2. Asher
2
ASHER
That little thief.
I knew what I was getting myself into the moment I laid eyes on Iris. But what she did to me is criminal. Downright unforgivable. She thinks she’s going to get away with it. A clean break. Sorry, angel, but you’re not slipping away with my heart so easily.
She’s the first woman I’ve bared my soul to. The first I’ve felt so consumed with. Possessed. There is no one else but her. There will never be anyone else but her.
There’s no road I won’t follow. No stone left unturned. I’m using every tool in my arsenal to find her and it’s only a matter of time before I have what’s mine. The only clues she left were the folded sheets of paper I found in the suite. It’s the cipher to unlock the enigma of Iris—making clear why she left with my heart and watch in her hand.
The watch. At first, I found it amusing. Sure, it might be expensive, but I have drawers filled with them. It’s hardly missed. But once I read the note, it crushed me to realize why she stole it in the first place.
As I swivel away from the floor-to-ceiling windows of my corner office, I reach into the breast pocket of my suit to retrieve the papers, unfolding one in particular. I don’t need to see the text. I’ve read it so many times I have it memorized. But I need to see every line of her loopy cursive. Every blotch of ink and stain from food and coffee. Pieces of her unspooled before me. It’s well-worn. A variety of ink colors have been used for the entries. She’s returned to it many times. Clearly, she’s not the only one in possession of something important.
Things I’ll do when I’m not poor.
Pay my rent.
Pay my student loans.
Get rid of my hand-me-downs.
Move out of here.
The list goes on like that, but it seems like she had second thoughts. She crossed out the entirety of the list with an X and started new ones with various titles, but the one I honed in on was:
Things I’ll do before I’m 35.
Visit all the world’s wonders
Have an authentic cannoli
Eat gelato in Cinque Terre
Eat a scone the size of my head.
Safari in the Serengeti.
One night stand with no regrets
Marry the man of my dreams.
Start a family.
The list continues with a mishmash of entries with no real relationship other than all of them being her wants, needs, and desires—each one of them an insight into my girl’s mind. I’ve made sure to cross out one entry. I’d have the rest knocked out for her by the end of the week if only I could find her. But therein lies the problem. I’ve been looking for her for weeks without a single hit. Nothing. If it weren’t for the list in my hand, I’d think she was a ghost. A cruel figment of my imagination.
But she’s real. She tasted like heaven and I felt like sin for defiling her pretty little body. My cock jolts to attention as memories of that night fly through my head. I trace every delicate curve and sensuous peak and valley of her body in my mind, recalling her sweet, irresistible, one-of-a-kind scent. Her little moans as I slipped my tongue between those creamy thighs. Her not-so-little moans as I fucked her against the wall, in the shower, all over the suite. I’ll never forget the night I made her mine. And once I find her, I’m never letting her go.
I’ll go crazy if I don’t see her again. If I don’t kiss those perfect lips and feel her against?—
There’s a large thud in front of me, jolting me out of my reverie. I glance at a thick stack of papers, some spilling from folders, and then up to Adrian, my business partner and Chief Financial Officer, standing in front of my desk.
“The door’s closed for a reason. Knock,” I say, slipping the list back inside my pocket as I turn my attention to my computer screen.
I’ve been so caught up with finding Iris that I have been neglecting my work. That’s not like me. Workaholic. Grump. Cold. There’s a whole slew of adjectives my colleagues call me, and I wear them on my chest like badges of honor.
“I did,” Adrian says, collapsing onto the chair beside him. “Multiple times but you were in la-la land.” He pulls out his phone as he kicks his feet up onto my desk. I stare at the soles of his Italian leather loafers for a brief moment and then at him as he taps mindlessly on his phone. A few moments pass until he sighs and then places his feet firmly back on the ground.
“I was working.” I glance at my monitor and re-read the email I drafted over an hour ago.
He laughs. “On what? The contracts are still unsigned. You missed the conference call this morning.” He stares at me. “Should I go on?”
