The past six weeks with Brock had flown by. Every day, Brock followed me to work and did his job from the corner of my office. Yesterday, the doctor removed my arm and leg casts. Dr. Greyson said the scans looked clear and I had nothing to worry about.

For the first day in ages, Brock didn’t stay at Ross Enterprises with me. He had some big client he had to meet with. Sam was still in Shialia with my sister, and the rest of the team members were deep in the cases they were working. It took me hours to convince Brock I could stay at work by myself. Alex secured the office like Fort Knox, and Brock would be showing up later, anyway.

Living with Brock had become a new challenge. I was physically attracted to him, but I didn’t know if I wanted to get into another relationship after how badly my marriage had ended. Doug had always talked about how ugly my body was. I made sure all the clothes I wore around Brock covered the scars that marred my skin.

The ringing phone brought me back to the present. The caller ID showed it was Alex. Hopefully, he was in a good mood. “Good morning, Mr. Ross.”

On the other end of the line, Alex sighed. He hated when I called him Mr. Ross, which made it that much more fun. I didn’t expect to be treated any differently because our families were intertwined. “Jessica, if you don’t stop calling me Mr. Ross, I will fire your ass.”

That made me chuckle. Alex would never fire me. He was too scared of his wife, Bridget. She ran White Hat Security and was an ethical hacker. Last time he made her mad, she set his cell phone ring to a Lady Gaga song. He had come storming into my office, demanding that Brock fix it. But Bridget had been smart and added an extra layer of security that Brock couldn’t break.

“What can I do for you, Alex? I’m working on next year’s budget. You wanted the numbers by the end of the week. If I remember correctly, you said, ‘Get those numbers by Friday or you’re fired.’” I was close to being done with the budget. I just wanted to make him feel guilty for bothering me.

My assistant, Joana, brought in a cup of coffee for me while I was doing my best Alex impression. I thought she would die of laughter. Most of the employees at Ross Enterprises ran in the other direction when they saw Alex. When I first started, I did anything in my power to avoid him. Since Patty, my twin sister, started working with his wife, I have learned Alex is a softy under his hard exterior. I just had to ignore him when he fired me and continue on with my job.

His chuckle at my impression was thick and creamy. “Since I promoted you, when have you ever done anything I asked? I know you don’t take me seriously when I say I will fire you. Hell, you go around behind my back rehiring everyone I fire,” Alex muttered.

I needed to get back to the numbers, and talking to Alex was not helping. “It’s nice chatting with you, but I need to get back to work. My boss is an ass. Did you know that thirty-one percent of people waste about one hour of work time each day? This little chat could be considered wasting work time unless you have a point to your call.”

I could see Alex in his office across the hall. He was pacing back and forth, looking out the window. Whenever there was an issue, he would pace back and forth. Over the past year of being his CFO, I had learned a lot of his tells.

A deep sigh came through the receiver. “I wouldn’t ask you if it wasn’t important. Can you have Brock drive you to the new jobsite and meet with the project manager? He’s having a problem costing the new job. I would send the account manager for the project, but Randy called in sick, and I have a meeting I can’t miss.”

I knew I should have said no because Brock wasn’t with me, and I wasn’t supposed to leave by myself. But what could go wrong? I would run to the jobsite and come right back. I had a company car I seldom used. No one would know I was gone.

“Sure. When is he expecting me?” 

“Can Brock take you now?”

“I can go now,” I replied immediately. Technically, I didn’t lie. 

Alex breathed a sigh of relief and thanked me.

My assistant was buried in a heap of documents when I walked out to her desk. Joana was in her early twenties. She was taking night classes, getting her degree in accounting. Her brown hair was up in a ponytail, and she had dark circles around her eyes that I hadn’t noticed earlier.

“Hey, Joana. Is everything okay? You look tired.”

“Nothing you need to worry about. School is kicking my butt.” I got the sense that she wasn’t telling me everything, but I had to run. I would ask her more questions tomorrow.

I grabbed the company car keys off the shelf. “Why don’t you head home for the day? I have to go to a jobsite for Alex.”

She looked up at me, scrunching her nose, thinking about something before she spoke. “When Brock was here earlier, he said you weren’t supposed to leave. I care about you and don’t want anything to happen to you. Does Alex know you are going off by yourself?”

“I told Alex I would take care of the meeting,” I told her. I’m a grown-ass woman. I can go to a meeting by myself.

“Okay.” Joana looked like she wanted to say something but held back. I turned on my Jimmy Choo heels and hightailed it toward the elevator. Since getting promoted, my office was on the same floor as Alex’s. I hoped he was already at his meeting and wouldn’t see me sneak out.

Ten minutes later, I made it to the fourth floor of the parking garage. I felt like I was fifteen again, trying to sneak out of my father’s castle, which was a lot harder because we had guards surrounding the castle. I only remember a handful of times Patty and I made it out without getting caught. I think the few times we did make it out, the guards followed us without our knowing it.

