One of the things I loved most about having such a huge family was that there were plenty of kids to buy presents for. It was truly one of my biggest joys in life. I had a system too: I looked at various blogs and influencers for age-appropriate toys, and then I made lists upon lists on Amazon so I wouldn’t forget them. I tried to buy from local sellers, but sometimes I had to order direct from Amazon itself. I had all the packages delivered to my office.
There was always someone either on the floor or downstairs in the reception area, and they didn’t mind bringing my packages to me. In the beginning, I’d shipped them to my house, but then the delivery guy would start asking other people in the building to take the packages. He wouldn’t leave them with the doorman. I didn’t want to annoy my neighbors with all the stuff I’d order. But now my office looked like Santa’s workshop, and I had at least eleven or so more gifts on the way. Someone with a sense humor—probably my favorite assistant, Larissa—had put the boxes in the shape of a Christmas tree.
I glanced out of my office. ‘Larissa, can you come in here quickly?’
When she appeared in my doorway, she gave me a shit-eating grin. Yeah, I was right on the money.
‘Is this your work of art?’ I asked.
‘Of course. Who else would do it?’
‘No one.’ She and I were two peas in a pod. ‘Did I really order that much?’
‘Yes, boss, you did. Might I remind you that Travis said they really don’t need so many gifts? I believe your cousin Tate said the same thing.’
‘Shush, you. Don’t ruin my mojo.’
I might have a little shopping addiction, but my cousins and I had worked out a system—I wouldn’t give the kids all the presents at once. However, that didn’t mean I couldn’t order them at the same time. Besides, I’d also purchased gifts for the adults. I paid attention whenever someone said they wanted something. We could all buy everything we needed, of course, but it was nice to receive a gift you really wanted.
‘Are you going to open the boxes and wrap up the gifts?’ Larissa asked.
‘No, not right now,’ I said. ‘I have a lot of things to do. Thanks for brightening up my day, Larissa.’
She smiled warmly. ‘You’re welcome, boss. I knew you’d appreciate it.’
‘I do.’
I was grinning from ear to ear as I sat behind my desk. I had plenty of time to wrap everything nicely before Christmas.
Based on my to-do list, I had my work cut out for me today. I always liked to prepare a list the day before so I was ready to hit the ground running in the morning. I glanced through my inbox, just to make sure there wasn’t anything pressing that should take precedence. Then I opened my email. I also checked my phone and saw a new message from an unknown number. If my shopping habits were any indication, it was probably a reminder from one of my million favorite stores advising me that they were having a sale.
I sank farther into my chair as I read the text. It wasn’t about a sale. The message was from Malcolm.
I spoke to a bunch of lawyers. They insist I have a case against you and your family. You stopped the spa from moving forward because you had your own plans for a hotel. You premeditated this.
I gasped, pressing my lips together. I inhaled deeply, hoping to calm myself. My door was open, and anyone could pass by and see that I was upset.
I got up and closed the door, then came back to my seat and read the rest of the message.
You’ll be hearing from my team. But don’t think you’ll get away with this. Travis either. I don’t care how much Declan tries to intimidate me. I’m coming for what’s mine.
For what’s his? How dare he?
I pressed my eyelids together, wiping away the tears.
No! I’ve shed enough tears for Malcolm. Not this time. He isn’t worth it.
He’d pulled shit like this before, and I always came out the other side. I drew in a deep breath, pushing my phone away from me.
My to-do list was staring at me, but I couldn’t focus for shit right now. I put my head in my palms, drawing in another few breaths.
I knew it. I never should have agreed to work with Travis at the hotel. It took my cousin months to convince me to join before I gave in. He thought I was playing hard to get or that I just needed more time off. Neither was true. I’d been afraid of exactly this—that if Malcolm knew I was involved, he’d strike one way or another.
I thought if he found out that Travis was operating the hotel alone, he’d stay away. But now he could take my involvement as a provocation. After all, Malcolm and I had wanted to open our spa in this very same building back then.
But that was bullshit. I had the right to do whatever the hell I wanted with my grandmother’s building. I thought we were rid of Malcolm, but the man was never going to leave me alone. Over my dead body would he get any money from the hotel. It was a Maxwell legacy, and he wasn’t a Maxwell. Never would be.
