At exactly nine, my phone was blaring. I pushed myself away from the island and pulled it to my ear. "Don't worry, I'm up."

"Good, have you had breakfast yet?"

"Yes. William made me some pancakes and brought up a platter of assorted fruits. It was quite delicious."

"Being treated like a princess already, I see."

"I was surprised when he woke me up with the food, but the act was very nice. I've never had breakfast in bed before."

"William is a good man. Has been with the family for years."

"So did you get everything taken care of last night?"

"Yes. With you flying in, I had forgotten that we were adding a few new guys to the force. The three of them will make a nice addition to the unit."

"Will that give you more free time for me?"

"I'm trying sweetie, really I am. I've just been busy; this job keeps me on my toes."

"Of course you are." Since Killian took over, he rarely had time. I've had multiple calls from my aunt complaining about it, but with me having been in Florida, there was nothing I had been able to do.

"I'm sorry. We can have dinner tonight. Killian should be home, so I won't have to be tracking his whereabouts."

"If you say so."

"I will see you tonight then." With that, he ended the call leaving me alone in silence. I sighed with frustration and headed up to the room. Part of me just didn't get it.

Obviously, Killian was causing problems for both his father and my uncle, but neither of them were really doing anything about it. If Lucian really wanted to find the place his son takes the woman, all he would have to do is designate someone he trusted personally, besides my uncle, to follow him around. Then my uncle would be able to take the time he needed to go and visit his wife.

Sure Killian was good at running the company, and the business was prospering, but what happens when Killian's actions ruin the reputation of the company? What if no one wants to work with him because of how he acts outside of the job. If I was some fancy rich business person, and the man I'm trying to work with was known for sleeping around with women, I don't think I'd actually want to do any work with him.

I didn't really understand any of it. Killian's actions, and the actions of my uncle and Lucian didn't make much sense, but what could I do about any of it? Be a cockblock? Sure, it probably wasn't going to be that hard at keeping women away from him, I'm good at pissing people off to the point where they walk away, but rather than that, if Killian was set in his ways, the moment I leave for Washington, everything will go back to normal. What happens then?

If Lucian really was dead set on getting his son to stop the things he was doing, then the best bet was to fire him and take away his money. I wasn't stupid thought, I knew how much the man cared for his son, and that was definitly not on the list of options of what to do.

Sighing as my thoughts made their way back to the beginning, I threw them out the window, and placed my coffee cup in the kitchen sink before heading back upstairs. I walked into the bathroom and started filling the jacuzzi, tossing in a handful of red rose petals to fill the room with a sweet aroma.

I plugged my phone into the speaker I brought with me from the ship, and began stripping from the pajamas I had been wearing. Catching a view of myself in the mirror, I let out a soft sigh. My fingers traced along the scar on my shoulder, images flashes in my head.

Stop it, Mia. Now is not the time...

I forced a smile and slipped into the water. It was hot, steam rising from the surface, my tan skin turning a beige shade of pink as the water began to work it's magic. The voice of the Celtic woman began to soothe me, and the next thing I knew I was choking on water.

Panic overcame me as the darkness of the cold ocean surrounded me. I struggled as her agony riddled voice rang in my ears, the pain in her eyes the only thing that I could see. I desperately swam towards her, but right before I could reach her, a large, firm hand wrapped itself around my arm and yanked me from the water. My chest burned as I began gasping for air, spouts of water exploding from my mouth as I coughed it up.

Looking up, I was back in the bathroom, and a young man I'd never seen before, had his head turned away from me with his hand shoved in my face holding a towel. I grabbed it quickly and draped it over my body.

"W... who are you?" I coughed.

"The name is Christopher, ma'am. My boss said he called you three times but there was no answer, and he wanted me to check on you. When I got close to your room I heard splashing and raced in."

"Who's your boss?"

"Your uncle, ma'am."

