His Nasty Virgin

VIVIAN

“Wow,” I gawked. “Just… wow.”

“It’s just an office,” Jesse insisted as he took off his suit jacket and slung it over the back of his leather executive chair.

“This isn’t an office. This is bigger than my apartment.” “I guess it’s pretty spacious.” “Ah, so humble,” I teased.

“Make yourself at home. This shouldn’t take me too long.”

“There’s no rush.”

“There kind of is. I need to get you home sooner rather than later.”

Home.

He didn’t refer to it as the penthouse or the safehouse, but as home. I knew it was probably a silly thing to fixate on, but the word made the butterflies in my stomach take flight.

I sat down on the couch facing the busy street below. I couldn’t get over the view. Traffic looked minuscule, with people walking along the street like ants. Jesse didn’t pay it much mind. I assumed it was because he was so used to being this high that it wasn’t as fascinating to him anymore.

The glass doors leading into his office swung open. The man who entered didn’t bother to knock. The second I laid eyes on him, I understood why. He looked almost exactly like Jesse. The same dark eyes, same dark hair. A little smaller and less muscular, but just as tall and present. He wasn’t dressed as formally as Jesse, opting for a pair of dark blue jeans and a tight black shirt. Several ID badges dangled around his chest on a Pegasus Star Security lanyard.

“About time you got here,” he grumbled, marching over with his laptop. He set it down on Jesse’s desk, turning the screen toward him. “Alright, so I pretty much had to restructure the mainframe from scratch. Whoever you hired to do this work before me was abysmal-”

Jesse cleared his throat, tilting his head in my direction. “Devin, this is Vivian Jones. Vivian, this is my younger brother, Devin White.”

I gave him a polite wave from across the room. “Hello, Devin. It’s nice to meet you.”

Devin looked me over, squinting. His scrutiny was unnerving. After a few moments, he said, “Nice to meet you, too.” He returned his attention to the laptop screen, consumed with his work once again. “Were you aware that someone tried to hack into the firm’s server last month?”

Jesse frowned. “No. I didn’t receive any alerts. Did they get anything?”Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

“No, lucky you. They tried to breach but were unsuccessful. The failsafe I installed booted them out before they could try again.”

Jesse grunted. “The guy I hired before you was abysmal.”

“Good thing you have me.”

“Yes, yes. Pat yourself on the back a little harder.”

“You could just thank me by giving me a raise.”

“No.”

“You didn’t even think about it.”

“Don’t have to.”

Their back and forth was amusing. I observed quietly from my spot, listening to them talk about… whatever. Something super techy and out of my area of expertise. Jesse had no problem keeping up with all of Devin’s jargon. At least, it looked like he was. Maybe he was just really good at pretending.

Either way, he was fascinating to watch. The concentration. The poise. The confidence imbued in the way he stood. He owned the room. He owned the whole damn building. This was a man in his kingdom, in his element. Seeing him at his place of work, I was finally offered a glimpse of a shark in open waters.

There was a knock at the door. Jesse was one hell of a busy man. It suddenly made sense why Wally said he was always at work. Something or someone constantly demanded Jesse’s attention.

Another large man entered the office at Jesse’s beckon. Behind him was a young woman, probably only a few years older than me, with a baby strapped against her chest in a carrier. A boy followed close behind.

“Glad to see you’re still alive,” the man said with a chuckle, voice deep and booming. “When Devin told me you were away from the office, I thought you were sick or dying.”

Jesse rolled his eyes but clapped his friend on the shoulder. “I never get sick.”

“Hi,” the woman said to me. She had a very sweet smile. “I’m Ava.”

I rose and shook her hand. “I’m Vivian. It’s lovely to meet you.”

“Where are my manners?” Jesse said quickly. “Vivian, this is my second in command, Theo Phillips. And this is his wife, Ava, and my favorite niece and nephew, Cassie and

Cory.”

The boy smiled. “We’re your only niece and nephew.”

Jesse ruffled the kid’s hair. “Such a smarty pants.”

“Do you work here, too?” Ava asked me.

I shook my head. “Oh, no. I’m, uh…” I wasn’t too sure how to bring up the fact that I accidentally uncovered the money laundering efforts of a dangerous cartel to her. She seemed like a nice lady, and I didn’t want to freak her and her children out by saying the wrong thing.

Ava tilted her head to the side and smiled gently. “It’s okay. I understand. I’m no stranger to being under a protection detail.”

I arched a brow, whispering, “You mean…”

She joined me in the sitting area while the men talked shop. “Theo was my bodyguard a little over a year ago, so I get it.”

“And now you’re married?”

Ava smiled. “Yes, we are. It’s a long story, but it had a very happy ending.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” I glanced between the two of them, nibbling my bottom lip.

“You have questions,” she observed.

“I don’t want to come across as rude.”

“Believe me when I say very little fazes me these days.” “It’s just… You’re so young, and he’s-” “Almost twice my age.” Ava nodded.

