The unstable hothead had recently been placed in charge of running our West Coast division by yours truly. Thankfully, now he wouldn’t be in New York, and I wouldn’t have to cross paths with him as often as I had over the past few months, but knowing he was taking her with him to California sent a silent rage throughout my whole system.

How in the world had an asshole like him landed a woman like her?

Her.

Red.

My Red.

Not mine, but still.

My thoughts began to flood with anguish as the realization that Aaliyah was his settled inside me. Even worse, I thought about how he hadn’t even flinched when she tripped. He had stood there like the disappointment that she was and then passive-aggressively put her down instead of asking if she was all right.

How did she think that kind of treatment was okay? Surely, she knew she deserved more than someone like Jason out of life. I stood at the bar with him as we waited for our drinks, and like a creep, my eyes darted across the room, looking for her. She stood with a group of wealthy individuals, ones Aaliyah was too good for. I knew each one of them. They were all snakes, but Aaliyah appeared too nice to walk away from their trap.

I noticed the hesitant discomfort weighing heavily on her shoulders as she engaged with them, and my sudden sense of protection shot through the roof. I took a step in her direction but I stopped the moment I saw Marie move into the situation. The moment that happened, Aaliyah’s shoulders relaxed, and an authentic smile spread across her lips.

Good. She seemed more at ease. Unlike her dick of a son, Marie was a good person. I knew she was standing up for Aaliyah based on how the rats scurried away. Once they were all gone, it was as if the light came back to Aaliyah’s eyes, and she began to shine once more.

Aaliyah.

What a perfect name for her. It was very fitting and beautiful. She was beautiful, even more so than two years before. Her long, now ombre hair was in microbraids and had golden string woven throughout. She wore a skintight black satin dress with a high slit highlighting her long brown legs with her gold high heels. With those heels, we were almost eye to eye with one another.

Her eyes…

Still as powerful as they were back then.

“Did you hear me?” Jason asked, patting me on the back.

I broke my stare away from Aaliyah and turned to take the drink from Jason. The smile I hadn’t even known I was wearing as I stared at Aaliyah evaporated once I looked at him.

“Sorry, what were you saying?” I asked even though I didn’t care. I wanted my stare to move back to her. I wanted to talk to her. I wanted to ask how she’d been. I wanted to ask her why out of seven billion humans on the planet, she’d chosen him.

“I said did you notice the bombshell to your left wearing the blue dress?” he said, nodding in that direction.

I turned to spot the person he was looking at, and the minute my eyes landed on her, I wanted to claw my eyes out. “That’s Rose, my new intern, and she’s only nineteen. She’s barely of age.”

“But she is of age.” He smirked and nudged me in the arm. “I gotta tell you, old Jason would’ve been all over that woman if he had the chance.”

“She’s a girl, not a woman. A bit young in age, don’t you think?”

He shrugged. “I’ve dated younger.” He paused and tossed his hands up in the air. “They were always at least eighteen. I’m not some creep.”

Could have fooled me.

“Besides, I wasn’t pointing her out for me. I’m a happily taken man. I was pointing her out for you, big guy. Plus, with her being your intern, I bet she’d do anything to please you.” He nudged me again, and I wanted to slam my fist into his face.

God, Red. Why him?

I rolled my eyes and looked away from Rose. “That’s disgusting, unprofessional, and completely out of line, Jason. And I hope you don’t plan on running the company in that manner when you get out west.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Easy there, buddy. I was just joking with you. From the rumors, it appears you don’t date much. I was just trying to be your wingman.”

He was drunk, already stumbling a bit, and I could tell that with a few more drinks in, he’d be his normal mess of a self.

“I’m good, Jason.”

He tossed his hands up in surrender. “All right. Suit yourself.” He glanced once more in the direction of Rose, and I watched as his eyes moved up and down her figure. What a piece of scum. He caught me watching him, and he smirked. “Just looking, not touching.”