ROME
Tonight is not a part of my plan. But talking about losses was tough shit to speak out.
My friend once told me you couldn’t find an answer at the bottom of the bottle. But I’d rather drink myself into a stupor than open up about the things that hurt as fuck to even think about.
Sax Ryder, one of my best friends, whom I considered my brother cleared his throat. “She’s out of your league.”
“Who?” I looked down at the empty whiskey glass. I needed another shot.
“I was just making a point. You’re at this nightclub, but your mind is elsewhere.”
My eyes were on the brunette. She’d caught my attention since we arrived an hour ago. I just couldn’t stop. Whoever was this woman? She definitely would keep me awake tonight.
“But she’s pretty.”
I turned my head to Sax. “Really? Pretty?”
His dark eyes glimmered as he smirked. “Yeah, I know what’s in your mind. But you prefer blonde and petite.”
Chuckling, I focused my gaze on the woman dancing with her friend. Her long wavy hair shone against the laser lights.
She was too tall for my type and still wearing high heels. Her body could pass as one of the lingerie models, and her long-toned legs were displayed in a black mini-dress.
“It was just one time. I mean twice, but those just a coincidence.”
He let out a hearty laugh and shook his head. “Then what are you still waiting for? Maybe, that woman is blonde, just dyed her hair.”
I signaled to one of the bartenders to refill our drinks. “I’m not ready for that.”
“I didn’t mean a relationship, man. You’ve been working your ass off since your dad died. You could use some fun, a break, and damn. You could use a month fucking vacation.”
The bartender brought our drinks. We were regulars, and I knew the owner, Pyke Hughes.
“It’s not about work that cut me off the fun. I’m just not emotionally ready.” I was used to having a one-night stand, but right now, I had more pressing matters than satisfying my dick. “And sex is not a problem.”
“A good massage, then.”
“A good sleep. At least three hours of sleep without interruption.”
“I heard about your father’s assistant. Have you found her replacement?”
“On Monday. I just hope she would be as efficient and reliable as Florian.” I sipped my drink.
Since I took over the family business, I could barely breathe properly. The boards and investors had questioned my ability to run a multi-national billion-dollar company, Langston Realty Group, since I lacked experience. I wanted to prove them wrong. And I liked challenges.
Unlike my father, I took a different path. I served my country, was honorably discharged, and went to help my old friend, Gabe Linden, to start his security firm. But the boards didn’t know I had my own company, Sevyn Hunter Global, and someone offered to buy it for 1.5B. I mean, that was huge money. But my company was not for sale, and if someone wanted to buy with that digits, I was sure as hell could double it in three years.
“Well, you can always find a new one. So, you’re not gonna make a move?” He tipped his head toward the brunette, who was now leaving.
“Nah. Pass.”
An hour later, we bid goodbye.
“Call me if you need anything.” He held my hand after a handshake. “Adley would be happy to see you this weekend.”
I smiled. “I’ll give her a call.”
Sax finally let go of my hand. He knew Adley meant a lot to me.
Adley Kross - Creed helped me reconnect with my father. Dad and I were estranged for years since I didn’t turn out to be his protege, joining politics. To him, I was a huge disappointment. After he chose not to run again for the senate, he took over the company from Mom, allowing her to focus on what she loved—charities. That was how he became successful and well-connected.
“She would be happy to hear from you.”
“I miss her too.” I worked for her as her temporary bodyguard. We became close friends even after I resigned. Only lately, we’d been both busy running our family businesses.
“Take care of yourself, Rome.”
“You too, bro.”
I got in the car. My driver, Zee, shut the door close after me. I fished out my phone and dialed Adley’s number.
“I hope I’m not interrupting something.”
“I hate you.” Her greeting as she laughed.
“I love you too.”
“Mykel and I were just talking about you setting up a date.”
I groaned. “God, no.”
“But it’s already been settled. All you have to do is show your ass up this weekend.” I could see herself grinning at her husband beside her, waiting for my reply.
