Page 278 of The Black Trilogy

“So, what made you pick Richmond?” the man asked, making notes on a leather-bound pad.

“Virginia has a large pool of skilled employees, but the establishment costs tend to be lower than in California.”

The city had been on Luke’s shortlist since before he met Emmy, but he couldn’t deny a certain redhead had swayed his final decision.

“And what’s the timescale?”

“I want to get things moving straight away.”

After a long discussion about logistics, the man agreed to get back to him with proposals within a fortnight. Luke should have been pleased—after all, overseas expansion had been on his wish list for years—but now he started to second-guess himself.

Had he made the right choice? Would Mack be angry about him spending so much time near to where she lived? Or worse, would she think he was stalking her?

He picked at the sandwich his secretary brought him for lunch, half-inclined to call the whole thing off. Or perhaps he could expand in Europe first?

Stop being such a coward. This was a purely commercial decision, and Mack would just have to accept it.

Yeah, right. Who was he kidding?

His next discussion promised to be even more difficult.

Last time he’d spoken to Tia, she’d been even frostier than Mack, but now he needed to swallow his pride and apologise. He stopped off at home to pick up her phone and laptop then carried on to their mother’s house, praying she’d gone to the country club as usual.

Tia answered the door and scowled at him.

“Can I come in?”

“I can’t stop you, can I?”

He followed her through to the lounge, where she sat on the sofa and glared at him.

“I’m sorry I shouted at you. You should have told me where you were that night, though. What if something worse had happened?”

“Oh, please, with Emmy around?”

She had a fair point there, one he couldn’t really argue with. “Just call me next time, okay?”

Tia brightened and even cracked a small smile. “Does that mean I can go and see her again?”

“If she agrees to it. I’ll admit I misjudged her a little.”

Tia scoffed at him. “More than a little.”

“Okay, a lot. She wasn’t entirely blameless, though.”

“I know that. She knows that. She said your entire relationship was all kinds of screwed up.”

Just when he thought his self-esteem couldn’t get any lower.

“She really said that?”

“Pretty much.”

Curiosity got the better of him. “Did she say anything else?”

“Just that one day she hopes you’ll meet a sweet girl who’ll give you what you need.”

Well, he had, hadn’t he? Trouble was, the one woman who he’d clicked with on a deeper level was also the one woman he couldn’t have. What if this was his only chance at true love? He knew he’d never meet another Mack, so perfect for him in every way.

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