Cassidy hurried up the stairs as fast as she could; she was late again. Thirty minutes late to be exact. Today would be the day Santiago Ferdinand would fire her for sure. He didn’t bat an eye when she was a minute, or ten, late, but thirty? She was pushing it today and all because she tried to score a toy for her niece for Christmas. Tried was the operative word. The store had gotten some new units in last night, but she’d been about a minute too late to snatch one. She adopted a new motto: A day late and a dollar short. It summed up her life lately.

Hopefully, the extra large black coffee she had for him would make up for it. She balanced the drink and papers in her hands while fumbling for the door knob. As the door swung open, three sets of eyes turned toward her.

Her boss flashed her a smile and pushed off her desk, hurrying to come help her. He took the the drink and some papers out of her hands, his fingers grazing across the back of her hand sending heat radiating straight to her core.

Santiago wasn’t just hot, he was quite possibly the sexiest man on the planet; not to mention he had the hot Spanish accent going on, too. His jet black hair was short and spiked and his honeyed skin looked good enough to lick. His physique was a testament to long hours spent at the gym to keep it up.

“Good morning, Cassidy,” Santiago greeted.

“Hi.” She waved awkwardly at the couple staring at her. Judging by their closeness they were definitely together. She briefly wondered if they were clients, but pushed that thought away. The pair looked just as capable of taking care of themselves as Santiago and didn’t seem the type to ask a private detective for help.

“This is Ethney, my long time colleague, and her fiance, Noah,” Santiago introduced.

Colleague. So she’d been right. “It’s nice to meet you.” Cassidy offered Noah her hand first since he was closest. He was cute, but his touch didn’t ignite a fire in her the way Santiago’s did. Plus, there was no way she stood a chance with a guy like him when he was already with such a beautiful woman. Ethney wasn’t a Barbie by any means, her beauty was natural and unique.

“And this is my assistant, Cassidy,” Santiago continued when Ethney took Cassidy’s hand. “She’s been a godsend for sure.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that.”

Any secretary could do what she did. She was replaceable, which was why she really needed to be more timely. Her sister had always made being a parent look so easy--it was anything but. God, she loved her nieces, but they were a handful and parenting them was a full-time job. How her sister had ever gotten anywhere on time looking like a million bucks was beyond her.

She missed her sister so much. This would be the first Christmas without her and, even though she had the girls, she never felt so alone before. Sure Santiago was a friend, but he was a work friend, even if she would like him to be more. If she could have one thing for Christmas it would be him under her tree wearing nothing but a bowtie. That probably wasn’t going to happen though, but hey, who said a girl couldn’t dream.

Santiago waved her off, drawing her attention back to him. “She’s the most organized person I’ve ever met.”

Well, she was pretty organized, just not timely.

“I have the files you asked for.” Cassidy nodded to the papers he’d taken from her earlier.

“Perfect. Thank you.” Santiago shifted through the papers then looked at the couple. “Let’s step into my office.”

Cassidy heaved in a deep breath and let it out once the room was empty. She made her way to her desk and went to work checking emails and getting Santiago's schedule ready. Things had picked up the past few weeks. It seemed the closer they got to the holidays the more people suspected their spouses of cheating. Many people watched credit card statements looking for random purchases and never once considered the purchase could be for them, instead of some random lover. Was the world really so jilted? She didn’t have much to go off of having never had a long-term relationship before. Her parents had been happily married, so had her sister. The past few years she spent in night school while working full-time as a temporary secretary during the day, giving her no time for a social life. When her sister and her husband passed away six months ago and she’d taken on both of her nieces, she’d decided to find something more permanent.

Thankfully, it didn’t seem her boss cared she was late, again. Whatever he was working on had his full attention. She could have been an hour late and he might not have even noticed. Tomorrow, though, she would be on time, even if she had to wake the girls up at 5 a.m. to get out the door by 7.

Most of the morning went by with no one coming out of the office. She was beginning to wonder what it was they were talking about in there. It was nearly noon and she was hungry. She and Santiago usually took their lunch at the same time and usually ate together; it was a nice way for them to get to know each other and she really enjoyed the adult company. The only time they didn’t eat together was when he was out of the office and then she went whenever she wanted.

She didn’t want to interrupt their meeting, but since she missed breakfast she was starving.

Cassidy didn’t have to wait much longer though, as the door to her boss’s office creaked open and Santiago and the couple walked out.

“We’ll be gone for most of the afternoon,” he announced. “If I’m not back by five go ahead and lock up for me, will you?”