As I was walking toward the car, I meant to click the button on my key fob to unlock it. Instead, I hit the starter button, and the white Mercedes SUV exploded. The force of the explosion caused me to fly back and land on my tailbone. The blast made all the car alarms go off. The smoke smelled like burned rubber.

I needed to get out of the parking garage and call for help. Trying to get up was a challenge since my equilibrium was off from the force of the blast. My ears were still ringing, and sounds were going in and out. When I tried for the fifth time to get up, someone was at my side. It took a couple seconds for my eyes to focus. It was Antonio, one of Alex’s younger brothers.

“Jessica, are you all right? Anything feel broken? Where’s Brock?”

The question about anything being broken made me laugh hysterically. I had just had my casts removed yesterday. When Brock found out I tried to drive myself somewhere, he would deliver on his promise to tan my ass. I couldn’t stop laughing. Antonio said something about shock before he lifted me into a cradle position and walked toward the elevator.

“Jessica, you need to tell me where Brock is. They can’t locate him in the garage,” Antonio said before putting his phone back up to his ear. All the security guards were talking to each other through the earpieces.

“He’s at work.”

The look on Antonio’s face was pure fury. I could feel it vibrating off his body. “What were you doing in the garage?” he demanded. His question left no room for avoidance.

Well, I had done something wrong, and I needed to fess up. “Alex needed me to take a meeting for him. It was at one of our project sites.” I was coming down from the adrenaline high, and coming that close to death again was beginning to set in. Tears ran down my face.

When we entered the elevator, I asked Antonio to put me down. He refused, and we rode the next twenty-seven floors in pure silence.

Once we reached my floor, Antonio headed to the left toward Alex’s office. I would have to deal with three alpha men and their egos.

“You can take me to my office. Numbers don’t calculate themselves. I will call the project manager, and we can do it over the phone. When Alex gets out of his meeting, I will tell him what happened.” Maybe I could sneak out before Alex’s meeting was over and go into hiding. I wasn’t sure who would yell at me the most—Alex or Brock.

Antonio gave me a stern stare. “No.”

When we walked around the corner, the double doors to Alex’s office were open. He was pacing back and forth, yelling about something, and his assistant, Sarah, was taking notes. When he saw Antonio caring me, he headed toward us. “Thank god you’re okay.” Alex pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to keep his cool. “Is Brock in the garage working the case?” Alex asked Antonio.

Once Antonio had set me on Alex’s white couch and dropped a blanket over me, he replied, “No.”

“What the fuck do you mean no? Where is he? Is he okay?”

Antonio looked at me and raised his eyebrows. It seemed Antonio wanted me to explain why Brock wasn’t with me. “Umm, Brock is at Blackwood Security. He’s meeting with a high-profile client.”

Alex was not holding his anger in any longer. “That can’t be right. I told you to take Brock to the jobsite!”

The tears streaked down my face. “I wanted to help you out. Brock is meeting with new clients today. I told you I would take care of it. I never said Brock would take me.”

Alex stormed back to his desk and picked up his cell phone. 

I leaped off the couch to stop him. The blanket pooled on the ground, and I tried to hobble toward him. “You can’t call him. He is in important meetings. With Sam and Patty gone, he’s in charge.”

Alex gave me an I don’t give a shit stare and dialed Brock’s number.

* * *

Brock

This day was turning into a clusterfuck. I hated having to leave Jessica alone at work. With Sam gone to Shialia, we were short-handed. The FBI Director, Charles Westblack, needed help on a human trafficking case that kept leading to dead ends.

I had been in a meeting with the FBI director for the past couple hours. Another woman had been seized, and the FBI thought the Mujahideen terrorist group was behind the kidnapping. Mia would take lead on the case. I was helping with the digital fingerprint.

The door to the conference room swung open, and John walked in. I could tell by the look of him that he had more bad news. I took a swig of my warm Mountain Dew before addressing him.

“What’s going on, John?”

John shifted. “Do you have your phone on you?”

Fuck. I had put it on the charger and forgotten to bring it with me.

“Alex has been trying to get in touch with you, and he’s not happy.” Knowing Alex, he’d probably chewed John out because I didn’t have my phone.

I didn’t care that we had the FBI director in the room. Mia could finish working on the case and grab anyone else she needed. If Alex was throwing a fit, it meant something had happened to Jessica.

I ran down the cream-colored hallway to my lair. My phone was on the charger next to my keyboard. I swiped my finger across the screen and saw I had thirty missed calls, all from Alex. Dialing Alex and grabbing my truck keys, I ran toward the exit. Alex picked up on the first ring.

“About fucking time you called me back!” Alex screamed in the phone.

“Is Jessica okay?” I’d become accustomed to Alex’s temper tantrums, and they didn’t bother me anymore.

“Yes, other than her work car blew up ten seconds before she got in it.”