I give her a quick summary of my morning. “Wow,” she says when I’m done, sitting down in her chair. “So Ramon is gone?”
“Not yet,” I say. “But soon. And Seth and Nick’s team will make sure it really happens.”
“But for how long?”
“I’ll negotiate that when I negotiate the sale of the pharmaceutical brand.”
“Yes,” she says. “About that.” She tilts her head to study me. “Are you sure you want to do that? The pharmaceutical brand is your baby.”
“That became our hell,” I say. “I can’t get this deal negotiated fast enough.”
“How fast do you think?”
“Once I have proof Mike is coming after us, which he says will be by Monday. I plan to be prepared for sooner.”
“This is good news then, right?”
“It’s a reason for optimism,” I say. “And we’ll know quickly how this is going to roll out. We should have the details hashed out two weeks from now.”
“Won’t we lose a lot of income when we shed the pharmaceutical brand?” she asks, radiating toward the same concern Derek had expressed when I’d told him.
“We’ll leave the deal with cash to transition the business.”
Her eyes light up. “Is this a good time then to talk about the fashion brand again?” She slides a file across the desk. “This is the one I think we need to buy. But it’s rather urgent we act now. The analyst just told me this morning that it’s undervalued, but that could change if we give another buyer time to weigh in.”
I pick up the file. “Does this include an official evaluation?”
“It does. And mine, which is a detailed plan for making it our own successful brand. It’s all there.”
“Then I’ll take a look and we’ll talk about it over dinner.” I stand, and so does she. “How about room service? Just the two of us, and we’ll put everything else on hold. And tomorrow we’ll get up and run together.”
“I’d like that very much.”
I give her a quick kiss and head down the hallway to turn toward my office, finding Derek’s secretary’s desk empty. Turning left, I halt at the sight of him standing at Jessica’s desk. “Did you just call me ‘Jessica’?” Jessica asks him, her voice radiating exaggerated disbelief.
“That is your name, right?” Derek asks.
“But you never call me by my name.”
He arches a brow. “And you call me by mine?”
“Of course I do,” she says. “You just wouldn’t like the name I’ve taken the liberty to choose for you.”
“In other words, I should go back to calling you ‘bitch.’”
She nods. “Yes, please. I’m much more comfortable with that from you. Now that we’ve solved that, what did you need?”
“A new secretary.”
“I thought you liked yours? As in really like her.”
Derek scowls. “Can you coordinate with HR or not?”
“She can,” I say, closing the space between them and me.
Jessica looks at me and then at him. “I can. What happened to your old one?”
“Moved her to another department,” he says, avoiding eye contact with me and walking to his office, where he shuts the door.
“Why are you frowning?” Jessica asks the moment we’re officially alone.
Because despite my chat with Derek in the car, my brother just made a move to prove his loyalty to a drug cartel’s princess, but I don’t say that. “Send Seth to my office when he gets here,” I say, walking in that direction.
“I hate when you ignore my questions,” she calls after me.
“And I hate when you don’t let me ignore them,” I reply, stepping behind my desk and setting the file down, only to have the intercom buzz and Jessica announce, “Seth is here.”
Seth appears in the doorway a moment later, shutting the door behind him. We exchange a look of understanding, both of us stepping to my window, staring out at the city, while I update him on my morning. “This is not a good time for me to leave the country,” he says.
“I don’t trust anyone else to go to my father and A, keep this confidential and B, actually convince him to sign the documents.”
He glances at me, his expression tight. “There isn’t anyone else,” he concedes. “I don’t trust Ramon to leave and stay gone. I’ll need to meet with Nick and ensure he has Ramon under his thumb while I’m away.”
“Just make sure your people let me know when he does leave.”
“Just assume he hasn’t left even if he seems to have left,” Seth says. “That’s the safe bet here.”
It’s not the answer I want, but I give a nod, and he immediately moves back to the topic of Germany. “When will you have the contracts ready for me to take?”
“A few hours.”
“Then I’ll book the last flight out tonight to ensure they’re ready.” He heads to the door, and I’m already sitting at my desk, opening the file Emily gave me, my mind on the need to have my father sign off on a purchase if we make one. And after a quick scan of the numbers Emily has promised look good, I’m impressed enough to pick up the phone and call the analyst I have working with Emily.
“Make an offer,” I order. “But keep this between us. I want it to be a surprise for Emily.”
We talk through terms, and when I end the call, a smile curves my lips. Emily was forced to give up her legal career or risk being found by her brother’s hacker thugs, but this fashion brand excites her. So I’m planning on offering her more than a ring when I propose. I’m going to give her a future that’s her creation and pride and joy, not just mine.
EMILY
I text Cody my plan to go downstairs to the mail center, as well as to the coffee shop, giving him an FYI on my every move, even in the building, as he’s instructed me to do. Once I’ve sent the message, my phone in hand, I head to the elevator, stepping onto the car, where I punch the button for the lobby level. The car starts to move, and my phone buzzes with Cody’s reply: We’ve got eyes on you.
