What had I been thinking? Getting involved with my bosses—multiple bosses—like this was some fantasy instead of real life with real consequences.
Orion’s cold professionalism. The way he’d stared through me in that meeting. Leo had said, “We’ll think about it,” instead of backing my idea.
I had misread everything, and the ick stuck to my soul. How many times did I need to glom onto attractive but not-wanting-to-commit men before I learned my lesson?
My phone buzzed with a text from Leo.
Leo:He’s dealing with something. It’s not about you.
Me:Feels like it’s about me.
Leo:It’s complicated. Can we talk?
Me:Later. I need to think.
I set my phone face down and lay on the sofa staring at the ceiling, wondering if I was being paranoid or if my entire life was about to get infinitely more complicated.
After the events of the past five days, how could I survive this?
A stunning realization hit me. I was wrong. I shouldn’t have come here. I was not equipped to deal with men this rich, this domineering—this damnably handsome. It had rattled my head. I had to correct this.
Chapter 10
Leo
She stopped respondingto my texts.
Damn.
Women never pulled away from me. Usually, they were the ones trying to extend conversations, angling for another date, or another chance. I’d always been the one to end things—gently, kindly, but definitively. My problem wasn’t rejection. It was that no woman held my interest once I figured her out.
And a girl in her twenties shouldn’t fascinate me. I’d never been one for age-inappropriate relationships. But Tashi acted and thought more maturely than her physical age. And I’d been lying in bed at night obsessing over her lush curves and her soft skin. I had it bad for this woman.
I would find out what was bothering her.
But now, as I stood outside her room, she wasn’t answering the door. And I was growing concerned. Tashi attracted accidents like other people collected gambling debts. I pulled out my master key card and stared at it. I was a corporate officer, and Tashi was in my employ, so I had every right to check on her.
That was a lie. She deserved her privacy.
And yet, I had to find out what had upset her so profoundly that she stopped talking to me.
The door clicked shut behind me. It was loud enough that Tashi should have heard it.
I found her in her bedroom with a suitcase open on the bed, clothes flying in with jerky precision, which meant the brain had stopped taking votes and the body was moving on sheer momentum.
I drew a sharp breath before I spoke.
“Tashi,” I said softly.
She didn’t look at me. A blouse missed the suitcase by a foot and slid to the floor. She swiped at her cheeks like the tears were a nuisance, not a symptom.
She scoffed. “Of course you’d show up,” she said without glancing at me, her voice tight. “You can’t let me pack in peace.”
“This looks like war, not peace,” I said evenly.
“Don’t, Leo. Please. I can’t?—”
“Can’t do what?”
