Chapter 21

Monica watched Luke walk out of her office. The man had a fantastic ass, so it wasn"t a hardship. It was pathetic how much better she felt after seeing him.

"Ms. Cole?" And there went her good mood. Amelia"s tone said it all.

"Mr. Carmichael is looking for me." It wasn"t a question. Her secretary only called her by her last name when she had bad news to deliver.

"Yes, Ms. Cole."

Better to get it over with sooner rather than later. She walked across the office floor. Carmichael"s usually stuck-up secretary wasn"t at her desk, so she walked straight up to the office door and knocked.

"Come in."

Monica took a deep breath and braced for whatever lecture she was sure she would be getting. Despite her best intentions, she was late again today. The fire marshal needed to meet with her and there was no way she could show up at the office in sweats. A stop at her favorite boutique had been a must.

"You asked to see me?"

"I did. I want to see how things are going."

She was momentarily stunned. Was this some kind of trap? It had to be. He probably wanted to see if she would admit what was happening.

"There was a fire at my neighbor"s house last night and it extended to mine. Not the entire townhouse but my bedroom is destroyed, and I had to meet with the fire marshal this morning, plus get something professional to wear to work today. I apologize for being late again."

She was the second most powerful person in the company, and still, she turned into a stuttering mess every time she was called into his office. It was worse than being sent to the principal's office.

"That"s two incidents in just as many days. Is there something I need to be made aware of?"

She wasn"t a fan of his tone or the way he insinuated this was somehow her fault.

"It"s nothing I can"t handle."

"You sure about that?"

Maybe she was taking the wrong approach to this. Instead of being on the defensive all the time, perhaps she should try clueing him in.

She moved farther into the office and dropped into one of the chairs that sat in front of his desk.

"To be honest, I have no idea. The vandalism to my car was a direct hit on me. That much is clear. The fire marshal confirmed that the fire was arson. It wasn"t started at my place, but Luke and his company believe it was an indirect hit to me."

"Who's Luke?"

Oh, right. When they talked about Silverstein and Fletcher, she forgot to mention there were more people involved.

"I met him in Rome. His security company works with federal agencies on jobs they can"t be associated with. They were sent to Rome to gain intel on Alexander Fletcher and spotted me with him. They questioned me and I explained my involvement."

She purposefully avoided saying Samuel"s name because it was a hair trigger for Carmichael. If she wanted to keep this meeting civil, it was in her best interest not to use the name.

"So Rome ended up being more than just a brief meeting? You lied to me."

Monica did her best to stay calm. Did she really think she could get one step ahead when it came to this man?

"I wouldn"t call it a lie, but yes, it was more than a meeting. I was protecting the company. Luke and his team questioned me. Based on what they could see, and the research they had done, they knew I wasn"t involved. At least not in any way illegal."

"And where is Fletcher now?"

"No one knows. He went into hiding after the arrest of your former partner and he did the same when I turned him down. But they believe these attacks are an intimidation tactic to get me to comply."

"And are they? Is whoever is attacking you successful in intimidating you?" Carmichael clarified.

Monica snorted and then immediately regretted it when Carmichael gave her a disapproving look. The sound wasn"t the least bit professional.

"No, they aren"t intimidating me. They're pissing me off and just giving me more reasons to dig in my heels and protect our clients. I didn"t work this hard to be scared by someone who can"t even show their face when they attack my property."

Carmichael seemed pleased by her response. It was the only time she could ever remember getting that look from him.

"Good. I can"t have my CEO caving to the demands of others. We need to show that we are better than this Fletcher individual. For our clients' sake."

That was the first time since she bought in as a partner that Carmichael had used the word, we when discussing the company. Maybe there was hope for her after all.

"You keep mentioning this Luke as if you know him personally. Is this a relationship that"s going to distract you from being successful?"

And just like that, he ruined it.

"My relationship with Luke has no bearing on the work that I do. I can juggle both a personal life and a professional life."

The look he gave her said he didn"t believe a word she said. That was too damn bad. She was sticking to her guns on this one. Her relationship was none of his business. Ash was right, she needed to stick up for herself.

"Keep me in the loop when it comes to Fletcher. I don"t want any more surprises."

