“Insider trading?” Please don’t let my too-good-too-be-true new job be over before it’s even started. Please don’t let my too-good-too-be-true new job be over before it’s even started. Lacey glances around, like she doesn’t want to be overheard. “They’re doing major damage control right now. Rumors are that someone leaked some info illegally, but no one knows who it was.” “Is it true?” If it is, it’s a huge deal. Insider trading can be disastrous for any company and especially for an investment company. “The SEC is still considering an investigation.” Lacey’s voice is low. So far, Patel hasn’t joined in as we chat, but now he puts his ear pods in his ears and lightly scowls in Lacey’s direction. But Lacey is undeterred. “I’m surprised they hired you, to be honest, with all the heat that’s on the company right now.” Lacey seems nice but she clearly thrives on drama. So much so that it’s hard to tell if her revelations are something I should worry about or not. I’ve just moved across the country for this job. If the company is in trouble, I’ll be homeless and jobless. And possibly penniless. Is it possible they could ask for their sign-on bonus back because they’re in financial difficulty? I’ve already given half of it away. Within less than a minute of talking to Lacey, I know two things. One, she’s fun and will tell me all her de epest secrets. Two, she can’t be trusted with anything confidential. “Cash, Noah and Colton are desperately trying to reassure everyone,” she continues. “I guess we’ll see soon enough if it’s just some kind of error or if someone really did leak the info.” If it’s common gossip in the office, then there’s probably some basis to it. What the hell have I walked into? “Nobody’s sure if it’s even true or not,” Lacey continues. “I mean, no one has come out and admitted it, which makes me think someone either is so totally clueless they don’t realize what counts as insider trading, or they did it with complete knowledge on the sly for some quick cash and are trying not to get caught.” “That’s crazy.” “Right? I mean, to be honest, I thought Cash would have a handle on things by now. This company is his baby. He’s usually all over any shit that goes down. But he wasn’t even the one to tell us. He was out of town when the news broke. And now we’ve got the visit from the SEC hanging over our heads while Cash is meanwhile walking around here with a spaced-out look on his face, like he’s mentally on a beach somewhere. I haven’t seen him so much as smile in weeks.” “He ke eps a low profile,” I comment. When I researched the company before my application and interview, it almost seemed strange that a CEO would be so discrete. I couldn’t find a single picture of him, and there were only a handful of interviews. It’s unusual. Most of the time when hotshot entr epreneurs make it big like this, they’re hungry for adoration. “He likes privacy,” Lacey confirms. “Being a Maddox, he doesn’t need visibility to make money. He already has the name, the legacy and the money-making genes. I heard he knows someone at Google and they wipe his online profile whenever anything comes up. It’s a new thing, apparently. To make yourself invisible on the internet. It’s supposed to give you a mysterious, powerful aura, like a professional superpower or something.” She almost scoffs, like wanting to be invisible is a foreign conc ept to her.
I kind of like the idea. Lacey takes a sip of coffee. “Cash is a good boss—well, boss’s boss, more accurately. But whatever’s going on at the moment seems to have totally thrown him. I get it, but now’s not the time for him to lose concentration.” She lowers her voice. “It wouldn’t surprise me if it’s his ex that’s distracting him. She still works here but he broke it off with her a few months ago and now he won’t even give her the time of day.” “Oh.” “She wasn’t an employee when they started seeing each other, but still. Apparently Noah hired her and didn’t know they were fuck buddies at the time.” It’s interesting information, I guess, but I sort of wish she’d stop telling me all this. It feels personal. “Yikes.” “All the Maddox brothers are ridiculously gorgeous, of course, and single, which is seriously unfair considering we have to look at them all day. Plus of course they’re smart and loaded. Which is why Rylee didn’t want to let Cash go.” “Rylee?” “Yeah. Rylee Winters. She was seriously in love with him, but he dumped her after only a few weeks and now it’s really awkward because she’s obviously still pining for him. And she’s got claws, that one. Trust me, you’ll definitely want to steer clear.” I make a mental note to avoid Rylee Winters wherever possible. The last thing I need is to make enemies before I’ve even logged in. “So none of the brothers are in relationships?” “If you count out being married to their jobs, no. Cash has sworn off women after Rylee, as far as I know. I don’t know this for sure but I’ve heard he’d like to have her fired. But the company has a two-month trial period, and after that, it’s hard to fire someone without a legal reason for it. Anyway, Noah seems too busy to date. And Colton... well, he’s Colton. A total fuck-boy. But he never dips his quill in the company ink, if you get my meaning. Even though everyone in the office spends every Friday afternoon trying to change his mind.” She pauses and there’s something loaded about it. I feel my eyebrows rise. “Everyone?” Her face gets pink. “Okay, I’m mildly besotted. He’s always crystal clear about the