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  Cole knew he wasn’t ready for a relationship. He was too fucked up in the head, and he still had nightmares that kept him awake at night.

  The woman captured his attention. She was absolutely beautiful. He loved women with a fuller figure. The only problem he found with fuller figured women was they had a lot of insecurity, which made them hard work.

  He closed the computer and sat back listening to the moans coming from the door opposite. His other computer in the office was going through the background check of the employees at the marketing firm.

  Running his fingers through his short hair, he wondered if Callum’s guest would be joining them for breakfast. From the sound of the action next door he could only imagine how exhausted she’d be.

  Callum was known for going hours with a woman. Cole knew the desires his friend had. There was such rampant need in his friend. All the women Callum had dated and fucked had never been able to keep up with him.

  Listening to them go at it next door, he wondered how long the mystery woman would hold up. He sure wasn’t waiting around to hold her hand.

  Chapter Three

  Simone opened her eyes and stared at the man by her side. The events of the night before came back to her in a blur of images and sex. Looking past his shoulder she saw that it was seven in the morning. She knew it was Saturday, and she wouldn’t have to go in to work. Slowly, trying not to wake him, she climbed out of the bed. Staring down at him for a few seconds, Simone resisted the urge to wake him up.

  He’d been everything she’d dreamed about last night. They’d both collapsed on the bed at around three in the morning, sated and exhausted. She’d lost count of the number of orgasms he’d given her. Simone smelt the sex on her. They had done everything he’d described and then some more.

  Her body was sore but relaxed. Moving out of his apartment, she grabbed her dress, then her shoes. She left her bra, figuring he could keep it as a memento. Simone took her purse and coat then left the apartment. There was a man coming up the hallway toward the door next to Callum’s room. He smiled at her. She held her heels over one shoulder. The walk of shame had never felt so good.

  “Good morning,” he said.

  “That it certainly is.” She smiled at him and continued on to the elevator. When she was down at the ground floor, she asked the reception to call her a cab. Simone decided to wait outside for her ride. She didn’t want to have any morning after encounters. If she never saw him again she’d be happy. Callum with no last name had lived up to all expectations and had blown some of her own beliefs out of the sky. That man knew how to take a woman. Her body melted at the thought of him taking her once again.

  She stood at the curb waiting for her cab, thinking about the night before. Callum had taken complete control. He didn’t ask her if she liked what he was doing. There was no nervousness about him. He’d done what he wanted without waiting. She’d loved every second of his commanding presence.

  The cab pulled up, and she got in and gave him her address. She didn’t look up to see if Callum was watching from his room. The less she knew about the man the better she’d feel.

  Within an hour the cab pulled up outside her apartment. She paid the fare then got out. The doorman opened the door for her. “Good morning, Miss Allusifa.”

  “And to you, Clyde. How are the wife and kids?” she asked.

  “Brilliant as always.”

  She smiled going up to the main desk. Simone was about to ask for her mail when the man at the desk turned around to greet her.

  “Daddy,” she said.

  Malcolm Allusifa stood over her. At twenty-five years old she still felt like a young girl waiting to be told off.

  “Simone, I’ve been waiting for you.”

  Her walk of shame was now complete. She knew her father would know her walk of shame. He’d made plenty of women do it in the past.

  “Yeah, what about?” She took the mail from the reception lady then began walking up the steps. Her father hated taking the stairs. He thought they were for smaller people. She hated where she grew up. Her father was a wealthy man. He owned a fleet of boats or something. She’d never spent the time getting to know him. All she needed to know was that her mother had been the cleaning lady who he’d knocked up. They’d ended up married because her mother had gotten pregnant. Her older brother, Daniel, would be the man to take over the family business.

  Her family life was a little fucked up. After her parents’ divorce her mother had put Simone into public school so that she’d learn to stick up for herself. Simone didn’t regret her life. She’d grown up a fighter. Her father wanted nothing to do with his daughter or the mother who raised her. He was far more interested in making plenty of money and sleeping with numerous women.

  Her lack of caring about him was why she didn’t know a great deal about him.

  Malcolm followed her up the stairs.

  “Your mother is concerned about you,” he said.

  “Really, she could have called me. I’d be more than happy to talk to her.” This was the first visit her father had given her. “How did you know where I live?” she asked.

  “Who do you think pays for this apartment?”

  She was at the door to her room. Simone turned round to look at her father. “What?”

  “I pay for your apartment, Simone. I pay for a great deal.”

  “My mother said that allowance was from a family relative,” she said, feeling sick. Simone hated her father. She knew he was wealthy, but the last thing she wanted was to owe him for anything.

  “You really think your mother could afford anything without me?” he said.

  Her anger rose. She knew her anger came from him. “Don’t even think of talking trash about her, Malcolm. You may have used her, but she’s still my mom.”

  She walked through her apartment going toward the kitchen. He made her so mad. The door to her apartment closed letting her know he’d joined her. She unbuckled her jacket then threw her shoes in a corner.

  “You’re working for a marketing firm,” he said.

