“So it can be done?” I ask, for the ninth time during this meeting.

I need to be sure. There’s no room for mistakes, and there’s no room for delays.

“Sure, it can be done…” Aiden lets his voice trail off. I know what he wants to say, because he has been repeating the same warning, more than nine times during this same meeting.

“But you don’t think I should do it,” I say, completing his sentence.

“No, I don’t. Not at all.” Aiden raises his thick eyebrows and shakes his head. “I think it would be a huge mistake.”

“I know, but I don’t think I have a choice here.”

I don’t usually tell people shit, but Aiden actually needs to know this shit, seeing as he’s charging me a fortune for his legal advice.

This is not just about me, after all. There’s a woman and a child involved. I need to do what’s best for them.

“I wouldn’t do it if I were you, but I’m not you. Like I always say, I’m only here to help you make an informed decision.” Despite his words, Aiden still wears the expression of someone who truly disapproves of my actions.

As a lawyer, he’s not supposed to judge my decisions. But having worked together for years now, we’re also friends. And as a friend, Aiden gets worried about me.

He must be feeling all kinds of confused right now. I chuckle.

“Anything funny?” Aiden asks.

“No, man. I’m just touched that you care about me so much,” I say.

“Fuck you,” he says, laughing. At least he’s not all doom and gloom anymore.

“You know I’m still going to have time for you, even if I’m married.”

“You’re crazy.” Aiden shakes his head again.

“Yeah, but you already know that, and yet you’re still my friend. Could it be that you like that I’m crazy?” I ask in mock surprise.

“Yeah, you’re my source of free entertainment. Dumb-ass.” Aiden’s expression turns serious and he asks, “Why does it have to be her?”

“That’s just the way it is.” I shrug. I’ve never thought about marrying anyone other than this girl.

“She almost got you killed.”

“Oh, it wasn’t so bad. Yeah, we were seeing each other when I was working for her dad, but he wasn’t going to actually kill me had he found out. Dads just say that to be scary, although I have to admit her dad was particularly intimidating.”

“Okay, I find it disturbing that you use the plural of ‘dads,’ as if multiple dads have given you actual death threats, which suggests that maybe something’s wrong with you. But that’s not new, and that’s not the important thing here.” Aiden pauses and stares right at me. “What about Trevor?”

“What about Trevor?” I parrot him.

“You know what people are saying. The leak came from a few possible sources. It’s possible she was one of them.”

“She’s not like that,” I say with confidence. “And even if she was the source of the leak, I’m sure she didn’t have any other choice.”

“You don’t know that. You haven’t seen her in seven years. So many things could’ve happened. A lot of things have happened, actually. In all likelihood, she’s a very different person than the one you remember.”

“That’s why you have to make the pre-nup airtight. That’s why I’m paying you so much money.”

“There is no such thing as an airtight pre-nup, Zeke. That’s only in the movies. I can’t fucking believe you’re actually going to do this.” Aiden breathes in deeply and sighs. “Fine, I’ll do my best. But promise me you’ll rethink this. At least, after you see her this morning, sleep on it and decide tomorrow.”

“No can do. You know as well as I do that there’s no time.” I lean forward in my chair.

“Can’t you convince Joanne some other way?” Aiden asks.

“You don’t think I’ve tried?”

“I know she’s like a sister to you, but damn, I can’t believe you’re willing to go this far for her.”

“It’s not completely altruistic. This girl, she’s special.”

“What’s her name again?” Aiden asks.

“Alejandra.”

It feels strange to say her name out loud. I realize that even though I repeat that name like a mantra in my head all the time, I don’t often actually say it. That’s because she hasn’t been around—but things are going to change now.

“Right. She thinks she’s coming here for a job?” Aiden asks.

“It’s technically a job.” I shrug.

“I guess. But I bet she doesn’t know the exact nature of the job.”

“I haven’t had a chance to talk to her.”

“How did she find you anyway?” Aiden asks.

“She didn’t find me. Someone found her, and referred her here to work for me.”

“That someone doesn’t know about the history between you two?”

“It’s not a big deal. We dated for, like, one week, seven years ago.”

“Still, it doesn’t seem very ethical or professional, to hire your ex,” Aiden says.

“I don’t care.”

“Wait, who’s this person who found her?” Aiden asks.

“Just one of the people who are still loyal to her family. They helped her get set up in the city. They even gave her a bag of her mom’s jewelry that they’d been keeping for her for years.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah, her family used to command respect,” I say.

“I’ll bet. With the kind of things they used to do? Fuck, I’d respect the hell out of them, too.”

I laugh. “This is why we wouldn’t have met when we were younger.”

“What did you do for them, again?”

“I was part of the security team. And the clean-up crew, at the very beginning.”

Aiden scrunches up his nose in disgust. “Does that mean what I think it means?”

“If you think it means getting rid of dead bodies, you’d be right.”

“Jesus. You’re a sick motherfucker, Harris.”

“Hey, I never killed anybody,” I protest. “All I did was scoop up some pink goop and throw it away.”

“Okay, no need to give me all the details.”

“But don’t you want to hear more? It’s so interesting. Did you know that when someone dies drunk, he’d smell like booze inside, too?”

“No, and I didn’t need that information. I could’ve gone through my whole life without knowing that, and I would’ve been fine. Wouldn’t have missed a thing. ”

“Too bad,” I say with a wide grin.

I would’ve continued telling Aiden some disgusting stories from my past, if it weren’t for the ringing of the landline phone on my desk.

“Excuse me,” I say to Aiden as I pick up the receiver. I don’t like to take a call in the middle of a meeting, but I have a VIP guest today. “Yes, Dana?”

“Sir, I’m sorry to interrupt your meeting, but you told me to call you immediately once Miss Martin gets here.”

“Yes, Dana, I remember. She’s here?” I ask, adrenaline pumping into my blood. It has been years since the last time meeting a girl got me nervous.

But Ali’s different. My heart will always beat faster for her. I’ve always known that.

“Yes, sir. She’s in the waiting room right now,” Dana says.

Dana’s words immediately conjure up images of Alejandra’s shapely ass on my couch while she thumbs through one of my glossy magazines. Her body on my things—I’d like to see more of that.

“Bring her here,” I say, glancing at Aiden to let him know what’s happening. From his nod, I can tell he knows it’s time for him to leave.

“Yes, sir,” Dana says before she hangs up.

Aiden said she could be a completely different person than the one I remember in my head.

He makes sense, of course. But I doubt he’s right. I’m sure that beautiful girl from my memory is still around in the world somewhere.

Either way, I’ll find out for myself soon. I’m excited—I can’t deny it.

I’ve been telling Aiden I’m doing this for Joanne, but really, it’s for me as well.

After finding out she’s still alive, I became obsessed with the idea of owning her, keeping her safe from the world, and from the men who want to hurt her.

I can’t stand to just watch from the sidelines while she suffers. I’ve ignored her plight enough. It’s time for me to do something.

But the reason I’m inviting her to my office today is not completely altruistic.

“I know you’re still going to do it, you stubborn dumb-ass,” Aiden says as he gets up. “But do me a favor and make sure this is really what you want. There’s no going back.”

“I know.”

I know the risks, and I’m still going to do it.