Page 4 of Ben

He had just finished putting all the protocols in place and was about to hit enter when the call with the potential client had interrupted him, but now with a few keystrokes, the numbers in front of him suddenly disappeared, a small, satisfied smile lifting his lips before settling back in place. Ben wasn’t much of a smiler, and that fleeting lift was a moment when he felt a sudden deep satisfaction and thrill.

Ben made sure everything was in place as he stared at his laptop screen, then made some calls in anticipation of what was to come and was about to make another important call that was about to change his life and Diamond’s. He suddenly heard his newly hired secretary exclaim to someone.

“Do you have an appointment?”

“No, and I don’t need one. Ben will see me.”

He sat up straighter when he heard the feminine response of the woman he’d always coveted from afar, the woman who was the brightest light in his dark world, his obsession. The woman he loved for the longest time, and not once had she seen him in any light except for Michael’s brother and Ambra’s best friend. But that was about to change; she was going to finally see him.

He reached for the phone to buzz the secretary, but she just calmly opened his door and strolled in like, who would dare to stop Diamond Jackson, her walk confident, her hair flowing easily around her. Diamond paid a lot of money to have her natural hair long and straight, but today there was a bit of a curl to her layers, emphasizing the delicate face with anaquiline nose and dark eyes. Her skin had a lighter complexion than her sister’s, but still dark, a beautiful contrast against her dark brown eyes and full, dual-toned lips that were usually emphasized with color but on occasion just a smack of gloss on them, especially when she was working out at the gym.

She carried herself regally at all times; her dark brown eyes were on him, and then she paused for a second, her gaze making a quick sweep of his office. Before refocusing on him. He couldn’t tell if she liked or hated his office, taking in the perpetually bored look she’d perfected. He stood, and she folded herself into his chair, her toned legs on display from underneath the short burnt-colored orange sundress she was wearing, with matching orange on her lips and nails and toes.

His eyes skimmed up from her legs to the cut and style of her expensive dress, which had a low dip in the front and displayed her small, perky breasts to perfection. From her elegant neck to the diamond stud earrings in her ears, he just couldn’t get enough, and then when she lifted her hand to flick her hair away from her cheek, he saw the flash of her engagement ring, and his jaw clenched, hating that gaudy piece of jewelry that laid claim to her by another man. A man who had no clue how to value her and had done nothing to marry her since giving her that engagement ring. Now he was about to change all that.

“Diamond.” He acknowledged her, playing it cool, but his emotions were chaotic again with her presence in his office, even though he had been in the process of placing a call to get her to come visit him.

He sat down, because his body was reacting to her and the stake he was about to make on her personal life.

“Ben,” she sat forward, knowing that all eyes would be on her cleavage, especially in that dress, but even though he was burning hot for her internally, he showed no emotion and thought he saw a flash of humor before it was gone, then a look of worry and fear crossed her delicate features.

“What’s wrong?” Ben now said concerned, he was so busy with his plan and her being here at an opportune time, he hadn’t thought of considering why she was visiting him.

He hadn’t heard from his brother or Ambra since they left for the chalet. And wondered if she was here because something happened to them. “Is it Ambra? Did something happen?”

She waved her hand in the air. “No, I haven’t heard from them since they both left, and hopefully, they are busy fucking and finally going to admit to each other that they have wanted each other since they were teenagers. The denial between them is downright exhausting.”

He lifted his eyebrows because they both agreed it had been about time for both Ambra and Michael.

“No, that’s not why I am here. Ben, I was having lunch with one of the directors from Hope in the neighborhood and got a ping on my phone.” She stood up and fished her phone out of her purse and neared his desk, pausing in front of him and then handing him her phone with the screen unlocked.

Her voice now worried and sounding husky to him. He lifted his head, searching her face but saw nothing out of the ordinary, except where her eyes dilated a bit at being near him or what she was showing him on her phone.

“Ben, all of the funding from the charity fundraiser event from the hotel opening is gone.”

Chapter 2

Diamond stood in front of Ben, and for the first time, she was feeling a gamut of emotions running through her; this had never happened to her before, needing a man’s help, and specifically Ben’s. She didn’t know if she liked this feeling and knew that her life was about to change with what just transpired.

The Brooks are a powerful family, and needing their help sometimes comes with a cost. Especially Ben, who was known for his lack of empathy when it came down to business or his family’s assets.

She stared at Ben’s lowered head, and his light brown hair that he kept short and neat. Her eyes then swept over his dark purple suit; he looked good wearing it, his broad shoulders and the length of his arms, down to his tanned hands that swallowed up her phone in his grasp. She felt very tiny and feminine when she stood near him. He was slightly more muscular than his twin, but they were both the same height. Both were very good-looking men with matching silver eyes, but where Michael had dark brown hair, Ben’s was light brown. Michael was boisterous, whereas Ben was quiet and gave an aura of being dark in nature.

Standing near Ben, she took in a whiff of the cologne he was wearing; it was very nice, and she found herself pleased that he was wearing the brand of cologne she had gifted him that time she’d spent Christmas at the Chalet with him and his family. Well, her sister and his family had taken pity on her because her fiancée had gone away on business when they’d had plans to spend it together, but she’d enjoyed her time there and getting to know Carter’s now wife Zahara.

The drama had been a bit delicious with her refusing to marry Carter and him being determined to get her to say yes. Eventually, she agreed, but Diamond knew Carter had taken matters into his own hands, and in no time, they were finally married.

Her gaze swept back up from taking him in to meet his arresting pair of silver eyes. She felt heat sweep through her from their eye contact. Others, when they looked into his eyes, said they saw no warmth in them, but she found them beautiful and knew that he was just very contained and not erratic with his emotions like some men she knew.

He was studying her, and she thought she saw a flash of triumph in his eyes before he masked it.

“Start from the beginning.” He sat back from his desk, his face not showing concern or surprise.

She sat on the edge of his desk, not caring if it disturbed his space, and was pleased when his eyes focused on her legs before returning his attention to her face.

She remembered when he used to watch her like a hawk; she’d known that he was fascinated with her and even had a little school kid crush on her like most of the boys that went to their school when she was younger, but then they all became adults and life got in the way. She was busy with traveling for games with her fiancé, Bryce, and then getting involved with charities. The twins had traveled for a bit before finally coming home and then were busy setting up their own path in life and getting involved with the family business.

Recently, when their paths did cross, Diamond felt like sometimes being around him she lost her appeal to the opposite sex, but then there were flashes when no one paid attention thathe found her attractive, and she liked that she could get any type of reaction out of him when she was around him.

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