AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter six
“Can I help you?” A beautiful, tall, dark-haired woman standing behind her desk asks Aiden as we walk into the foyer of Handley and Rice, Inc.
Brooks and another guy, Jared Rice, started a marketing firm around three years ago, right after graduating college. They hit the jackpot with a few big-name accounts and it skyrocketed their exposure in the marketing world. It’s now a multimillion-dollar company. Numerous business magazines have written about the young duo and their quick success.
When I did a search to see who he was last year, I didn’t bother looking at who he really was. I just made sure he didn’t have any outstanding warrants because I would have loved to turn him in. God, he was such an asshole. Looking at his picture now, I see the resemblance to Travis. In fact, their facial features are almost identical except for their eye color. Brooks has hazel eyes.
“We’re here to see Mr. Handley,” Aiden responds, leaning forward on the tall ledge in front of the desk. Miss I’m About to Kick Her Ass is looking at Aiden like she wants to have him for lunch.
I clear my throat, interrupting her gawking. “Is Mr. Handley available?” She licks her lips as she looks at Aiden one last time before turning her attention to me. I shake my head. When her eyes find mine, her expression changes to annoyance. I flash her an obvious fake smile.
“Do you have an appointment? Mr. Handley is a very busy man.” She snickers and looks down at what I assume is an appointment book. I notice Aiden moving in the corner of my eye, reaching into his pocket.
“I think this will suffice.” He flashes his FBI badge. She looks back up to his face after inspecting the badge. You’d think she’d…I don’t know, call Brooks and tell him FBI is here. Nope. She drags her teeth slowly over her bottom lip and her cheeks flush. You have got to be kidding me. I jerk my head to Aiden. He looks down at me and laughs. The asshole laughs! I grit my teeth, forcing back the words that want to come out. He’s going to pay for this.
“Miss…?” Aiden asks.
“Torres,” she purrs.
“Ms. Torres,” I say between clenched teeth.
Aiden stops me by grabbing my hand. “Will you please let Mr. Handley know we’d just like a few minutes of his time?” Her eyes glance down at our joined hands, and she rolls her eyes. Yes, bitch, he’s mine.
“I’ll be right back.” The clack of her heels echoes the entire distance to Brooks’s office.
“Mmm, I love it when your feistiness comes out.”
I jab my elbow into his side. Thoughts of Secretary Skank escape my mind when I hear her coming back because then I hear another pair of shoes walking with her. I crack my knuckles as nerves flow through me. This is weird. I’m about to be face to face with someone who shares my DNA. Flutters in my belly make me thankful we decided to eat after this meeting.
When Brooks rounds the corner and we lock eyes, a look of recognition flashes through his. His lips pull up to a sly grin. Oh, shit, he remembers me.
“Ms. Mason,” he says. “What brings you here?” He stops in front of us, his hands in his black slacks. He doesn’t even glance at Aiden.
“I guess you remember me?” I say, clasping my nervous hands in front of me.
“I do.” My mouth gapes open at the seductive way the words slide out of his mouth. I don’t know if I should laugh or be horrified. “You’re a beautiful woman,” he says, unapologetically. “You’re hard to forget.”
“Eww.” The words are out of my mouth before I can stop them. Horrified wins.
I look at Aiden right away, and he shrugs. “He’s right.”
I narrow my eyes at him. Aiden’s enjoying this a little too much.
“I didn’t think I was that bad of a catch,” Brooks says sarcastically. I turn back to him. This is wrong and it’s going in a direction I hadn’t expected. I open and close my mouth a couple times as I struggle for words. What do you say to your brother who is hitting on you?
“Mr. Handley, I’m Agent Aiden Roberts. You obviously already know Addison Mason,” he chuckles. I roll my eyes. “Do you have a few minutes we can talk in private?”
He looks at me once more. I flick my gaze away, avoiding his eyes. My brother likes me. It’s not the like I was shooting for.
“Follow me.”
We follow him into his office, and he shuts the door behind us. His office is on the eighteenth floor and faces the Empire State Building. I don’t think I’d get much work done if this was my office because I’d be too busy staring out the window all day. We stand and wait for him to direct us on where he wants us to sit. There’s a couch and two seats on one side of the office and there are two seats in front of his desk. He chooses the desk.
We sit and Aiden doesn’t waste any time pulling a picture out of his pocket. “Do you know this woman?”
He hands a picture of Jessie to him. Brooks looks it over, flicking the corner of the picture with his finger. He studies it for a minute and shakes his head. He releases a sharp exhale and then looks up at Aiden.
“Do I need to get my lawyer in here?” His tone is sharp. He holds out the picture for Aiden to take back. Well, that answers our question. He knows her.