"Okay...you can leave now." He didn't say anything, just turned around and walked out the door. After regaining my breath, I crawled over to my phone and dialed my uncle's number. The phone rang once before he answered.

"Please tell me you're okay? I called you multiple times and you didn't answer a single one of them. That isn't like you."

"I'm fine..."

"You don't sound like it. What happened? Don't say that nothing happened either because Christopher will be sending me a full report."

"I was in the bath and fell asleep. My body ended up going fully under, and I...I panicked..."

"Mia..." His tone of voice said it all.

"I'm fine, Christopher had me."

"And what if I hadn't sent him? What if I hadn't decided to call and check up on you? What if no one would have been there?"

"No more baths...I got it."

"You have to be more careful, Mia. I know this year has been hard for you, but that doesn't mean you just go around doing stupid stuff that could possibly trigger-" He cut himself short, "You made me a promise..."

"I know, I know. I will be more careful. Now I need to go. It's 1 o'clock already. I need to get dressed so I can get there before him. Can you call the driver and have him pull around?"

"Yes, and please call me once you return to the condo. Even though Lucian thinks otherwise, I have a feeling that Killian will find a way to get you out of there sooner rather than later."

"What makes you say that?" I asked as I walked back into the bedroom.

"I know the kid, and I know you. Most likely he will get upset seeing you there and have you sent out, which will result in you making some kind of rude remark that involves information on where exactly you are staying. This will upset him even more, and next thing I know he will be calling me, telling me to meet him at the house so that he can have a word with me."

"So what you're basically saying is that he's going to throw a fit when he sees me?"

"You make him sound so childish, Mia. Killian likes to be in control, when things happen that he doesn't know about it throws him off. Which is exactly why Luican wanted you to do this."

"Well while seeing me might be a shock to his system, my attitude shouldn't. I admit I have matured and changed over the past few years, but I do remember exactly what buttons to push when it comes to him."

"Please try to make this reunion as cordial as possible."

"I make no promises." With that I ended the conversation, slipped on my boots, and headed for the door.

***

"Here we are, Miss Renée." The driver pulled up to the curb in front of a familiar glass building. The place had hardly changed. Lucian always liked to keep things familiar and simple. He never made many changes, the building still had all thirty-three floors, with all the outer walls besides that bottom floor made of reflective glass.

Pushing my shades on top of my head, I silenced my phone and walked inside. The place was beautiful. Marble covered the place, with granite counter tops giving the place a bit of an edge. The front lobby was mainly open, a large circular desk sat in the middle, behind it was a wall lined with elevators.

I moved through the light traffic to the front desk. When I walked up, a petite blonde stopped me, "Hello ma'am," She eyed my outfit quickly. Even though she removed the look swiftly, I had still been able to read exactly what she had been thinking. She was thinking that I was in the wrong place. "Is there something that I can assist you with?"

"Hi there," I smiled too politely, "My name is Mia Renée; I'm actually here for a personal visit with Mr. Cross. I was informed by Lucian Cross himself that his head of security, my uncle, Roger Renée, had an I.D. created for me, and that I could collect it from the front desk." Yeah that's right, I thought as she began digging through one of the draws, didn't expect me to have been sent here by the big man did ya? She paused and looked up with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Ah yes, Miss Renée." She held up the plastic card, "Here is your badge. Mr. Cross's office is on the thirty second floor."

"Thank you." Dropping my smile slightly, I practically ripped the badge from her hand and then walked away. I had forgotten how much I actually disliked the wealthy. Not all of them were bad, but for whatever reason, a good amount of them held the ideology that if you didn't look like them, then you didn't belong. Some of them really didn't even try hiding their own dislike for you. If Killian acted even close to how that girl had acted, there would be a scene. Considering how long I've known him for, he had no right.

Pressing the up arrow, I pulled out my phone and began sending a text to a friend back in Florida. *Have I ever told you how much I hate people with money?*

*Complaining already?* She teased with a quick response.

