Crew

"There's no fucking way that you're in my office right now." I look back at my assistant. "Nancy, you're fired."

She rolls her eyes because she's heard it before. She knows it's my go-to phrase when I'm pissed as hell. I am now because Damaris Costa is standing in my office with her hands on her hips looking like the little princess she thinks she is.

"What the ever loving fuck is going on?" I direct that question to Nancy who has now conveniently buried her nose in a magazine. "Why is she here?"

Nancy looks up at me. "She said you almost married her. That in itself is hard to believe, but then she talked about your brother. It sounded legit enough that I thought you'd want to hear what she has to say."

"What is that?" I point my finger to the wall opposite where I'm standing.

She cranes her neck to get a better look. "That's the reception couch."

"You didn't think maybe you could put it to use today and tell the Wicked Witch of the Upper East Side to park her ass there?"

"Your office door was open." She sighs. "I told her to stay put, but that's when she told me you two had been engaged once and you wouldn't mind."

"The reason I do mind is because we were engaged once." I curl my fingers around the edge of her desk. "When I'm out of the office, no one is to step foot in there. Is that understood?"

Her brow furrows as she scrunches her nose. The woman has to be as old as my mother, but she tries to pass herself off as late-thirties. It's not convincing. "You're really angry this time, aren't you?"

I nod. "Keep everyone out of my office unless I am in there. Understood?"
"Understood," she repeats back meekly. "I need to run some files to Mr. Black's office. Should I do that now?"

"Nolan," I correct. "Call him Nolan and go."

She's on her feet faster than she is on Friday afternoon at five o'clock. I watch her dart to the bank of elevators I just came from, and then I turn back to look at my worst mistake.

"Hey, baby," Damaris sing-songs. "Have you missed me as much as I've missed you?"

***

"Why are you here?" I push past her to my desk. I rest both hands on it, drawing in deep breaths that can't seem to fill my lungs. "I don't want you here."

"You didn't look happy at the Hamptons house." She trails a finger down the back of my suit jacket.

I feel visibly nauseous from the touch. "Hands, Damaris. Remove your hands from me."

"Baby." Her voice grates on my last nerve. "It doesn't have to be like this. We can go back to having fun."

It was fun until it was a fucked up nightmare of epic proportions. "It does need to be like this and I'm not interested."

"Your little blonde friend might be."

That turns me on my heel. I stare at her. She's dressed in a crisp white blouse, matching pants, and shoes. It's in stark contrast to her dark hair and eyes. She hasn’t changed at all since I pushed her out of my life four years ago. "Don't talk about her. You don't get to mention her."

"Kade said you're just friends." She coughs up a laugh. "As if I needed him to tell me that. She's clearly not your type."

She's wasting my time and my breath. I don't need this bullshit in my life. I walked away from her because I saw the evil that lives inside of her firsthand. She manipulated my pain to take anything she could from me. "You need to leave and stay gone."

"Your blonde friend would never satisfy you the way I did."

I look down at her. "Shut up, Damaris. You need to shut the hell up."

"She's more Kade's type, don't you think?" She taps her finger on her chin.

"She's too good for him."

"I think she's perfect for him." The silver bracelets on her wrist jingle as she lifts her hand. "Maybe I'll arrange a lunch and discuss that with her. There's no good reason why Adley York and I can't be friends."

The fact that she dropped Adley's full name is a warning. I know how she operates. I know what she craves and it has nothing to do with sex and everything to do with money. "I'm not giving you another dime, Damaris."

"Did I ask for a hand-out?"

She didn't and judging by the clothes on her back and the expensive shoes on her feet, she's found someone to keep her happy.

"Stay away from Adley." I warn. "I don't want you near her."

"Any friend of yours is a friend of mine." She picks up her clutch from my desk. "I didn't come here to talk about any of that. I came to tell you that I'm working for Kade now so we'll see each other at the board meetings."

"We won't." I round my desk to put distance between us. "Only board members are allowed in those meetings, not employees."

"We shall see."

I don't give two fucks if she's in a board meeting. I usually show up at the Benton tower across town late. Then I spend the time I am forced to sit there making notes on my tablet about Matiz business. Typically, I'm out the door before the meeting is adjourned.

"Are we done?"

"I never wanted us to be."

I don't acknowledge that with a response. She was someone I was drawn to for reasons that have nothing to do with love or happiness. She was a warm and willing body when my world shattered. I held onto her to help me coast through the aftermath of that and when I finally found my way back to the surface, I realized that we were wrong for each other in ways that had damaged us both beyond repair.

"Leave, Damaris." I point out the open door of my office. "Don’t come back."
She glances at the door before she looks back at me. "I'm glad we ran into each other in the Hamptons. It reminded me of all the good times."

I don't respond. I don't want to think about the time we spent together. Damaris is my past. Adley is my future. Neither of those points is up for discussion.