Stuffing my phone into my dress pocket, I crinkle my nose, finding it a bit unnerving to know that if I make a funny face in the mirror or fix my hose, someone has eyes on me. But it’s short-term, as little as two weeks, it seems, and I can handle that, and do so with a smile. I mean, I’m in love with a brilliant, charming, sexy, smart man who I can bare my soul to, be just plain naked inside and out with, and feel safe with. How can I not smile?
The elevator dings with my arrival to the lobby, and I exit, my steps light as I walk to the mail center and stop at the desk. “You should have a delivery for Mr. Brandon of Brandon Enterprises,” I say to the fortysomething female customer service rep.
“I do,” the woman confirms, handing me an envelope marked David Brandon—Urgent. Brow furrowing, I step away from the desk and open it, finding a handwritten note:
Emily,
This is Teresa. I’m Adrian Martina’s sister, and I’m in love with Derek. I need to talk to you. I’m in the coffee shop. I know you have to call your people. And that’s fine. Just please don’t let them make a big scene. I can’t let it be known I was here, and I mean you no harm at all, but, of course, they will worry that I do.
A friend,
Teresa
I inhale, remove my phone from my dress pocket, and dial Cody, filling him in on the situation when he answers and then reading him the note. “What do you think?” I ask.
“I think it’s odd,” he says, offering nothing more. “I’m in the building. Stay there, and I’ll walk with you to the coffee shop.”
“You think it’s okay for me to talk to her?”
“If she’s really alone, then I don’t see why not. But I’m going to have our team check the security footage before we head that way. I’ll see you in about one minute.”
“Got it,” I say. “I’ll be here waiting.” We end the call, and I pace the tiny mail center until Cody rounds the corner, dressed in jeans and a black T-shirt, no gun in sight, but I am comf
orted by the idea that somewhere on his person, there’s one hidden.
“We’re just waiting for a call from my team to clear us to go to the coffee shop,” he says, taking the letter from me and reading it himself before handing it back to me. “This is interesting, for sure.”
“You said it’s odd.”
“And interesting.”
“I think it’s about Derek,” I say.
“Seems like a reasonable assumption.” His phone buzzes with a text, and he pulls it from his front pocket and glances at it before looking at me. “We’re good to go,” he says, sticking his cell back into his pants pocket. “Nothing suspicious on the security feed, aside from a drug cartel princess being in the building. She’s wearing a blue scarf over her head that looks suited for the blue dress she’s wearing, which kept her from being flagged.” He motions to the lobby. “Let’s do this if we’re going to do it.”
Anxious to find out what Teresa has to say, worried for Derek, but also worried she might deliver news that jeopardizes Shane’s plan to exit Brandon Pharmaceuticals, I start a brisk walk across the lobby to the coffee shop. “I’m staying with you,” Cody announces as we arrive, both of us pausing in the entryway and scanning to find Teresa sitting at a back corner table, reading a book, unaware we’ve arrived and clearly prepared to wait all day if she has to.
“She won’t talk with you at the table,” I say. “You can’t sit with us. You can see me from here.”
“I’ll sit at the table next to you,” he stubbornly insists.
“Cody—”
“This isn’t a negotiation.”
I sigh. “Fine. But let me sit down with her first and tell her who you are.”
He gives a short incline of his head and I step forward, weaving through displays and small tables, until I am sliding into the seat across from Teresa. She looks up and then jumps, her brown eyes going wide before recognition fills them and then relief. “You’re here.”
“Yes,” I say, struck by the sweet quality she naturally radiates. “And so is my security person.” As if on cue, Cody claims a chair at the next table, just out of hearing range.
Teresa glances at him and waves, which isn’t at all what I expect. “He’s smart to protect you,” she says, looking at me. “My family isn’t exactly angelic.”
“I’m glad you understand.”
“Completely. Thank you for talking with me.”
“Of course,” I say.
She laces her fingers together. “You know Derek and I are dating, I assume.”
“I do,” I say.
“I love him. Lord knows, he makes that hard at times, but I do, which is why I need to know something from you. I hope you can help.”
“I’m listening.”
“He says Shane has a plan to get them out of business with my brother.”
Warning bells go up, my fear that she’s setting a trap for Shane with Adrian by going through me. “I have no idea what they are doing with your brother,” I say, deciding to play dumb. “Shane is very protective of me, but I know he wouldn’t be foolish enough to burn your brother.”
“You’re afraid I’m setting you up.” She shakes her head. “I knew you’d think that, and really, I don’t know what I thought you could say to make me feel better.” Tears pool in her eyes, and she opens her book and slides an envelope toward me. “Can you give this to Derek?”
“What is it?”
“Good-bye.”
“What? Why?”
“Because I can’t change who I am, and even if Shane is brilliant enough to convince my brother to move on from Brandon Pharmaceuticals, I’m still a Martina. I’m still the woman in a family of old-fashioned Mexican men who just happen to take everything to the extreme. When they get mad, you die.”
Emotions well in my chest, her love for Derek affecting me. “He needs someone to love him. You can’t leave him.”
“You will regret convincing me to stay later,” she says. “I’m going to spare you that pain.” She swipes her eyes. “I’ve been up all night thinking about this. I asked him to run away with me. I still want him to, but that is a mistake as well. My family would find us.”
