“Did you look at the file?”
“No. I saw the top page and the sticky note and I wanted to throw up.”
“I remember you bailed early that night saying you didn’t feel well.”
“I wasn’t lying. I didn’t feel well.”
“Look, the ‘file’ on you is like two pages. Not a binder full of information. I feel like a dick even admitting it now, but yeah, there was some information on your financials in it. It was very basic stuff. I just…I really liked you when we met. And I’ve been burned in the past.”
Yeah, she knew he had, which was why it wasn’t necessarily the file itself but that awful note that had changed everything for her. She shifted in her seat, wanting to believe him. But she knew what she’d seen.
“I’m sorry about the file,” he continued. “I’m sorry for whatever you saw. I’m sorry that you got hurt. No, that’s wrong, I’m sorry I inadvertently hurt you,” he clarified. “But I never, ever wrote a note calling you that. And I really miss you,” he finally murmured.
Oh, God. “I miss you too,” she blurted without meaning to. It was true anyway. She’d missed him for two long months and he seemed so damn sincere. Which just served to confuse her even more. She’d seen that note. Maybe…she’d jumped to conclusions? But no. That damn thing had been underlined three times.
A long, awkward pause stretched between them so she picked up her drink, sipping on it because she wasn’t sure where to go from here.
“So what’s going on with this whole mugging and someone trying to attack you at your condo?” he asked, shifting directions.
Inwardly she breathed out a sigh of relief. Talking about that was much better than talking about the two of them. Especially since there wasn’t a “them” anymore, and she didn’t think there could be after that note. “I don’t really know what to say. You heard everything last night. It’s just bad luck.”
He frowned, and somehow he looked even more handsome, which was ridiculous. It wasn’t fair that he was so effortlessly put together. “I don’t like it.”
Maybe the subject change wasn’t the best thing after all. Daniel could go into super overprotective mode, and he was worse than her brothers. “Well, I don’t like it either. But I’m being smart about it.” She cleared her throat. “So how’s your sister?”
“She’s been really busy the last month,” he said.
“Really?”
He nodded. “Yeah, why?”
“We’ve been texting, but she’s been totally unavailable and I thought… Honestly, I thought maybe she was blowing me off because you and I broke up.” And that hurt.
He snorted at that. “Sienna told me that she wanted to keep you after the breakup, and trade me in.”
Kathryn let out a startled burst of laughter and took a sip of her drink. Being with him like this now brought up far too many memories, far too many emotions she wanted to ignore. Things between them had been so great, so easy. Until she’d found that stupid note and it had fed into every single one of her insecurities.
They were from two different worlds, and to learn that he thought she was a gold digger had shaken her. He denied it and she wasn’t sure what to think now. “I’m sure she didn’t mean it.”
He snorted again. “I wouldn’t bet money on that. Look, I asked her about you being engaged.”
She blinked. “What?”
“Yeah. I was annoyed that she hadn’t told me about it and she was surprised. So if she says anything, sorry about that.”
“Oh…ah, it’s not a problem.” Clearly he didn’t realize that she’d been behind the job at his place. And even though she wanted to tell him, she didn’t want to talk about her personal life with him.
Or more specifically, her lack of one.
Chapter 5
Normally Daniel didn’t go into the office on Saturdays unless it was an emergency, but he’d scheduled an appointment with the tech company that had done a sweep of security at the new building he’d recently acquired. This was the only day that had worked well for both of them.
He stepped out of his office when he heard the elevator doors ding softly. He’d told security to send this guy directly up and his assistant wasn’t here today.
As Tony Domínguez stepped out of the elevators, Daniel nodded politely at him as he strode across the waiting area directly to him. “Thanks for meeting me on a Saturday.”
“No problem.” In khakis, a plain button-down shirt and loafers, Tony was dressed casual today.
“I’ve got coffee and water and can probably find some snacks if you’re hungry.” There should be a bunch of snacks in the kitchen for meetings.
Tony shook his head. “I’m good. But thank you anyway.”
Daniel had only had coffee that morning before Kathryn had shown up at her normal café. He felt a little bit bad about ambushing her but he’d needed to see her and clear up what had happened between them.
Now that he knew why she’d left him, he realized that their breakup had been because of a misunderstanding. He simply couldn’t understand why there had been a sticky note on the file—one he sure as hell hadn’t written. Kathryn wasn’t prone to making shit up either, so he believed it had been there. And he wasn’t even sure why the file had been on his desk.
It didn’t make sense and he intended to get to the bottom of things. He wondered if one of her brothers had somehow set him up. They’d never really warmed up to him, but…that seemed extreme. Still…Carson, her oldest brother, had stopped by to see him a couple times before Kathryn had broken up with him. Maybe… Hell. He was going to figure this out later.
“I assume you already looked at the email I sent,” Tony said as he sat in the plush chair in front of Daniel’s desk.
He rounded the desk and sat down as well. “I did, thank you.” Tony had sent him a basic outline of the very few flaws in the security. But he’d wanted to talk in person about everything that had been done to break through the first firewall yesterday before giving him the full report, something Daniel appreciated.
“This is the complete file.” Tony set a binder on the desk between them. “And I’ll follow up with a digital copy. Everything is broken down into categories, but basically you have a few holes in the security system, and they’re all very easily fixable. More than anything, it boils down to updating certain software on-site and making sure everything is automatically updated from this point forward.”
“Did the whole balloons and bubbles thing have anything to do with the security breach?” A random guy had been there at the same time Kathryn— Holy shit, was Kathryn involved? She analyzed security systems for a living, exactly what he’d hired Tony to do for him. No…she went in and evaluated security programs directly with the IT and security people. But what if she had been involved?
Was that why she’d been at the building yesterday? She hadn’t been wearing the ring today and had seemed almost confused by the mention of a fiancé. Had the whole wedding planner meeting thing just been a front?