CHAPTER ONE - GABRIEL

Goooood morning Mr. Bradley! We have a busy day ahead. Everything has to be just perfect!” Maria shouted, in her usual bouncy and energetic tone.

“Good morning, Maria. Right on! I’ve been looking forward to this day for months and I know you won’t disappoint.”

Years back, when I first hired Maria, my new housekeeper’s style took some getting used to. No amount of reasonably digestible caffeine could bring me to her level of gusto, which was the equivalent of five shots of Starbucks espresso, with a few Red Bulls thrown in. Talk about a fucking rush. Eventually, I adapted and even looked forward to her company. These days, I couldn’t imagine starting my mornings without her chirpier than Mrs. Clause personality.

Sure, there were days when I wanted to hit the damn mute button. Fortunately, my mother raised me a gentleman, so I knew when to bite my tongue. And for a man running several multi-million-dollar IT businesses, survival meant setting rules in life. One of my biggest rules was to make my home life nothing short of Zen. Maria’s presence helped me to maintain my Zen, so for that reason I kept her around and well-paid.

I took a deep breath as I allowed myself to savor my view.

This never gets old. What a fucking beauty she is.

My high-rise penthouse, situated near the Hancock Tower, gave me a 360 vision of Chicago - the city I prized. Like every morning, I woke up prior to sunrise to give myself a daily dose of meditation. It gave me a chance to quiet my one hundred mile a minute mind prior to a busy and unpredictable day. A cold wind rattled against the sliding glass door of the condo when Maria pushed it closed. An icy blast crawled through the living room where I was seated at my desk.

“She’s growing up much too fast for my liking. I remember when she was a tiny little thing, sitting at your feet at that exact desk and spot, years ago.”

I chuckled fondly at the memory of that. Nineteen years had passed by in the blink of an eye. I still had a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact my baby girl was no longer a baby. She was a college student; a smart young woman who worked at a start-up firm outside of class, because she wanted the experience. She told me I earned my way to success so why shouldn’t she. That was my girl. She definitely wasn’t working because she needed the money. I made certain Alyssa would be well cared for – but it made me a damn proud father to know she wanted to earn her own way through life. I guess I must have done something right over the years.

“It all changes too fast,” I said wistfully. “At least Christmas is still her favorite time of year.”

Maria looked up as she placed the freshly-beaten rug back in front of the sliding glass door. “There’s a box of Christmas decorations upstairs. I wasn’t sure if you wanted me to grab them, or if you wanted to let Alyssa take care of the decorations herself.”

“I’m sure she’d enjoy decorating the condo,” I replied and glanced down at the contract I had been looking over studiously for the past thirty minutes. “She actually called me yesterday to ask if she could bring Penny along with her for break.”

“Penny Marshall?” Maria asked. “As in, Nikki Lewis’s daughter?”

I nodded as Maria smiled widely at that.

“Oh, that will be nice,” she said. “We’ll have some life around this place for the holidays. I haven’t seen Penny since Nikki moved away after Gary’s death.”

“She isn’t a little girl anymore, either,” I said. “Penny is about to wrap up her Bachelor’s in Business this spring. She’s been helping Alyssa with a few classes they both took.”

“Not surprising at all. Alyssa and Penny always looked out for one another. You can trust Penny to keep an eye on Alyssa. Their two-year age gap worked to our favor.””

“No kidding. I felt a lot better about Alyssa going away to college after I found out Penny was there.

Relief was an understatement at the time. Letting my little girl off to college without me there to guide and protect her was difficult. I made it my commitment over the years to raise Alyssa to be as self-dependent as possible, but it helped that Penny was there to help her navigate through potentially challenging situations in college life. They were now inseparable and coming back to Chicago on my private plane to stay for the entire winter break, so we could all celebrate Christmas together.

I didn’t blink at Alyssa’s request to bring Penny back to Chicago to stay with us. The only bit of explanation Alyssa provided was a side comment: “Her mom’s been dating sleaze bags. She doesn’t want to deal with this new one.”

