Thrust: Bad Boy Racing Romance (Fastlane Series Book 2) (23 page)

Even so, I didn’t want to kill Chloe’s enthusiasm, because after all, she was only trying to make me feel better.

“Dani, what’s wrong?” Chloe began, her wide smile vanishing.

I exhaled.

“It’s nothing. It’s just complicated. That’s all.”

She frowned.

Passing the signature page back to me, she said, “Well, I’m sure that whatever it is, you’ll find a way to handle it. You always do. Like, there’s no limit to what you’re capable of doing.”

Taking the paper from her, I glanced down and looked at Marco’s signature.

“Hey! You didn’t tell me about the trip. What happened between you and Marco?”

I glanced up at her, smiling again. Chloe nodded.

“Oh yeah,” she chided, the tone in her voice turning accusatory. “That’s what I’m talking about. You bad girl! What did you do?”

I shook my head, smiling wider than ever and turning to walk away from her.

“I don’t know what you mean. I got the agreement signed. That’s all.”

Chloe stomped her foot.

“Stop! Don’t take another step! You better tell me everything that happened!”

With a bit of reluctance, I spent the next half hour or so telling her about the entire trip, including our getaway to the Italian countryside. By the time I finished, Chloe stood there fanning herself with her hand.

“Oh my God, that is
seriously
hot. When are you going to see him again?”

Until the moment she asked that question I really hadn’t thought about it.

Shaking my head, I replied, “I don’t know. We didn’t discuss it. I had to leave in a hurry, you know, because of my dad.”

A soft, sad smile came to Chloe’s face. She reached for me, rubbing my arm.

“Well, I’m sure you’ll see Marco again before too long, especially now that you’ve got the contract and everything.”

I shrugged. “Maybe.”

“What’s wrong?”

Biting my lip, I thought about her question for a few seconds before responding.

“I can’t explain it, Chloe. It just, it doesn’t feel like I thought it would, that’s all.”

Chloe stepped towards me and extended her hands towards my upper arms, wrapping her fingers around them.

“What do you mean? Are you talking about Marco?”

I looked at her.

“No, not Marco. No. I don’t have any illusions where he’s concerned and…”

Chloe interrupted me.

“That’s bull, Dani. I can tell that you’re crazy about him. You should see the way your face lights up. You may be trying to convince yourself that, like, you don't want to be with him or whatever, but you’re not fooling me. Not one bit.”

Rolling my eyes, I replied, “Well what difference does it make? It would never work out, even if he felt the same way. I mean, we live halfway around the world from each other. And anyway…”

“Cut the crap,” Chloe snapped, cutting me off again. “Have you told Marco how you feel?”

“What?” I said, leaning away from her. “No way. Are you crazy?”

“Why not?”

I held the signature page up, rattling it in front of her face for emphasis.

“This.
This
is why. I would have blown the whole deal coming off like some crazy stalker.”

Chloe leaned back and howled with laughter.

“What?” I began, my tone firm. “What is so funny?”

She continued to laugh for a few more seconds, at last refocusing on me.

“Dani, you’re being completely ridiculous right now. Like, do you seriously think that this guy would take you away to his
private villa
and then fly you all the way back here on his
private jet,
and somehow that means he’s not into you? Hello? Are you completely dense?”

I exhaled and was about to reply when Chloe held her hand up in front of my face.

“No, Dani,” she began, curling her fingers inward until only her index finger remained. Pointing at me, she continued, “You need to stop feeling sorry for yourself. You're achieving incredible things in your life, you got a sexy thing going with a super-hot guy, and all of this other stuff – with your family – it will work itself out. You need to snap out of it. You still have to get that partnership, right?”

I nodded. “Yes.”

“Okay then,” Chloe said, narrowing her gaze at me. “Focus on getting that done, and all these other things will work themselves out. Totally, they will. You're the strongest person I’ve ever known, Dani. It’s time for you to get what you deserve.”

DANI

I woke up suddenly, bolting upright in my bed.

I’d just had a dream – more like a nightmare – my father had died. For the first few seconds, I sat there not sure if I was still asleep. Soon though, the cobwebs of slumber cleared from my consciousness. Reaching for my cell phone on the nightstand nearby, I grabbed it and flipped it over to check the time.

2:09 AM.

Groaning, I fell back into the mattress, closing my eyes at the same time my head hit the pillow.

“Fuck.”

I suppose I should have been grateful I slept as long as I did, considering everything I had at stake. Later that morning, I would deliver the signature page to Bernard and Leopold. I rolled over, exhaling and trying to let go of the anticipation.

If there was ever a time I needed sleep, it was right now. Only it didn’t happen. Not then, not in the next half hour or the next hour. In fact, it felt like I lay there forever, waiting for consciousness to slip away.

At last, mercifully, it did.

