Page 11 of Ruthless Love

“This is Dustin. He’s going to be learning the ropes. His background is industrial construction.” While they exchange a handshake across her desk, I walk around to get a better look at her monitor.

Apparently, she’s skipping ahead on her homework and scouting out our next big project—another multimillion-dollar deal that fell into our laps thanks to Coop’s crazy connections. Yup, I’m drooling.

“How’s it look?” I ask, and she answers with a drawn-out sigh.

“Well, my eyes are about to fall out from my fixation with it, but I have to say it’s the sexiest set of erection drawings I’ve ever seen.”

With a nervous chuckle, Dustin asks, “What?”

Crossing my arms, I size up Dustin, realizing the man is barely in his twenties and has probably never worked the design side of things. Before I take the high road of adulting, I notice Elena’s raised brows and the trace of a smile. She’s energized but stone-faced, and I’m too intrigued to not let her go down whatever no-good dirty path she’s steamrolling toward.

She stands, pacing around her desk. “Hey, I’m not the only one around here who spends way too much time staring at erection drawings. Seriously, before you know it, you’ll be lost in these babies for hours. Admiring their colossal structure one minute. Scrutinizing their every flaw the next.”

Confused, Dustin stares blankly, then shoots a helpless glance at me as I rub the scruff of my jaw.

Before I can stop her, Elena’s going full throttle on the naughty diatribe. “And it’s not all fun and games. It takes a village to raise a baby like this high into the sky. I’m talking teamwork. Putting your back into it. Getting your hands dirty.”

Her sermon loses steam, and I’m about to interject when Dustin jumps in.

Grinning, he says, “You’re serious? As long as I don’t have to pose for it or anything, I guess that’s fine.”

“Well, let me show you the drawings you’ll be reviewing.”

Wincing his discomfort, Dustin lets Elena pull him over to the monitor. His uncertainty gets the better of him, and he studies the screen with more interest. “Where’s the penis?”

Elena gives him a soft smack on his arm, beaming with delight at her impromptu hazing. “I promised you an erection. I said nothing about a penis. These,” she says as she clicks the mouse and zooms out on the view, “are erection drawings. It’s an architectural term.”

Elena continues to push Dustin further into the deep end of the project, fire-hosing him with design terms that would make a normal person’s head spin. Or explode.

But Dustin is focused. Studious. The notebook and pen I handed him half an hour ago are now being put to good use as he jots down notes as fast as Elena can spit them out.

Satisfied, I assure him he’s in good hands, and playfully scold her not to go blind staring at all those graphics. I walk away knowing I’ve snagged another great addition to this tight-knit team, and leave the office for the job site.

Pounding the dust beneath my feet as I head to my trailer, I scan the progress today. A woven structure of metal beams against a backdrop of bright open sky has me squinting as I mentally count the floors. Halfway there.

The buzzing phone in my pocket gives me that half second of hope before I answer. No caller ID. Yes.

“Is this my Lyft?” I ask, praying for the right answer.

“On a scale of one to ten—one being highly satisfied and ten being bored out of your fucking gourd—where do you rate yourself today?”

“Twenty-three,” I say, answering honestly.

“How’d you like to be the face of your next assignment?” Maverick asks, teasing me with the dangled carrot.

“You’re sending me in the field? I thought we agreed on minimal travel.” I know Gaby is a long shot, but I can’t give up. I need to be here.

“That Russian you’ve been after, how would you like to stare him down, face-to-face?”

“Antonov? No fucking way.”

“Way. But there’s a catch. We need to blend your alias with the real you.”

“What’s my cover?”

“Architect. We already have your AIA registration online.”

“What’s AIA again?” I ask, and the annoyed hitch in Maverick’s breath is priceless. “Just kidding. American Institute of Architects. And I know enough about drawings that I could probably pass.”

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