CHAPTER 5 - DANGEROUS TERRITORY
Alex's POV
She signed her name with careful strokes. Isabella Elena Martinez. Each letter precise. Controlled. Nothing like the chaos slamming around inside my chest.
I kept my face neutral. Businessman's mask. The one that got me through hostile takeovers and Victoria's lawyer. But inside? Inside I was twenty kinds of fool.
"Congratulations." I took the contract. Our fingers brushed. Lightning shot up my arm. "You start Monday."
"Thank you." She smiled. That real smile. Not the one she'd worn at the party like armor. "I won't let you down."
You already have, I wanted to say. You let your hair catch the light. You bit your lip when you concentrated. You existed in my world when you should have stayed safely in Roberto's.
"Sandra will give you the parking codes and key cards on your way out."
Professional. Distant. Like I hadn't stood in that garden Saturday night and felt my entire world tilt. Like I hadn't seen her in moonlight and wanted...
No.
She asked about the authentication equipment. Smart questions. Technical questions. The kind that showed she actually knew her field. Not just playing at career like Victoria had accused me of doing with the hotels.
"The lab has a new spectrometer. Latest model." I pulled up the specs on my tablet. Handed it across the desk.
Big mistake.
She leaned forward to look. Her perfume hit me. Something light. Floral but not sweet. Made me think of her mother's garden and... stop. Stop right there, Blackwood.
"This is incredible. The resolution on this..."
Her voice went breathless. Excited. About a damn spectrometer. And all I could think about was what else might make her sound like that.
"We spare no expense on authentication." My voice came out rougher than intended.
She looked up. Those brown eyes. Elena's eyes but warmer. Deeper. With gold flecks I'd never noticed before Saturday.
Twenty six years. I'd known her twenty six years. Carried her on my shoulders at the beach. Taught her to ride a bike when Roberto was too nervous. Watched her grow from gap-toothed kid to teenager to...
This.
Sandra knocked. "Mr. Blackwood? Your three o'clock is here."
Thank God.
"Of course." I stood. Bella stood. Professional distance between us. "Sandra will handle everything else you need."
"Right. Yes. Thank you again." She smoothed her skirt. Navy blue. Kept riding up when she sat. I'd spent the last hour trying not to notice.
Handshake. Brief. Professional. Except her palm was soft and warm and fit too well in mine.
"Welcome to Blackwood Industries, Ms. Martinez."
"Looking forward to it, Mr. Blackwood."
She left. I watched her go. Couldn't help it. The way she walked. Confident but not cocky. Those legs in that skirt...
"Sir? Should I send in Mr. Yamamoto?"
"Five minutes, Sandra."
I closed the door. Pressed my forehead against the wood. What the hell was wrong with me?
Saturday night. That's what was wrong. One moment in the garden and twenty six years of appropriate boundaries just... gone. Evaporated. Like they'd never existed.
She'd looked up at me and I'd seen her. Really seen her. Not Roberto's little girl. Not the kid who used to fall asleep on my shoulder during movie nights.
A woman. Beautiful. Brilliant. Looking at me like...
Like she'd felt it too.
Which was impossible. Inappropriate. Wrong on every level that mattered.
Roberto trusted me. Had trusted me since college. Best friend. Brother. The only real family I had after my parents died.
And I'd just hired his daughter. Brought her into my world. Where I'd see her every day. Smell that perfume. Watch her bite her lip when she concentrated.
I poured water from the crystal pitcher. My hands shook. Forty two years old and my hands shook like a teenager's.
Get it together, Blackwood.
The meeting with Yamamoto dragged. Numbers. Projections. Expansion into Asian markets. I nodded. Made appropriate comments. But my mind kept drifting to brown eyes with gold flecks. To the way she'd trembled when she reached for the pen.
Had she felt it too? That electric shock when our eyes met?
No. Stress. Her whole life had imploded. Ex-boyfriend. Failed funding. Of course she was emotional. Vulnerable. Which made me worse than a fool. Made me exactly the kind of man who'd take advantage...
"Mr. Blackwood? Do you agree?"
"Run those numbers again." I had no idea what numbers. "Email me the full analysis."
Finally. Meeting over. Office empty. I stood at the window watching the city. Somewhere down there, Bella was in my car. Being driven home. To Roberto's house. Where she belonged.
My phone buzzed. Roberto's ringtone. Because of course.
"Alex! My friend!"
"Roberto." I kept my voice steady. Normal. Not like a man who'd been fantasizing about his best friend's daughter.
"Did my brilliant girl accept the job?"
"She did."
"Ah, perfect! You're a lifesaver, hermano. I knew I could count on you to look after her."
The words hit like physical blows. Look after her. Count on you. Trust. All the things I was about to betray.
"She'll be an asset to the company." Truth. Painful truth.
"Of course she will! She's special, my Bella. Just like her mother. You remember Elena, how special she was."
I closed my eyes. Elena. Who'd made me promise... no. Not that. Not now.
"I remember."
"You'll guide her, yes? Make sure she's safe? The business world, it can be harsh for young women."
Guide her. Keep her safe. From everyone but me, apparently.
"Roberto..."
"I sleep better knowing she has you. After Elena died, you were there. Always there. Like family. Better than family."
Each word twisted deeper. I watched Bella's car disappear into traffic below. Knowing I'd just complicated both our lives. Knowing I couldn't take it back. Wouldn't take it back.
Because I was selfish enough to want her close. Even if it destroyed everything.
"I'll take care of her." The lie burned my throat.
"I know you will. You always have. Since she was born, you've been protecting my little girl."
Roberto kept talking. Restaurant gossip. Party aftermath. Normal friend conversation while I stood at my window feeling like Judas.
When he finally hung up, I set the phone down. Stared at it.
What had I done?
But I knew. God help me, I knew exactly what I'd done.
And Monday, I'd do it again. Watch her walk into my building. Breathe the same air. Pretend I hadn't stood in a garden and wanted to...
"Mr. Blackwood?" Sandra's voice through the intercom. "Your four thirty is here."
"Send them in."
Back to business. Back to normal. Like I hadn't just lit a fuse that would burn everything down.
Like I hadn't just hired the one woman I could never have.