He pauses for a brief moment while I try to finish the email but I can’t think straight. Adrian’s right. I’m so disconnected from my work and life that I don’t know what to do. I can’t think straight knowing Iris is out there and not with me.
I stand up and walk to the window, looking out at the city. Adrian and I managed billions in assets in our hedge fund. We were the best at what we did, so it was a surprise to everyone when we closed up shop and moved on to a completely different project. To us, it felt like a natural progression. A new challenge. We’d conquered an industry and wanted to move on to the next: BlackeThorne Entertainment.
Publishing, movies, television—we have our hands in everything. Even though we’re still a young company, we’re swallowing up our fair share of the market from even the most entrenched players. That’s what happens when hogs get greedy and complacent. We’ve swooped in and claimed the ground beneath them, fighting tooth and nail for more.
And with our streaming platform on the horizon and our production arm beginning to churn out original series at a blazing clip—this is our make-or-break moment. The true test of whether our gamble is going to pay off.
But it’s not a gamble. When I decide what I’m going to do, I put my heart and soul into it and never fail. But Iris is an anomaly, demanding my attention and things are slipping through the cracks.
“We have another call in twenty minutes,” Adrian says.
The leather chair creaks as he stands up. I glance at the sweeping view in front of me, wondering where Iris is hiding. Is she in this city? Was she just passing through? I swallow hard. I don’t know what I’ll do if I never see her again. My jaw clenches. That’s not happening. I’ll find her.
The leather chair moans as Adrian stands up. His hard soles click against the floor as he strides toward me.
“Asher, we need this funding to go through. It’s critical that you’re there.” He grabs my shoulder. “I don’t know what’s happening, but you need to sort your shit. This isn’t like you. Not since?—”
“I’ll be there,” I interrupt, turning from the view. “There’s nothing?—”
I swallow the rest of my words. It can’t be, but it is. That scent. It’s Iris—plain as day. Her scent is so apparent and overwhelming on Adrian that I can’t believe I couldn’t smell it the moment he walked in here. There’s no forgetting it.
“Where is she?” I grit out as something primal takes control of me, base instincts kicking in.
I sniff the air again. Sniff fucking Adrian while he stares at me, confused.
He laughs. “What are you doing? Talking about? You’re?—”
“Iris,” I spit out. “Where is she?” Every muscle in my body clenches as my vision tunnels, focusing on Adrian. He holds the key now. He knows where my Iris is. And as I fist his jacket, I’ll have my answer.
“Iris? I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He swats me away and then stumbles backward as he moves toward the door. “You’re acting crazy, man. I?—”
“Crazy?” I mutter. I sniff the air again and let out a deep, rumbling sigh before locking eyes with him again.
Maybe he has a point. I am acting crazy, but this dip into insanity can be cured as soon as he tells me where Iris is. I’m not hallucinating the scent. I’m not having a damn stroke. Although I might if this goes on any longer. I’ll break down every door in this building to find her if I have to.
I erase the gap between us like a lion running down its prey. I’m snarling and spitting ready to wage war. I regain my grip on his shirt, shaking him with every word. “Where. Is. Iris? I can smell her on you.”
A tentative smile appears on his face. “Smell her on me? Are you a bloodhound or some?—”
I pivot in place, launching Adrian onto the leather couch behind us. It skids a few inches as he lands. He backs up until he hits the armrest and then rolls off the couch.
“Try that shit again and see what happens,” Adrian snarls as he tears off his suit jacket.
I take a few slow steps toward him, loosening my tie as I slip off my jacket. “Tell me where she is.” My voice is calm and controlled, belying the storm raging inside me. My girl’s been in my building. She might still be in my building. And if I don’t get my answer soon I’ll level everything in my path to find her.
My head is pounding as hard as my heart. I can hardly think straight, except about those sweet lips and creamy thighs. He’s seen her. He’s been near here. Fuck me if I’m not the most envious man alive.
