Page 26 of Ben

Shit.

Chapter 13

He’d expected Ambra to confront him the next day, but it took her a couple of days, and he assumed it was thanks to his brother, the fact that she’d made several attempts to hack into his computer, and was trying to get hold of her parents. Diamond said that they were still unreachable because she’d tried herself to reach them and let them know about her marriage before they found out from someone else or the media.

Ben had just opened a secured file that he had on his laptop and was staring intently at a picture that he’d looked at so many times before over the years, getting lost in the person that he’d taken the picture of. His gaze running over their expression, the way they sat, smiled, down to what they were wearing. Everything else in the picture blended into the background for him.

He closed the folder when Ambra opened the door and marched in without waiting for him to say anything. Wearing a two-piece dark pink suit that complimented her dark complexion, black high-heel pumps, and gold jewelry in her ears, wrists, and around her neck, her makeup light, and sporting her new short hairstyle that she’d done before the auction. Ambra must have decided to wear her new style naturally curly, and he wondered briefly if Diamond’s hair was like that when it wasn’t straightened. Ambra glowed even if she looked pissing mad. Finally, being with Michael, even though he was sure she was giving him hell—the same fate he was about to face—she was very happy, and he loved that for her and his brother.

Her lashes swept down as she rested her briefcase on his chair and stood facing him with her face set.

“How do you like how the entire office looks? Is your office to your liking?”

Her eyes flashed annoyance at him. “Everything looks fine, and I haven’t been to my office yet; I came directly to see you,dear brother-in-law.” She said the last part with a bit of bite to her voice.

He nodded and indicated for her to sit.

She lifted her bag and then rested it on the floor as she sat.

“Fire away; say whatever is on your chest.”

“What the hell do you think you are doing?” Ambra questioned her voice slightly raised in agitation.

He knew she wanted to probably fly across the office at him and do some bodily damage. But they were in an office setting, and they were due to meet a client for lunch soon, so it wouldn’t look good for them to show up a mess; they needed to get this all out of the way so that they were on the same page and united to work with this company. If this client or any client saw any discord with their new startup company, they would lose business and close before they started.

“Your sister got into trouble, and I am helping her.” He said simply.

Ambra suddenly looked like she’d sucked on a lemon, and he sighed. He wished his brother was here; he wasn’t very good at expressing himself properly, and even though he and Ambra were best friends, he knew that she would not accept his abbreviated conversations today.

“Tell me what is going on, and what did you think you were doing forcing my sister to marry you? I knew you were infatuated with her, but this Ben. You took this too far.”

“The reasons that Diamond and I are married are none of your business, and as to what happened, I am sure your sister explained everything.”

“All she told me was that money went missing and ended up in her account.”

“Yes, and a virus was attached to the money transfer so that if she tried to remove the money, it would start online shopping for her, making her look guilty. The first couple of transfers were a warning, and then I was able to block any more attempts until I could figure it out and get rid of it.” He sat back in his chair now, hoping she was satisfied with his answers.

Her eyes narrowed on him. “Did you have anything to do with all this?”

“No.”

“I don’t believe you.”

He shrugged.

“The fact that this happened and then you used it to get her to marry you...”

“Yes, well, we Brooks know how to seize on an opportunity, and you know we can be ruthless in what we want. So, how is Michael taking the cold shoulder?”

She glared at him, and he almost smiled. His brother could be very persuasive and charming when he wanted something, and he knew that he was making it difficult for Ambra to stay mad.

A knock sounded at his door, and their secretary popped her head in around the corner. When she spotted Ambra, she smiled.

“Welcome back Ambra. I want to hear how your trip was in Switzerland and Barbados.”

Ambra’s glance turned to his with a questioning look.

“Michael got her to book his flights for him.”

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