Brock

I check my watch as I enter the lobby of Lindland Hotel, ready for a big meeting.

We’re interested in acquiring a portion of this company’s logistics division. It’s doing well on paper but needs a little extra help with a re-shuffle and a larger client base, which is something InFini can help with.

I’ve been told previously they’re looking to offload some divisions and downsize their company a little. They’re suffering from over-expansion, and we’re looking to expand, so this should be a win-win deal.

Look at me with all of this technical business shit. I’m a regular Warren Buffet.

I’m a little early for our meeting, so I walk up to the reception desk.

“Hi, I’m Brock Evans. I’m here for a meeting with Mr. Mark Casey in your restaurant, but I’m a little early. Mind if I wait here for a while?” I ask the woman sitting behind the desk, glancing down at my watch again.

“Sure thing, Mr Evans. I’ll call through to the restaurant and let them know you’re here. Make yourself comfortable, sir,” she says politely, gesturing to the couch off to one side.

I settle down on the couch, smoothing down my tie and suit jacket.

This deal is pretty much a shoo-in. Still, I’m a little nervous. It’s still an adjustment for me, being the face of the company.

In my mind, I go over the details of the proposed acquisition.

Mark Casey thinks he’s holding all the cards. He thinks he’ll get me to overpay. But I’m getting pretty good at this negotiation business. I’ll be the one walking away smiling, that’s for damn sure.

Then, a figure approaches—a familiar figure. I raise my eyes, my fears realized as I recognize who it is.

Rosa.

What the fuck?

“What are you doing here?” I ask bluntly.

“So rude,” she pouts. “Not even a ‘Hi Rosa, how are you?’”

“What are you doing here?” I repeat my question. I’m not in the mood for her games right now.

“Oh, I just happened to be in the neighborhood, Brock. You know me, always about here and there,” she says, a sly smile on her face, her fingers twirling her dark hair.

“Bullshit. This place isn’t a five-star hotel. And I didn’t see any designer stores on my way here. You followed me.”

Rosa sighs, tapping her lips with a finger as she looks off into the middle distance thoughtfully. “Well, what was I supposed to do? You didn’t even have the manners to text me back.”

“Does your husband know you’re here?” I ask. “I don’t think he’d be happy to know you’re stalking your ex, would he?”

She grimaces, and I smile at her reaction to my words.

“He doesn’t own me, Brock. I can go where I want,” she hisses, waving her hand indignantly at my words.

“For Christ’s sake, Rosa. You’ve only just gotten married. To my fucking cousin. Why would you even marry the guy if you’re going to pull shit like this?” I ask, trying my best to keep my voice calm in case my business client suddenly shows up—should be any minute now.

Rosa pouts, looking like a schoolchild who’s just been scolded by an angry teacher. “I just think it’s a shame that we can’t even talk anymore. We used to be so close. We used to talk all the time.”

Yeah, well, that was before you cheated on me with my own cousin, I think to myself.

I should thank her, though, because I wouldn’t want to be my cousin right now—poor idiot’s stuck with her now, and I couldn’t be happier that I’m with Nina.

By looking at Rosa, most people would think she’s in great distress. Her eyebrows are drawn together, her eyes filling with tears, her hand pressed over her temple like she’s trying to massage a splitting headache away.

But I know it’s all a show, a performance. Rosa is crazy and will do anything to get what she wants.

It probably has something to do with her upbringing—her dad’s a mobster who gives her anything she wants. That means most people let her have her way out of sheer fear of getting into trouble with her family.

She thinks I’m her toy, her plaything. She was bored of me when she thought she had ruined me for other women. But now that I’m happy with someone else, she’s jealous.

I don’t want this woman anywhere near me, interfering with my shit.

“Leave me alone, Rosa. I don’t have time for this. I’m busy.” I look past her to check if my client has arrived yet.

“Well, can’t we just be friends, at least?” she purrs softly, settling down on the couch next to me, brushing my knee with a hand.

I can’t believe she’s doing this.

“What do you think you’re doing?” I remove Rosa’s hand and toss it onto her lap.

She stares at me, a shocked expression on her face. Really, how did she think I was going to react?

“I told you. I just want us to be friends.”

“There’s no chance in hell we’ll ever be friends, Rosa. What makes you think I’d ever want that?” I ask, rage rising within me. “Just leave me the hell alone. Go away. Now.”

“Fine,” she replies tersely, half turning as if she’s about to rise.

I’m halfway through a relieved sigh when, suddenly, she whirls back around to face me, grabbing me and planting a kiss on me, pressing her lips hard against mine.

I push her off as suddenly as she kissed me. “What the fuck, Rosa?”

Her smirk only fuels my anger. What has she got to be so damn happy about?

She glances toward the hotel entrance as she rises from the couch—just for a split second, but I know her tells. She’s up to no good.

I follow Rosa’s gaze, my heartrate rising with anxiety.

Fuck.

I can’t see her face, but it’s Nina.

I recognize the clothes she’s wearing—I watched her pick them out this morning, standing in front of her open wardrobe in her underwear, fresh from the shower and looking sexy as fuck.

I don’t know if I’ll get to see her like that again tomorrow morning.

Because Nina was standing just outside the big, glass panels.

She saw us. She saw Rosa kiss me.

She’s walking away now, her shoulders hunched and her hands at her face, like she’s wiping away tears from her eyes.

I turn to face Rosa, shooting her a glare. “You knew she was there didn’t you?”

“Who?” she asks, craning her neck to look out the glass panels. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Brock.”

“You fucking crazy, selfish—”

Right at that moment, Mark Casey and two of his associates walk through the door.

Just what I need. A crazy stalker messing up my shit, making Nina cry, right before my big meeting.