Adrian runs a hand through his hair, a smile slowly forming on his lips before he laughs. “Are you talking about Lilah?” He sniffs himself and then looks at me. “Perfume,” he mutters. “Thought I smelled something sweet on me.”
“Iris.”
He shakes his head. “I have no idea who Iris is, but I met with Lilah fifteen minutes ago. She’s with HR if—okay…”
He stares at me as I blow by him and make a break for the door. It nearly flies off the hinges as I throw it open.
“Can I help you?” Megan, my assistant for the last three days, asks me. Her voice is shaky as I stand in the doorway, scanning the floor for that perfect angelic face.
Nothing but cubicles and desks and a few familiar faces.
“Lilah’s my new assistant,” Adrian says, standing next to me.
“Like hell she is,” I growl. If Lilah is my Iris…
“D-does this mean I’m fired?” Megan asks.
“No,” Adrian says, turning to her. “You’re not going anywhere.”
But I am because there she is. My angel. My beautiful angel is walking this way with Melvin from Human Resources. From the glassy expression on her face, he’s boring her to tears. But if he spends one more second with her I’m going to make sure he’s transferred to a branch in Siberia. We don’t have a branch in Siberia but I’ll open one up for him and any other man in this office who so much as breathes that same air as her. Fuck. I don’t want to breathe anymore unless it’s her recycled air.
Nothing stands in my way as I sprint for Iris— Lilah. A liar in addition to a thief. Naughty little girl.
“Morning, Mr.—”
“No time,” I growl, dodging a new hire toting a box before hurdling the mail cart. I clip the edge of the cart with my heel, sending both me and the cart toppling to the ground. Rolling with my momentum, I recover and am back on my feet, charging for Lilah and plowing through the office like a damn Mack truck.
“Would you like a?—”
“Out of my way,” I snarl, flipping the tray filled with donuts into the air, along with stacks of paper, file folders, coffee, and anything else that dares come in between me and my woman.
“It burns,” someone behind me screeches as I part the sea of people in front of me like I’m Moses. I glance over my shoulder at the mayhem left in my wake, making a mental note to beef up our benefits package and legal team.
When I turn back around, Lilah is staring at me, and it’s enough to stop me dead in the water. I can’t move. I can’t breathe as I stare at the most beautiful woman to ever grace planet Earth. The incessant buzz of the office, the frantic cries for a medic behind me, the world around me fades as Lilah becomes my single point of focus, pulling my attention unrelentingly toward her.
She’s even more gorgeous than I remember. Seeing her in that tight pencil skirt and white blouse slays me. I know what’s hiding underneath—the black lace lingerie I tore off her perfect body with my teeth. I know the dirty little angel that prim and proper exterior belies.
And I’m the devil that’s going to make her sing. I walk toward her slowly, dripping sweat underneath my shirt after that hundred-yard dash. I don’t want to scare her. I’m calm. I’m cool. And I’m going to shred her clothes off as soon as we cross the threshold of my penthouse.
I’m mere yards away when I faintly hear her tell Melvin, “I’ve gotta run.”
She kicks off her heels and makes a break for the elevator at the end of the hall. Fuck, my girl’s got some pistons on her. She’s pumping her arms and legs like a runaway train and I can’t help but stare. I’ve never seen a woman run like that before outside of the Olympics, barefoot in a pencil skirt no less.
When I make it to Melvin, I tell him to head back to his office.
“But I haven’t finished the paperwork for Ms. Foxe.”
I snatch the folder from his hand.
“I’ll see to it that Ms. Foxe signs on the dotted line.”
“Procedures dictate that?—”
“Melvin, get back to your office. You have work to do.”
As he looks behind me, I can see his life flashing in front of his eyes.
Melvin drawls something unintelligible in his trademark monotone as I jog towards Lilah. I watch as she enters the elevator, turns around, and looks at me with her wide, beautiful doe eyes and perfect, kissable lips.
“You’re not going anywhere,” I mutter under my breath.