Isabella's POV
Sparks burst from the computer screen.
I jumped back from my desk as smoke filled my office. This was the final straw after the power had been acting strangely all day.
I muttered, "Perfect," and brushed the smoke from my face. "Just perfect."
It was nearly midnight. The Morrison Project presentation was tomorrow morning, and now my computer was dead. All my work was trapped inside that smoking machine.
My phone rang. The screen glowed with Kieran's name.
When I replied, he said, "Let me guess." "Your power went out too?"
"Everything for tomorrow's presentation was on my computer, and it just died."
"Mine too. An hour ago, the entire building lost power. However, I have backup files at my apartment. Would you like to come over and finish the presentation with me?"
I paused. It seemed risky to be with Kieran alone at this hour. Strange things always happened to my heart when we were together.
"Isabella? You still there?"
"Yeah, I'm here. Just thinking."
"Look, let's put aside our differences for one night. We both need this project to succeed."
He was correct. This contract was essential to keeping my business afloat. Emotions would have to wait.
"All right, text me your address."
I was outside Kieran's apartment building twenty minutes later. It was elegant without being overly so. The sort of place where people said, "I have money, but I'm not showing it off."
Wearing jeans and a gray sweater, he answered the door. He appeared to have been raking his hands through his untidy hair.
As I entered, he said, "Coffee?"
"Please, I haven't slept for two days."
His apartment was plain and tidy. There are no images of girlfriends anywhere. In the corner, there are only books and a guitar.
I nodded at the guitar and said, "You play?"
"It helps me think."
He gave me a coffee mug. That familiar spark blazed through me as our fingers briefly touched.
"So," I blurted out, "where are those backup files?"
"On my laptop, but let's first discuss what transpired on the roof."
"On the roof, nothing happened."
"Isabella."
"So what? People kiss all the time." "We kissed."
"They don't, not like that."
He was correct. The sensation of that kiss had been like lightning. Like returning home and simultaneously fleeing.
"It was a mistake," I stated.
"Was it?"
"Yes, we collaborate. Our families despise one another. Most of the time, I don't even like you."
"Most of the time?"
I felt the heat creep up my neck. "Can we just concentrate on our work?"
Kieran grinned. "Yes, but Isabella?"
"What?"
"Just so you know, I always like you."
For three hours in a row, we worked. Laptops balanced on our knees, we sat side by side on his couch. I could smell him every time he bent to glance at my screen. Electricity danced across my skin each time our hands brushed against each other as we reached for papers.
I pointed to the budget sheet and said, "These numbers don't add up."
Kieran leaned in and said, "You're right." "I'll take care of that."
He typed with his shoulder against mine. His warmth was palpable through my shirt.
"There," he uttered quietly. "Better?"
As I raised my head to respond, I became aware of our proximity. I was inches away from his face. I had never seen the gold flecks in his blue eyes before.
"Isabella," he muttered.
"Yes?"
"I want to kiss you right now."
My ribs were pounded by my heart. "It's not a good idea."
"I understand."
"We decided to concentrate on our work."
"I understand."
"We might be spotted by someone."
"Only we are present."
He reached up and touched my face. He ran his thumb over my cheek.
"Tell me to stop," he said.
"I should."
"But will you?"
I was unable to talk. unable to think. I felt like I was falling as I stared into his eyes.
Kieran bent over. I waited for his lips to meet mine while I closed my eyes.
The door of the apartment slammed.
"What do we have here?" "Well, well, well."
I sprang away from Kieran so quickly that I landed on the couch. My laptop fell to the ground.
Darian grinned slyly as he stood in the doorway.
"Darian," Kieran hurried to his feet. "How did you get in?"
Darian's gaze shifted between us, saying, "I have my ways." "This is fascinating. Really fascinating."
I hurried to retrieve my laptop and said, "It's not what you think."
"Really? Because it appears that you two were going to share a kiss."
"The Morrison Project was what we were working on."
Before we could stop him, Darian took out his phone and snapped a picture, asking, "Is that what they're calling it now?" "This will look fantastic in the newspaper tomorrow."
"Delete that," Kieran said threateningly.
"This is too good to waste," I said.
I felt sick to my stomach. People would assume I was just another woman who fell in love with a Hawthorne man if they saw that photo. I betrayed my father's memory, they would say.
I said, "What do you want?"
