Matt had been avoiding the office for an entire week, finding any excuse to meet people for lunch or coffee, any reason to hop in his car and drive to Portland or...anywhere other than Richmond Industries headquarters. It was simply too painful to walk past Nadia’s desk several times a day and see someone else sitting there. All he could think about was how much better Nadia made his day with her beauty, brains and generous ways. Braydon, the temporary assistant HR had sent over, was competent, and he’d probably work out once he got up to speed, but he was also a stark reminder of who was no longer sitting outside Matt’s office.
But he couldn’t stay away today. It was Monday morning, which meant the weekly meeting with key staff. He had to steer the ship or at least nudge it in the right direction. The retreat was less than two weeks away. There were a million things to do. He was stressed, too. Liam had called a few days ago to tell him that his father was gravely ill. This had come as a shock to Matt, but Liam had sounded as if he’d been hit by a truck. They’d been talking every day since then. Matt mostly just listened as Liam tried to process what was happening.
Matt’s phone rang and he was relieved to see it was Liam. “Hey, buddy. How are you doing? How’s your dad?”
“He’s gone, Matt. He died. Early this morning. I didn’t even get to talk to him again. He was too sick to see me yesterday. I showed up at his house and I just got turned away.”
Matt dropped his elbow onto his desk and kneaded his forehead. “Man, I am so sorry. Tell me where you are. I’ll come to see you. I don’t think you should be alone.”
“No. No. It’s fine. I’m at work and everyone is freaking out. People are crying. Hell, I had to send half of the accounting department home because they were so upset. I need to stay and keep things together. My dad was very clear about this. Everyone at the company needs to be reminded of the succession plan. They need to know that the transfer of power is instantaneous and seamless. They can’t see me be anything but calm and collected.”
Matt shook his head and leaned back in his chair. “Liam, your father just passed away. It’s okay for you to feel bad or show some emotion right now. Nobody is going to blame you.”
The other end of the line was quiet and that made it feel like Matt’s heart was being ripped out. “I can’t. I have to hold everything together.”
This was so true of Liam. His family, the business—he kept it all together. But who was going to keep Liam together? “That’s what you do, isn’t it? You keep everything together.”
“I don’t have a choice.”
Matt sighed, resigned to the fact that he would never convince Liam to take a break. Not today. Perhaps it was best for him to soldier through the next eight hours and leave his grieving for home, where he could be alone.
Braydon poked his head into Matt’s office. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but Teresa St. Claire is on the line. She says it’s urgent.”
Matt nodded and held up a finger to let Braydon know he needed a minute. “Hey, Liam. Teresa is on the other line. I think she’s out at The Opulence, so I should probably take her call. It’s probably about the retreat.”
“Yeah. Yeah. Of course. Tell her I say hi.”
How things had changed in a few short weeks. “How are things between you two?”
“Good. Fine.”
“Is there a love connection there?”
“Love? No. We’re friends.”
Matt didn’t want to press Liam any further. That could wait until later. Plus, Teresa was on the line. “Okay. I’ll call you later to check on you.” Matt ended the call on his cell and picked up his office line. “Teresa. How can I help you?”
“Can you tell me what your relationship is like with your brother?”
Matt nearly laughed, especially thinking about the horrible things that had transpired at his parents’ house. “You have a few hundred hours for me to explain? Let’s just say that it’s adversarial at best. Why do you ask?”
“He was here at The Opulence over the weekend. He made a bit of an impression on the staff. Drinking too much in the bar and, honestly, talking trash about you a fair amount. One of the bartenders said he bragged last night that he was behind the TBG stories.”
Matt wasn’t entirely surprised. Zach took any chance he could to embarrass Matt or make him look bad. Of course, he’d chosen one of Richmond Industries’ most exclusive properties to smear his name. “Thank you for sharing, but I already knew about it. He threatened me with it the night I thought I was bringing Nadia to meet my parents. My brother basically broke Nadia and I up because of it.”
“Well, that’s not all your brother said. He was railing on Shayla, calling her a snake and saying that she’d forced him to do it. Something about blackmail and forcing Nadia out.”
Matt froze in his seat. He could hardly believe what he was hearing. “Do you trust this bartender?”
