Conquer Your Love(4)
He had found her in—
Bellagio—Italy.
Fuck!
That wasn’t good. On a scale from one to ten, this was a hundred. A disaster.
“When?”
“Last night,” Kenny said. “She landed earlier this morning.”
Jett’s heart began to thump just a little bit harder. If he jumped on a plane now, he’d be there in eight hours. The actual work would begin now but he wasn’t worried about that. He’d never been scared of giving his best—be it working at his job or getting a woman. What worried him was that he could be too late. He had to get to her, and quickly.
“Do you need me to find out more about the lawyer?” Kenny asked.
“I need something else.” Jett paused as he looked around to make sure no one could hear him. The restroom was still empty, but he lowered his voice nonetheless to be on the safe side. “Find me a gun dealer in Bellagio.”
A pause then, “You’re not going to kill her? Or the lawyer?” He could sense Kenny’s doubt.
What the fuck?
Jett had done many stupid things in his life, but he had never been even remotely inclined to harm a woman. He took a deep breath to steady the waves of anger rushing through him. “Just find me the right guy, Kenny.”
“I was just—”
“Don’t,” Jett said, interrupting him. He had no time for questions. It was getting late and he had to get the company jet ready. “Just do what I said.”
His father’s meeting was still going strong as Jett returned to the conference room. He wasn’t keen on wasting any more time, but as a CEO he couldn’t just leave without notice—or without anybody noticing. It wouldn’t bode well with his reputation. As Jett slipped back into his seat, Robert Mayfield’s stare fell on Jett and his brows shot up. The old man didn’t like to entertain the idea that something else might be more important. Jett scribbled ‘business meeting in Europe—critical’ on one of the notepads carrying the company logo and pushed it across the table toward his father. Signaling Emma to approach, Jett instructed her to gather his stuff, get the company pilot on the phone, and cancel all appointments for the week. He drove home to change and get his passport, then straight to the airport where the company’s private plane would take him all the way to the place he visited not that long ago. With her.
Chapter 1
BROOKE
Love happens in the blink of an eye. One moment your heart is yours, and the next it belongs to someone you never intended to give it to. There is no transition. No earning on his part. Just foolish trust and hope for a future of happiness and emotional fulfillment. As much as we all hope for a happily ever after, life doesn’t work that way.
Love’s a bitch. I had to learn that lesson the hard way in the form of a green-eyed, sexy as sin, six foot two sex god.
Jett.
My first and only foray into love, and the second biggest mistake of my life.
I smirked as I adjusted my sunglasses so my best friend, Sylvie, wouldn’t catch the telltale signs of betrayal in my eyes. God knows I had shed enough tears over Jett. You would have thought they were depleted by now. Fat chance. It seemed I still had a few left, whether I wanted it or not. Not only did I realize that love can grow in the absence of the person you love, but so does the pain resulting from a broken heart.
It was funny, really, because I couldn’t figure out why I started loving him in the first place. Was it his good looks? Or the way he made me feel? The sex? He sure as hell didn’t deserve it.
It was barely ten a.m. but the sun stood high on the horizon, bathing the Malpensa Airport building in a glow. Already I could tell it was going to be a hot day, which wasn’t surprising given that we were in one of the most beautiful and expensive vacation spots in Italy.
“Let me help you,” Sylvie said decisively, snatching my suitcase out of my hand before I could argue. I watched her in silence as she heaved it into the taxi trunk, ignoring the driver’s awkward attempts at helping her. She had been protective and caring for the last two days, ever since the thing with Jett blew up. She had been tripping over her own feet to help me ‘survive’ the raging storm within my heart. In the last forty-eight hours I had been served and massaged, had my hair brushed, my bags packed, and my makeup done by her. I drew the line at having her feed and carry me. Sylvie had always been a good friend, but being caring didn’t come naturally to her. So the sudden attention scared the crap out of me. I didn’t know whether to run away or hug her.
“Hey, Brooke?” Sylvie tapped my shoulder to get my attention. I turned to face her, realizing I had been spaced out. Again. My brain just switched off momentarily like a computer on standby and needed to be tapped back into work mode. It wasn’t natural for a twenty-three-year old. I knew it. She knew it. The whole world probably did. I wished I could make it stop. Get my old life back where I was just ‘Brooke’—an overworked, underpaid college graduate naïve enough to hold on to her dreams.