  “So.” She turned to face the man she barely knew.

  “I don’t like you working, Simone. You should be settled down with a man.”

  She shook her head, annoyed with him for invading her life. “I’m twenty-five years old. You’ve never given a shit about me. Why are you caring now?”

  “Because you’re still my daughter.”

  “What the fuck is that supposed to mean? I don’t know why you’re here, and to be honest, I don’t want to know. If you want me out of this apartment, let me know.” She moved toward the door wanting him out of her life.

  “It is not safe for you, Simone,” he said.

  “You gave up all right to me when you walked out on my mother for a tramp.”

  She slammed the door feeling a tiny bit scared. Her father coming to call was not good. She sat down on the sofa, grabbing her phone. Simone dialled her mother’s number.

  Helen answered on the third ring.

  “Why is my father coming to my apartment?” Simone asked. Her anger was rising. It was too much. He’d not been in her life in so long that seeing him had put her on edge.

  “Hello, Simone. How are you?”

  “Mom, please, why is he calling after all this time?”

  Her mother sighed over the line. “I don’t know, darling. No one ever knows what your father is thinking until he wants you to know.”

  ****

  Callum woke up to the sunlight shining over him. He’d forgotten to draw the blind when going to bed. Groaning, he reached out for Simone only to find the bed empty. Opening his eyes, he stared around the room. There was no sign of her. Getting up from bed, he padded across the floor to grab a robe. There was no shower running. He walked through the connecting door to Cole’s room wondering if his friend had invited her for breakfast. Cole sat reading a paper.

  “You’re finally awake?” Cole said.

  “Obviously. Where is Simone?” he asked,
taking a seat at the table.

  “Simone is her name, huh. Your woman took the walk of shame early this morning. She looked rather happy as well. I’d say it was a job well done.”

  “Good.” Callum said the right word, but he was a little pissed. Why hadn’t she stayed for breakfast?

  “She didn’t beg you to stop or to slow down?” Cole asked.

  “Nope.” She’d been a walking, talking dream. Her passions had matched his own. He’d never known a woman to give herself so completely.

  “I heard you two going at it for most of the night. Don’t you ever get tired?”

  “This is coming from a man who can do the exact same as me,” Callum said.

  Cole chuckled, picking up a coffee cup.

  “What is on the agenda for today?” Callum asked.

  “I have some interesting news for you, my friend.” Cole took a bite out of a piece of toast. He sat waiting for his friend to give him the good news.

  Callum watched him pick up a file then slide it across the table. He picked it up and opened the page. Simone’s picture was on the page at the top right hand corner.

  “She works for the marketing firm?” Callum asked.

  “The very one stealing from us. That is not all. Simone Allusifa is the daughter of the man you’re currently fighting with over a certain area of land.” Cole took another bite of his toast.

  He read through the file in his hands. “This doesn’t mention her father.”

  “No, I had to do more digging. I don’t know why people don’t put two and two together with the last name.”

  “Do you think she was some kind of plant?” Callum asked, feeling sick. Malcolm was known for using everything at his disposal. Simone hadn’t seemed like the type of women to fuck a man for her father.

  “Nope, I don’t.”

  His anger rising, Callum glared at his friend. “Just tell me what you’re keeping secret.”

  “Well, what I’ve dug up about your little one-night stand is this. She doesn’t speak to her father because of the way he treated her mother. From my sources, she hasn’t spoken to him in years—we’re talking since she was six or seven years old. She can’t stand her father, and I think someone at her workplace is trying to frame her for the theft of your money but doesn’t know she’s pretty much loaded herself,” Cole said, taking a drink of coffee.

  “How do you find this stuff out?” Callum was always amazed at how easy Cole made it seem.

  “You come up with the ideas for the business, and I don’t ask how you do it. This is what I do.”

  “And you’re damn good at it.” Callum gazed at her photo. She’d left her mark on him last night. Callum wanted more of her. One night with her hadn’t been enough. He needed more.

  “She’s going to be in for a shock when you see her on Monday morning.”

  “I know. I can’t wait for Monday to come.”

  He finished off his breakfast, reading the whole file on Simone. Cole had made two files, one of her employment record and one with her father. He read both absorbing every bit of information he could.

  “She must have been a good screw for you to be paying this much attention,” Cole said.

  Callum looked at his friend. “You’d like her, Cole.”

  He’d been trying to get his friend back into the sack. There was a time when they’d shared a woman. He loved watching a woman come apart under his friend’s touch. Cole had refused every woman he brought home.

  “She’s your woman, Callum. Don’t get me involved.” He watched Cole stand and leave the table. Minutes later he came back carrying a heap of files. “These are the people involved in our company. All of these people could have access to our accounts.”

  “I guess our weekend is filled with info gathering,” Callum said.

  “You don’t like going into a meeting being unprepared. This allows you the opportunity to take all the members out of their comfort zone.”

  There was only one woman he wanted out of her comfort zone, and that was Simone Allusifa.