“I do. I’ve spent a lot of time trying to get to know the staff. And it wasn’t just the bartender who overheard. Aspen heard him say something, and so did Isabel Withers, the concierge. I wouldn’t call you if I wasn’t certain there was something to the story.”
Matt was struggling to put this all together. “Why in the world would Shayla do that? She’s one of my most trusted employees.”
“I don’t know, Matt. You’ll have to ask her yourself. And then I think you need to speak to Nadia.”
Oh, God. Nadia. She might kill Shayla with her small but capable hands if it turned out that she was behind the tabloid stories. “Thanks for this info. I really appreciate it.”
“No problem. Have you heard from Liam?”
“I have. He told me about his dad.”
“It’s so sad. He called me early this morning, right after it happened. He’s so upset. I’m trying to convince him to come relax for a few days out at The Opulence, but he’s all wrapped up in the succession plan and the lawyers and the will.” So there was a love connection between Liam and Teresa. “I’m hoping to see him tomorrow.”
“Great. I’m sure he could use the company. And thank you for calling. I really appreciate it.” Matt said goodbye to Teresa and called out to Braydon. “Can you get Shayla in here right away?”
Braydon nodded and picked up his phone, then sprang over to Matt’s door. “She’s on her way.”
Matt got up from his desk and began pacing his office, going over the events of the last few weeks. It all made sense now, except that it didn’t. He couldn’t imagine what her motive would be. Why would she want to hurt the company she worked for? What could she possibly be blackmailing Zach with?
He didn’t need to ask himself these questions for long, though. Shayla turned up in his doorway. “Braydon said you needed me.”
Matt just looked at her, shaking his head in disbelief. “I need to ask you something and I need complete honesty.”
“Of course. You always get the truth from me.”
Matt was starting to think that might not be the case. “Are you behind the TBG stories? Are you blackmailing my brother?”
He waited for her to defend herself or blurt out that he was wrong, but she did nothing of the sort. Instead, she wandered over to one of the chairs opposite his desk and sat down. “I guess I’m not completely surprised that you found out, but I was hoping that I’d gotten away with it. Nadia’s been gone for an entire week and the office is already a better place.”
“What in the hell are you talking about?”
Shayla turned to him. “You weren’t yourself when she was here. She was a distraction.”
“That is not true. And who put you in charge? It’s not your place to pull these kinds of strings behind the scenes.”
She shook her head and looked down at her lap. “It’s your fault, you know. It’s not like I didn’t try. Every day, Matt. Working hard. Dressing impeccably. Being at your beck and call. If you’d just noticed me, this never would have happened.”
“Noticed you? I notice you all the time. You’re a complete pain in my ass, but you’re a great employee. What exactly were you wanting from me?”
She turned back to him then slowly rose out of the chair. “You. I wanted you, Matt. All that time I was with Zach, it was just to get closer to you. Why do you think I’ve stayed all these years?” She approached him like a tiger hiding in the tall grass, stalking her prey. “I’ve had a million job offers. I’ve had other companies throw money at me. But no, I stayed, because I kept hoping that you would wake up one day and see me as the woman who loves you.”
Matt felt his eyes go wide with surprise. He had not seen this coming. “You told Zach that I was bringing Nadia to have dinner with our parents.”
She kept approaching and Matt started backing up, wanting to stay away. “I had to do something. I heard that pathetic confession you made to Nadia at Gideon’s party. I couldn’t let you throw everything away like that. Zach had been calling me for weeks, trying to see if I could help him convince you to bring him back on board with the company. I decided to turn the tables on him and ask for a favor in return. As you know, an old friend of his owns TBG. I had to make him do the dirty work.”
“What could you possibly blackmail Zach with?”
Shayla laughed. “Let me guess. He told you that he’s cleaned up his act. Well, he hasn’t. He’s just as messed up as ever and has a ton of gambling debts. That’s the real reason he’s back pulling on the family purse strings. He needs the money.”
It all made sense now. Of course Zach hadn’t really put himself back together. He’d merely managed to make it look as though he had. The trouble was that he could never seem to do anything without making threats. That had always been one of his biggest downfalls. “Shayla, I’m your boss. I’ve never had a single romantic thought about you. I don’t know why you would think I would. It’s not appropriate.”