Darian sat down in Kieran's chair as if he owned it and said, "Smart girl. Going straight to business." "I would like to go on a date."
"What?"
"One date, just the two of us." "You heard me."
"That's absurd."
"Is it? You seem to like wealthy men from influential families."
"I don't like anyone!"
"Your near-kiss with Kieran suggests otherwise."
I gave Kieran a look. He had his hands balled into fists.
"Isabella doesn't have to do anything," he stated.
"She does, in fact. Unless you want this photo to appear on the front page of every newspaper in town."
My thoughts were racing. Tomorrow was the Morrison presentation. We would lose everything if this image was released before then. Our clients would perceive us as lacking professionalism. Instead, they would award the contract to Sophie's business.
"One date," I murmured.
Kieran walked over to me and said, "Isabella, no," "you don't have to do this."
I turned to Darian and said, "Yes, I do." "Just one date. After that, you remove the photo."
Darian got up and said, "Deal." "I'll come get you at seven o'clock tomorrow."
"What about the meeting with Morrison?"
"Don't worry, I'll make sure you have plenty of energy for our evening together. It will be over by then."
My skin crawled at the way he said it.
Kieran and I sat silently after Darian left.
"I'm sorry," he said at last.
"You're not to blame."
"Yes, it is. I should have been more cautious and locked the door."
"We both ought to have exercised greater caution."
"You don't have to go out with him, Isabella. We'll figure this out in another way."
"We lose everything if that picture is released. There is no other option."
"I'll make this right."
"How?"
"I'm not sure yet, but I will."
I got up to go. "I ought to return home."
"We can continue working on the presentation if you stay."
"After what just happened, I can't."
"What did happen?"
"I nearly made a big mistake."
"You mean the almost-kiss?"
"I mean having faith in you."
Kieran appeared to have been slapped by me. "Isabella..."
"Getting involved with you is dangerous, and this is exactly what I was afraid of."
"A single image is meaningless."
"You see, Darian was right—I am just another woman falling for a Hawthorne man, just like my mother did." "It means everything!"
"Your mother? How is she related to this?"
At the door, I paused. I had spoken too much.
"How is your mother doing, Isabella?"
"Nothing. Don't remember I said anything."
"Tell me what you meant. I can't forget."
I inhaled deeply. Now there was no use in concealing it.
"As everyone believes, my mother did not die in a car accident."
"What?"
"She killed herself because she fell in love with your father 25 years ago, and she couldn't handle the pain after he broke her heart."
Kieran's face lost its color. "That isn't feasible."
"Is it? Your father has a history of ruining women who become too close to your family."
"My dad would never..."
"When I was three years old, your father had an affair with my mother. She wanted him to leave his wife, but he refused, so she drove her car off a bridge instead of confronting the embarrassment."
Kieran took a firm seat. "I didn't know," Isabella said.
"Your family is very good at keeping secrets, so of course you didn't."
"Why didn't your father ever say anything if that's the case?"
"Because he didn't want Sophie and I to grow up knowing that our mother died rather than stay with us."
My face was now streaming with tears. I had never been honest with anyone about my mother's passing.
"I'm so sorry, Isabella."
I opened the door to go, saying, "Don't. Just don't."
"Wait, you need to know something else."
"What now?"
"What made it so easy for Darian to enter my apartment?"
"Yes?"
"He has a key. He has been following us around town and taking pictures of us for weeks."
My blood froze. "How do you know that?"
"Because he just texted me twenty more photos of us together—at your office, at the hospital, and on my father's roof."
To prevent myself from falling, I grasped the doorframe. "He has been following us around?"
"It gets worse."
"How could it get worse?"
"According to the text, someone hired him to gather information against us, so he's not working alone."
"Who?"
"Someone who has been organizing this from the start and wants to ensure that we don't win the Morrison Project."
It buzzed on my phone. A text from an unknown number.
*One date isn't enough anymore. After seeing all these pictures, I want much more. See you tomorrow night, beautiful. And Isabella? Wear something pretty. You'll be meeting my boss.*
"Kieran," I whispered, showing him the text. "What does he mean, his boss?"
Kieran's face went dark. "I think we're about to find out who's been trying to destroy both our families."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean tomorrow night, when you go on that date with Darian, you're not just meeting him. You're meeting the person who killed your father."