My knees went weak as his eyes consumed me. He had that look. The look that I’d grown accustomed to. The look that wanted to devour my body. A sudden burst of sense flooded my mind as I pushed him away.

“Read the file. It’s not the same document we signed.”

I turned and walked out of his office, making a turn opposite of the elevator and into the stairwell. After the door shut, I stood up against it, running my finger across my burning lips. I shook my head and headed back to my office.

****

When I walked into my apartment, Jared and Giana were in the kitchen.

“Gabs, is that you?” G yelled.

“Yes. Were you expecting someone else?”

“Get your ass in here. I can tell something’s wrong,”

I took off my shoes and set my purse down on the table in the hallway. As I stepped into the kitchen, Jared handed me a glass of wine and kissed me on the cheek.

“I think you need this.”

“Thanks, Jared.”

The smell of stir fry and rice overpowered the kitchen. I was starving. I had skipped lunch because my stomach was in knots over Simon.

“What happened today?”

I didn’t want to go into all the details, so I was vague. “It was just a bad day. Someone is trying to screw over Simon with the new hotel plans.”

“Oh, that sucks. Does he know?”

“Yeah, I told him.”

“So you saw him finally?” G asked with a smile.

“Only for a minute. I threw the file on his desk and walked out.”

She gave me that “I know you’re fucking lying” look that only a best friend would know. She set the stir fry on the table and, as soon as we sat down, there was a knock at the door.

“Are you expecting someone?” I asked.

“No. Are you?”

“No.”

“I’ll see who it is.” I got up from my seat and walked to the door. I bet it was Donovan, making a surprise visit to G. As soon as I opened the door, my heart stopped. My stomach fell as if I was going downhill on a roller coaster, and my eyes widened.

“Hello, Gabrielle.”

“What are you doing here, Simon?” I asked as I swallowed hard.

“I need to talk to you.”

“Then you should have called instead of just showing up at my apartment.”

“Gabby, who is—Oh, Mr. Young; come in.” Giana smiled as she gently pushed me out of the way. “I’m Giana, Gabby’s best friend and roommate.”

“It’s nice to finally meet you, Giana. Gabrielle has told me so much about you.”

I wanted to fucking die. I was going to kill her!

“You’re just in time for dinner. Please join us. I made stir fry.”

Seriously, she was fucking dead.

“Thank you. Don’t mind if I do.” Simon smiled as he looked at me.