“Actually, I do.”

Carol stopped and raised a brow.

Daisy worked at not quailing. “I’ve been working since five a.m. because we had that UK phone meeting.”

Carol didn’t look moved. “And?”

“And…it’s going on six p.m.” Daisy didn’t have a set of balls, but she liked to think the equipment she did have was even tougher. She stood up and shut her laptop, tucking it into her bag. “I’ll get back on this first thing in the morning.”

Suddenly looking thoughtful, Carol nodded. “I wish I’d had your fiery spirit when I was your age. Things might be different.”

“What things?”

Carol turned to look out the window. “Sometimes, I think about giving it all up,” she said softly. “And retiring to a warm beach somewhere.”

Daisy blinked in shock. “What?”

“Yeah… I’m tired of the rat race. There’s got to be an easier way to live.” Carol turned and looked at Daisy. “I want you to take over for me.”

Daisy just stared at her boss. “But you’ve worked your whole adult life to build this business. You’re booked out solid for two years.”

“You can handle it. I’ve got faith.” Carol gave a small, rare smile. “Just say you’ll think about it.”

Stunned, Daisy nodded. “Of course.”

When Carol left, Daisy stood. Still feeling dazed, she grabbed her things and headed out. She didn’t lose it until the elevator doors had closed. Only then, knees a little weak at her bravado, she leaned back against the wall and took a few deep breaths.

She’d grown up the perpetual scrappy underdog, so she was good at survival. What she’d never been good at was standing up for herself.

She’d been working on that.

When the elevators opened next, Daisy was once again standing and—hopefully—looking cool and professional as she strode across the lobby and out the front doors of the building to the center of the financial district of downtown San Francisco.

The streets were gridlocked traffic, the sidewalks filled with commuters leaving work and heading home. The hustle and bustle had been a thrill when Daisy came back to her hometown after her college years in New York.

She loved both cities, but…there was no place like home.

She bussed her way to her apartment in the Pacific Pier Building of the Cow Hollow District. Not coincidentally, the same building that housed The Canvas Shop, the tattoo parlor that Rocco had taken over from his and Diego’s father.

Diego… Seeing him today had thrown her. She’d known he would be there, of course, but nothing could have prepared her for coming face-to-face with him ten years after he’d broken her heart and then stomped on it for good measure.

So why the hell he’d implied that it’d been her to destroy them was beyond her. Just thinking about it had her stewing all over again. She rubbed her aching chest, giving her heart a stern talking to. Stop getting involved, your job is to pump blood, and that’s it.