MAVERICKIt was already dark outside, and everyone had left the office, leaving me alone to finish the data I was working on.“Why are you still working?” He just came to my desk.I raised my hand and pointed a finger to not distract me.“Fuck it.” He was about to slam my laptop shut, but I quickly stopped him.“Just a sec, babe.”“I didn’t—”“Just a sec!” I pressed the print button.“Did you just yell at me?” His eyes narrowed, and I just giggled as I heard the printer running.I closed the new laptop he bought for me and rose to my feet to cup his angry face. Then I kissed him loudly. “You’re cute when you’re pissed off.”“What the fuck is so important it can’t wait until Monday?” He went to grab the paper from the printer and began reading it out loud. He paused momentarily, maybe to process, or he was surprised I wanted to make it official.“I don’t care about the money I would receive. What do you think? Unless you change your mind and that I’m terrible—”He was fast to come to m
LAKE“Boss, is that your COO, Mr. Rusher Radcliff?” Owen asked me.“What was he doing here?” I watched my friend walk towards the parking lot of Winston Tower. I decided to come early for the board meeting, but I did not expect to see him earlier than me at Winston’s.I decided not to jump to conclusions. I trusted Rusher. We’d known each other for years. I didn’t think for a second he would betray me. He could have resigned if he had decided to work at Winston Holdings. I would not hold grudges on that unless my father offered him a job he couldn’t decline.“Keep this between us,” I told Owen.“Of course, boss.”The meeting started after thirty minutes. My father wanted to expand the business further in Asia even though Winston Holdings had already invested in South Korea, Singapore, and Macao. That was a good proposal, though. If I had been the CEO for twenty-five years, I would have done it a long time ago.“What do you say, Lake?” one of the boards asked, and my father looked at m
MAVERICK“You’re going in that—?” He gestured his finger at my outfit without finishing his sentence— a golden sequin thin strap with a deep plunging top and my black mini skirt.“Yeah, a club outfit. What’s wrong with this?” I spun around to get his approval.“You barely cover my goods.” He cupped my breast. “Your tits are spilling out.”“Your goods?” My laugh was breathless as I swatted his hand. “And no touching, please.”He shook his head in amusement. At the same time, he didn’t approve it. I could see it in his eyes. “You asked me once how possessive I was.”“How can I forget?”“Hmm.” That was all he said.“Dully noted.” I swiped my hair to cover my chest, making him frown further. “It’s either I go or I won’t, Lake. When was the last time I went to a club? And I’m just going to a bar.”He gazed at me in silence for long seconds before withdrawing a deep breath. “Fine. Go. Keep your phone with you.”I rolled my eyes. “I’m with friends, my co-workers, and Cooper. What can possibl
MAVERICKMira chose a song, hit the play button, and the title popped up.“You’re kidding.” It is one of the most popular pop songs on the internet today.“No belting necessary,” she said, laughing. “We’ll just have fun.”“Good choice, considering I can only sing Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas.”“No one is going to score us. Chill out.” She laughed again.“Right, because this isn’t embarrassing enough.” I had no choice but to join with her.She could sing, but I couldn’t. Halfway through the song, I started to loosen up. We even got hip moves on our own until the song ended.“I can’t believe I didn’t hear anyone boo us.” I laughed with Mira. “I need a drink.”When I went back to the bar, Genesis pushed my Martini with four olives.I grabbed the stick and ate the olives before I talked to Homer. “If you ever tell Lake I went to the stage and sang, I will kill you in your sleep.”With a slight smile, he raised his hands for surrender even though he had probably already told Lake and
LAKE“Hey.”Maverick jumped before me and swiftly turned around. Her eyes were wide and red.“Are you okay?” I cupped her head to make sure she was okay. “Drunk?”“No. I had one Martini. How long have you been here?”“Just arrived. Homer said you’re here.”She hugged me tight and sighed. “Can we go home now?”“Are you sure?” I hugged her back. “I just arrived.”“Yes.”“Okay. Go tell your friends we’re leaving.”I went to Homer as soon as she went to her friends. “She seems on edge. Something happened?”“I don’t think so. She was having fun with her friends. I’ve kept my eyes on her until she excused herself to get inside.”“Okay. Thanks.” I patted his shoulder.As soon as I found an excuse to leave Rusher and some of his friends from London, I quickly came here to see my wife.Homer kept me updated and sent me pictures of Maverick singing with her friend. I was glad she had fun, even in her sexy outfit. For me, she pulled it off effortlessly, but in other men’s eyes, her outfit could
MAVERICKWhy did it have to happen to me?I cried in silence in my car. The silence it took, the more excruciating it got. It felt like someone just ripped my heart out of my chest. What did I do to deserve this pain— the kind of pain that I’d never felt before? It was too much— it was unbearable. And what worse could it be? I just stole five million dollars from my husband.Lake was not just my husband—he was everything to me—my best friend, my anchor, my source of light and happiness. He was my soulmate. And now I just deceived him and left him with the thought of saving my grandmother and his legacy, his company, his name, and probably his safety.How was it fair? I did nothing wrong than love the man for who he was, not what he had.I pulled off from his parking area with only a suitcase, clothes, passport, and a few cash I took from his safe. I was grateful everyone seemed to be sleeping, including Homer and Owen. Was the universe doing me a favor? I didn’t think so. How did I en
LAKEI woke up with a satisfying grin across my lips. I stretched my arm out to Maverick’s side of the bed. I expected her to be still curled at this time on weekends. To my dismay, her side was empty.I planned on making her a greasy breakfast for her hangover, and with how we ended last night, she deserved a good massage and a beauty treatment.I got up from bed and went to the bathroom. I used the toilet, then brushed my teeth and washed my face. I put on some sweatpants and a tee before I picked up my phone.“What the fuck?” I blinked my eyes repeatedly to make sure I wasn’t just dreaming. My bank notified me that I just successfully transferred five million dollars to Maverick’s account.I didn’t care about the money. If she had asked me, I would have given her an extra million dollars. Then, another notification came from my safe.“What the fuck is going on?” I dashed out of the room and called her name. Of course, she might be already gone. The notifications were sent four hou
LAKE“Walk me through it.” He led me to the Gunner Room, or the situation room, where his men had access to all the CCTV they could access and the body cams of their men in action.After I told him everything I knew so far, minus the fantastic, mind-blowing sex last night, he ordered his men.The sex was incredible. I could still feel my entire body buzzing in satisfaction. And I didn’t have a clue it was goodbye sex.“Can you access her phone?”“Are you insulting my capability, Mr. Winston?” asked the eyeglasses.“Just do it, Don,” Linden said dismissively.“Uh-huh. It just shut off,” Don said in dismay.“What do you mean? What about her car?” I was about to tell him the plate number, but her GPS just flashed on the screen.“It’s on the third and fourth street,” he announced.Linden nodded and ordered the control man with a mic, “Get a team to that location.”Linden had just finished his order when the car seemed to stop moving or the GPS went off.“What the fuck? It looks like we’re