Chapter 1
ONE
PARK CITY, UTAH
DOMINIC
Two Months Before Christmas
2 o’clock a.m
“Intruder alert!” “Call to authorities in progress!” “Intruder alert!”
Sirens are blaring in my condo, drowning out my dreams with every passing second.
I pick up my cell phone to turn it off, but the system sings louder, and the words “Wrong password! Home lights are deactivated!” flash across my screen.
What the hell is going on?
Groaning, I roll out of bed and head to my bathroom in utter darkness. I splash my face with cold water and brush my teeth, anxiously awaiting the system to come to its senses, but my condo remains black.
Before I can attempt to turn off the system again, heavy footsteps hit the hallway.
“Over here!” a deep voice yells. “He’s not in his bed!”
“Check the library and the kitchen! Move!” another says.
The door suddenly swings open, and someone shines a flashlight into my eyes.
“He’s right here!” The guy’s voice is louder than the alarm system. “Mr. Reiss is safe!”
“I’m sorry to wake you up at this hour, sir.” Walsh, my head of security, shines a blinding light into my eyes. “We need to move you to a secure location as soon as possible.”
“Is the world ending or something?”
“Sir, we have reason to believe that someone is plotting to murder you.”
“What?”
“I’ll explain everything in the car. Let’s go.”
“Can I get dressed first?”
“You don’t have enough time for that.” He tosses me a robe. “This will have to do.”
“You could at least let me put on a shirt.”
Without another word, he herds me onto the private elevator, and I convince myself that this is a twisted dream. That there’s no way anyone would fuck with me when I’m months away from closing the biggest deal of my career.
When we reach the car, the driver speeds onto the street.
“We’ve noticed a spike in searches on the company IP address.” Walsh hands me a tablet. “And tonight, someone breached your personal laptop.”
“That’s impossible,” I say. “It needs my fingerprint approval to work.”
“See for yourself.” He motions for me to look at the screen.
“How much arsenic can you put in someone’s coffee to make them sick, but not sick enough to die?” “What about antifreeze?” “Are 9 to 5 jobs cruel and unusual punishment?”
“These searches intensified recently, sir,” he says. “We believe that someone is trying to sabotage you.”
“I can’t believe you dragged me out of bed for this.” I roll my eyes. “Can you have my assistant bring a suit to the office, please?”
“Ten steps ahead of you.” He refreshes the screen. “We really need to take this seriously, sir. This is more of what we found.”
I resist the urge to toss the tablet out the window. Then, I look over the results.
“How long do Audi Spider tires take to deflate?” “Hitman for hire but just for small tasks, not the murder part, at least not immediately.” “Can I bribe a barista to add a pinch of rat poison to a coffee order? Would I go to prison for that or just the barista?” “Dominic Reiss has a very ‘stabbable’ neck.” “How to unblock Pinterest on my work computer.”
“Interesting.” I smile. “When exactly did these searches start?”
“Two weeks ago, sir. I can promise you that this is nothing to smile about.”
I hold back a laugh.
The timeline molds perfectly to when a certain employee was demoted from ‘team leader’ to ‘intern’ because she refused to learn what “mandatory overtime” meant. A certain employee who is by far the sexiest woman I’d ever met, but the worst associate Human Resources has ever hired at my company.
“Would you like me to notify the FBI about this, Mr. Reiss?” Walsh asks.
“No.” I shake my head. “I don’t feel the slightest bit threatened.”
“Are you sure, sir?”
“Very sure, Walsh.” I look at my watch. “We don’t need to take this any further.”
“As you wish, but you’re not going back home until this afternoon.” He makes a few calls as the driver speeds through the streets.
Once we reach headquarters, I admire the golden “Reiss Enterprises” sign outside the steps. No matter how often I see it, I’m reminded of how hard I’ve worked since turning sixteen to get to where I am today.
Getting out of the car, I swipe my key at the front door and slip inside the building.
I blink a few times as I look around the lobby.
A massive Christmas tree, wrapped in all red ribbon and dressed in bright glass ornaments, is glowing in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows.
