Page 25 of Ruthless Mr. Ricco
Working here may be hell on earth, but I’m not alone.I have at least one ally, and the pay is enough to keep me, at least until I clear debts and save enough to start my own business.No workspace is perfect, so I’ll focus on the good instead of the bad.
I won’t obsess over my boss.
He’s as heartless and cunning as my father.
No matter how my soul yearns for the friendship we once had or how my body craves his, I vow to hate Matteo Ricco until my dying breath.
Chapter 8
Matteo Ricco
I close the doors behind meas softly as my frustration will allow.
Brook Simons won.Again.
I drop into my chair and filter through the camera feeds as my little rabbit follows Ms.Lynn to the filing room.I have a full schedule today, as always, but I resign myself to monitoring her movements on my rightmost screen, knowing I won’t focus on work at all if I deny myself the pleasure.With Brook only a glance away, I reach for my mouse to start my official work week but pause with my palm an inch away.
After the Sunday morning meeting yesterday, my mother called and demanded I visit, so I spent the rest of the day with my parents.It was a much-needed break.They’ve always respected my decisions, even when I refused to use their money for investments, and now that my business is thriving, they no longer feel like an obligation, but a privilege.Four years ago, my father burst his appendix in a car accident and scared the entire family, but he’s healthy now.I regret taking my parents for granted in my teens.
When I returned home late last night, I spread Brook’s background check papers over my coffee table and promptly fell asleep on my couch.I woke to my alarm and began my morning routine on autopilot, completely forgetting about the papers until I pulled out of the parking deck.
I watched the security footage from the reunion on my phone during my commute, but the quality was too grainy and the restaurant too crowded to tell if anyone spiked Brook’s drink.
With a sigh, I email Mr.Brunswick my request.He responds within a few seconds, so I tuck my curiosity into the back corner of my mind and dive into my official work.
A little more than an hour later, Mr.Brunswick knocks on my door.I call him in.
“Here are the papers you requested,” he says before he’s even halfway across the floor.
I appreciate his efficiency more than I can say.I rise and take the folder from his outstretched hand.
“Your classmates have posted hundreds of photos and videos from your reunion.It’ll help immensely if you tell me what you’re looking for,” he says.
Exasperation runs through me, but I replay our short phone call—which I made while in a hotel room with my little rabbit distracting me as she freshened up in the bathroom—and realize his request is fully warranted.My terseget the restaurant security footageexplained nothing.
“I suspect someone spiked Ms.Simons’s drink,” I say.
I watch his eyes widen in my periphery as I open the folder.As he pieces the puzzle together—the reunion, my sudden request for a hotel room, our new assistant aide—understanding and resolution harden his eyes.
“I can form a team—”
“No,” I interrupt.“My brother may be involved.This stays between you and I.”
His carefully controlled expression proves I’m right to trust him.
“It will take time,” he warns.
I smirk.
“That’s why you have an aide now, Mr.Brunswick.Use her wisely.”
I dismiss him with a nod and turn my attention to Brook’s background check.It speaks volumes without answering any of my questions.
She only attended the university she’d earned a full scholarship to for a semester, then changed her name and began taking classes at a community college two years later.The investigator found no marriage certificate or other paper trail in New York, but that proves nothing.Her name change occurred outside of our state, and digging through the proper channels will take time.
I sigh in frustration and turn the page only to stare in shock at the long history of her employment record.Her credit score is atrocious as well.
My little rabbit’s family was as loaded as mine in high school, so she must have had a falling out with them in college.I wonder which of her morals or eccentricities sent her to such extremes.We rarely spoke of family matters, but I met her father in passing a few times and instinctually avoided a deeper connection.Whatever caused her to pull away was serious enough she remained independent despite dire financial circumstances over the past decade.