“Adley, I don’t have time to date right now.” I found myself wondering if my date would be as gorgeous as the brunette.
“Come on, this is just a meet and greet. If you don’t like her, then don’t ask her out.”
More curiosity sparked inside me. “Who’s the girl?”
“A woman, Romare. And it’s a blind date, so you don’t dare ask me.”
“I’ll think about it—”
“I know what’s that mean. You’re gonna bail on us again.”
“If you won’t set me up on a date, I’ll do my best to be there.”
She must be talking to her husband.
“And tell Mykel to stop helping you look for my date.”
She laughed from another line. “You’ve been single for almost four years, Romare. I’m worried about you.” It was actually more than four years, but who was counting?
“I happened to have no biological clock, Adley. And don’t be so surprised if I just bring my wife with me one day. I might just take a woman to Vegas like what you two did.”
“So, you’re dating someone then?”
I rubbed the back of my neck. “I’m married to my job, Adley, and I have no plan to divorce her right now.”
“But she can’t give your orgasms.”
My cheeks burned. I wondered what her husband’s reaction was, hearing his wife talk about orgasms with another man.
“I want you to be happy. And I know it’s been hard for you lately. I also know the feeling of losing someone you care about, Romare. It’s hard to get out of that deep sorrow, and work can’t help you if you think marrying your job will aid your grief. It’s only temporary relief. Trust me. Been there, done that. I just hope you come to me and talk about it.”
I shut my eyes, rested, and took a deep breath. “When I’m ready, Adley.”
“I’m hoping so soon.”
“Will you kiss my goddaughter for me?”
“She misses you, man,” it was Mykel.
“I miss her too.”
“Romare, this weekend, or I will come and drag you myself.”
I couldn’t help but smile. “See you, Adley.”
***
The files on my desk glared up at me.
I had been here for two hours, and my new assistant had not shown her ass up. It made me mad, and I wanted to throw these files stuck on my desk when she arrived.
I always hated tardiness. But it seemed that what I got was a complete disappointment. Shouldn’t she impress me on her first day?
I grabbed the first file on top.
Behind my father, I convinced myself that I could make him proud someday. When we just started to catch up, I lost him, and it felt like I lost half of my heart when he was gone.
I picked up the phone to dial HR when the door to my office swung open.
“Mr. Langston—”
“You’re fired.” I dialed the HR number.
“You can’t fire me—”
What did she say? The audacity of this woman. And the first thing I noticed was the accent. It sounded like a British, but not quite. Not Australian or South African either. I must say her voice was sweet and strong, but right now, I disliked her tone.
“And why not?” I dropped the phone and lifted my gaze at my ill-mannered new assistant. What the fuck? My eyes widened in shock.
“Well, I was just hired an hour ago when I got the call. The reason why I am late to report to you, Mr. Langston.” She didn’t so much as bat an eye. “Given that my reason for being an hour late is valid, it’s only fair that you give me a chance to prove myself that I’m capable of being your executive assistant.” Well, I just said three words, and she had like five sentences. But that was not why I wasn’t answering her right now.
I was occupied staring at her in her dark blue corporate dress.
Fuck me.
The brunette.
First, I just saw her last night. Second, she appeared late. Third, she was ill-mannered, and lastly, she talked a lot. I wondered if this was my lucky day or if I should be pissed off. Was fate playing with me now?
“I like my executive assistant to follow my orders, not reason out. I want her to talk less and work more, considering she has three times the salary than my other employees. You certainly don’t fit to be an assistant. You are still fired.”
She glared at me from across my desk.
I realized she had viridian eyes and was exquisite up close. How in the hell did HR hire this woman? And of all the applicants, why did it have to be her?
“I passed the interview for a reason. Give me a week before canning me, sir.”
“No. Get out of my office, or I will call security to drag you out of my building.”
She scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “I always thought you were an arsehole.”