She promised to do so and then slipped back out of the office. Overall, it went better than she expected. Even if it had been a roller coaster of ups and downs when it came to Carmichael"s moods.

The rest of her workday flew by in a flurry of phone calls and emails. Fortunately, she only had one meeting and the older gentleman was one of her favorite clients. He said she reminded him of his granddaughter, so every time they met, he would bring in chocolates and spend more time making her laugh than actually getting work done. It was the kind of meetings Carmichael would frown over, but Monica liked to run things differently. She would rather her clients treat her like family than just another person who worked for them.

By the time she rode the elevator down to the lobby, she was tired. Two days in a row she missed out on her necessary amount of sleep. If she didn"t go to bed at a decent time tonight, who knew what havoc she would wreak the next day.

"You looked exhausted."

"And they say you"re the charming one," she snapped back at Ryker. He wasn"t the man she had hoped to see, and her mood reflected that.

"I am, but I"m also honest and you look like you could use some sleep."

"Yes, well, dealing with cops and firefighters two nights in a row has made it impossible to get any sleep. Maybe Fletcher, or whoever he"s sending to torment me, could take a night off."

Ryker bumped her shoulder with a laugh. "If we find the person, I'll be sure to put the request in for you."

Monica looked around the lobby. "Where"s Luke?" She fully expected him to pick her up.

"He had a meeting with the local chief of police, otherwise he would"ve picked you up himself. He asked me to bring you back to his place."

Disappointment washed over her. She was looking forward to being with him, even if it was just the drive home. There was something satisfying about going home together.

Wait, what?

They weren"t going home together. She was only staying at Luke"s place until hers was livable again. It wasn"t their home. It was Luke"s.

The ride to Luke"s was silent. She doubted that was normal for Ryker, but maybe he sensed that she needed time to work through what was happening in her mind. They had been back from Rome for less than a week and already she was jumping ahead in her relationship with Luke. Taking things slow. Wasn"t that what he told her?

Monica hadn"t even realized that the vehicle was parked in front of Luke"s place until Ryker was dangling a set of keys in front of her face.

"I"m sorry, I missed that. What did you say?"

Ryker gave her a knowing smile. "Luke told me to give you these. He said you can keep them. I"ll walk you to the door and then get out of your hair."

They were a set of keys to Luke"s apartment. Somehow the thought of having them sent her heart into overdrive.

It"s just because you"re staying here for a bit. It"s easier.

Monica did her best to try to convince herself that having keys to Luke"s place was nothing more than a convenience, but her heart wasn"t having it. Somehow this felt like something more.

"Thank you." She gingerly took the keys and stepped out of the vehicle. The walk to Luke"s door felt different today than it had last night. This time, she would be in his space by herself.

"Good night, Monica."

Ryker waited until she was inside before he turned to leave.

Monica dropped her bag on a bench in the entryway. As she walked through Luke"s apartment, she did so with a fresh set of eyes. The place was nothing like she expected. Luke had mentioned a recent move to the area, so her first guess would"ve been a bachelor pad with barely any furniture. Maybe a recliner, TV, and the basics. Instead, the place was stunning and homey. Every accent was masculine, so it was easy enough to assume a woman hadn"t decorated it, but based on how busy Luke was, she didn"t know when he had found the time.

She moved straight to the bedroom and stripped out of her dress and heels. This was the best part of her day. When she could shed the CEO look and crawl into something more comfortable. Unfortunately, when she purchased clothes that morning, comfy wasn"t on the agenda.

As Monica stood there in Luke"s bedroom, she realized she only had two options. Put her dress back on and wait for Luke to get home so they could go shopping once again. Or she could snoop through his drawers until she found something more suitable to wear.

After looking at the bed with longing, she decided the second option was the only one she cared about. Grabbing a pair of sweats and a t-shirt from the drawers, she shrugged them on.

Luke"s bed was calling her name. She was so damn tired after the last few days, a little nap wouldn"t hurt. Ryker never said what time Luke would be home.

Decision made, Monica slid into the cozy sheets and settled on a pillow that spelled distinctly like Luke. This was probably his side of the bed, but she didn"t care. Now that her head had hit the pillow, there was nothing that could get her to move.

Within moments, sleep dragged her under and that"s exactly how Luke found her a couple of hours later.