  Callum sat at the table reading through each file and gathering knowledge on every single employee. Cole did the same. He lingered over Simone’s file, and Callum watched him rub her face. His friend deserved some happiness. He wondered if Simone could be the answer to their problems.

  ****

  Cole knew Callum was watching him. He didn’t like feeling of being under a microscope. Simone was an attractive woman, and the more he learned about her, the more intrigued he’d become. She was a little fighter. Her love for her mother was something to applaud. When she’d finished college she’d refused an internship at her father’s company.

  She’d gone to the advertising agency and had made a name for herself. Her job was in the finance department. She made sure the money that she made with the clients, always turned over a profit. Someone had to be messing with the numbers. Her reports were spotless, but the numbers didn’t add up.

  “Stop looking at me,” Cole said.

  “I remember a time when we use to share everything, Cole.”

  He closed his eyes. There was also a time when their sharing had ruined a woman. Cole threw the image out of his mind. He didn’t want to think about the past. Callum had told him it wasn’t their fault, even though he knew it was.

  Rachel had accused him of being half a man. If a man couldn’t get off without his friend then he wasn’t a man at all. Cole couldn’t argue. He knew he wasn’t a full man.

  “Who do you think the crook is?” Callum asked.

  “I have no idea. I want to meet the whole team before we start making assumptions.”

  The day passed with him assessing each file wondering who could be trying to take their money. Whoever it was they were trying to frame Simone. He didn’t like it. What was more, he didn’t know why he cared so much about her being framed. He didn’t know her. He had only heard her cries of pleasure.

  Why did he care?

  Chapter Four

  Simone walked into work on Monday morning sensing the tension around the office. She was late because her alarm had lost all power. The battery had died in the middle of the night. She held a polystyrene cup of coffee in one hand and her phone in the other.

  “I’m sorry I’m late, sir,” she said.

  “I don’t care. Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Turner are waiting in the conference room along with all your colleagues. Get your butt up here,” her boss said.

  She nodded her head going to the reception desk. Milly was looking terrified as she answered calls. “What’s going on?” Simone asked.

  “Mr. Gallagher is that big client they’ve been talking about. The one who is thinking of doing a takeover of this company,” Milly said. Her hands were shaking.

  “So,” Simone said. She’d known the account was big. One of her biggest deals last year had been the Gallagher and Turner campaign she’d helped turn into a success.

  “Rumour is they’re not happy and hoping to close the company down. Kate and Lily are already working on their resume. They think everyone is going to lose their jobs within the next month.” Milly began biting her nails. Simone knew the other woman had three kids to worry about. The family had fallen on hard times since her husband had lost his job at the bank.

  “Hey, we all do a brilliant job. I’m sure we’ll settle this. Wish me luck,” she said, moving around the front desk toward the elevator. So much for a peaceful morning crunching numbers and answering calls. After seeing her father and spending most of her time day-dreaming about the tall, dark, handsome semi-stranger going by the name of Callum, Simone had barely slept in the last two nights. Her body ached from the delicious torture Callum had given her Friday night.

  John spent a great deal of time trying to talk to her. She wasn’t interested in a cheating scumbag, which brought her back to her father. Why was he suddenly sniffing around her? She’d have to talk to her brother Daniel. She hadn’t heard from him in some time. He was her father’s protégé, but they still manag
ed to get along.

  The elevator dropped her off at the fifth floor where her office and the conference rooms lay. She quickly ran to her desk to see a harassed intern shaking with a tray of coffee.

  “Miss Allusifa, they refuse to start without you.”

  Simone took the tray from her. “Right, I’ll take this through. Will you sort my mail and bring it to me at the best possible time?”

  “Yes, Miss.”

  “Please, call me Simone.” Before the intern had a chance to answer, Simone was already at the conference room, opening the door with her butt. “Sorry, I’m late, gentlemen.” She lifted her gaze to the men sitting at the head of the table. Her heart stopped inside her chest.

  Shit! The stranger from Friday night sat staring at her along with the blond guy from her walk of shame.

  The tray toppled to the floor, crashing the cups and coffee all over the place. She winced as the hot liquid splashed her new pumps and burnt her ankles. Simone pinched her arm while the men stared at her. She wasn’t waking up.

  Without looking at them, she began clearing away the mess.

  Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.

  The mantra inside her head wouldn’t stop.

  A very large male hand came into her vision. The man paused, his hand over the broken mug she was about to clean up. She recognised that hand. He’d held her face with that very same hand as she sucked his cock.

  This was like a nightmare.

  “You’ve hurt yourself, Miss Allusifa,” Callum said.

  “It’s nothing. Please, let me finish cleaning up this mess. I’m sorry.” She winced at her own panicked voice.

  What had she done?

  Her other colleagues started to make a fuss.

  “Can we get along with this meeting? I’ve got stuff to do,” one of the older managers said.

  Callum helped her to her feet. She winced again once the burn made itself known. He went down before her. In her mind she remembered the way he’d pressed her against the shower stall and licked her pussy until she came in a screaming orgasm.

  She wasn’t wearing any panties. Would he be able to smell her need for him?