Chapter 54

Chapter 54
VICKY’S POV

I frowned, my eyebrows knittin’ together in a hard glare.

“Why the hell not? You just said you emptied out all the money in your account, Fre. Don’t be stupidly proud right now. Okay, look, if it makes you feel better, I’m just goin’ to give it to you as an advance on your salary. Is that okay?”

“No, no, no, no,” she stammered, backin’ away from me until her spine hit the crate again.

“Don’t… please don’t do that, Ms. Vicky. I will manage. I will be completely fine on my own.”

“I’m not givin’ it to you as part of your wage, you idiot,” I said, my sharp mouth slippin’ out because her attitude was startin’ to frustrate me.

“I’m givin’ it to you as a straight-up gift from me. From a friend.”

“No, I don’t want it,” she whispered, lookin’ down at her shoes.

“Why the hell are you actin’ so strange?” I demanded, crossin’ my arms over my chest as I stared hard at her.

“You obviously need help, and I’m standin’ here offerin’ you help. Why are you pushin’ me away? Why you turnin’ me down like I’m tryna poison you?”

“I’m sorry,” she quickly muttered, her eyes dartin’ toward the exit of the warehouse before fixin’ back on the ground.

“I just… I don’t want to bother you with my personal problems, ma’am. Don’t worry about it, please. I just need to focus on the work.”

I stared at her for a long beat, a silence danglin’ right above us. Somethin’ was definitely rotten in Denmark, but I couldn’t force her to take my cash if she was gonna act this defensive about it.

“Fine,” I sighed, lookin’ down at the broken tablet in my hand.

“It’s fine. We need to get this tablet fixed immediately anyway. It contains all the weight logs and the customs distribution codes we need for tomorrow. I need to go get the screen fixed, okay? You can just take the rest of the day off.”

“But no, I don’t want to take the day off,” Freya snapped, her voice comin’ out really desperate.

“I want to stay here and be with you, Ms. Vicky.”

“Freya, look at yourself right now. You look distressed,” I said, switchin’ back to that no-nonsense voice.

“I am not a monster, so I’m not gonna let you walk around with me lookin’ like you just survived hell. Think about it. What do you think the people are gonna say about me if they see you like this?”

Freya blinked rapidly.

“Those office vultures are already whisperin’ about nepotism. If they see you around me like this, they’ll accuse me of bein’ a tyrant who overuses and mistreats my staff. You know exactly what people say whenever they get the tiniest opportunity to stain someone’s image.”

I sucked in a deep breath, then let it out slowly. Damn, this day is already wearin’ me the hell out, and now I’m about to spend the rest of it playin’ free therapist for somebody who’s clearly got more problems than she’s tellin’ me.

And I got a whole damn port to run, contracts to handle, and a bunch of people waitin’ for me to screw up so they can say, “See? Nepotism.” Hell no. I ain’t got time to babysit anybody today.

“Just go get some rest,” I said, wavin’ dismissively.

“Go be with your mother at the hospital, whatever. Since you don’t want my money and you don’t want my help, this is the least I can do for you. Now go. That’s an order.”

Freya swallowed hard, her shoulders droppin’ as she finally gave up the fight.

“Okay, ma’am. Thank you so much.”

“Good. I’m goin’ to drop you off myself,” I said, turnin’ toward the exit.

“I’ll take you straight to whatever hospital your mom is admitted to, and from there I’ll go fix this tablet and attend to the other things I have to do for the port authority, okay?”

“But make sure you resume work bright and early tomorrow morning, because the cargo is loadin’ tomorrow, and I need all the help I can get. That is exactly why I want you to go home and refresh your mind today, Fre. Tomorrow is a big day for me, and it’s a big day for our entire department. We gotta nail this down perfectly. Now let’s go.”

Freya nodded obediently, and I gave her shoulder one last consolation pat before turnin’ on my heels.

We headed back toward the area where the car was parked earlier. The sea breeze was blowin’ hard, carryin’ the dizzyin’ scent of diesel fuel and salt water across the tarmac.

But as we neared the car, a deep voice called out from behind us.

“Are you leaving us so soon, Ms. Grover?”