Chapter 3

Zach

She backed away quickly, but didn’t leave. I’d seen the way her eyes traveled down my body, and part of me sincerely appreciated being wanted like that again. It had been a long time since anyone had looked at me with anything other than pity, and there was a huge ego boost in being ogled by a gorgeous woman with desire in her eyes.

But she’d already proven she didn’t spook easily. I couldn’t think of anyone else who would’ve had the nerve to set me straight the way she had. And she was right. The way I was acting was totally unacceptable, and yet, everyone else would’ve probably put it down to my depression and let me get away with it.

I stood in front of her and reached down to pull on my robe and gestured to the pile of papers sitting next to us.

She kept her gaze trained on the ground so steadily, she didn’t even notice when I extended my hand to her. It wasn’t until I cleared my throat that she looked up, and her eyes widened when they fell on my outstretched hand.

I introduced myself. “Zachary Rose.” She blinked slowly a few times as though trying to make sense of what had just happened. But then, she extended her hand to mine and took it, shaking it firmly and looking me dead in the eye.

“Jessibelle Adams,” she repeated, just like she had at the door. “Good to meet you.”

“You want to go over your strategy for this?” She still looked a little shell-shocked, but nodded, cleared her throat, and began a somewhat practiced spiel.

“We want you to hold on to as much of your company as possible,” she explained. “You’re aware that most of the major shareholders are very concerned about your current position in the business and want to transfer power to other members of your management team?”

“Of course.” I might not have heard it outright from anyone, but I didn’t need telling. I knew how they felt about me.

“We hope we can shift a lot of your work from the office to your home here,” she gestured around and I took a seat in the small poolside cabana not far from us. She joined me without waiting for an invite.

“I understand you’re not necessarily in the best frame of mind—and that’s understandable given all you’ve been through—but we can put an assistant here and hopefully restore some confidence in the shareholders.”

“Riiiight.” I nodded, but wasn’t convinced. “And that’s it? That’s all we need to do?”

“Unless you’re willing to come back to the office and work,” she pointed out bluntly, “I’m not sure what else we can do.”

“Is this a course of action you endorse?” I asked, looking her straight in the eye. She’d already proven she wasn’t afraid of being blunt, but in this instance, she slid her gaze from mine, avoiding the question.

“At the firm, we’re sure that—”

“So, you’re not sure.” I didn’t need to hear more. I could tell when someone was lying to me. “How long have you been at the firm?”

“A few months,” she replied curtly, probably irritated I was questioning her credentials. She licked her lips and pressed them together, and a flash of annoyance passed over her face. I didn’t want to piss her off any more than I already had, but there was something amusing about the way she tried to hide her blatantly obvious reactions to me.

“And what would you tell me to do if you didn’t have any interference from the firm?” I cocked an eyebrow at her. She fidgeted uncomfortably in her seat. She hadn’t been at the firm long enough to be confident in going against the company’s agenda, but it was obvious she had ideas of her own.

“It doesn’t seem like the best solution.” I shrugged casually. “That’s all.”

She didn’t reply, glancing at the papers and then back at me as though stalling for time.

“It’s the one the firm has offered,” she shot back, that flash of resolve in her voice once more. She seemed to swing between a little shy and self-conscious to fiery and certain of herself. With a little more time building up her self-esteem, she could be a formidable ally. Fuck, anyone who hadn’t run away screaming by now and was happy holding a business meeting in a poolside cabana next to a half-naked man had already proven themselves in my eyes.

“I’m not asking what the firm suggests right now,” I pointed out. She crossed and uncrossed her legs, clasping her hands in her lap. “I’m asking what you would do. You’re well-acquainted with my case, I’m assuming?”

“You’re one of our biggest clients,” she pointed out, “so yes, I’m well-acquainted.”

“Of course.” I nodded. Once again, she wasn’t breaking my gaze. “You must have your own opinions on what you think I should do.”

“I might,” she admitted coolly. “But they’re not important right now.”

