“That’s too bad.”
“Tell me about it. Vincent is losing his mind. Turns out, no one wants to work with him, and with Meera Pharmaceuticals infringing on our market …” She trailed off and shrugged.
“Well, that’s not my business anymore,” I said flatly, tired of talking about the company I used to work for. They made their bed. They could lay in it.
“Are you here with anyone?” Maureen glanced around as if searching for someone to magically appear at my side.
My shoulders sagged ever so slightly underneath the weight of her question. I did my best to hide it, but I couldn’t help but feel a little bereft. As much as I felt cared for by Brutus’ kindness in sending the car, I wanted him by my side.
But I told myself I couldn’t be selfish. I’d canceled plenty of dates before due to work. When one worked for one of the most wealthy and influential families in the city, it was expected, at least some of the time. I could give him the benefit of the doubt.
I lifted my chin and started to tell Maureen I was alone, but a deep voice behind me interrupted.
“There you are,” Brutus said while his hand slipped around my waist. Pulling me into his hold, he leaned down to place a kiss on my cheek.
Everything inside of me felt like the sun had decided to shine on us. A hum broke free from my throat. I blinked my eyes open and smiled up at him.
“Hi.”
He greeted that with a brilliant smile. Those three words I’d felt earlier came back to mind. I did not doubt that I was in love with Brutus. But I bit my tongue, holding them in.
Brutus looked past my shoulder, reminding me that we weren’t alone.
I turned back to Maureen. Her mouth hung open, but when she looked over at me, she clamped her lips shut. Still, as she peered up and up at Brutus, I noticed the interest in her eyes.
“I’m Brutus,” he introduced. “And you are?”
“Babe,” I started, “this is Maureen. We used to work together.”
Brutus nodded, looking over her assessingly. His expression remained pleasant yet impassive.
“Pleasure.” He turned back to me. “Did you save us a seat?”
Just that fast, he’d dismissed Maureen from the conversation. It bordered on this side of rude, but honestly, I didn’t care too much. The last thing I wanted was to hear anything else about Corsica.
“I was entering when I ran into Maureen.”
Brutus took my hand. “Good. Let’s take a seat in the front.” He peered at Maureen. “Have a good night.”
I barely managed to toss Maureen a wave over my shoulder before letting Brutus lead me to the front of the lecture hall. I would’ve told him that it was unlikely we could find seats in the front row, considering the number of people in attendance. Yet, like they had been waiting for us and us alone, two chairs sat empty, side-by-side.
When he sat, I leaned over and pressed my lips to Brutus’ cheek. “Thank you.”
* * *
Brutus
I felt like an ass.
Work had me busy as hell all day.
Both Aaron and Joshua had outside meetings that they needed security detail for. Typically, that wasn’t an issue, and we could coordinate the security for their travel without a problem. But I recently had to implement extra security measures because a few more threats had made their way onto my desk.
Add to that the fact that we continued to be short-staffed. When I let Taggert go, I knew it had to be done, but the fucker was a good damn security specialist. The problem was that he became more of a liability than an asset. Yet, it had been difficult to replace him with someone as highly skilled.
“Did you enjoy the talk?” Mia asked as held her chair out for her in the Asian fusion restaurant.
The sound of her voice pulled me out of the musings about work. My stomach sank with guilt as I took my seat. She peered across the table with those beautiful, expressive eyes, and I wanted nothing more than to make her happy.