Gary Marshall’s death had hit me hard. We’d been friends for a long time. From what I gathered through Alyssa, over the past several years, things hadn’t gone well for Nikki and Penny - especially since Nikki apparently adopted a bad taste in the men she spent time with.

I learned that Penny made it a point to keep going forward with her life because that was what her father would’ve wanted her to do. That made me proud of her. A part of me wished I’d kept in touch with the girls when they announced their move from Chicago to New York. My concerns at the time were for Penny’s well-being. At least now I would have the chance spend time with her over the holiday break and see how she’s doing myself.

“It’s a bit strange that Penny isn’t going home to her mother,” Maria interrupted my thoughts. “I can’t imagine Nikki letting her daughter come back to Chicago for Christmas without an argument.”

“I’m not sure,” I said with a shrug. “I’m sure Penny has her reasons - not that it’s any of our business.”

Maria waved an airy hand. “Yes of course. I’ve just been worried about Penny for a long time after she left. Her mother is the only family she has, and Mr. Marshall’s death shattered both their worlds.”

“It hit everyone hard.”

The rest of the morning ticked by slowly as I kept one eye trained on the clock above the fireplace. The airport was at least forty minutes away from my condo in downtown Chicago, and that was if traffic cooperated. An hour had passed since my private pilot texted to let me know they had landed safely at the airport. Both girls were getting into one of the SUV’s I had assigned my driver to pick them up in.

All that apprehension melted away the moment the front door to the condo opened. The sound of laughter spilled into my home, followed by the heels of boots clicking down the marble hallway in the direction of the living room. I rose up from my chair with a full and bursting smile when Alyssa came into the living room.

“Hi, Dad,” she said, rushing into my arms for a fierce hug. “It’s so good to see you!”

I kissed the top of Alyssa’s cold head. I could feel the winter chill clinging to her clothes, and it was a stark contrast to working in front of a fireplace all morning.

“Thank you for getting us a plane,” Alyssa continued, reaching up to undo the buttons of her jacket while I followed her out of the hallway to the foyer. “It was nuts trying to find a flight out before this winter storm. It’s a good thing your pilot knows how to fly in this crazy weather, too.”

I smiled broadly down at Alyssa. “Well, he’d better be a good pilot, considering how much I pay him to get my precious cargo back and forth across the country.”

“You don’t have to worry about his abilities. The man knows how to work a plane. That’s for sure. Speaking of that,” Alyssa arched a coy eyebrow at me. “Is he single? He’s kind of cute to be honest.”

I shook my head at her in exasperation. Dating had been a very tender subject with Alyssa. Even as early on as when her mother, Michelle, and I found out we were having a little girl my dread began to grow. Prior to Michelle I was a complete ass with women. Womanizer would be putting it lightly, and the thought of my daughter meeting a guy like me someday all but made my skin crawl. I was determined to steer my little girl clear of those kinds of guys when the time came.

Of course, I had also thought that I’d have the support of her mother behind me when it happened. Instead, Michelle hooked up with my ex-business partner, stolen my original research for my very first government contract, and split when Alyssa was nine.

At first, I was reeling at the betrayal, but soon realized that we were both better off without her. When I looked back at Michelle, without the haze of love clouding my vision, I could clearly see the warning signs had been there from the beginning. She’d always wanted the most expensive clothes and jewelry, the newest and best of everything. In the end, she wanted money more than she wanted a family. As far as I was concerned, I got the way better end of the bargain in the divorce. She could have my ex-partner and best friend, my research - she could have it all, as long as I got Alyssa.

So no, the thought of her dating anyone wasn’t particularly appealing to me.

“Don’t even try,” I said. “He has a wife and two kids. Set your sights on someone else.”

Alyssa pouted at me. “Fine. I will. Anyway, I’m sure you remember Penny Marshall.”