“Not if you created new identities. I can help you. I can—”
“No,” she says. “I won’t ask him to walk away from everything for me.”
“I would for Shane.”
She pats the letter. “Just give this to him, please. You read it, not your security people. I don’t want anyone else to read my private thoughts. You’re a woman in love. I’m sure you understand.”
“I do,” I say, tears streaming down my cheeks now.
She starts to get up, and I catch her arm. “If you ever need anything. Come to me.”
“Thank you. I wish—I think perhaps we could have been friends.”
“Me too.” I release her arm, and she leaves.
I reach for the letter, my hand trembling as Cody claims the seat in front of me. “You’re crying. What the hell happened?”
“She’s leaving to save Derek from her brother.” I open the letter. “She wrote him a letter and asked that I read it, and no one else.”
He scrubs his jaw, his hand rasping over the one-day stubble there. “Fuck. Derek’s erratic as it is. I’m worried as hell about how he’s going to react.”
“Me too. I need to read this.”
He nods. And I pull out the rose-scented piece of paper.
My love:
I just need you to know how much you meant to me. You were my escape from the family who enslaves me to their brutality. And yet I became the one to enslave you. I became the danger lurking at every corner, the demon with a blade in her hand, waiting to destroy the man I love.
I am leaving. I am telling Adrian it’s because he killed our brother.
I am never coming back.
You won’t find me, so don’t look.
But you will find the right woman and you will be a good man for her. I order it. Make that my impact on your life. Honor what we have by letting it make you a better man. Do not become a Martina. Make the Brandon name mean something more. Don’t look for me. I know how to disappear.
And don’t worry. Adrian won’t blame you for my disappearance. I’ve left him a letter telling him how much I both love and hate him.
Forever yours,
Teresa
I’m all but bawling when I finish reading it, and Cody shoves napkins at me. “I’m not good with tears, woman. You’re killing me here.”
“Good thing I don’t usually cry, I guess,” I say, wiping my face. “The letter is pretty simple. She loves him. She’s saving him. She’s challenging him to be a better man. I need to see Shane.”
“You need to fix your face. You have mascara dripping down your cheeks, and Jessica is not going to let that slide.”
“I don’t have my purse. I’ll just have to wipe it off and go on upstairs.” I swipe at my cheeks. “Better?”
“Not at all.”
“Dang it.” I stand up. “We’ll stop by the bathroom.”
* * *
A few minutes later, I’ve cleaned up my face the best I can and returned to the office, but Cody’s right. Jessica will spot a makeup nightmare, and I don’t want to risk questions I can’t answer. I stop by my desk, using the makeup in my purse to repair the damage the tears created, and then head to Shane’s office. Rounding the corner, I find Derek’s office door open, and I swear, I can’t help but dart in the other direction a little faster for fear he will exit and somehow know what is happening.
Luckily, Jessica is focused on her work, looking frazzled, and Shane’s door is open, which allows me to breeze past her, enter his office, shut the door, and lean on it. Shane looks up from his desk, giving me a keen inspection. “What’s wrong?”
“Teresa came to see me.”
“As in Adrian’s sister?”
“Yes.” I cross to his desk, rounding it. He rotates his chair to face me, and I rest a hip on a bank of closed drawers
. “She’s leaving him to protect him. Leaving for good. She wanted me to tell her that you had some way to let them be together, but ultimately she’d already made the decision. She gave me a letter to give him.”
“Holy fuck. He’s not going to take this well. Where’s the letter?”
“She made me promise not to let anyone else read it. Just me and Derek. It just says she loves him and she challenges him to be a better man. What do we do?”
He presses his fingers to his temples. “If I tell him now, I risk him going ballistic on Adrian and getting himself killed. If I don’t tell him now, he’ll go ballistic because she’s missing.”
The door bursts open and Derek charges into the room, slamming the door. “Why was Teresa just in the building talking to Emily and now she won’t answer her phone? Yes. I have people working for me too. I know things.”
My stomach knots and I look at Shane, not sure what to do. His lashes lower and lift, and he stands. “That conversation we had about her saying she was going to get you killed?”
“What about it?”
“If you do anything rash, you’ll end up dead and never see her again. You understand that.”
“What the hell is going on?” Derek demands.
“She left. She said it’s the only way to protect you.”
“I don’t believe you. She wouldn’t leave her family. Not without me.”
“She said they’d hunt you down if you went with her,” I say. “I offered to create new identities for both of you, but she said that wasn’t fair to you.” I glance at Shane and remove the letter from my pocket. He nods, and I slide it onto the edge of the desk.
Derek stares at it, as if he’s afraid to read it, but finally curses, dragging a hand through the long layers of his dark hair, and snatches it up. He opens it and reads it, crumpling it in his hand when he’s done, his lashes lowering, his breath gushing out.
“Tell me you aren’t going to go after Adrian,” Shane says.
Derek opens his eyes. “She’d hate me if I killed her brother or her father, but the sooner you get him the hell away from our company, the better.” He turns and walks to the door, opening it and disappearing into the hallway.