask, the doctor extended his hand. “Mr. Crawford?”