CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER ONE

JOSH

I push my chair away from my desk and roll my neck, trying to loosen the knots. I lean back and close my eyes. They’re strained from staring at the screen. Still getting used to this job.

I despise looking over these reports and spreadsheets. It’s all I ever do. Mind-numbing. Makes me want to sling the computer against the wall. But I don’t. Instead, I rise out of my chair and gaze out the window. People down below are like little ants, hustling to keep up. God, how depressing. With a resigned sigh, I sit back down and rest my head in my hands.

A knock at the door.

Now what?

A random secretary parades in.

My assistant, Remi, should have stopped her.

The leggy woman saunters toward me with an extra sway to her hips. She’s trying to be sexy, and it’s annoying. All the secretaries here give me looks. I don’t like it.

“What do you want?” I growl.

I want her out of here. She doesn’t understand how put off I am.

She tries to act innocent, but I see right through her.

“I wanted to drop this file off, but your assistant isn’t around, and––”

I cut her off. “Next time, leave it on his desk. I don’t like people coming in here and bothering me.”

I fiddle with my computer, hoping she’ll leave. She moves closer instead. Bends over my desk, offering me an excellent view of her chest.

I can’t help but stare, and she takes it as an invitation to sidle around and stop just inches away. God, that dress is tight. And those tits are huge.

Remi charges through the half-open door in his light blue suit and skinny tie. “Sorry, boss, I was in the bathroom.” He takes the woman by the elbow. “Let’s go.”

“But––”

“I said let’s go.”

Remi leads her across the room and out the door, closing it behind them. I shake my head and wonder why I’m even here.

I’m thankful for Remi, though. It took some time to find him. Human Resources sent me several hopeful assistants, but none of them quite worked out. They were all women, and all they wanted to do was flirt. That’s a recipe for disaster. They eventually hooked me up with Remi, and he’s been a godsend. He’s perfect.

I dismiss him early because it’s Friday, and we’ve gotten most of our work done for the day.

Locking up the office, I think back to my Navy Seal days, me and my team going out on missions, living on the edge. Shrapnel in my leg from a car bomb ended all of that. Put me on the sidelines indefinitely. But with a lot of hard work and a top-notch therapist, I recovered the full use of my leg. I left the military after that and joined the family business. Now here I am. Yay.

* * *

I open the door to my apartment and walk in. “Home, sweet home.” Discounting the view, this place is depressing.

A couch and television rest in the living room. Bed and dresser in the bedroom. And that’s all the furniture I have in the place for now. There is a second bedroom that sits vacant. Dining room is bare. Guess I have a lounge chair out on the balcony, where I sometimes sit at two in the morning. I really need to do something here. Mom’s been bugging me to let her fix it up. I’m about ready to say yes.

But I do have to say, this place is better than my old one. There I didn’t have an actual bed, slept on one of those swimming pool blowup mattresses. And before that, it was a couch that was too small and worn out. Every spring dug into my back. Weren’t those the days?

I turn on the television and chow down. Need to sleep tonight, so I’m rested for the big gathering tomorrow. Mom is throwing an engagement party at her house for my brother Ryder and his girl, Zoey. She skipped town and snuck off to Capri a while back. He tracked her down, they ironed things out, and he asked her to marry him. What a sap.

Anyway, I’m exhausted and hope to get some sleep before waking up with nightmares. Post-traumatic stress disorder is common after leaving the military. I was told to seek counseling if I experienced nightmares or insomnia. I’ve experienced both.

Three in the morning rolls around, and I can’t lie here any longer. Visions of old combat missions won’t let me sleep. I crawl out of bed and throw on some exercise clothes, head down to the gym on the second floor. I run on the treadmill for five miles and then lift some weights. An hour and a half later, I head back up to my place to take a shower, eat some breakfast. I need to kill time, so I go over reports and spreadsheets. Still mind-numbing. I glance at the clock. Tick, tick, tick. Time to go. This should be fun.