Page 1 of Obsession

Chapter One

Don’t lose your cool.

I took a deep breath and opened the immense door.Carson Covenant Inc.was etched into the milky opaque glass. I glanced back at the street and paused. Huh. A crystal-clear view. I stepped back onto the busy Boston sidewalk. A domed vestibule in the opaque glass was a very effective privacy shield.

Was he showing off?

Or was he hiding?

Atlantic Avenue, right near the Boston Harbor, was alive with pedestrians and tourists, as well as a backlog of cab drivers picking up and dropping off at the Intercontinental Hotel next door. It was madness, but as the door closed behind me, there was no sound.

It was a silent box.

I had an immediate urge to back up and get out. There was no reason to feel claustrophobic, and yet I couldn’t deny the kneejerk reaction.

Not a streak, heck, not even a fingerprint seemed to stick to the glossy surface.

Interesting.

Was the glass always this milky tone? Or could it be colored? My fingers itched to get some of the fascinating glass into a copper casing. I shook my head.No, Grace Copeland, you do not want the enemy’s glass on your worktable.

I didn’t.

Mostly.

And okay, enemy might be a little bit of a stretch. Actually, no. Not a stretch at all for Blake Carson of Carson Covenant Inc.—did he even know what the wordcovenantmeant? I didn’t think so. Or he wouldn’t have snatched up my grandmother’s house at auction before I could even talk to a bank.

Exactly the reason I was walking into the huge glass box that he called an office building. He was a businessman. I was a businesswoman. Surely, we could come to some understanding aboutmyhouse. I just needed a little time to figure out how to make things work.

My heels clicked on the slate floor, and the breadth and scope of the lobby’s design stole my breath enough for me to stop in the middle and do a 360-degree turn. Glass was my life. The absolute clarity of it was eerily cold here. Instantly, I wanted to add color everywhere, but there was no denying the statement.

Money. Power. Cool disregard for family and happiness.

Resolute once more, I stalked to the bank of elevators.

“Miss!”

I slapped the up button and scanned the walls for a directory of the building, but no such luck. I’d just go to the penthouse. Surely, this man would only want the upper floors for his offices.

Superior jerk.

“Miss!”

I turned at the voice. A harried guard crossed the lobby, his white hair tufting out the sides of his uniform cap. “Yes?”

“You need to sign in.”

“Oh.” Of course, he’d have a guard keeping the little people out of his space. “I’m very sorry.”

His forehead smoothed. “So many people coming in and out today. Do you have an appointment?”

No, of course, I didn’t have an appointment. My drive in from Marblehead to Boston had been an impulse. I smoothed my hand over my white jacket. I’d left the lawyer’s office and immediately gotten into my car with one thing in mind.

Getting my house back.

Well, technically my grandmother’s house, but it was mine now. At least that was what the will had said. Until probate and the lawyers informed me that selling the house was the only option. Before I could wrap my mind around selling the house I’d grown up in, the bank had put it into foreclosure.

So, no, I didn’t have an appointment. I’d been running on adrenaline and tears for days now. But this was not the place for tears, so adrenaline would have to do.

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