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I narrow my eyes at her. Why is she telling me this?
“Consider it a wedding gift,” Renee says. “Congratulations, Mrs. Burke.”
She leaves the room. I lean against the wall as the exhaustion from the conversation I just had sinks in but quickly stand up straight because the wall is too cold. I let out a sigh.
Talk about a trick of fate. I mean, what are the chances you’d meet your husband’s former sex partner the morning after you finally decide to have sex with him?
And here I thought today was going to be a good day.
Chapter Fourteen ~ Threatened
Mason
“All you have left for today is your meeting with Accounting at three and another with some people from Johns Hopkins at five,” Abe, my other executive assistant, rattles off the items in my schedule as he stands in front of my desk.
Not much, I think as I scroll down the list of e-mails on my screen. Good. Maybe I can sneak off to the gym in a bit. Better yet, I can go see my wife. Who knows? Aster may be in the mood for another round since she fell asleep right after the first last night.
A grin forms on my lips. My own woman whenever I want? Now, I feel like a married man.
“There’s one more thing,” Abe says.
I lean back in my chair and look at him. “What?”
“Oliver Owens called.”
The grin on my face immediately evaporates. Just as I thought, that man doesn’t take no for an answer.
“He’s the CEO of – ”
“I know who he is.” I tap my fingers on my desk. “What did he want?”
“He wanted to apologize if he came off rude at the gala last night,” Abe answers.
He did?
“And he said he would like it very much if you could talk properly. He wouldn’t mind coming here or inviting you to his home or even jogging with you around the Mall.”
Oh. So he’s trying to be friends with me now, is he? He should have done that first. Now that I’m aware of his intentions, there’s no way I’m going to trust him.
“What did you tell him?”
“I said I’d relay your message,” Abe says. “Which he said he’d appreciate. He hopes that the two of you can get along since you have much to offer each other.”
Wrong. I have nothing to offer him and nothing I could want from him.
“Thank you, Abe.”
He nods. “So should I call him back? What would – ?”
“You’ve relayed your message, Abe,” I cut him off. “You’ve done your job. You can go.”
“Yes, sir.”
He leaves my office. I turn my chair towards the window and let out a frown.
What am I going to do with Owens? His company isn’t as big as mine. I don’t think his bank account is, either. But he seems to be well-connected. Hell, he was able to get someone to tell him about the part of my past that I’ve been trying to leave behind, to keep buried. I don’t know who that someone was, but access to that information requires a fairly high level of security clearance. That means Owens has friends in high places. Good friends.
Not the kind of person you’d want for an enemy.
He isn’t giving me much of a choice, though. If he’s picking a fight with me, then I have to fight back. I’m not afraid of him. I have my own friends. More importantly, I have to make sure I don’t lose.
That means I have to be ready for war.
I take my phone out of my pocket and dial a number. After the first ring, a man answers.
“Hello?”
“Jack, it’s Mason,” I say. “Tell me you have something on Owens. Something I can use against him.”
A weapon. That’s what I need.
“So far, I haven’t found anything,” Jack tells me. “No records of criminal activity apart from a few old speeding tickets. No prison visits. Finances are all in order. Taxes are all paid.”
I frown. “What about information regarding his former company? It got dissolved shortly after he left, right?”
“Based on what I’ve seen, it seems like it just went bankrupt. Owens jumped off a sinking ship.”
And started his own company. Clever. It only goes to show that I shouldn’t underestimate him.
“So you’ve got nothing?” I ask.
“I’m not saying he’s clean, Mason. I’m saying he knows how to cover his tracks.”
Which makes him even more dangerous. Truly a formidable opponent.
“You think he’s covering something up?” I ask.
“Either that or he’s just smart,” Jack answers. “But if you ask me, I think he’s doing things by the book a bit too much. You know what I mean.”
I do. Owens is hiding something. I just have to find out what.
“Dig deeper,” I tell Jack before hanging up.
Then I close my eyes and rub my temples. So much for the rest of this day being easy.
