"Where are we?" I asked as we stepped out of the car and stood in front of a very tall building. I looked up towards the top and guessed there were at least fifty or so levels.

"My place," Adam said casually. I looked sideways at him, which made him chuckle. "Relax. I just figured it's probably safer to just drink here than at some corner bar. That way, if you feel like you've had too much, then you can just crash in my guest room."

"We still have work tomorrow. And as much as I need a drink, I don't plan on having more than one. Plus, I'd hate to have Sasha worry about me if I don't get home by midnight."

He chuckled again and extended his elbow out for me to take. "Don't worry, Cinderella. You're in good hands. Shall we?"

I sighed, smiled lightly at him, and placed my hand on his arm. I knew I shouldn't be worried about him. After all, I'd been working for him for some time now. He never made me feel uncomfortable or done anything inappropriate before. So there was no reason to worry he'd change now.

His apartment was all the way up on the fifty-fifth floor. He turned the lock with ease, and as he stepped in, the lights turned on automatically.

"Do you have motion censored lights?" I was impressed and jealous.

"Yes. It comes in handy when I come home with hands full of groceries and don't have a free one." Adam moved to hang his coat and requested to hand him mine too.

My eyes were immediately drawn to the walls of windows and the magical view of the city's skyline. I made my way over to them to get a better look. We were so high up that I could see the shadow and twinkle lights of Central Park a few blocks away. It was truly breathtaking.

Adam's apartment decor and layout definitely complimented the view outside. It had a very minimalist design to it. Though it didn't make you feel like you were in an empty space with a few things. Everything that was in the room was put there on purpose.

There was an extra-long white-leather sectional couch that sat at the corner with it's back facing the city. By it, were two round ottomans that matched the couch perfectly. The carpet that laid under it was black, making the white of the furniture pop even more. Above the furniture was a modern and low hanging chandelier. It was very artsy in that the lights were formed to look like a blossom branch.

Along the only two walls that didn't have windows, displayed a floor-to-ceiling, large abstract painting on one and a large mounted flat-screen television on the other. It was surrounded by two modern-styled bookshelves. All the shelves contained books that all seemed to have an actual purpose for being there, such as books dedicated to architecture and travel.

I hadn't been paying any attention to Adam and didn't even notice he left the room until he came back in. He had removed his blazer jacket and tie and was looking much more relaxed. He walked up to me, carrying two glasses filled with brown liquid and thick ice cubes. "Here you go."

He handed me the glass, which I graciously accepted. "Your apartment is beautiful!"

"You should see the rest of it." He sipped at his drink casually.

I wasn't sure how to take his suggestion, so I just ignored it and took a swig of my drink. "Whoa! This is strong." I could feel it burn all the way down my throat to the pit of my stomach.

"This whiskey is one of the best in the world. I figured if you were only going to have the one drink, you would want to make it count." He moved to sit on the sectional and draped his arms along the back of if.

I turned away from the bookcase and sat down on one of the ottomans, crossing my ankles over each other. I continued to look around me, and especially out the windows to the lights of the city. Nothing was more magical than seeing that sight.

"It's a great view, isn't it?" Adam seemed to notice the trance I was put in by the view.

"Words cannot express the beauty that is New York City, especially at night."

He smiled and turned slightly to look outside too. "You should see it in the morning. The Sun rises over that stretch of buildings over there, and I swear it's like I'm getting kissed by angels every morning."

"That sounds breathtaking. I'd love to see that," I said, without realizing what I had really said until Adam turned back and stared at me intently.

It looked like he was going to say something, but then he visibly stopped himself. He took another sip of his whiskey before placing it down on the white, marble coffee table that sat between us. "So, tell me what's going on between you and Eric. Is he the reason why you've been crying since Saturday?"

I gulped the rest of my drink, letting the burn take over me again. "Yes. I think I'm gonna need one more of these, before I'll be able to talk about it without crying again."

He nodded in understanding, got up, took my glass, and left the room. It wasn't long before he returned with the glass refilled. I made a mental note to not allow myself anymore, and to nurse this one the best I could.

"Did Eric do something?" Adam asked, retaking his seat on the couch.

I shook my head and looked down into my drink. "It was me. I fucked up. I did something I thought I'd never do. Then Eric found out, and now he can't even look at me, let alone talk to me."

I looked up to see Adam nodding and thinking of how to respond. "Is that something, sleeping with my brother?"

Blood instantly shot to my face, making it flush. "How did? I mean, did Ryan?" I was at a loss for how to ask the obvious question.

Luckily, Adam seemed to know what I was trying to get at. He shifted in his seat and reached for his drink from the coffee table. "Do you remember the night when we all went clubbing in LA, and I pulled him away from Natasha to have a chat with him?"