“Same as-” Same as Jesse and me. “Nothing.”

She gave me a knowing look. I didn’t detect a hint of judgment. She did seem like a wonderful person. Understanding. Patient. “There’s nothing wrong with it, you know. Being into silver foxes.”

I coughed. Or maybe I choked. All I knew was that I made an unattractive and embarrassing sound that caught Jesse’s attention from over by his desk. He arched a brow at me. I waved him off, breaking into soft laughter.

“Sorry,” Ava said with an amused glint in her eye. “I’m just teasing you.”

“It’s fine. You just surprised me is all. You remind me of…” Molly.

“I remind you of who?”

“Just a friend. She used to tease me all the time about…” I lowered my voice, “Liking older men.”

Ava shrugged. “What’s not to like? Mature. Confident. And they know what they’re doing.” She winked. “If you catch my meaning.”

I giggled. “I’m picking up what you’re putting down.”

“So, how long have you and Jesse…you know.”

“It’s all still very new. Complicated.”

Ava hummed. “When is it not?” The little girl in her arms cooed, waking up from her nap with a whine. “Oh, sorry,” Ava apologized. “I think someone’s a little hungry. We’ll gossip when I get back.”

She excused herself, leaving the office to find a private spot to feed her baby. Meanwhile, I sat there in stunned amazement.

Ava and Theo were married? If I closed my eyes, I could imagine Jesse and me in their shoes. A house in the suburbs. A couple of kids running around. None of this life and death business with an angry cartel hunting me down.

But the more I allowed my mind to wander, the more doubt crept in. Was that something I even wanted? I was far too young to think about settling down. I had goals. Dreams. Things I wanted to accomplish by thirty. There was no doubt that I was attracted to Jesse, but that didn’t equate to a future together.

I meant what I said to Ava. What Jesse and I had was new. Complicated. We were walking down the same path, but there was no telling if or when we’d hit a fork in the road. Why couldn’t we just enjoy the present? If Molly were

here, she’d never let up about the fact that- Molly.

She was still missing. What the hell was I doing here? Why was I sitting around in this lavish office when the cartel had her holed up somewhere dark and dingy? If she was even still alive.

I needed to do something. Anything. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if something happened to her and I did nothing to stop it. If that detective at the police station needed proof, I’d get him proof. This was the first time I’d been allowed out of the penthouse, and I wasn’t going to throw the opportunity away.

I cautiously watched Jesse. He was engrossed in whatever Devin and Theo were talking about. Something about security perimeters and bodyguard rotations and payroll, yada yada yada. The subject of their conversation was irrelevant. All that mattered was that Jesse was distracted and I was alone. This was likely my only chance to slip away.

The second Jesse’s back was turned, I made my escape. I’d ask for his forgiveness later.

My heart was pounding. My palms were sweaty and cold. It was a weird feeling, being out and about without Jesse directly behind me to keep me out of harm’s way. The one good thing about all of this, though, was that no one seemed to be following me. I was in the clear for now, so I needed to move quickly.

I hopped onto the bus and rode it to Blue Cloud Financial. It was the middle of the day, so the front lobby was busy with workers eager to get to the cafeteria for lunch. I slipped by easily, blending in with the crowd. I was technically a familiar face here. Nobody would suspect anything as long as I kept moving and didn’t draw any attention to myself.

I held my breath as I took the elevator up to my floor as if it would somehow help me disappear. When the doors opened, I stepped out and made my way swiftly to my cubicle.

It had been cleared out.

None of my things were there. The pictures of Molly and me that I’d pinned to my cubicle wall were gone. The drawers were empty of all my pens and pencils. Any paper documents that I’d been holding onto for filing were also gone, likely shredded for security purposes. When I attempted to log into my computer, it gave me an error message. My credentials had been wiped from the system.

Not good.

Did this mean the encrypted files for the Azuras Association -or whatever they called themselves- were gone, too?

“Shit,” I hissed to myself.

I peered over the cubicle wall toward Arty’s office. His lights were off. Out to lunch maybe? I turned in -what used to be- my office chair. Marta was away, too. Much to my relief, she’d accidentally forgotten to lock her desktop.

I wheeled over and searched through her top drawer, pulling an old USB stick from her desk organizer and plugging it into the computer tower. I searched for the files with shaky fingers, dreading how slow the loading bar filled. The computer eventually dinged, alerting me that it had found what I was looking for.

The encrypted files were now hidden in a folder within a folder within a folder. Someone was desperately trying to make sure that, while they couldn’t destroy these records for the sake of their bookkeeping, nobody could accidentally stumble upon them again like I did.

I downloaded everything I could. Once it was done, I snatched the USB and tucked it safely into my back pocket. I needed to get the hell out of there.

I half-jogged, and half-walked back to the elevator, keeping my head down and eyes on the floor. No time for small talk. No time to stop. I had to get as far away from this building as I could before-

The elevator doors slid open.

On the other side stood five tall, boorish men with matching snake tattoos with red eyes wrapped around their throats.