e sets the cup on her desk. Oat milk l

memorized after our third date when she mentioned-j

efore I can ask. Her tone is gentle. Pitying, m

up at Sinclair Technologies at 7:47 AM with coffe

a's office. Instead, she studies me for a while be

cour

cof

sor

nd gestures men like you usually make

rosted glass door stays shut. Her name etched in eme

, searching for words that don't make me sound completely pathetic. "Coffee is what I brought h

embe

ea

row it away right in front of me. But she says, "She drinks them.

smile too brief for her to notice

" But she's almost smiling.

d slide into my car whe

ustries?"

ur

blurring past-glass and steel and people who don't spend

your pathetic coffee delivery servi

try not to think about the f

ee me. Four days of Marlene's pitying looks and my own stubborn

coffee. That has to mea

*

y reports and hostile takeover strategies unti

e chair across from my desk. "Chasi

ng to you,

ian. She's not softening.

Victor's blue eyes, but Marcus's hold bit

t me to

She's playing along for her own reasons-probably revenge. You

she'll remember I loved her enough to l

rp, humorless. "Y

g up. That's more than

t happen. About my disappearing act. About the two years I sp

e ashamed,"

he was wrong abou

uding

es. "He saw a threat. I see the

cket. "When she ruins you-and she

. I sit i

*

week. I show up at Sinclair Technologies at 8

I walk down the hallway

me

the doo

mid-sentence with someone in Tokyo. She's wearing emer

e, drunk on wine and her

A mix of surprise and an

ends the call. Sets down her phone with

wasn't at

t give you c

en." My voice crack

, Adrian. Wome

ite color on you

e knew it when she pulled that si

he must've checked her reflection and pretended she looke

ncid

ven't thrown away a single coffee either. Six days. Six

ftly. "So you're spying o

s you think." I move closer-

th snags

ows. "I've tried for five years to forget you. I can't. A

ending you

d touch her if I wanted. I didn't. "You could restrict me from coming her

her desk. "You're reading i

Say you never want to se

hires and fires executives with a single call or text.

h won't form

etch. Watch the war hap

voice drops to low. "Be

t of my

le

ow

ck. "For what it's worth? You're be

't see her face. I don't know if my w

ath catch. And that