“Hello, Mr. Bradley.” The young woman speaking took my breath away.

The Penny Marshall I last remembered had been only four feet tall, with blonde curls and wide blue eyes full of innocence. Now the sexy woman squeezed into tight blue jeans that highlighted her killer curves and a tight, maroon-colored sweater that hugged her ample chest. Her blonde hair was long and thick as it swung about her shoulders. Freckles dotted her face as she turned to face us from where she had been studying a few photographs of Alyssa and me hanging on the wall near the door.

An unexpected heat coursed straight through me at the sight of Penny gazing at me, with nerves sparkling in her blue eyes. She adjusted the hold on her purse, obviously sensing some form of tension we both shared in that moment.

Fuck. What just happened?

I tried to keep my composure against the guilt I felt brewing, for finding my former friend’s daughter hot as hell. She wasn’t the little girl I pictured her to be like before. That much was evident.

“Good to see you, Penny,” I managed to say. “I barely recognize you. The last time I saw you was—”

“After Dad died,” she finished for me with a small sad smile. “I know. It’s been a while since I’ve been back in Chicago. Thank you for letting me stay here with you for Christmas break. I appreciate it.”

“You’re always welcome here,” I said. A frown graced my face then because I was burning with curiosity. I knew how close Nikki and Penny had been back then. “How is your mom doing these days? I haven’t heard from her in years.”

“She’s fine,” Penny said. “She’s been running a modeling agency in New York, so she keeps busy all the time.”

It was a neutral answer that didn’t reveal a damn thing about what brought Penny back to Chicago after years of staying away. I suspected Nikki had a lot to do with it. I let it go, though, as I turned to look at Alyssa.

“Ok,” I said. “Come in. Get settled. Maybe we could have some lunch downtown later?”

A smile brightened Alyssa’s face as she looked over to Penny. “That would be great, Dad. We can walk around a little bit, too. Do you have to work this week?”

“I’ll be in the office a few days, but I blocked out my schedule for a majority of the time you’re home.” I leaned in to kiss Alyssa on the temple with a smile, and I wrapped an arm about her shoulders for a hug. “I can’t work with my baby girl home. Get unpacked, the both of you. You can show Penny where the guestroom is while I finish up a few things on my computer.”

I caught Penny’s eyes in a lingering glance. That heat ignited again in the pit of my stomach, but I forced myself to walk in the direction of the living room. I smoothed a hand through my hair with a shaky breath.

What the hell is wrong with me? This is Penny Marshall. My daughter’s best friend. The little girl that I used to play with for hours with Alyssa.

I sat back down at my desk to check through a couple of emails while the girls settled in. After thirty minutes, I rose from my desk while my laptop powered down for the weekend.

The door to Alyssa’s bedroom was cracked open when I stopped in front of it. I reached up to knock on the door, but it was Penny’s voice that stopped me short.

“Some women are into older men,” she was saying casually. “I mean, you know how many of our classmates have imagined having sex with one of the older professors at school?”

I stiffened in surprise at the statement.

“That’s because they are desperate for good grades,” Alyssa replied cynically. “It’s gross, Penny. Don’t even think about things like that.”

“I’m not thinking about it. I’m just saying that not everybody likes dating the douchebag frat boys at our college, is all.”

“Oh my God, yes. They are the worst—” Alyssa opened the door, and jumped in surprise to see me standing there. “Shit, Dad. I didn’t know you were standing right here.”

She opened the door all the way to reveal Penny sitting on the edge of Alyssa’s bed. Her cheeks turned a shade of pink when our eyes met.

“I was just seeing if you ladies were ready for lunch,” I said, clearing my throat. “Probably should get going before the snow really hits.”

“Good idea,” Alyssa said. “Come on, Penny. Let’s go. I’m starving.”

I held back to give them room in the hallway. Penny passed by me with a tentative smile tugging at her lips. The smell of vanilla lingered in the air when I inhaled deeply.

I was in deep shit.