Chapter 1 - THE LINE DEREK REFUSED TO CROSS
Derek inhaled.
Then stopped.
Whatever he had been about to say disappeared behind the control returning to his face.
Jasmine stood three feet from him in the tiny apartment, still wrapped in his suit jacket.
Her pulse was so loud she could hear it.
“You can’t say things like that.”
Derek’s eyes remained on hers.
“Why?”
“You know why.”
“Because I’m your employer.”
“Yes.”
The answer seemed to cost him something.
But he nodded.
“Then I won’t touch you.”
Jasmine blinked.
Not what she expected.
Derek took one deliberate step backward.
His hands lowered.
“And tomorrow morning, if you want to transfer to another executive, I’ll authorize it.”
She stared.
“You’d let me leave your office?”
His mouth tightened.
“Let isn’t the right word.”
Good.
He understood faster than most men she knew.
“You decide where you work.”
Silence settled between them.
Then Jasmine’s phone rang.
MOM.
Every muscle in her body tightened.
Derek noticed.
“Answer.”
“That sounded like an order.”
His expression changed.
“Sorry.”
Another ring.
Jasmine answered.
“Hi, Mom.”
Her mother did not say hello.
“Where is the transfer?”
Jasmine closed her eyes.
“I’ll send it tomorrow.”
“No. Tonight.”
“It’s almost ten.”
“I have expenses, Jasmine.”
“So do I.”
Silence.
Dangerous silence.
Then her mother’s voice sharpened.
“After everything I sacrificed for you, you’re suddenly going to count pennies?”
Jasmine felt herself shrink.
Derek watched it happen.
She hated that.
“I said I’ll send it tomorrow.”
“You said that last month too.”
“I sent it last month.”
“Late.”
Her mother exhaled dramatically.
“Your father left me with nothing. I gave up my entire life raising you. The least you can do is—”
Derek looked away.
Not because he was uninterested.
Because he understood this was not his conversation.
That helped Jasmine breathe.
Then her mother said something strange.
“And if Aster doesn’t get the payment by Friday, I’m the one who has to answer for it.”
Jasmine frowned.
“What?”
Silence.
“What did you say?”
“I said I have bills.”
“No.”
Jasmine stood straighter.
“You said Aster.”
Her mother immediately became defensive.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
The call ended.
Jasmine stared at the screen.
Derek had gone completely still.
“What?”
He looked at her.
“What exactly did she say?”
“Aster.”
His face changed.
The warmth from moments earlier disappeared.
Something colder replaced it.
“Spell it.”
“A-S-T-E-R.”
Derek cursed quietly.
Jasmine’s stomach tightened.
“You know it.”
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
He hesitated.
Then chose truth.
“Aster Holdings was a dormant Drake Industries vendor.”
“Was?”
“It was shut down eighteen years ago.”
Jasmine felt cold.
“Why?”
“Because someone used it to move money out of the company.”
“How much?”
“Twenty-seven million dollars.”
She stared.
“That has nothing to do with my mother.”
“I hope not.”
Then Derek looked toward her phone.
“How does she receive the thousand dollars?”
“Bank transfer.”
“Directly?”
“Yes.”
“Can you show me?”
Jasmine almost refused.
Then opened her banking app herself.
Not handing him the phone.
She showed him the transaction.
Recipient:
EVELYN COLE.
Derek leaned closer without touching.
“Open the routing detail.”
Jasmine did.
Her transfer went to her mother.
Then an automatic outgoing transfer appeared the following morning.
$700.
Recipient:
ASTER CONSULTING SERVICES.
Jasmine’s blood went cold.
For at least three years, most of the money she sent her mother had been forwarded to a company connected to Drake Industries.
Derek stared at the screen.
Then whispered:
“Aster wasn’t shut down.”
“What?”
“Someone renamed it.”
Jasmine looked at him.
He was no longer thinking about attraction.
Neither was she.
“Who created the original company?”
Derek’s answer came reluctantly.
May you like
“My uncle Malcolm.”
And Malcolm Drake was the man who had taught Derek everything he knew about the family business.
