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“Thank you, Gretchen.”

Any decent man would have felt a slight twinge of guilt about leading her on only to shut her down seconds later. But I wasn’t one of those men. For me, the rationale was simple. Gretchen wasn’t what I wanted. She was easy. Simple. Lacking any sort of challenge. A one-time roll in the hay with her would never dispel the restless energy I had been dealing with for days. There was only one woman who held that power.

Krystina.

I walked away from the obviously disappointed Gretchen and headed down the corridor that would take me to Joe’s office. When I came around the corner, I spotted the gym manager closing his office door behind him.

“Mr. Stone,” Joe said when he saw me coming toward him. He extended his hand to me.

“Joe.” I accepted his handshake. It was loose, like a limp noodle, and cold and clammy. It was not the sort of handshake one would expect from someone with shoulders like a linebacker. “Thank you for the space. You saved me a trip back upstairs to my office. I’ll only be a few minutes.”

“Take all the time you need, sir. If you need the computer, I left the guest login password on the desk for you. I’ll just be in the training room reviewing schedules. Please don’t hesitate to call me there if you need anything else.”

“Will do.”

Once he walked away, I wiped my hand on the leg of my jeans, attempting to dry the dampness left there. Joe was always nervous around me, although I could never understand why. In fact, everyone seemed to be nervous in my presence lately.

Has it always been like that? Or am I just noticing it for the first time?

Even Krystina was tense around me. The way she twisted her hands together or fiddled with the hem of her shirt—I intimidated her. She practically told me as much in her interview.

I’m not that much of an asshole, am I?

I stepped into the small office and closed the door behind me, my thoughts once again returning to Krystina. Phase One in my plan had already been set in motion. It was time to forge ahead with the next step.

I knew she would not be showing up for her “rescheduled” interview. I never had the notion she actually would. But that was okay, as long as everything else fell into place.

I took a seat behind Joe’s gray metal-framed desk and dialed Matteo Donati’s cell number. Matteo and I had been friends since high school, and I knew I could count on him to be discreet.

“Matt, I need a favor,” I said when he picked up.

“Whatever you need.” His Italian accent was still prevalent even after the twenty years he had spent in the States. “What’s up?”

“I need to arrange a private meeting with someone. It’s got to be tonight. Is the restaurant ready to entertain a guest and me?”

“If you don’t mind a nameless place with limited selections,” he joked, despite the fact I knew he was frustrated. Matteo had mapped out every tiny detail for the restaurant, from the font printed on the menus to the wattage of the light bulbs. He had a true vision, but he was stumped when it came down to naming his lifelong dream.

“You’re overthinking it. I’ll help you figure out a name, don’t worry,” I assured him. “I know the place isn’t finished, but I’m just looking for somewhere free of outside influences and interruptions. Can you make it work?”

“Enough is done that I could pull it off. Who’s the guest?”

“She’s a prospect for Turning Stone Advertising.”

“She?”

“Yes, she,” I confirmed. I knew the request was probably more than a little odd, especially for me. I made a habit of conducting as much business as possible at Cornerstone Tower. I pursed my lips, waiting for the questions to flood in. To my relief, they didn’t.

“I’ll go out this afternoon and get the things I’ll need to put a dinner together. I should have the place ready for you by six o’clock.”

“That’s perfect. Thanks. See you soon.”

“Ciao!”

Confident Matteo wouldn’t disappoint, I hit the end button and made my next call. This request would be even stranger than the first.

“Hale. Get in touch with Gavin from Tech. Have him pull up the GPS app for the company phones. I need to know where Krystina Cole is right now.”

There was a pause on the other end of the line before Hale spoke.