Chapter 5

Iwake up in the best mood I"ve had in over ten years. I can"t believe I found this amazing woman and spent all weekend making her mine. A pang in my chest makes me hesitate. I think I"m going to ask her to move in with me. I know things are moving pretty fast on my side, but I never thought I"d be able to have these feelings again.

Of course, I"ll never be able to love her. You only get one soulmate in this lifetime, and I"ve already had mine and lost her to illness. But Ashley makes me feel alive again. For that, I"ll give her the world.

I look around. She"s not here, so she must be elsewhere in the house. I"m glad she"s making herself comfortable. This will be her home from now on.

I"m hard for my kitten, but I get up and put on some boxers and a t-shirt. I need to find her to talk with her about our plans. I brush my teeth and then go searching for her. I call out her name, but she doesn"t answer. A feeling of dread starts growing in my chest, and suddenly I can"t breathe. Finally, after looking everywhere and even out where the pool is, I have to accept the truth. She left without a word of goodbye.

To prevent myself from wallowing in regret—I should have asked her to stay last night—I start getting ready for work. This week is off to a bad start, and unfortunately, knowing myself, my employees are going to pay the price. As I get dressed, I rack my brain with thoughts of how I could have prevented this from happening.

When I get to work at the nightclub, I"m short with everyone and go directly to my office to sulk. After an indeterminate amount of time, there"s a knock at the door.

"Go away!"

The door opens slightly, and Erik pops his head in.

"I"ve been told you"re in one of your moods, but today, we have a new employee, and I need to give her the tour and introduce her to everyone, including you."

"Can we not do that today?"

"I"ll introduce you quickly, then give her the rest of the tour. But it"s important. Keith picked her, and she comes highly recommended."

"Fine, just make it quick."

"Just don"t say anything, nod, and I"ll take it from there."

I do a mock salute and try to reread the documents I"ve been trying to go through for the past hour, to no avail. There"s got to be a way for me to find her, but I didn"t get too many details. Only a first name and a generalized career as an "artist." I can"t do much with that, but maybe I can contact a private investigator. Plus, there"s Friday"s security video. We can see if we can do some facial recognition. I"ve got some contacts that could help me.

Lost in my thoughts, I jump in my seat when there"s a knock on the door. Great, I"ve been brought down by a beautiful girl. I hear Erik talking when he walks into the room with someone behind him.

"Max, I"d like you to meet our new Social Media Manager, Annette McKinnon."

When she comes out from behind him, extending her hand to me, my heart starts to pump faster. Ashley"s beautiful face is frozen in utter horror, and her hand slowly falls back to her side. But that"s not her name. That"s not what Erik called her. She lied to me. About everything. I"m such a fool.

From the expression on her face, I know she didn"t seek to intentionally deceive me. She looks just as surprised. Or at least that"s what I"m telling myself.

I don"t get up from my seat or offer her my hand. I"m not ready for that yet. Anger is boiling my blood, and I can"t even think straight. So all I do is nod at Erik, which gets him talking again about nonsense. He ushers her out of my office and closes the door softly behind them. Right now, I"m frozen in my seat. I don"t know what to do or how to handle this unwanted surprise.

Firing her is not an option. Our partner Keith made a strategic decision to bring the new marketing person here, and I agreed to give them a chance to help promote the club. The better we do, the sooner we can open the doors in other cities. Can I work and have her (whatever her real name is) just a few doors down from this office? Do I even want to interact with this person that deceived me?

I start pacing, trying to figure out what to do. That"s how Erik finds me.

"Hey Max, what"s going on? When I brought in Annette, you looked like you saw a ghost."

"What"s her name again?"

"Annette McKinnon."

"Right, get me her personnel file as soon as you can."

"I"ve already read it several times. She"s a great addition to the team."

"Erik, don"t give me any grief, and get me the file."

"Fine. But you need to get yourself out of this mood you"re in. Go to the gym or out for a run. That vein in your head looks like it"s going to explode any second."

He leaves my office but slams the door this time. I"ve gotten on his nerves. Like I care. I"ve got a shit ton of things to deal with. Starting with the beautiful and deceitful Annette. At least the name also starts with an A. Honestly, I shouldn"t approach her when I"m this upset. I don"t know if I"m going to yell at her or spank her in the middle of her new office.

It doesn"t really matter because something just made the decision for me, and I"m walking out of my office and heading over to where our new Social Media Manager has her office. I have this need to find out why she left me like that—sneaking out instead of talking to me like a grown-up. Unfortunately, I suspect she knew I wouldn"t let her go anytime soon.

Outside her door, I take a deep breath to compose myself, and then I walk in. This is my club after all, I don"t have to knock at any door to gain entrance. Annette is talking to someone on the phone and is pacing around the office. When she sees me, she hangs up and stands there, just looking at me. I cannot decipher what's going on in that beautiful brain of hers. All I can do is state the obvious.

"You lied to me."