I rolled my eyes at the memory and nodded. "I remember."

"Well, I asked him why he was trying to jeopardize our partnership by trying to hook up with Mr. Gosling's wife. He told me about how they were in some sort of open marriage thing. But I warned him that no matter what kind of relationship she has with her husband, there's no way I was going to allow my brother to ruin our company's reputation that way. Do you know how bad it could be for business if it was discovered that Ryan was having sex with a client's wife!?"

"Okay, but what does that have to do with me?" I asked, trying to connect the dots.

Adam sipped his drink again. "Well, I reminded Ryan that if he was going to hook up with anyone while we were there, that it would be safer, from a business standpoint, to choose you instead."

He paused for a moment to see if I had anything to say. But since I was now at a loss for words, he continued. "He, of course, insisted that he wasn't interested in you in the slightest. Saying some holier-than-thou bullshit about not wanting to go after you since you were engaged to Eric. But then I saw how he looked at you when he caught you from falling on the Upton's flight. You had him hooked.

"Then I saw how jealous he became when Eric showed up to the vineyard. That's why he probably drank so much at the winery. He was trying to show up, Eric. God, was he an embarrassment that night! Thank goodness, Barbara and Harry were too self-involved to realize it." Adam drank the rest of his drink and stood up. "Do you want another refill?"

I looked at my glass, still practically untouched this time. I just shook my head, as I didn't know if I'd have a meltdown if I started speaking again. Adam went to get himself another drink. I stood up on somewhat shaky legs and walked over to the window. I looked down and could see the lights of the cars below. Even this late at night, the streets of the city were busy.

Adam came back and stood next to me. Looking down in the direction I was looking in. "The next day," he continued where he left off, while we both still stared out the window. "When Ryan was pissed at me for having you come work for me instead, I realized then that he, in fact, slept with you. I'm guessing you guys slept together the night before Eric showed up, which explains his jealousy and terrible behavior that followed.

"As much as my brother is a complete douche, he doesn't get jealous that easily, over anyone. Especially, someone he hasn't had sex with."

I didn't know if I should have been annoyed or impressed that Adam knew his brother's quirks well enough to tell when his brother was having sex. Though, I knew he didn't actually know until he saw my reaction to his initial question that started this whole conversation.

"I think I better get going." I turned away from the window and placed my glass on the coffee table.

Adam turned to me as I was heading towards the front door closet. "Are you sure you don't want to stay? Watch the sunrise?"

"I really don't think that's a good idea." I threw on my coat and gripped my gloves as if I was holding onto them for dear life. "The last thing I need is for Eric to think I'm fucking all the Herman brothers." It didn't help that the whiskey was making me less filtered in what I was saying.

Adam looked taken aback by my bluntness. "Vicky, that could never happen."

I huffed. "And why is that?" I don't know why I asked that. I didn't want to have sex with Adam, but a part of me wanted to know why he didn't want to have sex with me.

"Because I'm not Eric."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I glared.

Adam approached me and looked me square in the eyes to make sure I heard what he had to say. "I would never sleep with someone my brother is in love with."

His statement threw me off-guard completely. In love? Ryan? With me? When did that happen?

I knew I should be going, but I couldn't leave with that last statement lingering in my mind. "What makes you think he's in love with me?"

He stared at me as if I had just asked the million-dollar question. "Where do I begin to answer that? Let's see," he tapped his finger to his chin and looked up towards the ceiling for a moment. "First, was when he denied ever hooking up with you. Second was when he told Peter and me that he didn't want Peggy working for him anymore.

"Third, was when he requested we hire him a male assistant going forward. Fourth, was when he was completely ignoring you at work, but then also calling you to do random shit that he could have done himself perfectly fine. I could go on, but it's almost too embarrassing, even for me," he lightly chuckled.

I didn't find anything he said remotely funny. In fact, it was making me more upset the more I thought about his actions over the last week or so. "Well, I don't really want to hear anymore anyway. He can go shove his love for me up his ass for all I care. Hasn't he heard the saying, if you love someone, let them go? Obviously not, because if he had, he wouldn't have shown up on my doorstep on Friday night drunk, then proceed to try to grope me the next morning, for Eric to walk in and see."

"He did what?" Adam looked shocked but smiled at the same time.

"Yeah, that's how Eric found out. I had ended things with your brother when I was in Naples. I realized I was doing a terrible thing, and Eric didn't deserve that. Then instead of allowing me to tell Eric when the time was right, Ryan fucked it up by showing up at my apartment."

"Vicky, let's be realistic. Would you have ever really told Eric about any of it? Or would you have swept it under the rug, hoping for it to just magically disappear?" Adam fluttered his fingers in the air for effect.

I glared at him. "I guess we'll never know now."

With that, I opened the front door, thanked Adam for the drink, and left.