For good or bad, I didn’t chicken out and Norma didn’t keep me waiting. “Alayna, please come in.” She stood aside to let me pass her and gestured for me to take a seat in front of her desk.

As she shut the door behind me I heard her say, “Stop it. You’re being bad.” At least that’s what it sounded like she said.

I turned back to her before sitting. “Excuse me?”

“Oh, nothing. I was talking to my assistant.”

As she crossed around to her side of the desk, I took in her space. Not only was it simpler and smaller than Hudson’s, it also lacked any aesthetic form. The room consisted of a desk, three chairs, two bookcases, and several file cabinets. Apparently Celia Werner hadn’t been hired to design all the offices—just Hudson’s.

Norma cleared her throat. Since I hadn’t initiated the conversation, it seemed she would. “I was surprised by your request to meet with me. I assume it’s about Gwen?”

When Boyd had asked the reason for my appointment with Norma, I’d simply said, “It’s personal. I’m her sister’s boss.” The implication was clear.

Also, it was totally misleading.

I sat up taller in my chair. It was lower than Norma’s and I supposed that was a tactic to make her clients feel beneath her. I wouldn’t let it affect my confidence. “No, I’m not here about Gwen. Though I may have led your assistant to believe that’s what it was about. I apologize for that deception.”

Norma blinked once. “Now my interest is piqued. Go on.”

I leveled my eyes with hers. “I’m here to ask you about Hudson.”

“Hudson?” She actually jolted in her chair from the surprise. “You couldn’t have shocked me more if you said you were here to talk about the pope. Why on earth would you be asking me about your boyfriend?”

It was the most words she’d ever spoken to me directly. It occurred to me that I knew absolutely nothing about this woman—whether she was fun or serious or compassionate or mean. She’d always acted as though she disapproved of me or I disinterested her. Was that simply because I was with Hudson? She was a woman with authority—she’d likely learned over time how to be tough, learned to thicken her skin. Was there a girl beneath her exterior that I could appeal to with my jealousies and insecurities?

I hoped so. “I’m interested in your relationship with him. With Hudson.”

Her mouth curled up on one side. “Call me a bitch, but why aren’t you asking him?”

I’d already called her a bitch many times in my head, but I recognized the title hadn’t been validated. Yet. And, just as when Stacy had judged me, I felt the urge to be defensive. That would get me nowhere though. “I have asked him. He’s answered. I’d like your clarification.”

She nodded, accepting my answer easily. “I have a business relationship with him. He’s my boss. I’m his lead financial officer.”

“Business only?”

“Business only.”

I’d feared her answer wouldn’t convince me, and it didn’t. He signed her paychecks—for that reason alone, why would she disclose information to me? And if he had been her lover, or still was her lover, then she had doubly the reason not to be honest with me.

Still, I hoped that proceeding with the conversation would teach me something. Maybe she’d slip, or I’d see it in her face—anything. “You obviously find him attractive. You don’t hide it when you look at him.” She stared at him like he was Adonis.

Then again, wasn’t he?

Norma let out a small laugh. “He’s a very attractive man.” Well, duh. “But I’m not interested in him that way.”

There was no way that was true. Besides what I’d seen from her, Hudson had confirmed her interest. “He said you approached him about having a relationship.”

Her eyes widened in surprise. “Did he?”

My heart thundered in my chest. Why would he lie about that?

But then Norma conceded. “Well, I did. Quite a while ago. I’m simply surprised it meant enough to mention. Things have changed now.”

I tilted my head, trying to read her. Very few of my crushes had simply disappeared with time. Generally it took a new man to end my interest. But I obsessed, so I didn’t have an accurate point of reference.

Hudson, however, believed she still liked him. “He doesn’t seem to think things have changed.”

She stared for two solid seconds before she narrowed her eyes and grinned. “Maybe I don’t want him to think so.”

I wrung my hands in my lap, determined not to slap the smugness off her face no matter how tempting it was. Instead, I pinned her with my eyes, hoping that my persistence would deliver.

After a brief stare-off, I won. Sort of. She offered an answer, albeit not a completely satisfactory one. “He’s my boss. It pays to flatter him.”

I leaned back in my chair. “There’s more than that. What are you not saying?”

Her eyes flickered briefly with rage or panic. I wasn’t sure which, but neither would get me what I wanted.

I backed down and tried another tactic—appealing to her sense of compassion. “I’m sorry. It’s none of my business, I know. But I’m desperate for information. It would mean a lot to me. And with Gwen at the club now, I thought maybe we could find some sort of a bond.”

Now her eyes definitely showed rage—and not just a flicker. “Are you threatening Gwen’s job security if I don’t answer your questions?”

Fuck! “No! God, no. I love Gwen.” Not exactly true. “Or, I like her anyway. A lot. She’s good at the job. Perfect for what I was looking for.” Jesus, I was flustered.

I took a deep breath and centered myself. “I mean that I think of everyone at The Sky Launch as family. Gwen’s moving her way into that category quite nicely. Even though she’s sometimes blunt and overly anxious to speak her mind.”

Norma chuckled. “That’s Gwen for you.” It was her turn to tilt her head and study me. “I appreciate you getting her the job, by the way. I thanked Hudson, but he says it’s really you who hired her. She needed out of Eighty-Eighth. In many ways, she was as desperate as you say you are now.”

She swept her tongue across her teeth and narrowed her eyes, considering. “And for that reason—because of what you did for Gwen—I’ll share something with you.” She pushed a button on her phone. “Boyd, can you come in here?”