I’m Emma Sinclair.
First-generation overachiever.
New Strategy Development Manager at Titan Industries.
I worked for this. Fought for this.
Earned this.
So what if my hands are shaking, my stomach’s in knots, and I feel like the human embodiment of “overthinking”?
It’s just pre-first-day jitters.
Altitude and adrenaline conspiring against me.
As the automatic doors slide open and that muggy New York air hits my face, I straighten my shoulders and square my jaw.
New city. New job.
New chapter.
No more looking back. No more what-ifs about a man I barely knew.
I can do this. I will do this.
Even if the thought of walking into Titan Industries on Monday makes me want to throw up all over again.
Chapter four
~DONOVAN~
"You look like someone killed your dog."
I glance up from my laptop to find my executive assistant Margaret standing in my office doorway, arms crossed.
"I don't have a dog," I say flatly.
"Then you look like someone killed a dog you were considering getting." She walks in without invitation—a privilege earned for over fifteen years as my executive assistant—and sets a coffee on my desk. "Decaf. Because you've already had four cups this morning and your left eye is twitching."
"My eye is not—" I blink, realizing she's right. "It's the quarterly projections. The numbers are off."
"The numbers are perfect. You're just looking for problems because that's what you do when you're stressed." She settles into the chair across from me, which means this is going to be a conversation I can't escape. "What's really going on?"
"Nothing's going on. I'm preparing for tonight's reception."
"The reception that you've hosted a dozen times before without breaking a sweat?" Margaret's eyebrow arches. "Try again."
I close my laptop. “I’m fine, Margaret."
"You've been 'fine' for three weeks now. Ever since you came back from Miami." She pauses. "Logan mentioned you met someone."
"Logan needs to learn to keep his mouth shut."
"Logan is worried about you. We all are." Her voice softens. "Donovan, in the fifteen years I've worked foryou, I've never seen you this distracted. What happened in Miami?"
What happened in Miami?
Em happened in Miami.
