JOSIEA dumb smile stretched my lips, and I couldn't get rid of it no matter how hard I tried. People actually fell in love with our Happy App. I had never dared hope for such a reaction, but now this was our reality. Certainly, that gave us an insane amount of work, but no one complained. Especially not when we all received a special bonus for our work, courtesy of the CEO...“Wow…” Ashley blew out a slow breath as she opened her bank app to check her account. “I've never seen that many zeros here. I'm not sure I know how to pronounce it right.”“I can help you with that,” Mancy offered. “It's pronounced ‘fabulous shopping and a vacation on an exotic island’.”“Mine is called ‘house renovation’,” Kei interjected. “My apartment is almost falling apart, but with this money... Damn. I will finally have a place where I can invite girls with no shame.”“How about you, Martin?” Mancy grinned, walking over to his desk.Martin's cheeks blushed. “I will buy my wife a wedding ring she deserves
The door slowly opened, revealing another, larger, and more luxurious hall. I stepped on the black, glittering marble floor and slowly looked around at the walls ornamented with silver and golden patterns and crystal chandeliers. Then my eyes drifted to the black and white leather sofas where the VIP guests of the restaurant were, mainly drinking, smoking cigars, and discussing all kinds of things I surely didn't want to know about.“Mr. Aslanov sits in the right corner of the room,” said the concierge, who suddenly materialized next to me. He pointed at the two sofas on the right and the gray-haired man in the black suit. The man looked like he could be in his late sixties, but the dark aura around him screamed not to underestimate him.I swallowed and slowly walked across the hall toward him. My heart hammered, threatening to burst through my ribcage, but I refused to show fear. I raised my chin and focused on my steps. My heels clanged each time I hit the marble with every step I t
Kaiden tightened his grip on my hand as he all but dragged me out of Chernaya Roza.“Kaiden, wait!” I could barely keep up with his pace, stumbling a few times in my high heels.“Not now,” he grunted, pulling me to the main hall.I saw Tony waiting for us by the exit. He didn't seem surprised when he saw Kaiden; what I noticed in his expression was more like relief. Kaiden pulled me toward the door, and Tony followed. None of us said a word until we were in the parking lot, a block away.Kaiden finally slowed down his pace and freed me of his grip. I looked at Tony's pale face and clenched jaw, and then at Kaiden, who paced back and forth in front of a black Porsche, most likely his.I drew a deep breath. “Kaiden, I'm grateful for what you've done back there, but... can you explain to me what actually happened? Why were you even there?”Kaiden stopped pacing and breathed out a laugh, one that lacked any humor. “You have no idea how fortunate you were tonight.”I glanced at Tony, but h
KILLIANNo decent words could describe what I felt after I learned about what had happened to Josie. I was supposed to spend the night in D.C. and return after the morning conference, but I canceled my plans and rushed back to New York.I was fucking furious. Murderous urges merrily danced in my head, filling it with all sorts of ideas. I had begun to debate whether I should call Gunner and end all those fuckers at Chernaya Roza. Yes, I was ready to start an open war with the Russian Mafia. One of them dared threaten my woman. Killing that fucker seemed like an appropriate response.Rage still hummed in my veins as I walked into my penthouse around three AM, but the need to see Josie unharmed turned out to be stronger than bloodthirst. I dropped my briefcase and documents in the salon and ran upstairs to my bedroom. The sight of her sleeping in my bed instantly silenced my inner storm.The relief drew air out of my lungs. I sat on the bed and brushed a few blond strands off her face. S
JOSIEKillian texted me to eat lunch together, and my stupid heart lurched. We might have been working in the same building, but we had rarely seen each other at work. Truthfully, we hadn't spent much time together outside of work either. I was constantly busy improving and expanding the options of the Happy App, while Killian was almost glued to his CEO's desk, drowning in the executive's work.A wide grin parted my lips, but it faded within heartbeats as I realized there might be a serious reason behind Killian's sudden lunch invitation. In the morning, he said he was going to talk with Kaiden. Had the conversation gone bad? Had Kaiden said something stupid, and now Killian was mad at me?I knew he was furious I had gone to Chernaya Roza without him. He was even more furious once he learned it had been Kaiden who saved me. Of course, Killian apologized for his asshole-like behavior, but it didn't mean he accepted what had happened.Shoving those gloomy thoughts away, I grabbed my pu
KILLIAN“An engagement ring?!” Tony's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. “Are you out of your fucking mind?!”“Well, it's easier to introduce Josie as my fiancée. People see a ring, and no one dares assume she's my plaything or that I will throw her away as soon as I get bored,” I reasoned.“That's not right,” Tony muttered, opening a new whiskey bottle and refilling our glasses.For the first time, we were sitting in his office instead of a study in my penthouse. I chose Tony's company, thinking it would be better to discuss a few matters without Josie's presence. Then again, she wasn't spending her evening at the penthouse either. She went to her friend Ashley, claiming she needed to think my not-proposal through…“I don't get it. Why does it have to be such a big thing?” I snatched my glass from the table and took a sip. “It's not a real engagement. The ring is just a prop.”Tony rolled his eyes. “Your precious little prop is worth nearly one hundred thousand dollars.”“So?”
JOSIEI was still mad at Killian for this fake engagement ring. I had been close to confessing my feelings for him, and a few minutes later, he casually told me to act as his fake fiancée. Was any part of the things that had happened between us even real to him? Was our intimate relationship meaningless?I let out a deep sigh as I sank into a luxurious seat in Killian's private jet. I was planning to ignore Killian and do anything I could to enjoy our trip to Los Angeles, but the nearly painful restlessness had taken some of that pleasure away.I glanced at my opened purse and instantly saw the little black velvet box I had hidden inside it. I had yet to decide whether or not I would wear the ring at the conference and gala. A part of me could understand why Killian had thought of such a thing. Showing this ring would have made our relationship solid and believable. If I had turned off my emotions, perhaps I would have been able to appreciate the advantage the ring was giving, but I d
KILLIANContaining my rage throughout the flight quickly became a challenge. What Josie told me didn't sound like the Ryder Phillips I knew, but then my mother's words emerged. What if she was right and none of the people I called friends had ever shown me their true faces because of who I was?I had to admit that I felt even more conflicted about meeting with Ryder now than before I talked to Josie but for entirely different reasons. If I met Ryder now, I would confront him, force him to tell me everything he had done, and then I would turn him into a bloody pulp.The only good outcome of this conversation was that I held Josie in my embrace until we landed. She was no longer mad at me… or, at least, her anger visibly decreased. She had fallen asleep at some point, resting her head on my lap as I worked on my computer. She woke up as we landed at LAX and began to chase away the remains of sleep, fixing her hair and makeup. I told her she didn't have to do anything; she looked beautif