Chapter 7 - Collision course

Chapter 7

Ryan

"You're distracted."

Marco's voice cuts through my thoughts. We're in the gym supposedly working out, actually plotting. He's on the bench press while I spot him, but my mind is a thousand miles away...wherever Maya Rossi is right now.

"I'm focused," I lie.

"Bullshit.You've been staring at the same spot on the wall for ten minutes. What's going on?"

I glance around. The gym is nearly empty at this hour,just us and a couple of early morning regulars who are too focused on their own workouts to care about ours. Still, I lower my voice.

"I can't stop thinking about her."

"The Rossi girl?"

"Maya. Her name is Maya."

Marco wipes his face with a towel, studying me with concern.

"Ryan, you spent one night with her. One night where neither of you knew who the other was. Now you do. It's over."

"It doesn't feel over."

"You won't let it be.Look, I get it. She got under your skin but pursuing this is suicide. Your father will disown you at best, kill you at worst. Antonio Rossi doesn't fuck around. If he finds out his daughter spent the night with Lorenzo Zurri's son."

"I know the risks."

"Do you? Because from where I'm standing, you're about to throw away everything for a woman you barely know."

"I know her." The certainty in my voice surprises even me.

"We aren't related. "

"Maybe I don't know her history or her favorite color or what she does on Sunday mornings. I know her, Marco. The real her. The person beneath all the armor."

"Do you think that's enough?"

"I think it's worth finding out."

Marco sighs, defeated.

"You're really going to do this."

"I have to. I have to know if she felt what I felt. If last night meant something to her too."

" Then what?"

I don't have an answer for that. Can't see a path forward that doesn't end in flames. I also can't walk away without trying.

"Did you get what I asked for?"

Marco pulls out his phone, pulls up a document

. "Maya Rossi. Twenty-eight. Graduated top of her class from UCT with degrees in Communications and Psychology. Been working for the Falcons since she was twenty-two, promoted to Head of Media Relations at twenty-five."

"Impressive."

"She's more than impressive. She's a fucking genius at what she does. Every crisis that should have destroyed the Falcons' reputation over the past three years? Gone. Disappeared. Like they never happened."

"My girl."

He scrolls through the document.

"She's also intensely private. No social media presence beyond professional profiles. No public relationships. No scandals."

"What about her personal life?"

"That's where it gets interesting."

"spill."

Marco looks up.

"There's a guy. Jeremy Reeves. Works in the Falcons' PR department. He's been pursuing her for months,flowers, dinner invitations, the whole nine yards. Word is Antonio approves.The Reeves family has connections, money, the right pedigree."

Jealousy burns through me, hot and irrational.

"Are they together?"

"No one knows. She keeps that shit locked down tight. Jeremy sure as hell wants them to be."

I think about Maya in my arms, the way she responded to my touch, the desperation in her kiss. That wasn't a woman in love with someone else.

"What else?"

"She has routines. Every Saturday after home games, she disappears for a few hours. No one knows where she goes." He grins.

" Until now?"

"Until now. Vesper, right? That's where you met her."

"Yeah."

"Well, the next home game is on Tuesday night. I Want to bet she shows up at Vesper after?"

"That's three days away."

"You got somewhere better to be?"

I think about the stack of work on my desk, the meetings I'm supposed to attend, the role I'm supposed to play in my father's war against the Rossis.

"No. I don't."

"Then we wait. Ryan?"

Marco's expression goes serious.

"I know that look."

"When you see her again, you need to decide what you want,meeting her 'accidentally' once is coincidence. Twice is stalking. You're going to scare her off if you're not careful."

"I'm not trying to scare her. I'm trying to"

I stop. What am I trying to do?

"You're pussy whipped."

"I just need to see her again. Need to know this wasn't all in my head."

"It wasn't.I saw your face when you talked about her. That was real. Question is whether she feels the same way."

That's what terrifies me. That maybe last night was just escape for her. A momentary rebellion. And I'm here building castles in the air while she's already moved on.

My phone buzzes. Father: Meeting at the office, 10 AM. Don't be late.

"Duty calls," I mutter.

"What's this one about?"

"Probably more Rossi warfare. He wants me to be the charming face of the family while he plots their destruction."

"Ironic, given that you're planning to seduce his enemy's daughter."

"I'm not trying to seduce her."

Though I'd be lying if I said I didn't want her in my bed again.

"Pretty sure it's called 'catastrophically bad timing,'" Marco says dryly.

"It's not." I stop. Is it? Could one night have been enough to fall?

The thought should terrify me. Instead, it feels right. Like something clicking into place.

"You're fucked," Marco observes.

"Already gone ."

"Completely, utterly fucked."

"I know."

He shakes his head, but he's smiling.

"At least when this blows up spectacularly, I can say I tried to stop you."

"Thanks for the support."

"Always, cousin. Even when you're being an idiot."