"Man, I wouldn't want your job for love or money."
Sergei shrugged. "Is good job."
I knew Sergei spoke better English than this so I had no idea why he was giving me the Russian routine. I didn't have time to ask. The elevator came to a stop on my floor, and the doors slid open.
I shot the tall man a smile. "Have a good day, Mr. Zhukov."
Sergei chuckled. "You, too, Mr. Lancaster."
See? Perfect English.
I snickered and shook my head as I walked off the elevator and then down the hall to my office. Maryann, my secretary, was already behind her desk when I arrived.
"Good morning, Mr. Lancaster."
In all the years she'd worked for me, she never called me Andrew.
"Good morning, Maryann. Would you get me a cup of coffee, please? I didn't have time to grab some this morning."
"Right away, sir." She held up some slips of paper. "Mrs. Lancaster has called five times, sir. The messages are in your inbox."
I growled. "I am no longer accepting messages from the former Mrs. Lancaster. If she calls again, refer her to my attorney."
Maryann's eyes rounded. "She said she was going to come down here if you didn't return her call."
Damn.
This woman was going to be the death of me, or get me twenty years behind bars after I strangled her. "I'll make sure security knows she is no longer allowed into the building."
I walked into my office as Maryann jumped up and hurried to the break room to get my coffee. I set my briefcase down on the corner of my desk and then walked around to sit down in my chair.
I reached over to turn on my laptop before loading up my inbox to see whatever messages Maryann had taken before I got to the office. I was surprised that there were only five. Usually, there was more than that.
I started going through them one by one, alerting security to the situation with Madeline, making phone calls to business contacts, and generally putting out fires that had started before I even got out of bed.
I smiled at Maryann when she brought me my coffee and mouthedthank you.
Maryann nodded and then walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her. I finished up my phone calls then got to work researching some cases that would help support the zoning motion I needed to file by the end of the week.
One of the reasons Silver Spoons Inc. employed me was because I was good at my job and I was willing to put in the work to get what my clients wanted. I often worked late, and I was on call twenty-four hours a day.
I was also paid very well and I enjoyed my work, so it was worth it, but with my bosses starting families of their own, I was beginning to wonder if I was missing out. They worked hard, but they were also starting to take the time to enjoy life.
I needed to think about doing something like that myself. I wasn't exactly getting any younger. And maybe, if I was lucky enough, I'd find someone to go on that adventure with me.
Dalton's face came instantly to mind.
Chapter Three
~ Dalton ~
"Home yet?"
I smiled as I texted Andrew to see if he had gotten home from work yet. We'd been texting back and forth for over a week now, and I wanted some face time. Maybe, if that went well, we could work our way up to an in-person meeting.
"Just walked in the door," Andrew texted back.
"How was your day?"
