Resolute, I shoved in my earbuds and crunched into a piece of broccoli as I opened the document I needed to review to decide whether to invest in a new start-up.They had an app that they claimed would become as addictive as Facebook andInstagram.
I’ve got an empire to build.Watch out,world.
I’d losttrack of time while being wildly productive, electing to invest a couple hundred thousand dollars in the first start-up and another half million in another company.Reviewing other people’s business plans and proposals always made me proud of what I’d accomplished.Had I taken a different path, I would have been applying to people for angel financing, giving up over half of my equity stake just for a shot atmakingit.
Instead, I’d taken a big risk that could have blown up in my face.I cashed out my college tuition account and used that instead of fake money during the day-trading portion of my finance class.I was either going to be a dropout or a success, and luckily, I’d learned I had a solid gut instinct and could recognize patterns.I’d tripled my money, paid my next semester’s tuition, and used the profit to hire a couple of friends to help develop my firstsuccessfulapps.
My phone lit up, its vibrations carrying through the table to get myattention.
Unknown Number:Your plane ticket home is in your email.We’ll be discussing the situation you raised last night inperson.
I’d blockedCarlos’s number on my phone, so while it didn’t surprise me he was texting me from another number, it pissedmeoff.
Oh.Hell.No.
As I picked up my phone to reply something along the lines ofNo way in hell am I coming homeandWe have nothing to discuss because there is no us, Carver came intotheroom.
“Ms.Sampson?You have a visitor at the gate.Shall I let Mr.Hennessyin?”
I sat my phone on the table and stood.“Rhett Hennessy?”Yeah, as if some other Hennessy was going to show up atmydoor.
“Yes,ma’am.”
Mentally, I tugged up my big-girl thong and straightened my shoulders.“Sure.Let him in.Feel free to give us some privacy, Carver.”My gaze landed on him long enough to ensure he got the message loud and clear.“When Mr.Hennessy is around, I’m not under any security threat, so consider yourselfoffduty.”
No matter what else ever happened with Rhett, I knew those words were unfailingly true.He would protect me withhislife.
“Understood, ma’am.I’ll let him in, and will be in my apartment if you need anythingatall.”
“Thank you,Carver.”
“Of course, Ms.Sampson.”
He strode away, and I looked down at what I was wearing.ANamaste in BedT-shirt that had caught a splash of soy sauce during lunch, and sweats I’d turned into cutoffs with a dull pair ofscissors.
Lookinghot,Ari.
But I’d been working all day, and part of being the boss meant I got to wear whatever I wanted when I was in beast mode.Which was all the time.I might be a geek, but I’malwaysabeast-geek.
Rhett was going to get the real me.No makeup, my hair a little wild from putting it up and taking it down as I mulled over decisions, and a hot mess of an outfit.I was too old and too awesome to worry about beingsomeoneelse.
With that positive thought firmly fixed in my mind, I tried to calm down the flock of seagulls that took up residence in my belly as the doorbell rang.Rhett Hennessy was on mydoorstep.
Be cool, Ari.Becool.
Okay,scratchthat.
Pretend.
19
Rhett
After we left breakfast,Heath shot me a text saying the cops were getting ready to release the crime scene that was my parents’ house, so I’d hauled ass over there to start my own investigation before it was corrupted.I put in a call to an old friend who owned a barricade company, and he agreed to bring over enough metal construction fencing to surround the entire property and lock it up.Any assholes who thought they’d go searching for scrap metal or anything else of value would beblocked.
That began my day of digging through rubble and looking for evidence that the crime scene unit might have missed.I couldn’t decide if it was working in my favor that they’d missed a few pieces of the wiring and device, or whether they were screwing my family by not being better at their jobs.When it came down to it, I didn’t trust anyone to solve this case except for me, so I was going to take it as apositive.
Evidence collected in my own baggies and the fence in place around the yard, locked up, and security lights armed, I babysat the glass installers at the Sampsons’ house next door to make sure Mr.Sampson would be able to move back into his house sooner rather than later.That was, if Heath and Ari decided he could live onhisown.