My first instinct was to reach out to Declan, but I didn’t. I wanted to let this marinate in my mind for a while.
Doubt started creeping in. The months after I canceled the wedding were a blur. I was so heartbroken that I took a step back from dealing with Malcolm. We mainly communicated through Declan, who’d been cutthroat, as usual. For the first time, I asked myself… maybe too cutthroat? We’d left him with absolutely nothing. But maybe if we’d given him something, he would have gone away for good.
I rose from my desk and paced the room, happy that no one else could see me as I tugged at my lower lip with my thumb and forefinger. I mentally slapped myself, knowing I needed to stop it or I was going to draw blood. I had to tell Travis at some point. The rest of the family too. But that wouldn’t be today.
Why would Malcolm do this now? Why not before?
With a pang in my chest, I realized why. Last week we sent out a press release that we were expanding beyond Aspen and Chicago. We’d found another new location in LA. Malcolm knew he had a lot of money to sink his teeth into. My family‘s money.
He couldn’t get away with this.
I had to pull myself together. I wasn’t going to solve this right now.
Taking another breath, I decided to open the door. That way, I would have to keep my composure; otherwise, I’d spend the whole day in a meltdown. I hated that Malcolm still had so much power over me; that one single message sent me into a tailspin. I was a strong woman, but this had completely unsettled me.
Sitting behind my desk again, I adjusted my list so I saw it properly and put my phone far out of reach. I didn’t think Malcolm would text again, and I knew better than to reply to him. That would just provoke him more.
I did well for a while after that—at least until lunch, when I made the mistake of looking at my phone again. He hadn’t written anything new, but the problem came back front and center to my mind. What had he been up to these past years, anyway?
I looked him up on LinkedIn. Nothing came up when I searched his name. Then I searched Francesca. Also nothing.
Hmmmm.
What were they doing back in Chicago? Why had they even attended the De Monet charity event? I was desperate for information, and I didn’t want to talk to him to find out. If one message put me in this state, I didn’t even want to think about what talking to him might do to me.
At lunch, Kimberly knocked at my door. ‘Hey, want to join me, Drake, and Travis in the meeting room? We’re having lunch. We might fight over pizza again.’
I forced the corners of my mouth upward, not wanting my sister to sense I wasn’t happy. ‘No, I’m good. I have a lot to do today, so I’ll stay in my office.’
‘You won’t have lunch?’
‘Nope,’ I said.
‘You’re passing on pizza?’ Kimberly asked, as if she couldn’t possibly believe it.
Pizza was my kryptonite, which my sister knew.
‘Yeah, I had a big breakfast.’
‘Okay. And I see you’re giving me a run for my money in the gifts department.’ She shook her head, glancing at the pile of presents. ‘Send me your list, okay? So I don’t accidentally buy the same thing.’
‘Sure,’ I said, already a bit absentminded.
‘Reese, are you sure you’re okay?’ Kimberly asked.
Damn it. My fake smile was still wide on my face. ‘Yeah, just… I had a bit of a late start, and now I’m in a manic phase.’
‘Fine. I won’t disturb you. Want me to close the door?’
‘No, no. Leave it open.’ I was likely to spiral out again if I had privacy.
After she left, I got back to my to-do list, but because of my flat-out lie, I got hangry at around three o’clock. I debated going to the sandwich shop my sister loved across the street, but I didn’t want to waste any time.
Despite trying my best to focus on work, I’d fallen behind today, and I didn’t want to slack off. I prided myself on my work ethic.
A knock at the door startled me an hour later.
‘Reese?’ My assistant stood there with what I was certain was a club sandwich.
‘Oh my God, is that food? You’re a lifesaver,’ I exclaimed.
‘Yeah, it is. Kimberly said you weren’t joining them for lunch because you had a big breakfast, which I thought was odd. You told me you skipped it.’
I cleared my throat. She and I had a mutual understanding about secrets.
‘Anyway, I went to buy something at the pharmacy and thought you might like this.’
I smiled gratefully. ‘Thanks. And not a word to Kimberly, okay?’
‘You didn’t even have to mention that, boss.’
‘Better safe than sorry.’
After she left, I ate the sandwich quickly, then got back to work.