fact that it’ll never happen, but fool that I am, I can’t resist trying anyway. I mean, he flirts outrageously when we’re both at the bar, but then ignores all my emails and DMs.” “You email him? At work?” “Sure,” she shrugs. “It hardly matters. Cash is the discrete brother. Colton is anything but.” I smile but feel a knot clench in my stomach for Lacey. With what’s going on with the insider trading rumors, the company will surely ke ep a tab on every email and message being sent. It sounds humiliating. “Looks like I’ve arrived at a crazy time.” “Oh, for sure,” she sounds wildly pleased about this. “But it’ll all calm down once the SEC figures it out. Assuming we haven’t lost all our clients by then.” “Dusty!” I hear Penelope calling me from across the office and swivel around to see where she’s standing. She beckons me over and I’m relieved to have the excuse to get out of the pressure-cooker that is Lacey’s compulsion to over-share. When I reach her, Penelope’s standing with Noah and Evan. They’re both looking at the i Pad Noah’s holding but they look up as I walk over to them. “Dusty, you’ll remember Noah and Evan from your interview,” Penelope says. “Nice to see you both again.” Evan nods and Noah shakes my hand. “Fantastic to have you on the team, Dusty.” He’s as business-like as he was during my interview, and with that same almost-familiarity I can’t quite
place, but I like him instantly. He’s got a calm, in-control vibe. Even if the company is on the verge of imploding, you get the feeling that everything will be fine if Noah’s in charge. “I’m excited to be here.” Which is true, but it’s a tiny bit easier to ke ep it in check after Lacey’s gush. It’s my dream company but there are obviously cracks, just like with everything in life. Nothing is ever as perfect as it seems. “Who’s this?” I look up to see a tall, good-looking man who resembles Noah—and damn, really reminds me... crazily... of Ace. I must really be losing it if I’m hallucinating this badly. My dream made his memory feel so fresh again. Get a grip! “Colton, meet Dusty Rose, the newest member of the Invested Enterprises team.” “Dusty. A pleasure. Colton Maddox.” His voice has the same de ep huskiness as Noah’s, but where Noah’s tone is warm, Colton’s comes out as mischievous and walk-the-line playful. Colton’s large hand finds its way into mine, holding on for a fraction of a second too long. His eye contact is so direct it makes me blush. “I’m Cash and Noah’s younger, much better- looking brother.” Penelope smiles at him almost giddily, her slick HR professionalism slipping as she giggles like a schoolgirl. “I do my best to ke ep our new recruits away from you as long as possible, Colton.” Does he have this effect on everyone? “Nice to meet you, Colton.” “Dusty will be part of Evan’s team,” Penelope tells him. “She’s joining us from Stellar Investments in Austin, Texas.” “Well, yeehaw,” Colton laughs and, as much as the comment might be borderline obnoxious, he has the easy charm to pull it off. “Is Cash in his office?” Penelope asks. “Yeah, he’s in,” Colton says. “And in a bitch of a mood. Almost bit my head off five minutes ago.” Penelope glances at her i Watch. “Cash always wants to meet the new starters. I’m sure he won’t mind a quick meeting. I told him I was bringing Dusty up to meet him.” “Good luck,” Colton laughs. I follow Penelope to the elevator and once we’re inside, she shakes her head almost she epishly. “Just ignore Colton.” Like she takes Colton’s playfulness as her own personal responsibility. “He’s just way too cocky for his own good.” Which makes me wonder what Cash will be like. I hope we’re not catching him at a bad time. The elevator doors slide open and I follow Penelope into a foyer with three desks and three large wooden doors. The offices of Cash, Noah and Colton, I’m assuming. There’s also a hallway that looks like it leads to several glass-walled meeting rooms. A petite woman with a dark brown bob and black-framed glasses looks up from one of the desks. “Hayley, this is Dusty Rose, our newest employee.” “Hi, Dusty. Mr. Maddox is expecting you.” Hayley presses an intercom and says, “Dusty Rose is here to see you.” She’s no-nonsense and seems like the perfect gateke eper a CEO needs in charge of his door and his diary. One of the doors makes the clicking sound of a lock unlocking. “Penelope, Noah wanted you to look through this list with me before lunch. Do you mind?” “Not at all, I’ll do it now,” Penelope says. “Dusty, go on through. It’s the door on the left. I’ll be right with you.”
I’m not sure why my heart is beating fast. Some sixth sense feels like it’s tuning in to a cosmic wavelength. I have no idea what that means, exc ept that I’m an intuitive person and my intuition is currently being slow- zapped by a high-wattage electric current. As I open the door and cross the threshold into Cash Maddox’s office, my eyes are immediately drawn to the view through the floor-to-ceiling walls of windows. You can see the entire city from here. And on such a bright day, the office is flooded with light, casting the man sitting at the desk into relative shadow. I can’t make out his face at first, but there’s something very familiar about his outline, his frame and the way his suit clings to his muscles. It takes a moment for my eyes to adjust to the brightness, but when they do, my heart leaps into my throat. It can’t be. But it is. Holy shit. You’ve got to be kidding me. He’s the fucking CEO? Cash Maddox, my new boss... is Ace.