Chapter 1

The day I went with my boss to meet the client, all I wanted was to close the deal.

I'd been secretly in love with her for three years.

In those three years, I'd revised her proposals, taken drinks for her, pulled all-nighters with her, and watched her shut other people out of her heart time after time.

She was cold, precise, and ruthless.

The whole company was afraid of her.

Only I knew that when she ran a high fever, she would crouch alone in the break room to take fever reducers, her face white with pain, and still refuse to trouble anyone.

So when she said she wanted me to come with her to negotiate that big Southside project, I was so happy I didn't sleep all night.

I thought that would be the closest I'd ever get to her.

Then the door to the private room opened, and the first person I saw was my mom.

My mom looked up, froze for a second, then smiled and waved me over. "Ethan, what are you doing standing in the doorway? Come sit."

Before I could say a word,

Sloane Mercer, sitting beside me, had already turned a cold look on me.

Later, my mom casually put a barbecue rib on my plate.

Sloane set her chopsticks down right then and there, her tone mocking. "What, looking for a sugar mama so you can skip ten years of the grind?"

My head went hot, and the words just flew out. "Mom, your future daughter-in-law is jealous."

The whole room went dead silent.

My name is Ethan Walker. I'm twenty-six.

I'd been a planner at Starline Media for three years.

Sloane was my direct boss and the youngest division director in the company.

She was thirty, beautiful, and even more beautiful at her job.

One look from her could make people swallow their nonsense.

Give her a proposal, and she could find seven holes in it within ten minutes.

She never flirted with anyone, and she never accepted anyone's advances.

Plenty of people at the company had chased her.

People from marketing, from business development, even someone on the investors' side had sent her flowers.

She never accepted a single bouquet.

I never dared to confess either.

Because I knew I had no right to.

My dad died early, and my mom raised me on her own.

She started a business when she was young, and it kept growing bigger and bigger, but I boarded at school from high school on, then went to college out of state, so I didn't see her much.

She always said I had to figure out my own life first, and she wouldn't let me go around trading on her name.

So to outsiders, I was just a working guy from an ordinary family.

I was happy with that.

I didn't want people to know my mom had money.

Even less did I want people to think I was riding on her.

And of all people, Sloane looked down most on those who got ahead through connections.

Three years ago, when I'd just joined the company, a project went sideways.

A nepotism hire had entered the wrong data, and the pitch crashed and burned right in front of the client.

The client's faces went dark.

Everyone was passing the blame.

Only Sloane, newly promoted to manager, stood up and said, "The mistake belongs to the team. I'll take responsibility for now. We'll patch the proposal on the spot. Give me twenty minutes."

She saved the whole mess single-handedly.

After the meeting, that nepotism hire was still complaining in the break room, saying it wasn't a big deal and that Sloane had overreacted.

Sloane heard him and didn't even lift her eyes.

She said only one thing. "Anyone who treats other people's livelihoods as practice doesn't belong on my team."

The next day, he was transferred out.

From that day on, I started paying attention to her.

The more I watched, the deeper I fell.

When she worked late, I stayed with her.

When her stomach hurt, I went downstairs to buy her hot porridge.

When partners tried to get her drunk, I took the drinks for her.

She never gave me a second look.

But I was still willing.

This brand upgrade project for the Southside Complex was the company's biggest deal of the year.

If we closed it, the whole division could breathe easy.

If we didn't, two months of manpower would go down the drain.

At the project progress meeting, Sloane slapped the materials down on the table.

"The client moved the meeting to seven tonight."

"Two people from the project team are coming with me."

She swept her eyes around the room and picked me and Derek Coleman from business development.

Derek grinned right away. "Don't worry, Ms. Mercer. I can hold my liquor. I'll take the lead on entertaining tonight."

Sloane ignored him and went on arranging the details.

After the meeting, Derek stopped me and clapped me on the shoulder.

"Buddy, be sharp tonight."

"Don't just hug your laptop."

"With projects like this, a good proposal isn't enough."

He winked at me.

I knew what he meant.

He'd always been slick, faster than anyone at changing his face around the higher-ups.

Lately he'd been chasing Sloane, both openly and on the sly.

Bringing her coffee, sending flowers, parking at the garage exit to wait for her.

Getting rejected didn't embarrass him at all. Instead, he told anyone who'd listen that women always gave in eventually.

Just hearing it annoyed me.

At six-thirty that evening, I headed downstairs with my laptop.

Derek was already standing by the car, holding a small bouquet of white roses.

I frowned. "You're bringing that to a contract negotiation?"

He smiled. "It's for Ms. Mercer. Just grabbed it on the way."

I said nothing.

Three minutes later, Sloane came out of the elevator.

Black suit, hair pinned low, pale lips, eyes as cold as ever.

Derek went right up to her. "Ms. Mercer, thanks for your hard work. These are for—"

Sloane didn't even glance at the flowers. "Put those away."

Derek's face stiffened for a moment, but he kept smiling as he stuffed the flowers back into the car.

I took the passenger seat, and Sloane sat in the back.

The whole way, she read through materials on her tablet.

At a red light, she suddenly spoke. "Ethan."

I turned around. "Yes?"

"The client's lead today is a Ms. Langley, around fifty. You focus on the supplementary clauses. Derek handles the business side."

"Also, cut the small talk and watch how they react."

I nodded. "Got it."

She gave a short hum and looked back down at her materials.

Derek glanced at me in the rearview mirror, looking a little put out.

He probably hadn't expected Sloane to single me out on an occasion like this.

But I felt a small, secret happiness.

Even if it was only trust at work, it was enough to keep me happy for a long time.

The dinner was booked at the Cloudcrest Club.

One of the most expensive places in Southside.

The moment the car stopped, my heart lurched.

I'd been here twice with my mom.

Not to eat.

She'd come to meet business partners.

A bad feeling crept over me.

Then again, Cloudcrest was a big place. It couldn't be that much of a coincidence.

Inside, a server led us toward the back.

As we walked, Derek said in a low voice, "Ms. Mercer, I hear the head of this client is pretty tough to deal with. She left two other companies hanging before us."

Sloane answered evenly, "Tough means she's serious. It's the ones who aren't serious that cause trouble."

I followed behind, the uneasiness in my chest growing heavier.

At the private room at the very end, the server pushed the door open.

The second it opened,

I saw the woman in the seat of honor look up.

A sharply tailored off-white suit, hair in an updo, a pair of pearl earrings.

When she saw me, she froze at first, then smiled.

"Ethan?"

My scalp prickled.

It really was my mom, Vivian Langley.

There were two other people in the room: her assistant, Nora Bennett, and the project's legal counsel.

Sloane's steps paused for a beat, but she quickly regained her composure.