Chapter 10
NATHAN
“Fucking smartass,” I mutter to myself as Arianna steps out of my office, wiggling her hips in yet another figure-hugging dress that kisses every inch of her in all the right places.
I swear to fuck, if no one was around, I’d be storming after her, bending her over her desk and giving her ass a good spanking for speaking to me the way she just did.
Manners?
Is she for real?
There is no way I’m letting her get away with that.
I pick up my phone and send a text to the group chat with my brothers.
Me
Finish up, we’re going for drinks at The Golden Spirit.
It’s where everyone in the building seems to go after work to decompress and it’s where Joseph said he is taking Arianna. I know this because not only am I a master at working people out, I can also hear a pin drop from a hundred meters away.
The words she said to Joseph make my grip around my cell tighten.
Not into older men.
I’ll show her old.
Cole
Are you sick?
Me
No.
Max
Has someone died?
Me
No. Stop asking questions and meet me in the foyer.
Eli
Well, this is a first. When was the last time you left the office before six o’clock?
Me
I do. Sometimes.
I never do.
Cole
Liar. Count me in.
Max
No can do. I have a date.
Me
Celeste?
Max
No, Juliette.
Eli
Who the hell is Juliette?
Max
The fire chief’s daughter *smiling devil emoji*
Me
What happened to Celeste?
Max
She wanted more.
Cole
Babies?
Me
Engagement ring?
Eli
Marriage?
Max
All three.
Cole
You’re a commitment-phobe.
Max
I think Nathan wins that title.
Me
Fuck off.
He’s right, but at least I’m obvious about it, and I’ve never given anyone I hook up with false hope or left room for interpretation.
I’m married to my business. Simple as that.
I’ve never told my brothers before but being the eldest, and with Dad the way he is now, I feel like the business is my responsibility.
Even though they all work hard, and we make decisions about the company together, the burden of success rests heavy on my shoulders. I don’t want to let our father down.
Covertly, I watch Arianna and Joseph gather their belongings then leave their desks before heading to the elevator. My feet are itching to follow her.
Me
Eli, are you joining us?
Cole
Why are we going to The Golden Spirit? We never go there.
Max
Has your new secretary got you rattled yet again?
Me
No.
Liar.
I may have talked—sorry, complained—about her one too many times.
Something I have no control over.
All her little quirks and things she does for me don’t annoy me. I fucking love them, but I will never admit that to my brothers.
Eli
You’re a terrible liar. I’m in.
Eli’s strength is sniffing a bald-faced lie a mile off, and at this point I’m reeking.
Me
Meet you in the foyer.
Cole
I’ve already shut down my computer.
Max
Have fun… You should introduce your new secretary to the new guy in finance. Evander. All the women think he’s hot.
I grit my teeth, making them grind together from the pressure. Evander better stay the hell away from her or I’ll fire him. Not that I can or ever would because he’d sue my ass.
But if push came to shove…
An influx of texts fly into our group chat one after the other.
Eli
I bet he’s already thinking of ways to fire Evander.
Max
Or imagining all the ways he’d like to kill him.
Cole
Don’t say that because he’ll ask for our help to dispose of the body.
Max
He’s on his own. I’m an upstanding member of the community.
Cole
We all are.
I smirk at Cole’s message. Us Hart brothers have principles.
We avoid lying in court and falsifying evidence.
We also avoid activities including bribery and fraud, and we never take clients on that we don’t believe.
And that’s what sets us apart from other lawyers: we prioritize cases that morally and ethically align with us.
If it doesn’t feel right, then we don’t represent clients.
Something my father drilled into us from an early age.
Max
Later, losers.
Eli
Have fun.
Cole
Enjoy.
Eli
So, when are you asking your one-night stand, sorry, your new secretary, on a date?
Me
She’s staff. Remember that.
Eli
Is that all she is to you?
Max
He’ll never admit he likes her.
Me
Foyer in ten minutes.
Max
Avoidance… Nathan’s greatest strength.
Cole
Stronger than his volley at Saturday morning’s tennis match last weekend.
Me
Fuck.
Me
Off.
Eli
How long can we keep this up until he breaks?
Max
Months.
Years more like.
Assholes.
I close my messaging app then open my email on my computer.
Desperate to discover everything about Arianna, I open Janice’s email and read Arianna’s résumé in detail for the millionth time.
Meets deadlines, ensures compliance, confidential, adaptable …
All the usual suspects are listed, but what I didn’t expect to read under extra-curricular activities is that she volunteers at a charity called The Connecting Kids Foundation, helping children to overcome grief, specifically those dealing with trauma and the loss of a parent.
Does she have first-hand knowledge of that?
I hope not.
If she has, I feel deep empathy for the pain she must have gone through. No one deserves that.
Even though my father is no longer the man he used to be, I’m lucky that my parents are still here, and I can’t imagine what she must have gone through if she did lose one as a kid.
Suddenly wanting to know everything about Arianna and to protect her, my chest tightens with the need to get to her faster. I close my computer down, grab my jacket, and storm toward the elevator.
Whatever has happened to her in her life, I want to make her feel better.
Arianna Donovan.
The strong tempting woman who, at fifteen years my junior, is much too young for me, but if I don’t see her again tonight to make sure she’s okay, I might lose my shit.