“Come on.” I grinned wider, trying to goad her into giving me a real response. “I know you want to.”

“Can we talk about the plan we have in place?” she asked again, this time a little firmer, doing her best to control her voice and not snap at me. Part of me wanted to see what she’d be like if she completely let go, but that was because I’d spent too long indulging my darkest feelings. I wanted to see other people do the same. I probably should’ve had a better hold on it by now, but this was the longest conversation I’d had with anyone since I withdrew to this mansion months ago.

Suddenly, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I’d forgotten it was even there. I slipped my hand into my robe and pulled it out, frowning at the screen. I recognized the name. I pulled it to my ear and held a finger up to Jessibelle, indicating that I needed a minute.

“Craig?” It was one of my employees back at my family’s business. “What’s up?”

“The IRS,” he replied grimly, and I groaned. Those were words I never wanted to hear, not if I could avoid them.

“What are they up to?”

“Sniffing around the real estate sector,” he replied. The real estate section of the business was still under my control, even though I’d let everything else go. I didn’t spend a lot of time talking about it to anyone in the company, and I had the feeling not many of the board members were aware of it.

“What for?” I asked. “Looking for improprieties? What do they want?”

“I honestly have no idea,” he admitted. “Any clue? Anything going on there that might’ve drawn their attention?”

“Not in a million years.” I shook my head firmly. “You know I don’t let that kind of shit go down in my company, Craig.”

“I know, I know,” he agreed, pacifying me as the annoyance rose in my voice. It pissed me off to think the business my father had started, the one I had stepped up to take over, might be in danger because of my stupid, dumb-ass depression I couldn’t seem to get a handle on.

“Tell them to look,” I snapped back. “They’re not going to find a fucking thing.”

“Are you sure?” Craig asked cautiously, obviously anticipating another backlash at the implication. “Because you’ve been out of office for a while and—”

“—I know what’s going on in my own goddamn business, Craig.” I couldn’t hide the irritation from my voice. He fell silent, and I knew exactly what he was thinking.

“If you’re sure,” he finally replied. “You want me to give them access to everything?”

“Everything and anything,” I confirmed. “Don’t hold back. I don’t care what they need. Let them have it.”

“If you’re certain.” Even his agreement sounded doubtful. I considered his hesitation.

“Craig,” I spoke slowly, carefully. “Is there something going on down there I should know about? Something I might not want the IRS to know about?”

He paused a little too long for comfort.

“No, nothing,” he replied, a breezy tone in his voice. “I’ll get in contact with them and let them know you’ve given the go-ahead for them to come and do their audit. Thanks for answering your phone.”

I knew the final comment was a little dig at how hard it had been to get in contact with me over the last few months, but I ignored it. Craig Vector and I had been working together for a long time, and I understood why he might have been so irritated with how I’d vanished from the map. He’d been there when my father had passed the business down to me, and now, he was watching me retreat into myself, and there was nothing he could do about it. It would’ve been enough to get under anyone’s skin.

“I’ll talk to you soon.” I hung up the phone. Jessibelle was looking at me anxiously.

“Everything okay?” she asked. I nodded, looking at the blank screen before I dropped it back into my pocket and returned my attention to her. I crossed my legs, my robe slipping to the side, exposing my thigh. I left it there. Power play? Maybe. But she didn’t even blink.

“It will be,” I replied, as much to convince myself as to convince her. “Now, where were we?”

“We were talking about the plan to save your company,” she reminded me, turning to grab the papers from the table next to her. She continued, but I found myself tuning her out. I should have been paying attention, but I was already lost in my thoughts. How could I not be? It seemed every time I heard from the business, it was bad news, the kind of news I never wanted to hear. Why was the IRS stalking us? Why did Craig pause when I asked if there was something he wasn’t telling me? Overthinking wasn’t helping me at all, but I’d had so little interaction over the last few months that what little I did have was overanalyzed to the point of exhaustion. Jessibelle was still talking, but my concentration was shot to hell, and I couldn’t even make sense of anything she was saying.