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The work site for my brother Max’s new diner was fantastic. Twice the size of the original in Hollywood, it was smack dab on some of the best beachfront property in San Diego. The place was shaping up nicely and was, of course, being fast-tracked to open within the next few months despite it being little more than a concrete slab looking out over the Pacific Ocean.

“So, what do you think?” Max asked, after he paced off where the stage, bar, and massive kitchen would be.

I forced a smile and a look of interest as he explained it was going to have the same feel as the one he’d recently rebuilt in Hollywood, after it had been burned to the ground by one of our family’s many enemies.

“The only thing different will be no movie star psychopaths,” he added.

“We can hope, anyway,” I said.

It wasn’t like I was bored by his new business venture, which he had every right to be proud of, or hearing about how blissfully happy he was now that everything was settled down and going well with his wife, Brooke.

Brooke was amazing, and I was thrilled they’d gotten everything they wanted and deserved. I didn’t begrudge dropping everything to move down to San Diego to help keep their secrets, either, so why was I in such a shitty mood on such a beautiful morning?

The sun was just peeking over the buildings across from the empty lot and casting long shadows down the sand as we walked around what would be an outdoor bar and dance area once the place was completed. A few seagulls hopped away as we stopped at the water’s edge, and then Max turned and perused the blank slate from a new direction. I looked at Max instead, smiling despite myself at how happy he was.

His proud grin slipped as he turned slightly toward the cordoned-off parking area. “Ah, finally,” he said with a hint of annoyance in his voice. “About damn time.”

I followed his gaze, and my mood instantly lifted; at the same time, I bristled at Max for scowling as his assistant hurried toward us, carrying an order of coffee cups.

About damn time was right, but I was far from irritated to see Olivia. As usual, she wore a prim skirt that skimmed her knees and clung to every lush curve of her hips, and that ass I was almost drooling to get a glimpse of. Her crisp white blouse had one too many buttons done up for my liking, but what could I do? I wasn’t her boss, much to my consternation.

She’d been assigned to Max two years ago by our eldest brother Aleks, who’d known her father for a long time. Giving Olivia a job in our organization had probably been a favor at the time. I was certain Max had probably balked at being saddled with someone untrained, but she’d turned out to be heaven-sent in keeping him organized and on track. Nothing seemed to faze her, so I assumed she’d grown up around the Bratva in some capacity.

Olivia was the kind of woman I heard people describe as cute as a button, but to me she was pure sex in ballet flats, and right now was no exception, especially with her dark curly hair flowing free in the breeze for once. Usually, she kept all those glossy waves tied back tightly, and my hands flexed at my sides as she got closer to us, wanting nothing more than to slide my fingers through it.

The long strands flew into her pretty heart-shaped face and she pursed her full, pink-glossed lips as she tossed them back over her shoulder. Not for the first time, I silently cursed my two older brothers. Aleks for not assigning me this rare beauty who could also effortlessly keep everything in perfect order, and Max for getting to have her by his side every day.

It should have been me.

“Good morning,” she said, handing Max a cup from her cardboard carrying tray. “Sorry, I’m a bit late. The line at the coffee shop was insane for some reason.” She smiled at me as she held out the next cup. “One sugar, no cream,” she said briskly.

Just like I liked it, and I made a point to brush my fingers against hers as I took the tall cup from her delicate hand.

She gave me a look from under her long, inky lashes, and was that a blush creeping up her softly rounded cheeks? If it was, I didn’t get a chance to feel smug about it because she quickly looked away and got her tablet out to take notes as Max reeled off lists of things that needed to be done.

I sipped the perfectly brewed coffee and followed them as they made their way back to the foundation slab, unable to suppress a pleased groan as the rich taste hit my tongue and the caffeine made its way to my veins.

“Perfect as always, Olivia,” I said, smirking when she didn’t turn around to acknowledge my compliment. That was okay; the view I had of her backside was every bit as satisfying as the piping hot drink she’d given me.

“You can always count on Jen’s Java,” she tossed over her shoulder, never breaking stride with Max as he kept barking orders.

I caught up with them, but had no more interest in whatever Max was saying. I only had eyes for Olivia as she started taking pictures of the construction site and adding notes to each one.

Something was different about her, and my focus on her grew more intense. Today, my scrutiny had little to do with my secret attraction to her. Yes, she was exactly my type, or had grown to be the longer I knew her.

She had always been the pinnacle of professionalism, so much so that I was beginning to take it personally. I wanted to find a way to shake her out of it and do something that wasn’t so perfect. Getting her to break a few rules—with me—had become my greatest goal since spending so much time with her when we all moved down to San Diego to help keep Max’s marriage a secret and expand the Fokin empire.

I flirted with her shamelessly every time we had a moment alone together. Making her laugh was the highlight of my day. Seeing her cheeks flush with high color got my own blood roaring. Olivia never once flirted back, but there was always a glimmer in her eyes at my teasing, no matter how hard she worked to hide it.