“What did you say?” I was on my feet before realizing it, stalking toward her. She was really tall. Even with my six foot three inches height, she was almost at my eye level with her shoes on.
I met her tantalizing viridian eyes. She was really a stunner. Her beauty was nothing like I’d ever seen before. She has a diamond-shaped face. Her nose was slightly raised, making her features strong and authoritative. Her bee-stung lips were painted red. She reminded me of a classic Hollywood actress.
“I came here to do my job with every bit of my capability. Because I was late, which is not my fault, you won’t know if I am good at—”
“What was your last job?”
“Executive assistant.”
“Were you fired?”
“Yes.”
I chuckled. Why was I not even surprised?
Her attitude wouldn’t make her the best assistant. I knew it the first time she waltzed in.
“I punched him because he insulted my best friend for wearing her head scarf at work.” Well, isn’t it getting more interesting?
“She wore hijab?”
“Yes,” she answered proudly, giving me the most confident smile.
“Are you planning on punching your boss again, Miss?”
“Carly Storm.”
“Storm?”
“Only if he misbehaves and disrespects me, sir.”
I studied her and looked for something in her eyes—a lie, but I found something else instead. “Fine. You have one week to prove yourself worthy of your position.”
CARLY He’s definitely testing me. The kind of test that wasn’t part of my one-week provision. In my defense, I got the notice late—just an hour before I showed up to work. Maybe the first one failed to give an early notice that she’d rather climb the Himalayan valley than work with the broody with attitude problem CEO Rome Langston, but I wasn’t going to ask that. Considering my record of punching my ex-boss, I didn’t want to hurt my ego for being the second choice. I might have to consider hitting his handsome face if he insulted me. Yes, he got that striking sky-blue eyes and a squared jaw that clenched all the time. I was actually considering it, but I took a deep breath. I needed this job so badly. I’d been idle for almost three months. And I couldn’t be choosy when I dethroned myself as a boring working woman in a foreign country. Three years ago, I would have laughed at myself for this kind of job. Don’t get me wrong, this was decent and paid well. But I was at the top of
ROME“Good morning, Mr. Langston,” Carly greeted me with a huge grin on her face. She even opened the door to my office. “Morning.” But that was not what surprised me. My desk was arranged and neat. The files were aligned, and the pencils were in the holder. Even the magazines on the coffee table were perfectly set, like the one you see posted on Instagram. “Your coffee and you prefer black, right?” She took the coat off of me.I stopped her. “Storm, you are not my maid. I won’t ever ask you to take off my coat, buy me coffee, take my dry clean, send flowers to my girlfriends—”“Girlfriends?” She shut her mouth quickly as if she wasn’t supposed to react.I turned to her. A brow arched at me. “I don’t have a girlfriend.” I didn’t know why I had to defend myself. Somehow, it was the right thing to do.“Oh, because I just heard—”I squeezed my eyes shut and exhaled. “You get my point.”“I was just messing with you.” She raised her hands somewhat in a surrendering gesture. “I dropped b
CARLY“I’m sorry, Carlott. I can’t do this anymore.”“What do you mean?” I had been crying since the report broke out, and my face was all over the news channel, social media, and gossip sites. And there was nothing good to say. My hard work for years didn’t matter. I was just the rogue Princess. The charlatan.Stellan looked in pain, struggling to tell me what he felt about our situation because I knew he cared a lot about me. “I thought this would work, but clearly, I was wrong. I ruined your life, Princess. I can’t do this to you, your brother, and your family.”“You did not ruin me or my brother or my family. These people ruined us. Why can’t we ever have a life as normal people do?” I held his hand. “Let’s get out of here and never come back. We’ll go somewhere that nobody would recognize us.”“Running away is not the answer. You should face this and prove them wrong.” The moment he pulled his hand away, I knew he had given up. We barely started, but we were already over. I sho
