Page 101 of Diego

I leave his office before he can find another way to diminish something he had expected me to fail at.

Leah looks up the second I emerge.

Carter swivels in his chair.

I walk back to my desk and sit down.

“Well?” Leah asks.

“He wants to monitor the transaction closely.”

Carter snorts. “Of course he does.”

“He also reminded me not to let one successful showing go to my head.”

Leah’s expression turns flat. “I dislike him more every day. And every day, I don't think it's possible.”

“Get in line.”

I wake my screen again and find a new email from Martin waiting for me. The first batch of property documents is attached, along with a note confirming that Montes is willing to move quickly if Diego is serious.

There is also confirmation that the penthouse is available for inspection whenever I need it.

The penthouse.

Fantastic.

Apparently, I am going to have to return to the scene of the greatest professional success and worst lapse in judgment of my adult life.

With Diego.

At least there will be inspectors there.

This should have been uncomplicated, and it absolutely is not. But beneath the embarrassment, the exhaustion, the anxiety about Randall, and every memory I would prefer not to have running through my mind at work, there is something stronger now.

Pride.

Whatever happened after the showing belongs in an entirely different category.

I earned this deal before Diego ever kissed me.

I straighten in my chair and begin reviewing the documents. "I’m fine. I have a penthouse deal to close."

Chapter Nineteen

Diego

It has been a week. A long, long week.

Since I've been in the penthouse. Since this nightmare of never-ending paperwork began.

And since I've seen a certain real estate broker.

Every communication since the morning I dropped her back at Meridian has gone through appropriate, respectable, painfully official channels. Documents arrive from her Meridian email. Scheduling comes through assistants. Questions about the building and inspection access are answered professionally, efficiently, and without a single unnecessary word.

I have received exactly one direct phone call from her, and that was because she needed clarification about whether I wanted the building’s mechanical systems reviewed beyond what would normally be covered for the unit. The conversation lasted less than four minutes.

She called me Mr. Conti twice.