*I just find it to be a little rude to judge someone just because they aren't dressed as nicely as you are.*

*Where are you and what are you wearing?*

*I am in Chicago visiting Cross Industries, and I have on dark jeggings, my black Toms, and my black soft fit T.*

*What are they wearing?*

*Really nice suits, dresses and lady suits.*

*You can't complain too much. You know that we always got super suspicious if someone we didn't know showed up in anything that wasn't a uniform. People are wired to be wary of those who are not like them.*

*I did not ask for sound advice. You were just supposed to agree with me.*

*Please, you knew that I was going to be the voice of reason. We both know that is why you reached out to me in the first place.*

*Whatever.* I added in a smiley face and shoved my phone back into my back pocket. Right on queue, the number hit thirty-two and the doors glided open. I walked into the hallway and through a set of double doors. There was only one man. He was sitting at a desk, his nose hidden by a history book. I moved over to his desk quietly and then cleared my throat.

"Mr. Cross is currently out of the office. He should be returning in about 20 minutes. Please wait in the lobby until his return." His voice was scratchy, but I pushed away the inner rude comments before they could filter through.

"My name is Mia Renée; I was sent here by Mr. Cross's father, Lucian." His eyes darted up. Smiling gently, he dropped the book, stood up, and held out his hand for me to shake. I did the respectable thing, and took it.

"I am so sorry for my attitude, we've had a few unwanted guests this morning."

"It's understandable. Now, you said that Killian won't be in for another twenty minutes?"

"Yes. He should be in at two o'clock exactly, ma'am."

"Good." I grinned, "Well, I'm going to head into his office to make myself comfortable, please do me a huge favor and not tell him I'm here when he arrives."

"Umm Miss Renée..."

"Yes?"

"That might not be the greatest idea. As you see, sometimes he brings guests back with him."

Seriously Killian...

You bring that crap to work with you...

"You know," I shrugged with a light chuckle, "That actually sounds perfect. Definitely don't tell him I'm here if he has a guest with him."

"If that is what you wish."

"Good." I smiled at him and pulled out my I.D. Walking up to the fogged door, I slid my badge through the scanner and waited for the light to turn green. The moment I heard the beep, I walked in, kicked my shoes off, and skipped over to his glass desk. Fancy...

His computer chair was amazing. The black leather was soft, allowing me to melt into it. I pulled myself up to the desk, folded my arms, and looked around the room. There was a bar at the opposite end with a flat screen TV above it. A few paces in front of it was a small black table with four matching chairs. In between the table and the desk, was a white sofa with black pillows. The left wall was pure glass, giving Killian an amazing view of the city.

Behind me was a single door. When I peeked inside, I found that it was nothing more than a bathroom. A glass shower, another porcelain toilet, and a sink. While it was pretty simple, it was still pretty spacious, allowing for multiple people to fit inside at one time. Thinking of the possible things that Killian could have done inside with his guests, I chose to close the door and remain sitting at the desk.

Content with everything I had seen, I turned on the computer and inserted my badge. To my surprise it logged me in instantly. You think of everything, don't you Lucian?

I played around just for a few, checking my emails, and then checking the ordering status of a couple of my amazon packages. Killian was going to be walking in at any moment, and I had to be ready for what was going to happen. I've met quite a few men who liked to be in control of everything, and throwing them off their groove could prove to be disastrous sometimes.

For old times sake, I wanted the worst. I wanted him to practically man handle me out the door in an attempt to get rid of me. I wanted to see his expression when he realized that when it came to me, he had no control.

Smirking at the thoughts of his downfall, I walked to the front of the desk, jumped up so that I was sitting on the glass desk top, and then pulled out one of his magazines from underneath a pile of paperwork. Lets see what you got, Killian.

**🍷**

Chapter two is completed and has been updated. I hope you enjoy!

Please remember to comment and vote.

A personal thank you for taking the time to read my book, and I hope you all enjoyed the chapter!