It was quite an embarrassing thing for a man like Maxwell Rohan to admit, but he was nervous. Damn it. Ridiculous as it felt, he felt like a schoolboy going to the principal's office.
Maxwell thought himself cynical. He had seen most things and hardly got surprised by anything anymore, but he had not just been surprised the night before.
He was shell-shocked.
After getting the details of his wife from Asshole Thomas, he intended to check out who the woman was just so he could know who he would be facing. Though he wouldn't admit it to himself, of course, he was also curious to see how the woman looked.
She had to have flaws for her husband to have an affair that long that produced three children without her knowledge.
Maybe she was deaf. Or dumb. He thought in amusement as he inputted the information into his system.
Reyona Lanoth. He sure liked the name. He mused as he added the occupation information to Searchit. A C. P. A., her husband had called her.
"Holy sh*t" was the first thing that came out of his mouth when he saw the display. Even when he saw just the small picture beside her information, he knew. Then he clicked on the image section. For the first time in a long, long while, Maxwell was dumbfounded.
"What the hell? That was... her!" he yelled in his study, certain that if anyone had been around, they would have thought him crazy. Luckily for him, he did not have live-in workers.
The prickly woman.
It still irks Maxwell that he was not able to finally get her out of his system after that first encounter. Not even the knowledge that she was married had been able to take the memory of her fired-up hazel eyes out of his head.
He had berated himself the day he had a wet dream, with her playing a major role in his fantasy. Oh, she had been so cooperative in his dreams. He woke up fully aroused and pissed. He didn't mess with people who play games. No, Fiona had been a master game player, and he distanced himself from anyone who had any trait that reminded him of his stepmother. No matter how remote,.
He looked at the information on her, and the images he saw confirmed what he had seen that first day. She was one classy lady. And wealthy too.
The pictures were just four, and they had all been related to business. There she was smiling as she shook hands with a corporate-looking man. Another of her with some dignitaries. Another with an award. Best-recognized CPA award.
Maxwell knew some of the people she took the pictures with, but the only one he had eyes for was the woman who looked so confident and in her element. Just as he had seen her the other day.
Well, she had been a bit out of her element that day, as it was apparent that she was not the type that frequented bars. Still, such poise and elegance couldn't be faked. Even when she looked like she would be happy to take a ride,. With him cuffed to the bumper of her car.
He couldn't begin to fathom what could have made any sane man cheat on such a woman. Yes, his sister might be beautiful in a tart way, but her? He shook his head as he thought that a man would have to be crazy to have such a woman at home and think of another outside.
In his opinion, Thomas was a certifiable lunatic.
He had not slept a wink. Crazy as it sounded, he was filled with guilt as to what he wanted to do. He had intended to find the woman and find ways to make her drop the case with Don. Don had promised, after all, that it could be rectified if the person who contracted him wanted it dropped. Though nothing had been confirmed, Maxwell had an inkling that it had something to do with the scorned wife.
Maxwell had learned not to joke with his instinct. It had been so simple when it was not someone he knew, he thought as he drove to her office that morning.
Not that he knew her, of course, but he had intended to use any means possible to get the woman to drop her case. Even if it involved paying her off. Yes, he knew that was shameless, but anything was not off-limit in as much as he could achieve his goal.
But then it had been her. Damn it.
The images he saw online of ReyDexter LLC did no justice to the real thing. The magnificent building of eight floors, with the name of the company in neon letters and an embossed stand-up sign, showed the taste of the owner.
The interior, with its floor-to-ceiling glass panelling and top-of-the-line detailing, was nothing to scoff at. He understood professionalism, as he was a stickler for it, and ReyDexter had that in spades.
Maxwell had always been able to talk himself into or out of anywhere. So the fact that he had almost been tossed out on his ear was a testament to the no-nonsense atmosphere of the business.
Polite but concise.
"Who knew CPAs make this much?" he thought to himself as he sat in the general waiting room. The bubbly secretary had made him wait.
He looked around at the spacious room and imagined that two offices could be cramped into the tastefully furnished room that was designed to keep people at ease with its comfy couches and top-class view. If this was the general waiting room, he wondered what the executive waiting room would look like.
Maxwell couldn't help but think that his company might need some upgrading.
"Reyona is a force to reckon with if she singlehandedly started this from scratch, as the blogs had said," he mused.
A woman like that would not be an easy one to cross, and he wondered what else would be in store for his dear sister and the asshole if he didn't manage to make this work.
"If she really was the one," his subconscious whispered.
Maxwell was becoming more and more sure of it by the moment.
The door opened, and the secretary entered.
"Sorry for keeping you waiting, sir," she said with a smile. "The boss would see you now."
Maxwell inclined his head and stood up to follow her.
Show time. He thought with gleeful anticipation.