Updated Mar 22, 2026 • ~4 min read
Chapter 4: Shock and Calculation
JASPER
I couldn’t fucking believe it. The woman from Miami. The one I hadn’t stopped thinking about for six weeks. The one who disappeared without a trace.
Was Maren Ross. A ROSS. My family’s sworn enemy.
I was sitting in my office, staring at my phone. Her number pulled from the Hartley contact list.
I shouldn’t text her. Should let it go. Pretend Miami never happened. But I couldn’t. I needed to talk to her. Needed to understand what the hell just happened in that conference room.
Because the shock on her face was real. She didn’t know who I was either. We were both blindsided.
I typed the message: “We need to talk. Meet me. Tonight. 8 PM. Bryant Park. Come alone. – JK”
Send. Now I wait.
My brother Emmett knocked on my door. “How’d the pitch go?”
“Fine.”
“Just fine? This is the Hartley account. Biggest deal in…”
“I know what it is.”
He studied me. “What happened?”
“Nothing.”
“Jasper…”
“I said nothing.”
He didn’t believe me. But he dropped it.
“Board wants a Hartley update. Same questions Dad always asked.”
Of course they did. My father had been dead two years, but his expectations still ran the place. His standards. His demands. His ghost, haunting every boardroom.
“Tell them it went well.”
“You don’t have to keep proving yourself to him, Jasper. He’s gone.”
“Then why do I still feel like I’m failing him?”
Emmett’s expression softened. “Because you’re trying to be him. Instead of yourself.”
Maybe.
“Just handle the update. I have somewhere to be tonight.”
8 PM. Bryant Park. Unseasonably warm evening.
I was early. Waiting on a bench. Watching the entrance.
Then I saw her.
Maren Ross. Walking toward me. Cautious. Defensive. Beautiful.
She sat. Kept distance between us.
“This is insane,” she said.
“Agreed.”
“We slept together.”
“I’m aware.”
“You’re a King.”
“And you’re a Ross.”
“Our families hate each other.”
“Understatement.”
Silence.
“Why did you want to meet?” she asked.
“Because we need to address this.”
“Address what? It was one night. A mistake.”
That stung. More than it should.
“A mistake?”
“You know what I mean. We didn’t know who each other was.”
“And if we had?”
“We never would have…”
“…had the best night of our lives?”
She stopped. Looked at me.
“Don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t romanticize it. It was sex. Anonymous sex. Between strangers.”
“Was it? Because I remember talking for hours. Laughing. Connecting.”
“Jasper…”
“You felt it too. Don’t lie.”
Her jaw clenched.
“It doesn’t matter what I felt. You’re a King. I’m a Ross. This, whatever this is, can never happen again.”
She was right. I knew she was right. But…
“What if I don’t care about the feud?”
“You have to care. Your family…”
“My family is dead or disappointed. I don’t owe them anything.”
“That’s not true…”
“It is. My father spent his entire life hating your family. And for what? A business rivalry? Stolen clients? It’s petty. Meaningless.”
She stood. “It’s not meaningless to me. My mother died building Ross Agency. Fighting your family. I won’t dishonor her memory by…”
“By what? Being happy? Moving on?”
“By sleeping with the enemy.”
Ouch.
“Is that what I am? The enemy?”
She looked torn. Conflicted.
“Yes.”
But she didn’t sound convinced.
“Then why did you come tonight?”
“To tell you to stay away. To forget Miami happened.”
“Can you? Forget?”
Long pause.
“I’m trying.”
She turned to leave.
I should have let her go. Should have walked away. Ended this before it got messy.
But…
“Maren.”
She stopped. Didn’t turn around.
“I haven’t stopped thinking about you. For six weeks. I tried. But I can’t forget that night. Can’t forget you.”
She was silent.
Then, quietly: “Me neither.”
She walked away.
And I watched her go. Knowing this wasn’t over. Not even close.
END OF CHAPTER 4
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