I ended up staying overtime at the office. I’d finished my last to-do item at five thirty, but once everyone filtered out, I basked in the calmness of the empty office. My adrenaline subsided. I still hadn’t made any headway as to why Malcolm thought he had a claim on anything, but I wasn’t as apprehensive as this morning. Still, an uneasy feeling lingered in my chest.
The phone rang, startling me. I didn’t look at it, fearing it might be Malcolm demanding a response. Then I shook myself. I wasn’t a chicken. I was acting completely out of character today. I didn’t cower, I didn’t hide away in fear, and I didn’t keep things from my family.
When I finally glanced at the screen, I relaxed.
Dom was calling. My stomach somersaulted, but for entirely different reasons than before. My lips burned with the memory of the kiss. I answered right away.
‘Good evening, Reese.’
‘Dom, hi,’ I said.
‘Am I interrupting anything?’
‘No, just me at the office.’
‘At this hour?’
‘It’s been an interesting day.’ Why do I have the propensity to spill my guts around this man?
‘What’s wrong?’ he asked.
How did he even pick that from my voice?
‘Just got some bad news today.’
‘What happened?’
‘The details don’t matter.’
‘I see.’
‘It’s not like you can do anything about it,’ I added.
And wasn’t that the truth? I wasn’t sure who could do something about it. Declan, probably, but he and Liz had a lot going on.
‘I have a proposition for you.’
‘Oh, I’ve come to love sentences that start like that,’ I said, swinging back and forth in my chair.
‘That’s great to hear. Let’s go somewhere and not talk,’ he suggested.
I laughed, biting my lower lip. ‘So what exactly would we be doing?’
“You shared a guilty pleasure of yours with me. I want to do the same.”
‘Meaning?’ I asked. ‘I feel like I should get a few more details.’
‘Why? Are you afraid?’
‘A bit.’
‘Hmm. Well, you’re not getting any. You have to trust me on this one.’
My pulse was crazy; I felt it in my ears and my neck and over my whole chest, like my heart had somehow increased in size. ‘All right,’ I said. ‘Let’s go wherever you want to. I’m wearing jeans and a sweater. Is that okay?”
I usually wore more formal clothes at work, but today I’d been in the mood for something casual.
‘You could wear nothing at all, and it’d still fit.’ He groaned. ‘That didn’t come out the way it should have.’
Holy shit. I was so hot all of a sudden that I felt the need to discard every item of clothing I had on.
‘Right, maybe I should insist on you telling me where we’re going. Is it someplace where we need clothes?’
‘You want to go somewhere with me where we have to be naked?’
I burst out laughing, replaying my previous sentence in my mind.
‘Of course we’re going somewhere where clothes are necessary, Reese. I would give you a proper heads-up if I had other plans,’ he murmured.
‘Good, I would appreciate that. And before, I meant if we’re going somewhere with a dress code.’
“No, don’t worry about it.”
‘Want me to pick you up at the office?’
‘Yeah, sure. Why not?’
I’d drive my own car, but I planned to drink a glass or two or ten of something yummy, and I didn’t want to have to bother with driving. I’d just grab an Uber to the office tomorrow morning.
‘See you in a bit, Reese.’
‘Are you coming from the store?’
‘Yes.’
‘Okay. I’ll make sure to be ready in a few minutes.’ He wasn’t far, so he’d be here in ten, maybe fifteen if there was a lot of traffic.
The second he hung up, I opened my laptop, turning on the camera and applying makeup. It was my trick for getting myself ready without going to the restroom. The camera served as a decent mirror, though the lighting in the office wasn’t the best for makeup, but I was a pro. I applied blush as well as lipstick. I never bothered with mascara; even with the waterproof ones, I often ended up looking like a panda midway through dinner.
I was a bit jittery, which didn’t help with putting on the lipstick. It took me two tries to finally get it right. Once I was done, I took the stairs down to the lobby, happy to get rid of some of the excess energy—I’d skipped my workout today, so I had even more adrenaline than usual.
I waved to the team behind the reception on my way out.
‘Bye, Reese,’ they said in stunned voices. They probably thought I’d left an hour ago.
Once outside, I paced back and forth in front of the hotel. My entire body vibrated when I spotted Dom’s Range Rover.
