Page 22 of Choosing Scarlet

Once I drink in my surroundings, my gaze finally settles on Mr. Stonebridge.

At thirty-nine, he’s lean and undeniably fit, with short, salt-and-pepper hair. A light stubble frames his jaw, emphasizing the strong lines of his face, and his dark hazel eyes, almost golden where the lamp hits, take me in. He wears a black suit tailored perfectly to his shape and a vintage watch around his wrist. His expression is serious, but not harsh, instantly lifting the worry that I’m in trouble.

I close the door behind me carefully. He gestures toward the leather chair in front of his desk, and I move quickly, sitting with my hands folded neatly in my lap.

“Am I in trouble?” is still the very first thing that slips out of my mouth. The moment the words leave me, I want to grab them and shove them right back in. Heat rushes to my face. I must sound absolutely ridiculous. For a split second, I wish the floor would crack open and swallow me whole.

Mr. Stonebridge’s lips twitch slightly, like he’s holding back a smile. “No. You’re not in any trouble,” he assures me. “I just wanted to discuss some matters with you.”

The tightness in my chest only grows, squeezing a little harder. My palms are still embarrassingly sweaty, and a faint dizziness washes over me in the seconds before he continues. “I understand you’ve canceled several bookings for the next few weeks. I wanted to make sure everything is all right.”

I nod quickly, maybe too quickly. “Of course.”

“Good … good.” He leans back slightly in his chair. “I’ve also been informed that you fired Mr. Fisher as your client.”

My mouth opens on instinct, ready to explain myself, but he lifts a hand gently, continuing before I can say a word. “That decision is entirely your own,” he says firmly. “It’s no one’s business but yours. You’re free to release any client you choose. The Network will never require you to see someone you don’t want to. However …” His voice softens just a touch. “I thought it might be relevant for you to know that Mr. Fisher has also ended his client status with our establishment.”

My knees weaken beneath me, just enough to make me grateful I’m already sitting. If I weren’t, I don’t know how I’d still be upright after hearing that. “I’m sorry, Mr. Stonebridge, for the loss of a client. I⁠—”

“That’s not a problem,” he interrupts me yet again. “And it’s not why you’re here. I’m meeting with you as a personal favor to him. He requested this meeting. But whether you see him or not,”—he tilts his head slightly—“that’s entirely your decision.”

For a second, my mind blanks. After weeks of silence … he went to my boss? He tried to arrange a meeting through Mr. Stonebridge, of all people. It’s so absurd that it borders on laughable, yet somehow it fits—because if anyone would do something like that, it’s Knox.

Mr. Stonebridge taps his fingers lightly on a white envelope resting on the desk, then slides it toward me with a slow push. “He also asked me to give you this.”

I swallow hard, my pulse thudding in my throat as I reach for it. My fingers tremble slightly as I break the seal and pull out the small handwritten note inside. There are only a few words, but they hit me with enough force to turn my entire world upside down.

I’m choosing you. Will you choose me?

KNOX

There isn’t another woman in the world I want to see besides Scarlet. That realization hit me the day after she walked away. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about her since. But at the same time, I can’t shake the feeling that I don’t have the right to reach out.

Not after the pain written all over her face the last time she looked at me.

That same ache has seeped into every corner of my life. Normally, I’m good at keeping business and personal matters far apart, but now everything blurs together into one giant mess I can’t untangle, no matter how hard I try. Adeline has pulled me aside more than once to warn me that I’ve been snapping during meetings. Apparently, the word around the office is that I’m not doing too well, which isn’t too far from the truth.

Then there are my dogs—all three of them. Milly won’t even come near me after the last time I brought Scarlet home. All the progress she made … gone, just like that. Boa and Tim barely bother asking for attention when I walk in anymore. I got so worried, I took all of them to the vet.

Two thousand dollars later, full panels of tests and hours of waiting, just for the vet to look at me and tell me they’re perfectly healthy—just upset with me. Acting out because they know something is wrong. Even my dogs seem to feel the fallout.

And my mind, of course, refuses to give me a moment of rest.

I find myself on The Network’s website again, staring at her photos—mostly that same smile that somehow managed to take hold of my heart the very first moment I saw her. I never thought anything like that could happen to me again, but here it is. I can’t make it go away, no matter how hard I try, which only makes things worse. Because if I can’t have her, then there’s no point in having access to The Network again. As simple as that.

Getting into The Network’s services is hard enough, but ending your client status is a complicated process in its own right. It’s not a matter of clicking a button and walking away. In The Network, when you want out, you have to face the man himself: Locke Stonebridge.

I’ve stepped into his office a few times now, and nothing about it ever changes. The space is the same, and so is he. Locke is always calm and composed, with a cool expression and a sharp way he looks at the world. It’s one of the many things I’ve always respected about him.

“Ending your client status, huh?” he asks, setting a glass of his finest whiskey down in front of me. I’m almost grateful for it. I’m craving that dull burn in my throat. Anything to numb the pounding ache sitting deep in my chest.

“If there’s a fee to make that happen, I’ll pay it,” I say.

“No fee,” Locke counters. “I’m just curious why. You’ve been a client for years.”

I shrug. “My priorities have changed.”

He gives me a look that sees straight through the surface. “You mean something happened with Scarlet. You booked her three times in just a few weeks.”