She was a gorgeous woman working at the Seymour Group, a big media company.
She cared more about her makeup than her meetings with bosses. Even though she followed orders, she dreamed big about moving up in her career, aiming to be more than just a local TV anchor.
Her main goal was to have her own show and prove herself. One day, she got stuck in an elevator with the boss of the Seymour Group. She saw this as a chance to impress him. To her surprise, the boss, who seemed arrogant at first, knew her already.
His playful talk made her wonder if he was just killing time or trying to get closer to her. Little did she know, this meeting would change her life. They not only worked together but also formed a deeper connection that went beyond work.
The meal progresses with no relief in tension, though I’m not sure anyone notices it besides me. It’s Elvis who introduces me to Jisella, whom he seems to have chatted up for almost the entirety of the time Hadrian was escorting me around the room. They even have inside jokes already, which is so Elvis…
He looks at me with disbelief. “What are you doing?” “Reacting naturally to your very inappropriate actions.” He chuckles. “In here or out there? Because that k**s felt very much initiated by you.” “In here started out there, which was very much initiated by you.” He takes a step toward me. “So it’s my fault…
As soon as I’m able to move, I push him away, but he quickly pulls me back to him, so I can face him this time. He cups both sides of my face, staring at me like I could be his world. And that’s what sex does to men. Makes them think they’re in love…
He raises an eyebrow, letting me know exactly what he thinks about that idea, but he considers all the same. “From a pure business perspective, it isn’t any different than other forms of stunt publicity, which works as often as it backfires. But you’re selling the news here, Hadrian. Not a gossip network. I don’t…
“Not concerned? How can you be not concerned? This can’t be good for the show.” “Actually…Scott? Would you like to tell Brystin what you were telling me?” Scott throws me a look, and I know he’s thinking about her reputation and the harm these sorts of continued rumors might have for her in the long…
Her ch*st rises sharply as her breath hitches. When she speaks again, her voice trembles. “But you don’t want me, Hadrian. You’re just a spoiled boy who thinks he wants what he can’t have.” That’s what it is. That has to be what it is. Spoiled, privileged, billionaire boy. It’s a slap in the face…
“Uh…” Whatever she thinks is happening, I’m pretty sure she has the wrong idea. I’m going to need to have some more information, but now her attention is on flagging down the waiter for her check. As I wait for her return focus, I scan the marina around us for details. I figure tonight’s event…
I’m gentler when I step toward him. “Are you afraid it ruins what he had with your mother?” “No. It’s. I…” He swallows, looking at his expensive shoes as he shakes his head. “I always thought he couldn’t. Couldn’t love anyone but her. Was incapable. But if he loves Giulia—” He turns his head in…
Oh, wow. We’re going there now. To the real stuff. “It was always just me and my mother. Even when my father was still living with us, I never knew him as not a junkie.” “Is he still…?” I say the word he politely avoided. “Alive? No. Died in a mugging when I was twenty.…
“—Pavla.” “Right.” Then I remember the odd thing about Hunter’s biography. Pavla had married Reynard when Hunter was two. Nowhere on the internet could I find a mention of Hunter’s mother. I hadn’t been interested enough at the time, but now I realize why the information had been hidden, why Adly made the remark she…