DERRICK’S POV
I stood in my office. My fingers curled around the stress ball Joan had given me.
Another shipment gone wrong. Another goddamn failure.
Someone was sabotaging me from the inside.
My jaw clenched, and I rolled the ball in my palm, squeezing it so tightly my knuckles turned white. This had happened too many times to be a coincidence. I thought I had gotten rid of the mole, but it seemed like there was another rat scurrying in my team.
A hundred million. Gone. The godfathers would be furious. They’d question my competence, whisper among themselves that I was slipping. And if they decided I was no longer fit to lead, they’d strip me of my power and hand it over to Henry, that snake, who had been eyeing my position for years.
I couldn’t let that happen.
Behind me, Santi and Ace stood stiffly. They knew what this meant, how deep this betrayal cut. But I wasn’t in the mood to hear their excuses.
“Who the fuck is it?” My voice was filled with annoyance “Who the fuck keeps doing this?”
Santi exhaled sharply, running a hand through his hair. “We don’t know yet, Boss, but we’ll find out. I swear.”
Ace nodded. “We’ll interrogate everyone if we have to. No one’s leaving this compound until we have an answer.”
I scoffed, turning away from the window to face them. “You’re damn right no one’s leaving. But this has happened too many times, and I’m starting to think you two are either blind or fucking stupid.”
Ace’s jaw tensed, but he said nothing. Santi shifted on his feet and I could see the guilt on his face.
“Boss, we fucked up,” he admitted. “We should’ve caught this sooner. But whoever this is… they’re careful. They know how to cover their tracks.”
I let out a bitter laugh, tossing the stress ball in the air before catching it. “And yet, they’ve outplayed all of us.”
Ace exhaled. “We’ll handle it, boss. We’ll find them.”
My fingers dug into the soft material of the ball. My anger was barely restrained. “If you don’t, I will. And I won’t be kind about it.”
There was a brief silence before Santi finally blinked. His gaze flickered to my hand. “Uh… Boss?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “What?”
He hesitated before pointing. “What the hell are you holding?”
Ace, who had been just as tense, finally focused on my hand, and his brows shot up. “Is that… a stress ball?”
I glanced down at it, realizing how out of place it must’ve looked in my grip. The deadly mafia boss, squeezing a tiny, handmade stress ball like some corporate asshole trying to manage his deadlines.
“Yes,” I said flatly. “It’s a stress ball.”
Santi and Ace exchanged a look before both of them burst into laughter.
I stilled. My irritation, which had been simmering just beneath the surface, flared into outright annoyance. “The fuck is so funny?”
“Nothing, nothing,” Santi choked out between laughs. “It’s just… cute.”
“Cute?” My glare darkened.
Ace grinned. “Yeah. Where’d you get it?”
I hesitated. My grip tightened around the ball before I finally muttered, “Joan made it.”
That only made them laugh harder.
Santi wiped at his eyes. “You-hold on. Joan made it for you?”
“Yes.” My voice was clipped, but they were too amused to care.
Ace, still chuckling, tilted his head. “And is that… a new shirt?”
I stiffened, suddenly aware of how comfortable the fabric felt against my skin. “Yes.”
Santi’s lips curled into a knowing smirk. “Let me guess. Joan made that too?”
I exhaled sharply. My patience was wearing dangerously thin. “Yes.”
That was apparently the final straw because they lost it. Their laughter filled the office, loud and unrestrained. They were laughing so hard that they held each other. Ace even had the nerve to fall to the floor.
I clenched my jaw. My hand twitched toward my desk, searching for something-anything-to shut them up. My gaze landed on a ceramic vase sitting near the edge. Without a second thought, I grabbed it and threw it straight at their heads.
Santi barely ducked in time, but Ace wasn’t as lucky. The vase hit his shoulder with a dull thud, and he cursed as shards scattered across the floor.
They both looked at me with their eyes wide.
“Get. Out.” My voice was low, a warning.
Santi snorted. “Damn, boss. We were just messing with you.”
“Out.”
Ace rubbed his shoulder, still laughing “Alright, alright. We’re going.”
They chuckled as they walked out, shutting the door behind them.
I exhaled slowly and my fingers curled around the stress ball again.
This one… this one was precious to me.
And no one-not even those two idiots-needed to know why.
I was still trying to piece together the puzzle of who the mole could be when a knock at the door pulled me from my thoughts. My gaze flicked toward the entrance as a man I didn’t recognize stepped inside.
He bowed his head. “Good evening, sir. My name is Alex. I’m a new worker in the mansion.”
I narrowed my eyes, studying him. “New worker?”
He nodded. “Yes, sir. I was sent to clean your office.”
That made me pause. It was always the maids who handled this. It had been routine for years. No man had ever been assigned to clean my office. My fingers twitched around the stress ball but I had more pressing matters to deal with than some misplaced housekeeper. I turned my attention back to the window, lost in my thoughts again.
Alex started cleaning in silence. I didn’t miss the way he would look at me…it seemed like he had something to say
What was his problem?
“If you don’t mind me saying, sir,” Alex muttered “you and Miss Joan make a lovely couple.”
Something about that statement didn’t sit right with me. My grip on the ball tightened as I slowly turned to him, really looking at him this time. His expression was neutral, but there was something… off. The way he stood. The way his eyes darted for a split second before settling on me again.
My instincts screamed.
I kept my voice steady. “Leave.”
Alex hesitated, then bowed his head and walked out, closing the door softly behind him.
I was a people’s person-I read them well. And something was definitely up with him.
–
Later that night, Joan and I were set to attend a charity ball. Another PR stunt, another illusion to maintain for the outside world. To them, we were a couple.
I stood at the bottom of the staircase with my phone pressed to my ear.
“Any leads?” I asked.
Santi exhaled on the other end. “We’ve got a few suspects. We worked them over, but nothing. They’re either innocent or damn good at keeping their mouths shut.”
I clenched my fist. “Keep pressing them. We don’t stop until we have a name.”
“Understood.”
Just as I ended the call, I heard movement above me. The subtle rustling of fabric, the gentle click of heels on the floor.
And then I saw her.
Joan stood at the top of the staircase, bathed in the glow of the chandelier. She wore a gold dress that hugged her body in all the right ways, shimmering with every tiny movement. The fabric cascaded down. Her skin glowed and her dark hair was curled into soft waves that framed her face.
She was breathtaking.
The most beautiful thing I had ever seen. And I hated that thought.
A strange warmth spread through my chest-an emotion I refused to name.
What the hell was wrong with me?
I was Derrick fucking Stonewood.
I didn’t get swayed by a woman’s beauty, no matter how mesmerizing she looked. And yet, as she descended the stairs, her eyes meeting mine, I felt something tighten inside me.
Desire. Possession.
And…something else. Something strong. Something I was afraid of.
I pushed it down, locking it away.
She stopped in front of me, tilting her head slightly “Well? How do I look?”
Normally, I would have lied. I would have even walked away.
But staring into her perfect face, her beautiful brown eyes, I just couldn’t.
“Beautiful” I whispered “Absolutely beautiful”