Page 92 of Due Diligence

“I think of everything,” I snapped, reminding him of my stark reality. “I don’t have the privilege of forgetting.”

Trevor was silent for a moment before he said. “Look, I’m in town for a couple nights. Let’s talk. Maybe do more. I’m sure there are a million things you want to say to my face, and I’m going to be honest—there’s about a million things I’ve wanted to do with you for the past three years. Itches nobody else has ever been able to scratch, babe. I’m guessing it’s the same with you.”

I fell silent again and folded my lips over my teeth. Trevor always knew how to push my buttons. Hell, he practically invented all my buttons.

“Friday night. Let’s do something. It’ll be my treat.”

I closed my eyes before I heard myself saying, “Fine.”

“I’ll text you,” he promised. “Can’t wait.”

The call ended and I realized my hand was gripping the armrest of my office chair. My heart raced, setting my entire body on edge. I shook my head and briefly consider dipping into my vodka stores.

Once I was able to breathe again, I opened my laptop and Marcus’s email was staring me in the face. As soon as I saw it, my chest tightened once more. I paused with my hand hovering over my keyboard, wondering if I should let him know about Trevor.

After a beat, I shook my head. Marcus and I came to an agreement—we could see other people. And if he wasn’t going to be okay with it, he never should have agreed to it.

Hi Marcus,

Thanks for reaching out, and my apologies for any confusion. I’ll be back onsite tomorrow and we can discuss a follow-up then. My preference is in-person but would be open to a video call as well.

I have availability tomorrow and Thursday. Unfortunately, I have a conflict on Friday.

Kind regards,

Cassandra Pierson

Due Diligence Analyst, M&A – Financial Services

Within seconds, another email from Marcus appeared in my inbox. It read:What’s happening on Friday?

I could picture him sitting at his laptop, his expression neutral and his fingers flying over the keys as usual. He was probably in plain sight of most of the staff at that very moment, and they probably thought he was hard at work. On the contrary, he was trying to get laid—and I was the only one who knew it.

I responded:Per my previous email, I have a conflict.

Again, he answered in seconds with:Cancel it.

I didn’t bother addressing his request. I simply responded with:Saturday.

Chapter 24: Marcus

I started working early on Tuesday, around six. I pretended I did it to get a head start on some HR documents for the data room, but really I showed up early because it had been forty-eight hours since the last time I saw Cass.

When Cass arrived at eight, she walked into the fishbowl with a coffee in each hand. Without a word, she placed one at her usual seat. Next, she came over to my side of the table and put the other in front of me.

“This is for me?”

“It’s in front of you, isn’t it?”

I was too grateful to make a snide remark in response. I pulled the plastic lid off the cup and the rich smell of coffee hit my nose, casting me with sweet relief. “You’re a lifesaver. How did you know I needed this?”

“I saw you moving files around at six in the morning,” she answered simply. Then she picked up my phone and said, “Unlock this.”

“My phone?”

“That’s what this is, isn’t it?”

So sharp.

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