He smiled. “Good morning.”

  “Good morning, Sir.”

  Daniel chuckled. “How’s your ass feeling this morning?”

  “A little sore.”

  He nodded. “You need to shower and get ready, so we have time to swing by your apartment and get your car.”

  Her car. And her project. She’d almost forgotten.

  She tried to pull her arms down, but they were still in the ropes. He untied her, kissing the inside of each wrist as he freed them.

  With one last kiss, he rolled off her and stood. “Your things are in the closet.” He nodded toward his big walk-in closet that was almost as big as the bedrooms in her apartment. “I’m going to get breakfast started.”

  After he left the room, she scrambled into the bathroom to shower. She usually spent several minutes standing under the spray trying to wake up, but she didn’t need to do that this morning. Daniel had taken care of waking her up in the best possible way.

  The warm feeling in her chest grew as she washed and dried her body. He made her feel loved. Wanted. Needed, even. When it was only them, she felt as if she were the most important person in the world to him. She’d never had that before.

  Going to his closet, she walked in to find all her clothes on one side. Her suits for work were hung up, along with her T-shirts. Her jeans and leggings were stacked neatly on three shelves. For some reason, seeing her stuff there, mingled with his, had her close to tears. She loved him so much, had for a long time, but she never thought anything would happen between them. Not like this. This felt like a dream. One she was afraid she’d wake up from.

  Taking a moment to get hold of herself, Ali removed her favorite suit from the hanger and got dressed. When she opened the bedroom door, she could smell cinnamon. Her mouth watered as she made her way into the kitchen.

  Daniel was putting cinnamon rolls onto a large plate when she strolled into the kitchen. He heard her and turned. His gaze raked over her, male appreciation in his eyes as a slow grin pulled at his lips. She knew exactly what he was thinking.

  She walked toward him, and he opened his arms, welcoming her into his embrace. He pressed his lips to the top of her head before tilting her chin up to give her a proper kiss. “Take a seat. I’ll bring everything over.”

  Bradley came in while they were eating. He grabbed a plate, plucked a cinnamon roll from the serving dish, and sat down. “Morning.”

  “Morning.” She gave him what she hoped to be a friendly smile before going back to her breakfast. They were on a time crunch this morning and the last thing she needed was to be late to work. Her boss was already going to be ticked off because she didn’t have his report finished. Her only hope was that he would come in late. Another hour or two and she’d have it done.

  As they were cleaning up, her mother made an appearance. She was dressed, and her hair and makeup were done, something Ali had never seen from Zelda this early in the day. Typically, the first twenty-four hours after her mother’s return were all about wallowing. It was rare she even brushed her hair, let alone styled it.

  “How’s everyone on this beautiful morning?” Zelda asked the room at large as she helped herself to coffee.

  “We’re good, Mom.” Ali paused. “What are you doing up this early?”

  Her mom giggled. Giggled.

  Ali frowned, but her mom didn’t notice.

  “It’s a beautiful day. Why would I spend it in bed?” Zelda went to the refrigerator, opened it, and removed the milk. “Are those cinnamon rolls? They smell divine.”

  Before Ali could think of anything to say in response, Daniel stepped in. “Help yourself to the cinnamon rolls. Ali and I need to get to work, but Bradley will be around if you need anything.”

  Her mom waved a dismissive hand. “Oh, don’t worry about me. I’m sure I’ll find something to keep myself busy.”

  Daniel placed a hand on the small of Ali’s back. “Come on. We need to get going or you’re going to be late.”

  That got her moving. She grabbed her purse, and they hurried out the door, leaving Bradley and her mother alone in the house.

  Once they were in the car and heading into the city, Daniel spoke, “Did your mother get any type of inheritance from your grandmother?”

  Ali shook her head. “No. Grandma didn’t have much, but what she did have she left to me.”

  He nodded.

  When he didn’t say anything more, she asked, “Why? Did she say something to you?”

  Daniel glanced at her before returning his attention to the road. “She did, but that doesn’t have anything to do with my question. Not directly, anyway.” He paused as he took the exit ramp. “I’m more concerned with her transient lifestyle. Where does she get her money when she’s not with you?”

  “Her boyfriends,” Ali said right away. She’d seen how her mom used the men she was with. Zelda Foster had no shame. She’d seen her mom talk a man she’d known less than a week into taking her to Paris.

  “What about after the relationship ends?”

  It took her a moment to put the pieces together as to what he was asking. “You mean how does she get to me from wherever she was?”

  He nodded.

  That was a good question and one she’d never asked. She’d always assumed her mom had some access to money, but Ali realized she had no idea what it was. “I don’t know. When my mom shows up on my doorstep, it’s like a whirlwind. And by the time I get my head wrapped around it, she’s usually found another guy and is off again.”

  “How does she meet these men?” Daniel asked.

  She shrugged. “Lots of places. She met the last one at a bar. The one before that at a park. Then there was one she met doing yoga outside my apartment. He was visiting one of my neighbors.” Ali sighed. “That was a little awkward.”

  “I imagine so.”

  They pulled into her apartment complex. He parked and came around to open the passenger’s door for her. “Thank you.”

