Page 10 of Forged in Deception

Asher remembered the case well.

He and Reilly had spent many extremely boring hours digging up dirt on the company, only for the whole thing to eventually be settled out of court earlier this year. As far as he could tell, Senera’s reputation seemed to be a lot better these days. He’d even heard the buzz in the media about some new drug they had that was supposedly going to revolutionize mental health treatment.

“I saw your number on file and figured that contacting someone directly was my best shot at actually being taken seriously.”

Asher’s frustration was beginning to rise.

He didn’t appreciate the fact that his number was floating around somewhere at Senera Pharmaceuticals, and in any case, who did this woman think she was? Was her case really too urgent to wait until tomorrow morning?

“We take all of our case applications seriously,” he retorted.

“Not ones where the client’s identity has to be kept secret. And certainly not ones where she has no money to pay you for your services,” the woman said, her snappy tone matching his own.

Well, that complicated things.

“Now that I have your attention, I can explain,” the woman said.

Asher had to admit it: he kind of admired her audacity.

“Uh…go ahead, I guess,” he managed, grabbing a pen and hunting around his desk for a notebook before settling on the back of a takeout menu.

“Not over thephone,” the woman hissed. “We need to be discreet. Senera can’t know. Surely you have a procedure for handling sensitive meetings.”

Okay, now he was annoyed.

“I’m afraid the trench coat and prosthetic nose shop closes early on Sunday, so if you can’t tell me anything, I have a lot of work to do tonight, and I’d appreciate it if you stopped wasting my time.”

He heard the woman huff with annoyance, but no retort came.

He considered apologizing, but bit back his words. This woman was being completely unreasonable. She was totally in the wrong. He didn’t owe her anything. If she wanted Forge Brothers Security to help her, she could get in line.

“Maybe this was a mistake,” she said finally, her voice cracking as she swallowed back a sob. “Just forget it.”

Oh no.

He couldn’t handle the thought that he’d made a woman cry. Especially one who clearly needed his help. No matter how rude and entitled she might be.

“Wait, wait, wait,” he said quickly, gripping the phone more tightly as though he could physically prevent her from hanging up. “I’m sorry. I want to help. We’ll figure something out, just…don’t hang up.”

KARLIN

Karlin opened her mouth to speak, but no words made it through her sobs.

She was officially crying to a stranger on the phone.

The warm air wafting out of her car’s dashboard did little to dry her tears. Instead, she managed to smear black mascara stains all over the edge of her lab coat as she attempted to swipe them away.

“Hey, are you still there? Hello? Look, I’m sorry, okay?”

Asher Forge’s voice was gentle now, the picture of kindness and concern now that she was crying like an idiot.

And it seriously ticked her off.

What was wrong with her?

Dr. Bajwa made other women cry at work. Heck, sometimes he made the men cry. But never her. Ever. Not until she was safe at home in her little apartment in Amarillo, at least.

Meanwhile, this guy held her future in his hands just as much as Dr. Bajwa did, and she was losing it.

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