Page 9 of Challenging Luke
“I’m not stupid enough to think one of them didn’t tell you what happened.” Even though he’d hoped his friends would keep their mouths shut.
“Of course, Ryker babbled.”
Luke glanced around the table to where everyone, except Caden, sat with a keen interest in their eyes. Ryker didn’t bother to look the least bit remorseful that he had been gossiping. Not that he expected his friend to. Ryker was the big mouth of their group. Always had been. If someone wanted to keep a secret, they knew better than to tell Ryker.
“So you already know she and I spent the night together, but I didn’t know her name or involvement until the next day.”
“A no-name hookup.” Nash wiggled his brows. “You sly dog. Too bad the universe had other plans for the both of you.”
He didn’t believe in fate or the universe or any of that other bullshit. But he wasn’t going to say he was disappointed that their assignment led him straight back to the woman who snuck out on him.
“Anyway, yes, we spent time together, and when we realized we both lived in the same area, we decided to continue talking. But even if we hadn’t agreed, I still would’ve found a way to keep an eye on the situation. Unlike the Feds, I give a shit what happens to the people we come across, and my gut is telling me Fletcher isn’t finished with Monica.”
“Guess we won’t be taking a break after all.” Austin pushed up from the table. “We are going to need those computers hooked up sooner rather than later. We need to track when Fletcher leaves the hotel and where he goes.”
Just like that, his friends had his back. They didn’t care that this time was supposed to be spent setting up their business and finding places to live. Because Monica meant something to him, she meant something to all of them.
It was how Luke knew he made the right decision all those years ago to go into business with them.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Monica rode the elevator up to the forty-fifth floor where her office was located. It was still early enough that she was able to ride in complete silence except for the awful music that the building manager decided needed to play on an endless loop. At one point, she and Ash had begged for something different, but she was assured that the current playlist was conducive to the feel of the building and the overall productivity. She begged to differ. It made her want to poke her eyeballs out and would’ve loved to see the statistics behind that rationale. Shocker: no one would actually provide her with that data.
She sighed in relief when she was finally able to step out of the confining box and into the lobby of Carmichael Financial Advisors headquarters. The entire floor had gone through a renovation after Silverstein was sentenced to prison. Ash’s father claimed it was long overdue, but she had a feeling the need to erase all hints of his former partner was the real driving force.
The ultra-modern sleek design was both sophisticated and practical with a touch of warmth that most office spaces lacked. Theirs had been one of them until the most recent update. A few minor tweaks by her hand were all it took.
“Good morning, Ms. Cole.” Her secretary greeted her the second she was within her line of sight. “Mr. Carmichael asked to see you when you came in.”
Amelia’s tone was cheerful, but it was the look in her eyes that gave her away. Mr. Carmichael, AKA Ash’s father and her new business partner, was on a tear this morning.
“Thanks, Amelia.” She gave her secretary a warm smile. It wasn’t her secretary’s fault that Niles Carmichael was perpetually in a bad mood and had a tendency to take it out on everyone around him. No one was safe from his grumpiness.
Walking into her office, Monica dropped her briefcase on her desk and shrugged off her coat before grabbing her coffee and making her way across the large floor to the other bank of offices. The outer walls of the floor plan contained the offices and staff rooms while the inside area was nothing but cubicles and desks. If she stood on her chair in her office, she could see straight across to Carmichael’s office. She often wondered if he did that on purpose so he could keep an eye on her at all times.
“Good morning, Sara.” Monica greeted Mr. Carmichael’s secretary with a warm smile even though she knew it wouldn’t be returned.
“He’s been waiting for you.”
Monica didn’t let it show how much the comment affected her. She wasn’t late. In fact, she was thirty minutes early, but regardless of how early she arrived every morning, it was never before her partner. She often wondered if Carmichael, and his snotty secretary, slept at their desks.
“Thank you.”
She knew what she would find even before she pushed the door open. Niles Carmichael sat behind his large mahogany desk, the single file he was perusing laid out on his meticulously organized area. Stray papers weren’t tolerated.
“Care to tell me why you used both company time and resources to travel to Rome when I know for a fact we don’t have any clients in that area?”
The man didn’t even have the audacity to pick his head up when he asked her the question. She knew from years of working both under him and alongside him that it was just who he was as a person, but it still grated on her nerves. There were times like this when she wondered if Silverstein’s reasons for acting out had anything to do with the fact that his business partner often felt he was better than everyone else. Then she would remember that it didn’t matter how Samuel was treated, he never should’ve done what he did to her best friend.
“I was protecting our company.”
That caught his attention.
“Excuse me?”
There was nothing soft about her business partner. Carmichael was every bit of the hard-ass she assumed he had been when he first carved his name into the financial world. It was why most people backed down when he turned that unforgiving scowl their way. But not Monica. She had long ago realized that if she wanted to stay at the top, she needed to give as good as she got.
“You heard me. I flew to Rome to protect our company. The same way I’ve been doing since I bought in as partner.”