“Uh-huh.” The woman reached over and poked her firmly in the arm. “Well, let’s see if we can’t speed up the drudgery, yeah?”
Brinley leaned away from the persistent poking. “Ow. Stop. What are you even talking about? Whoareyou?”
“Me?” The woman blinked once and her expression softened to something like neutral. “Call me Ella. Not that who I am matters, Brinley. This is about you.”
“What’s about me?” Brinley rubbed at her arm. “Why do you remember my name? That’s kind of awkward, you know?”
Ella’s grin returned and she waved her hand in a dismissive manner. “No wonder you’re a reporter. You ask so many questions.” She stood, not swaying when the bus swung to the side for its next stop. They did not have the smoothest driver that morning. Ella extended a pointer finger toward Brinley. “The next little while might be uncomfortable, honey, but it’ll be worth it. Promise. You just have to follow this”—she leaned close and tapped Brinley’s chest, over her heart—“and not this.” She finished by lifting her hand to tap Brinley’s forehead. “Got it?”
Brinley awkwardly shook her head. “Not at all.”
Ella chuckled and turned away. “You will, you will.” She didn’t wait for a response before striding down the aisle between the seats and disappearing out the door.
Brinley gaped after her, leaned forward, and attempted to see which way the strange female went when she got off the bus. Though she had no idea what she might do with that information. It didn’t matter. Ella never reappeared.That’s impossible.She had to have gone the other direction, and Brinley’s line of sight just wasn’t as good as she’d thought. Maybe one of the oncoming passengers had blocked her view.
She sank back into her seat and rubbed at her chest. Ella hadn’t poked with any fervor that time, but somehow, her heart felt achier in the wake of their bizarre conversation than it had minutes earlier.Maybe I’m hallucinating.Too little sleep, too little caffeine, and too much stress. That had to be it.
She curled as in on herself as she dared on a public bus and focused on gulping her coffee before her stop. The boost of caffeine and sugar would settle her, she was sure.
****
The unexpected sound of heels clicking on polished stone floor reached Lennox’s ears only seconds before the double doors to his home office were shoved open. He frowned—at the unannounced intrusion, and more severely at the sight of the woman strutting in like she owned the damn place. A single click was all it took to darken his monitor screen and he adjusted to face forward, not bothering to soften his expression. “Matilda. Would you be so kind as to explain how you got in?”
Matilda rolled her eyes and let out a practiced sigh of exasperation. She settled her overpriced handbag in the crook of her arm and made a dismissive gesture. “Isn’t it obvious? I let myself in.”
Lennox pushed to his feet. “I’m not in the mood to play this game with you, Matilda. We don’t socialize. Even when we were together, I never gave you the security codes for my private residence.” Considering the number of arguments they’d had on the subject, he doubted she’d forgotten.
Her manicured brow pinched for a single second before smoothing out again. “I am well aware of the secrets you kept. You were a terrible fiancé.”
By choice.“And you’re trespassing.”
Matilda balked. “Hardly. More importantly, what’s this I’m hearing you were glued to some charity case at that annual throwback last night?” She took a single step forward, her voice rising. “Were youbored, or have you completely lost your sense of self-worth?”
His lips threatened to curl with the growl of warning that burned in his chest, but Lennox fought both reflexes down. Matilda had always aggravated him. Always gotten under his skin in absolutely the worst way. He’d thought he could endure her once, for his father’s sake, but it hadn’t taken long to realize indulging her made her worse and ignoring her only served as a provocation. Neither was there any sense in asserting his dominance as an alpha where she was concerned. The woman was human. She only ever laughed it off. So he chose instead to express his irritation with his words. “I’d say you’re the one with insecurities. Barging into a home you know damn well you’re not welcome in and making a scene over something that doesn’t concern you? For what, your pride? Or areyouthe one who’s bored?”
She reared back, her artificially extended and painstakingly straightened hair swaying with the movement. “I beg your pardon? All I had to do was politely ask for the security code from your kind mother and she was happy to offer it. That’s hardlybarging. Don’t be such a boor. And I’ll have you know, your social preferences reflect on me. So of course it concerns me.”
The hand he’d left resting on his desktop to remind himself of his surroundings curled into a fist. “You called my mother?” The question was out before he could think better of it. He shouldn’t have been surprised. His parents were the reason they’d met, the reason they’d become engaged, and the reason he’d worked so damn hard to make it work. It didn’t matter that he’d explained to them on multiple occasions how incompatible he and Matilda were, before or since the split. Matilda was among the most manipulative and self-centered people he knew.Of courseshe’d called his mother to get what she wanted.
Matilda marched forward, into his personal space, and smacked him across the face. “You were salivating over some low-class whore in public! How do you think—”
Lennox caught her by the wrist before she could retract her hand. “Trespassing aside, I will not tolerate you disrespecting her.” He tightened his grip and a little of his natural, angered growl thickened his voice. “Neverlet me hear that shit again.”
Matilda sucked in a sharp breath and retracted her arm as soon as he released it. “Do you even know her name?”
He held her glare easily. “Nice try. Now get out.”
She raised her chin defiantly. “You’ll never do better than me, Len. Remember that.” Then she twisted in place, adding an extra flourish with her neck to make her hair swing wide, and strode out as if she hadn’t been dismissed.
Lennox locked his jaw until he was fairly sure he wouldn’t snarl at whomever he spoke to next. He typed out instructions in text to his security staff to make sure she was swiftly removed from the property and kept that way, and then he stalked forward and snapped the office doors firmly shut. He blew out a rough breath, returned to his desk, and stared at his phone.
He wanted to get back to the important and more valuable work he’d been doing. But now, apparently, he needed to call home again.
He grunted and tapped a key to wake the monitor, simultaneously unlocking his smartphone and swiping open his contacts list. He was one of the world’s most successful businessmen. He could fucking do both.
His mind was still processing that new information had come in while he’d been dealing with his ex when his father answered. The blinking tab taunted him, promising the unknown, potentially the most desirable things.
“Unusual to hear from you on a workday, Len,” Carey Mitchell said in greeting.