ROME It was either Carly who tried to be dumb, or she didn’t have any idea what Adley was doing. But she didn’t remotely look dumb. She was something, but dumb was not one of them. And I knew what Adley had been doing. She thought this responsibility over the business I’d been carrying over my shoulder had to do with my less time spent with them or my lack of activity in dating apps that put me under a dry spell. And she thought Carly Storm was the right girl. Since she found out I’d never been in a relationship since my discharge from the service, she’d been trying to let me go out there and have some fun. I had a few one-night stands because I had needs as well, and I was far from being a saint. Right now, there were more pressing matters that needed my attention than my damn dick. But I wanted this to be done so that Adley would stop bugging me and setting me up on blind dates. I mean, Carly Storm would be a perfect candidate. In contrast to her name, she could brighten th
CARLY Rome just took us to one of the famous restaurants in town. Without a reservation. I knew he was a billionaire and could have anything at the snap of his fingers. I didn’t want this to get into my head. But he could have just bought me a chicken sandwich at the food stall, and I could eat it. Not in the finest restaurant as if we were on a date in the middle of the day. I stood there in front of the restaurant blinking in surprise. If this were those old days, this would be appropriate with a six-course menu, but today, it was not the case. “I’m not sure I can dine here. Why don’t you go, and I’ll call a cab back to the office.” I stiffened as he placed a hand on my lower back. “You will have lunch with me, or you’re fired,” he whispered with a hiss. When he threatened my work like that, it left me no choice but to comply. Once we entered, the staff took our coats off. “Mr. Langston, welcome back. Miss, welcome.” Now I got it. He was a regular. We climbed upstairs,
ROME I noticed something different about Carly for the last three days. She wore pants instead of skirts, not that she wasn’t spectacular, even in baggies. Today, she tied her hair in a bun. I admitted she was pretty good at her job. But that was all after she placed things on my desk— she left without a word unless I asked and concisely answered me as if she would pay a penny for extra words. And when she looked at me, it was like she switched off the light in her eyes—she was good at masking her emotions. I wondered if I had done something wrong or if this was her another day in the office. Anyhow, I had to admit that I missed her annoying opinions. “Can you order coffee?” I badly needed caffeine, and I had no time to go down. I had to see the proposed plan for the next project. “Of course, sir.” That was all. She left. “Thanks.” She paused on the door for a moment before she vanished out of my sight. I sometimes missed the silence and peace, but I also missed her glarin
CARLY I had quite eventful weekend after an unexpected visit from my boss. I was shocked to see him in our living room because of what my roommate did. After my outburst, Heera went quiet for a while, and I thought she would apologize. Instead, she laughed her butt out at me. And I couldn’t stay angry at her. She was the only best friend I had left. So I literally forced her to participate in tree planting for my revenge. “One day, I wanna visit your country,” Heera said. Her words squeezed my chest painfully. I have always supported green initiatives in my country and non-profit organizations focused on reforestation projects. “Of course. One day, I will tour you around the cities.” I dug a hole with my trowel. Once deep enough, Seth came over to give the sapling he had already removed from the container. Heera filled the hole, gently stumping around it. “Do you ever get tired of doing what you do?” I looked at her. “I did too many and wanted to give up a million times. I a
CARLYI received the address after he hung up the phone. I picked the files from the desk and put them in my tote bag. I hit the road as soon as I entered the address in the car’s GPS. It said that I would arrive in one hour. My boss was really time efficient. He could have just told me earlier to bring these files to him so I could go home early. But this was what I paid for, right? To never complain.Thirty minutes to the address, I realized I was leaving the city. The place seemed just trees, like a forest. Rome must love the wilderness. I mean, I loved it too, but did he really live there? In some cabin in the woods? Maybe we had something in common after all.I arrived earlier than the estimated time on my GPS. The two-story cabin came to view, and the electronic steel gate slid open. I remembered the house owned by my family. It was more like an old colonial manor, but I loved that place.I parked the car beside the black truck. This must be Rome’s. I hopped out, forgot I was