The final image I held in my mind was shaking their hands and accepting my position as partner. My goals were closer than ever and it looked like they were going to come to pass.

When I next woke up, my bedroom glowed with sunlight. Groggy, I rubbed my eyes until the blurriness disappeared. I hadn’t bothered to put my cell phone back on the nightstand. Grabbing it, and with only one eye open, I swiped my thumb across the display.

9:17 AM.

“Holy shit!” I exclaimed, ripping the sheets away from my body and scrambling to the bathroom to shower. If the pressure of making partner wasn’t enough, today also happened to be the deadline, the last day, I had to deliver Bernard and Leopold the agreement. I didn’t want to give them any excuse, no matter how small, to reject my efforts to become a partner.

I couldn’t remember the last time I’d gotten ready so quickly. I made my way across town and arrived at the office a little past ten thirty. Once at my desk, I gathered up all of the files related to Marco's estate, finishing by placing the signature page at the top of the pile. Exhaling, I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes.

“This is it, Dani,” I whispered, trying to settle my nerves. “This is it.”

I reached for the phone, readying myself to call Bernard. But before I could press a single key, the intercom on my office phone blared to life.

“Dani,” Leopold’s voice crackled over the speaker. “Bernard and I would like to speak with you. Immediately.”

Considering the situation, I should’ve been excited to get a call like that from him, but the tone in his voice suggested otherwise. Before I could say anything, Bernard interjected.

“Yes, Dani,” he added, pausing and shuffling a bit of paper in the background. “Don’t forget to bring all of the files for Mr. Rhys with you, please.”

Now I was completely confused. I wondered why they felt the need to tell me to bring Marco’s files with me.

“Okay,” I began, a tone of uncertainty in my words. “Where would you like to meet with me? Bernard, in your office?”

Bernard interrupted me.

“No, no, Dani…” he replied, pausing suddenly and cutting off the rest of his sentence.

The microphone emitted a muffled, scratchy sound. In the background I heard other voices, voices that didn’t belong to either Bernard or Leopold. I frowned in the direction of the phone. After a few seconds of silence, Bernard came back on the line.

“Sorry about that, Dani.”

I shook my head. “That’s okay. You were saying?”

“Yes, yes, Dani,” he began, seeming to refocus on our conversation. “We’re going to need you to come to the conference room.”

Suddenly, for a reason I couldn’t explain, something seemed wrong.

Not wanting to seem anxious, I replied calmly, “Right, right away. Is there anything else I should bring besides Mr. Rhys’s files?”

Again, there was another extended pause.

“Excuse us, Dani…” Leopold replied, once again sounding like he was attempting to cover the microphone.

To say that their behavior was strange would be an understatement. In all the time I’d worked for them, I’d never known them to be anything but direct and to the point with everything. They weren't the type of men who wasted time – or words. I found my attention riveted in the direction of the phone. I sat up straight, focusing and listening for the slightest noise that sounded out of place. After what seemed like forever, Bernard came back on the line.

“That will be all, Dani. Please bring everything we’ve asked for and join us in the conference room as soon as you possibly can.”

With that, Bernard disconnected the call. I leaned back in my chair, uncertainty lacing every thought in my mind.

What the hell is going on?

The only thing that made any sense was that perhaps they thought I didn’t have Marco’s signature. I hadn’t spoken to either of them in more than a week, so to think that they might have had their doubts didn’t seem that far-fetched. Still, no matter how I tried to rationalize their uncharacteristic behavior, something gnawed at me. I sat there for another second or two until at last, I shook my head, determined to move forward.

“This is ridiculous…” I said, placing my palms flat on the desk. “I’m getting worked up over nothing.”

Doing my best to put my worries aside, I did what Bernard and Leopold asked of me. Gathering up everything related to Marco’s file, I tucked the stack underneath my arm. I stood tall and straightened my spine before leaving the office, reminding myself, one last time, of what was at stake.

“Come on,” I began, reaching for the doorknob and wrapping my hand around it. “Make it happen, Dani.”

With my pep talk still in the front of the mind, I made my way towards the conference room. Nearing the frosted glass doors, I noticed the shapes of multiple people inside.

In other words, more than Bernard and Leopold.

I chewed my lip, nibbling along the bottom one. My doubt returned. The distracting noises I’d heard in the background while talking to Bernard and Leopold made more sense, but not much more. Who was in there?
Why
were they in there? And then, just when I reached for the door, it dawned on me. It was the other partners.

It had to be.

It was the only thing that made any sense. Even though Bernard and Leopold didn’t know I’d closed the deal with Marco, if I had, the other partners would have to be present to sign the agreement welcoming me into the firm as an equity shareholder.

“Oh my God, thank God.” I whispered, looking upward and sighing a much-needed breath of relief.

My panic attack averted, I grabbed hold of the door handle to the conference room and opened it. The instant I stepped inside, my short-lived relief turned to immediate horror.