She returned home as the sun set and sat on a bench in the inner courtyard, trying to let the soothing sounds of the fountain wash away her worries.

All the comebacks she should have shot at lazy-ass Frank came to her, some more vitriolic than others. A lot of cursing, slurs on his parentage, his laziness, and those bleached teeth fighting for prominence.

But worst of all, she sweltered under a terrible self-loathing, her inability to stand up for herself a mire of self-disgust that threatened to drown her.

“Well, neighbor. Fancy meeting you here.” Xavier slid into the bench next to her. He looked her over and frowned. “Hey, Justine. What’s wrong?”

She burst into tears. Not only had her boss made her feel like a submissive retriever, but her recent lover was now seeing her at her absolute worst.

What else could go wrong?

CHAPTER 18

Xavier wanted badly to offer comfort, but Justine held herself distant, hugging herself while trying to scrub away her tears.

Looking at her sadness tore his heart out, but he did his best to offer what she—not he—needed. “Talk to me, Justine. What happened?”

She sniffled and wiped her nose on the back of her arm. “Sorry. Bad day at work.”

“Want to talk about it? I swear, I’ll just sit here and listen.”

She wiped her eyes, and even with lids lined with red and her face splotchy, she looked lovely. “I, well, I feel like an absolute loser.”

He just nodded, turning his entire body to face her, and waited.

Justine let out a breath. “God, I’m so sorry. I feel like a pathetic asshole.” The swearing only emphasized how frazzled she must truly be. “I just had my yearly review at work.”

Ah, professional and not personal issues. He felt better about possibly being able to offer comfort without seeming like he was shoving advice at her. The poor woman already had enough on her plate with her sister’s upcoming wedding.

“And?” he prompted.

She let it all out, a deluge of opinions and a recap of her conversation with her pathetic team manager. Her boss sounded like a horse’s ass, using Justine all the time without offering the pay for her hard work.

“And you know, he would have been demoted so many times if I hadn’t helped out. All when he needed to take personal time or just schmooze it up with the bosses while I did all the work.” She sniffed. “Well, not just me. But a lot of it was me. I had to help my own clients in addition to Frank’s work. And now, not only do I get a subpar raise, which to be honest, is just keeping up with inflation. It’s not what I’m worth at all. Then he has the gall to dump Laura’s job on me without pay! Sure, her gig was part-time, but that’s not the point! I’ll be working two jobs for less than what one of them should be.” She tugged at her hair. “He’s such a fuckhead.”