  He stood at her side while she unlocked her car and threw her purse onto the passenger’s seat. The day was warming up nicely, but she felt a chill move through her. Daniel noticed and pulled her into his arms. He rubbed his hands along her back, warming her from the inside out. She wanted to stay right there forever.

  But she couldn’t. She had to go to work. “I need to go,” she mumbled against his dress shirt.

  He lifted her chin and pressed his lips to hers. “I’ll see you later, sweetheart.”

  She went up on her tiptoes, giving him another peck on the lips before sliding into the driver’s seat. He stood patiently as she started the car and backed out.

  Before she turned out of the parking lot, she glanced into her rearview mirror. He was still in the same spot, watching her. Something pulled at her heart, and she sat there an extra moment, taking in the sight of him. “I love you,” she said to herself. He couldn’t hear her, but saying it helped.

  She turned onto the road toward the hospital. The sun climbing in the sky let her know she didn’t have much time to prepare herself.

  It was a little after seven when she got to her desk. That gave her an hour to get the report finished before her boss made his appearance. Hopefully, she could get it done by then.

  Wasting no time, she logged onto her computer and got to work. She’d done all the research yesterday, so this morning was about compiling the data.

  The clock on her computer seemed to mock her. It ticked closer and closer to eight while her fingers flew over the keyboard.

  At eight o’clock, she was still working on the report. The end was in sight, but she needed at least another fifteen minutes.

  Ignoring everything around her, she concentrated on what she was doing. She didn’t unforward her phone, even though she was supposed to, because she couldn’t have any distractions.

  As she was typing the last paragraph, summing up the information, Ali heard the elevator ding. Without looking, she knew it would be her boss.

  Clicking save, she waited a moment for the computer to do its thing before hitting print. Her heart was racing as his footsteps got closer. He stopped at her desk, glaring down at her. “Do you have my report?” he snapped.

  She tried to hide the fact she was shaking. “On the printer, Mr. Jacobson.”

  A flash of surprise crossed his face before he schooled his features. He marched to the printer and removed the papers. After a quick scan, he went into his office, shutting the door behind him.

  It was then she realized he’d wanted her to fail.

  CHAPTER 27

  Daniel made himself comfortable and began going through the file Peter had sent the day before. It was thorough. When he’d told the man he’d wanted to know everything about Grant Jacobson, including what he ate for breakfast, he hadn’t expected quite this much detail.

  Peter hadn’t only run a background check on Jacobson. He'd also followed him. Or at least, had him followed. There were huge eight by ten photos of him sitting in restaurants, going into what Daniel assumed was his condo building, even one of him working out at the gym.

  After doing a quick scan of the documents, Daniel began going over the information, line by line. He didn’t want to miss anything, so he took his time. Kevin was holding his calls and he had no pressing matters to attend to unless Ali called. By the end of it, he was going to know more about Grant Jacobson than he did any other human being.

  It was almost eleven o’clock when he stumbled onto what he was looking for. Seven years ago, Grant Jacobson had lived in a neighborhood where Daniel had purchased a house to flip. He remembered it well. It was the only house he’d ever sold without completing the renovations.

  He’d lost his entire crew, too. Not because of anything he did, but because they’d been harassed by the neighbors. Or more to the point, one neighbor. The man who’d lived next door, one Grant Jacobson.

  Daniel had only spoken to the man face-to-face once because he never seemed to be home, but Jacobson had made working conditions unpleasant for his crew. He’d leave them notes nit-picking that they’d left something in his yard, things there was no way they’d left, and then he’d ‘return’ them to the house they were working on.

  While annoying, it wasn’t the only issue. Somehow, the man had organized with the other neighbors and would often take up all the parking on the surrounding streets. Trucks delivering supplies couldn’t get through, and when they stopped on the street long enough to unload their goods, the police would show up and force them to move. It had been frustrating and eventually, one by one, his guys quit.

  Daniel set the papers down on his desk and leaned back in his chair. The man was a colossal pain in the ass then and now.

  What he didn’t understand, however, was why Grant Jacobson was targeting Ali. She was his assistant. She was there to help him. The house renovation, he could almost understand. Some people didn’t like the noise or mess that came with construction. But that didn’t explain his attitude toward Ali.

  He took a quick break, then continued reading. It wasn’t until he got to the details of the man’s work history that something stood out. Peter had not only provided where he’d worked, his position, and his length of time there, he’d also, somehow, gotten his hands on performance reviews. The ones about him and the ones he’d written about his employees.

  Daniel couldn’t believe what he was seeing. One name kept cropping up over and over again. Brenda Renyolds.

  Not wanting to wait for Peter to do more digging, Daniel did a quick internet search. Her picture came up, much as it had for Jacobson.

  He followed the links to her work history, and sure enough, her list of employers mirrored Jacobson’s for the last eleven years. And when he looked at the dates, Jacobson always started first, then three to six months later, she would start at the company as well.