Lush green garland is hanging from the staircase railings, and a long line of twinkling holiday lights is creating a trail on the floor.
Although this is the first year I’ve requested that we decorate this place for the holidays, I’m surprised the staff is handling this so early.
Intrigued, I follow the lights down the hall and into a conference room.
I slip past two life-sized nutcrackers and spot the primary suspect in my future murder.
Georgia Grey.
Dressed in a see-through pink tank top and leggings that hug her small curves, she’s tempting me more than usual today. Her ink black hair that typically falls in waves that caress her shoulder is now pulled into a low ponytail that grazes the back of her neck.
For months, I’ve struggled not to stare too hard at her puffy pink lips, but from this angle I can’t help it.
Since I can hear the holiday music blasting through her headphones, I take advantage of the view for a few more seconds.
“Good morning.” I clear my throat. “Miss Grey?”
She doesn’t answer.
I step closer and pull out one of her earpods. “Can you hear me now?”
“What the…” she turns around. “Oh, um, hey, Mr. Reiss.”
“Miss Grey.” I notice her staring at my chest, so I don’t bother tying my robe shut. “I didn’t know you were capable of coming to work on time, let alone early. What’s the occasion?”
“Uh…” She finally looks up at my face. “I’m just here working on the Winter Wonderland I’m supposed to create for the holidays.”
“Isn’t there supposed to be an entire team doing that?”
“Not when the team has no idea what they’re doing,” she says. “No offense, but most of the people who work here lack creativity.”
“When I said, let’s make this place a bit more festive this season, I was just thinking of a tree in the lobby.”
“Then I guess the CEO is a disappointment in the creativity department, too.”
“For the record, Miss Grey,” I say, staring at her lips, “just because you chose to go above and beyond on this trivial request, that doesn’t absolve you from your daily assignments.”
“I would never think that, Mr. Reiss.” She steps back and picks up a thermos. “But now that you’ve mentioned it, and I’m a lowly intern, I’ve been keeping this coffee fresh and hot for you.”
“Where’d you buy it from?”
“I made this myself.” She smiles. “I’ve decided to go ‘above and beyond’ in everything I do now.”
“Why don’t you take a sip of it first before you give it to me?”
“No, that’s okay.” She holds it out for me. “I don’t want to steal any caffeine from my amazing boss who needs it the most.”
“I’d hate to think that you’re trying to poison me, Miss Grey.”
“I’d hate that too…” She continues holding out the thermos, so I take it and vow to pour it out when I get to my office.
“I need to finish twisting the wreaths.” She clears her throat. “My boss has everyone in emergency mode, so I have to be at my cubicle in a few hours.”
“Speaking of emergency mode, my alarm system went off this morning for the first time in ten years. Would you happen to know anything about that?”
“No, but ten years is a very long time to go without running an emergency test.” She shakes her head. “Maybe the alarm company just wanted to try it out when you least expected it.”
I narrow my eyes at her.
“Or, maybe someone is trying to make you as miserable as you make her feel, so you can change your horrible ways.” She shrugs. “Then again, your list of tasks is so long these days, that I’m sure you overlooked it.”
“Georgia Grey…” I step closer. “Between you and me, I know that this is the first real job you’ve ever had in your life.”
“Correction, it’s the worst job I’ve ever had in my life.”
“Nonetheless, the way to move up the ladder and get promoted isn’t by pissing off your boss.”
“Should I be kissing his ass like everyone else?”
“No, I’m sure there’s something else in his pants that he’d rather you kiss.”
Her jaw drops to the floor.
“Mr. Reiss?” My assistant steps into the room before I make a mistake and pull Georgia closer. “Mr. Reiss, I have your suit and shoes ready.”
“Thank you.” I step back. “Feel free to refresh Miss Grey’s mind about my policy on compliance while I get dressed, please.”
“Will do, sir.”
Georgia glares at me while I walk away, and I rush upstairs for a cold shower.
Fuck. Why the hell haven’t I fired her yet?