Page 79 of Unfinished

“Finally,” Bianca said with relief.

“I shouldn’t waste your time. We are over, now you can go chase down someone to marry.”

“What?” She shrieked so loudly I had to pull the phone away from my ear.

“Have a good life, Bianca.” I hung up on her before I had to hear more complaints.

Hannah and her partner won the game and embraced each other. They took the winnings and I smiled slightly but kept my eyes on the man she was with. He wasn’t as tall as me, but he was lean. His coiled hair was cut close to his head on the sides but natural at the top.

As he turned and talked to one of the men they had played pool with, his body language became flirtatious. I dragged my eyes back to Hannah who tossed her head back and laughed. I heard it over the music and it felt like coming home.

The bell rang above the door as it opened dragging my eyes to the person entering. What the hell is he doing here? Derek Wright walked through the door and Hannah walked right up to him. He kissed her on the mouth and it took everything within me to stay hidden in these shadows. I wanted to leap down from this upper level and remove Derek's head from his body.

I shouldn’t have allowed us to separate. I should have never pulled the protections I had on her. It left her vulnerable and of course Derek would swoop in. I wished I had given her everything I had on him, but she didn't want to hear it the night I told her she had a stalker.

Hannah turned her head, scanning the room and pausing on the shadows where I stood. Then she continued to scan the bar. A mix of concern and hopefulness danced across her face. She was searching for me. She felt me here watching her, our hearts were connected and nothing could ever sever that connection. I had to find a way to get Derek away from her, again.

Hannah was still devastatingly gorgeous and all I really wanted was rush her, kiss her, take her home, and never let her out of my sight again. I needed to find a way to force the world to bring us back together for more than a random meeting in a bar because there was no way I was letting her get away again.

Me: Give me everything you have on Hannah.

Bas: About damn time you asked. She’s a Junior Software Developer at VanadiumWorks. She lives with Ashley and a guy named Aston in Hell’s Kitchen. She’s dated a few guys, but as far as I know, she’s single.

Me: She’s not, she just kissed Derek fucking Wright.

Bas: When the fuck did that happen?

Me: Find out now!

She was still working at VanadiumWorks. I’d have the Kings help me with a project, something I’d been thinking about doing anyway. They’d help me win back my woman too. It was a good thing I was friends with the C-suite, because this was going to be the easy part.

Me: When can we meet about some tech I want developed?

Declan: A little late to be talking business.

Me: I’m willing to spend a lot of money right now.

Declan: Do you want to meet now?

Me: Name the place.

Declan: Swing by my place.

I pocketed my phone and took one last look at Hannah before leaving the bar and heading to Declan’s penthouse. It wasn’t the time for me to reconnect with her, yet. Her goal was to be a senior software developer. On the ride over, I called in a few soldiers to watch Derek and Hannah. They'd keep their distance, but I wanted every single detail about them before I made my move.

When I got to Declan’s penthouse, I rode the elevator up, trying to calm the anger in me.

“This better be worth the time, Liam,” Declan warned, opening his door. Damien and Darius were sitting on his sofa and all of them were in t-shirts and jeans.

“Oh it will be.” I took off my suit jacket and put it on the back of a chair before sitting in front of the King brothers, “What do you know about ad tech?”

“Plenty, what are you looking for?”

I explained my need for ad tech that would transform the way we advertise on the web and put Trident Advertising so far ahead of its competition they’d have a hard time catching up. As I went on, I saw the dollar signs in their eyes at what a software like this would cost.

“It’s going to cost you,” Damien stated.

“I know. I need a specific person working on this though.”