Her jaw tightened. “Oh, you’re my boss? Now you care about what’s appropriate? You were willing to cross that line for Nadia, but you weren’t willing to cross it for me?”
“Nadia was different.” As soon as he’d said it and he heard his own words, he knew that Nadia was, indeed, different. He loved her. She was the only woman for him. And if he didn’t act quickly, he might lose her forever. “Braydon,” he called. “Get Security up here. Now.”
Suddenly Shayla was like an animal backed into a corner. “You’re calling Security on me? I will take you down, Matt Richmond. Even if I have to use Zach to do it.”
“You can’t hurt me any more than you already have, Shayla. You made me lose the woman I love.”
For the first time during their exchange, Shayla looked truly hurt. “You love her?”
“I do. And now I’m going to beg her to take me back.” He marched out of the room just as two members of the security team arrived. He looked back at Shayla, feeling nothing but pity for her. “Get her out of here. She’s fired.”
Nadia had not done well with her brief unemployment. It was not a break, nor was it a vacation. She tried to sleep in, but she only tossed and turned. She’d tried long walks and marathon trips to the gym, but those didn’t help, either, especially when she saw people covering their mouths and whispering about her. It seemed that this time, everyone in Seattle had seen the tabloid dirt. This was what her life had become—she was blacklisted.
Even her family was embarrassed. She’d hoped they wouldn’t find out about the tabloid story, but they had, and when they called her on it, some terrible words had come up. Words like shameful. Her parents were glad she’d quit Matt’s company and begged her to come back to California, where she could get a normal job and live a quiet life. It was the last thing Nadia wanted. She knew there were professional challenges for her in Seattle. But she needed someone to take a chance on her and that person was Teresa. So, on her third day away from Richmond Industries, Nadia called Teresa and asked if she could have a trial employment period with Limitless Events.
She asked for no pay, and although she was willing to work on the Richmond retreat, she wanted to do it behind the scenes. No one could know what she was doing, or where she was working, which was with Teresa. And that meant at The Opulence. Mostly she didn’t want Matt to know.
He hadn’t reached out once in the week they’d been apart, which was a good thing, but it had all changed today. In fact, he’d called three times and it was only early afternoon. She missed him terribly, but she was resigned to her fate and she wasn’t going to call him back. She wouldn’t even listen to the messages. They could be friends someday, but even with all of their work troubles aside, he wasn’t prepared to give her what she wanted. He wasn’t a man who was looking for the long haul. The sooner she learned to live with that, the better off she’d be.
Nadia was hunkered down in one of The Opulence meeting rooms with seating charts for the various meals to be served during the retreat when Teresa walked in. “Is there something wrong with your phone?” she asked.
Nadia picked it up and looked at it. Another message from Matt. “No. Matt keeps calling, so I haven’t been answering it.”
“Why? Don’t want to talk to him?”
“What is there to say? Even with our work problems aside, he’s not a commitment kind of guy, and that’s all I’ve ever wanted. It’s best if we stay away from each other for a while.”
Teresa blew out a breath. “Well, I’m sorry, but I’m afraid that I outed you. He called me an hour ago and asked if I knew where you were, so I told him.”
“You did what?”
Teresa shrugged. “Sorry. He insisted. He said it was life or death. He’s on his way here right now.”
Nadia got up from the table, now in a panic. She wasn’t prepared to see Matt. She was wearing a very plain black skirt and boring white blouse and her hair was so frizzy from being around Centennial Falls all the time. “What do I do?”
“Go out to the lobby, wait for him to arrive and see what he has to say?”
Nadia stormed past Teresa and out into the hall. “That’s not super helpful.”
“Sorry. I’m no relationship expert. Ask anyone.”
“Oh, my God. I can’t believe this is happening.” Nadia strode down the hall, her heart threatening to pound its way out of her throat. She had to prepare herself for what Matt might say. If he asked to get back together, she was going to have to stay strong and say no. And if he asked her something else, well, she couldn’t imagine what that might be, so she’d just have to wing it. It then occurred to her that he might simply need something work-related. But that didn’t make sense, either. Why would a guy as busy as Matt drive all the way out to The Opulence to ask her a question?
