Thirty-Three
Marie
It tookus a long time to summon the energy to get dressed.
And even longer before I managed to focus enough to grab my bag and pull out the files.
We sit, side by side, and I tap at the one in front of him.
“When were you going to tell me that you owned the building we both live in?”
He glances at me then right back at the page I printed out.
But I don’t miss his sheepish smile.
I certainly hear the chagrin in his words, though, when he says, “It didn’t matter.”
My eyebrows flick up. “And all those times you conveniently ran into me were just coincidence?” I ask dryly.
He pulls the folder closer, as though he’s studiously absorbing every word.
I clear my throat. “Well?”
“Well what?”
How can a man who brought me so much pleasure, also drive me so insane? “Were those times you ran into me coincidences?”
“If I say yes, will you believe me?”
“No.” I roll my eyes, but I’m smiling, and I don’t fight him when he disturbs the papers by pulling me into his lap. It feels so good that I let him, ignoring his huff of laughter, and settling on his chest.
“I was determined not to like you, you know,” I murmur long moments later.
“Yup.” I still in surprise. “Hence needing those coincidences.”
I giggle. “You’re incorrigible.”
“You’ve called me worse things and I’ve liked those too.”
I giggle again, but before I can go back to the papers I brought, he asks, “How’d you find out about the building, anyway?”
“About you owning it?”
He smooths back my hair. “Yeah, gorgeous,” he says. “It’s in a trust and usually that creates enough distance between my properties and myself.”
A flicker of pride sliding through me. “I’m good at what I do.”
“Yeah, you are.” He kisses the top of my head. “I’ll have to tell my lawyers to be trickier to keep you on your toes.”
“That won’t stop me, muahaha.”
He chuckles, draws me closer. “I’m sure it won’t.”
I want to just hang here, cuddled against him, and not think about Angela or the FBI or corporate sabotage. But this is important, and he needs to know.
“I found the trust because the same realtor who sold Angela a house, also sold properties to your trust, Duarte Enterprises, and one of your head scientists on the blood clot research project.”
I feel his body tense. “What?”