  Although he didn’t know the connection between the two, he now understood what was going on. Grant Jacobson was trying to get Ali to quit. And while he wasn’t averse to that plan given the situation, he wasn’t all for Jacobson continuing whatever this was he was doing. Ali was able to leave. He'd take care of her. But what about the next person he did this to?

  With that in mind, he found the names of the people who’d been in the positions Brenda Renyolds had filled prior to her arrival at the companies. The first, a Kylie Brant, had been twenty-three and fresh out of college. She was currently working for an insurance company in Chicago.

  The second, Mary Ortega, was a paralegal working at a small law firm across town.

  But it was when the search came back on the third woman that his heart sank into his stomach. He clicked on Michelle Olson’s obituary.

  As he read over the post, short as it was, he wanted to see Grant Jacobson pay. The date of her death was less than three months from the date Brenda Renyolds started working in Michelle Olson’s previous position.

  He dug a little more and found some old social media posts that were still up. As he scrolled through, the need to do something grew. She’d been a single mom and as he read the comments on her last post, one about her kid’s dad taking her daughter away from her because she didn’t have a job, he realized her death hadn’t been an accident. Michelle Olson had committed suicide.

  Daniel wanted to punch something. Preferably Ali’s boss, but he wasn’t sixteen anymore. It wasn’t hard to put two and two together. Her job loss had led to her losing custody of her child and that all led back to Grant Jacobson.

  Out of curiosity, he read over Michelle Olson’s performance review and felt as if he were having déjà vu. Unable to complete tasks on time. Refusal to follow through on instructions. Unavailable to meet the requirements of her position.

  Given what Ali had told him and what he now knew of Michelle Olson’s situation, he could see the pattern. Ali was killing herself trying to meet Jacobson’s demands. He made her nervous. And as a single mom, Michelle Olson wouldn’t have been able to drop everything at a moment’s notice and attend functions outside of office hours.

  Daniel switched gears, wanting to look more at the first company where Jacobson and Brenda Renyolds worked together. Upon closer inspection, he realized Brenda had started as a clerk according to her online résumé. Her previous job had been along the same lines. Then, two months after starting, she’d been promoted to an administrative assistant for Jacobson. And surprise, surprise, her performance reviews while she worked under Jacobson were glowing.

  But what he found even more interesting were the huge gaps in her work history. She’d quit when Jacobson left each company, then she didn’t work again until he hired her.

  Sitting back in his chair, Daniel tried to put the pieces together. Brenda Renyolds was beautiful. She had long blond hair in the picture, looked to be in her thirties, and had, what looked to be, deep brown eyes.

  Was she a long-lost sister or something? They didn’t look alike in any way, so he didn’t think that was the connection. He needed more information.

  Shooting Peter a text, he waited for the man to respond.

  Daniel – Do you have any additional information on Brenda Renyolds? A connection between her and Jacobson?

  It took less than a minute for Peter’s response to come through.

  Peter – Pictures 10 and 17.

  Snatching up the eight by ten photos Peter had included in the file, Daniel found number ten and number seventeen. The first was of Jacobson sitting in a restaurant with a woman. The second was of the two of them going into a building together. He hadn’t thought much of either of them before, but he now realized the woman was Brenda Renyolds.

  As he studied the pictures, he began to pick up on the little things. They were sitting a little too close at the restaurant. The flirty smile on her face as she looked at him. And the way the tips of his fingers touched her back as they were going into the building. These two were lovers.

  The pieces began to fall into place. Grant Jacobson was inserting his lover into a position where he always had full access to her...and on the company's dime.

  He had no idea if Brenda Renyolds was a good administrative assistant, but he was now realizing that wasn’t the biggest qualification required to work for Jacobson. Ali had assured him Jacobson hadn’t made any sexual advances toward her, so in some twisted way her boss must have some sense of loyalty to the woman he was sleeping with. That didn’t, however, solve Daniel’s problem.

  A quick look at his clock told him it was almost noon. Grabbing his suit jacket, he slid it on and headed out the door. He hadn’t seen Jacobson in seven years, and he was thinking a second meeting was long overdue.

  Ali was sitting at her desk, trying to work on the list her boss had sent her when she heard the elevator ding. The footsteps grew louder at the person’s approach, and she looked up, expecting to see one of the other executives or their admins. Her heart rate kicked up a notch when she saw Daniel. “What are you doing here?”

  “I came to take you to lunch.”

  She glanced at her boss’s door, then back at Daniel. “I don’t usually take lunch until one.”

  “Is that a rule?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow.

  “No. It’s just...” She looked toward her boss again and her eyes grew wide as he got up and headed toward her. He was looking down at a piece of paper—most likely something else he was going to have her do. Like what he’d already given her wasn’t enough.

  “Ms. Foster, I need you to—” He took in Daniel standing in front of her desk. She knew he was trying to figure out if Daniel was someone he needed to impress or not. Despite Daniel not wearing a tie, he had an air about him that screamed he was important. “Do we have an appointment?”

  “No.” Daniel never took his gaze off her boss. “I’m here to take Ali to lunch.”

  Her boss’s mouth twisted in displeasure. “I don’t think Ms. Foster will be taking a lunch today.” He turned his attention to her. “She’s rather busy.”