She was heading for the lobby when she heard a voice behind her.
A voice that made her clamp her eyes shut as a million feelings came roaring back to life. “Nadia. I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”
She turned, and the minute she laid eyes on Matt, the notion of being strong went right out the window. She’d have to fake it. “What are you doing here?” Knowing that if she got any closer to him, she’d only get weaker, she stood her ground.
It was Matt who closed the gap between them. “I left you messages. Shayla was behind everything, not Zach.” He looked down at the ground and stuffed his hands into his pockets. “Actually, Zach still played his part, but Shayla blackmailed him. So she could get rid of you.”
“What did I ever do to her?” Nadia was still trying to catch up to the things Matt had just said.
“It was my fault. She said she was in love with me and had been for years. I know it sounds crazy, but you were the one who got in the way.”
Nadia had to laugh, even though it was a short-lived chuckle. “I told you she had it for you.” She took zero solace in being right. “I’m glad you figured out the mystery. At least I know now why I lost my job.”
“You could come back if you wanted to.”
She shook her head, thankful Teresa had taken a chance on her. It made it easier to say no to Matt. “I’m working for Limitless now. It’s on a trial basis, but Teresa and I work well together. I think it’s going to be good for me.”
“I am so happy to hear that. You’re going to do an amazing job.” His eyes filled with hope, and that made Nadia’s heart sink. She loved Matt. She didn’t want him to think there was a chance. “Which brings me to the subject of us and back to the subject of Shayla.”
“You know I had to leave for reasons that go way beyond Shayla. Your family, and your willingness to commit. Both huge problems.”
Matt was quick to shake his head. He took her hand. “First off, I called my parents right after I talked to Shayla. They can’t believe what she and Zach got up to. They feel terrible that he lied to everyone. They feel terrible for you. They want to meet you. For real. Just the four of us. No creepy brothers allowed.”
Nadia smiled. This was so sweet, and a few weeks ago this would have been the best news ever. “That’s nice to hear, but—”
“No. Wait. Hold on. Let me get the rest of this out. Because the rest of this is all on me. I love you, Nadia Gonzalez. I love you more than words can explain. And I’m sorry that I didn’t say that while we were together, but I’m saying it now. I realized it this morning after all of the craziness with Shayla. That’s why I’ve been calling. That’s why I left messages and drove all the way up here.”
Nadia didn’t move. She couldn’t speak. Hell, she could hardly blink. “You love me? I love you, too.”
A purely happy smile crossed his face. “I love you so much that I can’t ever let you go. I can’t let you out of my sight. I want you forever.” And then Matt Richmond, the man she had once thought could never be for her, knelt and looked up into her eyes, holding her hand tightly and filling her with so much love and optimism that she thought her heart might burst. “Will you stay with me forever? Will you be my wife?”
“Yes. Oh, my God. Yes.” She tugged on his hand. “Now get up here and kiss me.”
Matt stood and swept her into his arms, holding her so tightly that he lifted her feet off the ground. The kiss was warm and soft and absolutely perfect. He was the man she loved and she had him. Forever.
Somewhere off in the distance, she heard applause, which she was sure was just her heart, but then Matt set her back on the floor and she turned to see the lobby full of people clapping. Isabel, Aspen, Teresa, the guys from the valet stand, the bellhops and guests had seen it all. Nadia couldn’t even be embarrassed. She was just too happy.
“Congratulations.” Teresa gave them each a hug, then took Nadia’s hand. “No ring, Matt?”
Matt’s shoulders dropped. “I know, I know. I should have come prepared, but I didn’t want to wait.” He then turned to Nadia and took her hand, bringing it to his lips. “Plus, you should have the chance to pick out whatever you want. I was thinking Tiffany’s. In New York.”
Was this really her life now? Wow. “Uh, sure. That sounds amazing. I guess we could go sometime after the retreat.”
He shook his head. “I was thinking tomorrow night. I have a few things I need to catch up on, but I want you to have a ring as soon as possible. We’ll just go for a day or two.”
Nadia turned to Teresa. “Is that going to be okay with you? I just started work.”
Teresa smiled. “Of course. Who am I to stand in the way of true love?”