“Sure.” She smiled and waved as they left.

Usually Santiago spoke to her throughout the day, but today he seemed distracted. The woman was a colleague of his. It made her wonder what exactly they were doing. Surely, it had to be some sort of case, but he never called in help before and from whatshe saw, he was more than capable of doing his job solo. He had her dig up property records yesterday afternoon from the county courthouse and she knew for a fact none of his cases pertained to the property in question. So what were they up to?

The sound of footsteps thumping up the stairs drew her from her thoughts and she realized she’d been off in la la land a lot longer than she should have been. Santiago and the couple must be back. A shiver of anticipation raced down her spine at the thought of seeing her boss again. The past six months had done little to stop the desire aching inside her every time she saw him.

It didn’t help that he was damn near perfect. Not only was he good to look at, but he was nice, too. He even gave her a raise and a big Christmas bonus, even though the holiday was still three weeks away. What she didn’t use to catch up on bills, she put toward Christmas gifts for the girls.. Ginny and Veronica, nine and six-years old, were adjusting to their new life and new school, but it was a painfully slow process for all of them. It didn’t help that they were all grieving in their own way, too.

Cassidy sat up straighter when the footsteps stopped outside the office door. She combed her fingers through her hair, though she didn’t know why. While Santiago had always been kind, he never gave any indication he was into her in any way.

The door to the office swung open and she paused, her fingers tangling in her hair. The man that came in was not Santiago.

Her heart skipped a beat and her pulse spiked. She swallowed hard while forcing her trembling legs to stand, as the man before her looked like trouble. He was tall, muscular, and dressed entirely in black. His fingers fisted tightly at his sides like he was preparing to punch something and his eyes gleamed at her in a way that made her stomach knot.

“Can I help you?” she asked, thankful her voice didn’t shake.

“Your boss, where is he?” The man took a step forward making room for two other guys to follow in behind him and effectively blocking her only exit out.

“He’s out for the afternoon. I can take a message and have him get back to you as soon as he returns.” Cassidy eyed her phone on the edge of the desk. How fast could she dial 911 if she needed to? Not fast enough. Even if she could make the call, she’d never be connected in time to say anything. But at least the call would be logged, right? That had to count for something. Didn't the police come out any time there was a 911 call to make sure there wasn’t an emergency?

She took a step closer so the phone was within reach.

“Oh, he’ll get the message all right,” the man said as he lunged toward her.

Cassidy screeched. Her hand reached out for the phone knocking the receiver off. Her fingers grazed over the buttons in record speed. There was no way she’d be able to ask for help, but it could be a weapon. She gripped the bottom of the base and swung.

Her attacker jumped back, but not before the end clipped him on the chin. He paused for a moment, brushing his hand over his skin. Crimson coated his fingers when he pulled them away and growled at her.

“You’re going to pay for that, bitch.” He stalked toward her again.

Cassidy tossed the phone at him and ran behind her chair keeping it between them. Arms wrapped around her from behind making her scream. Damn, she’d been so preoccupied by the man before her she forgot about the other two. One arm went around her slim waist, the other around her throat. She lifted her legs up and kicked out. Her nieces needed her. They’d already lost their parents thanks to a drunk driver, they couldn’t lose her, too.

She pummelled the man with her feet as he tried to grab her ankles. He caught one, but she was able to punt him with her free foot. The heel of her boot hit him in the crotch and he doubled over, gagging.Kicking again, she nailed him in the nose with the toe of her boot.

The man behind her tightened his grip around her throat, squeezing to the point of pain. She tried to fight him, but the more she thrashed, the harder it became to breathe. Her vision tunneled and her lungs burned for a breath she couldn’t draw.

If she passed out they could do anything to her. Fear washed over her. She had to fight. Somehow, someway she had to get out of this.

Lifting her boot, she smashed her heel down on the foot of the man choking her. He grunted, loosening his grip for a moment. Taking advantage of his blunder, she rammed her elbow backwards and tried to make a run for it. Unfortunately, he recovered too quickly, grabbing her by the hair and yanking her backward.

She whimpered as her hair was ripped from her scalp. There had to be some way she could fight back. If something happened to her, Ginny and Veronica would be alone with no one to watch out for them. Shit, they’d probably go straight to the system and be bounced around from foster home to foster home. They probably wouldn’t even get to stay together. She had to fight.

Her eyes searched for something, anything she could use, but she came up short. There were three very big, very angry men against her.