Today was no different in terms of her never missing a beat, but her smile when she handed me my drink didn’t reach her eyes. Those shining, guileless brown eyes were usually as unsullied as my black coffee, but today, they were clouded with something that had me instantly on edge.

What was bothering her, and how could I make it right?

Did Max know something was wrong, and if so, why wasn’t he doing something about it? Why the hell wasn’t she mine, so I could delve deeper into whatever was clearly weighing so heavily on her?

The more I kept my laser focus on her, the more I picked up, and with Max, too. He was also on edge about something I hadn’t noticed before, and I didn’t like being left out of the loop.

I’d given up everything to come down here and help start this new venture. Left behind my own upscale restaurant in Beverly Hills, just to name one of my more legit businesses that were now under the care of managers while I staked a claim on San Diego with Max.

My house was left empty, though I was rarely in the mansion in the hills. I preferred the company of my family instead of rattling around alone in the giant place, and one of my staunch rules was to never, ever take a woman back to my house until we were in an actual relationship.

I would have taken Olivia there in a heartbeat if we’d gotten closer in LA, but right now, I was still camping out in a hotel, not having found the time to look for a more permanent place yet. Sure, it was a five-star luxury, and I had no complaints, but my mood was quickly souring again with the specter of new secrets looming over me.

What the fuck was going on?

When we left the building site, Olivia waved goodbye to us and headed to Max’s office, where she’d work her administrative magic and get all the plans Max had been outlining to her underway. I tore my gaze from her smooth, shapely calves as they disappeared into her car, then grumbled when Max suggested we grab an early lunch.

It wasn’t like I didn’t have my own things to think about. I still had to check in with my people in Los Angeles and had a few irons in the fire down here now that things seemed to be shaping up for this new city to be my home for at least a while.

But all I could think about was Olivia, and that look in her eyes. Underneath her quick assessments of what Max had told her, under the smiles she gave me when I cracked a stupid joke to try to shake that look, something was not right.

And I couldn’t say a damn thing about it because I wasn’t supposed to be obsessed with my brother’s assistant. There couldn’t ever be anything more between us than the mild flirting and friendly banter we shared when we were together.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Max asked, seemingly out of the blue.

We had finished up our lunch and gone to check on a few of our new businesses, bars, and small shops that had accepted us into the area and were thrilled to have us keep things somewhat safe from the disorganized street gangs and the dreaded cartel that sometimes bled north of the border.

We were now heading back to his house, where my sister-in-law would hopefully not have dinner waiting for us. I loved Brooke like she was my real sister, and she excelled at many things, but cooking was not one of them. Hopefully, she would be too wrapped up in her online classes and would have left dinner to their full-time chef. It seemed like I was so lost in thought that I had been ignoring Max.

I turned to him and raised a brow. “What the hell do you mean?” I countered.

“You’ve been weird all day,” he said irritably.

I shook my head. “That’s you,” I said. “And not just you, but Olivia, too. Surely, you two didn’t have a fight.”

We both snickered at that, since there was no way Olivia would have gone against anything Max said in order to have a fight. She might put her opinions forward, and a lot of the time, I’d seen Max decide her ideas were worth putting into effect, but ultimately, he was her boss and she was way too professional to outright disagree with him. Unless…

“You didn’t finally do something so stupid that she had to put her foot down, did you?”

While she was certainly intrepid and had seen her fair share of things in the two years she’d worked for Max, I also knew he tried to shield the employees who weren’t actually in the Bratva from shit like burying bodies. Yes, she’d had to deal with the aftermath of an explosion not so long ago, but some things were a bridge too far.

“No, of course not,” he snapped. Then his shoulders slumped. “But she’s still quitting. It’s going to be hell replacing her, and Brooke is going to be heartbroken to lose her only friend down here.”

“Why is she quitting?” I asked. It wasn’t hard to feign shock, but it took some work to hide my pure delight that Olivia would no longer be Max’s assistant.

I could pursue her to my heart’s content now, see how much I could kindle the spark that I was certain was there between us. How long until it was a raging fire neither one of us wanted to put out?

Max sighed as he pulled into his winding driveway in the city's most exclusive area. The mansion was far back from the main road and secluded by landscaping, so I settled back for the next few minutes to wait for his explanation.

“It’s something to do with her family,” he said. “I don’t know the particulars, and I didn’t pry.”

Why the fuck not? I wondered. I had to remember their relationship was strictly professional, so of course, he’d merely accept her resignation with good grace. But if it was me? I wouldn’t have let her quit for one thing, and for another, I’d have gotten to the bottom of her family problems. What if she needed assistance and was too proud to ask?

I had to remember not to crow with excitement, already planning our first date when she no longer officially worked for my brother.

“She’s moving back to LA,” Max finished, wiping away my exuberant mood.

Okay, that sucked. I was just beginning to get used to living down here, even though I hadn’t started looking for a place yet. As a bachelor, the hotel was just easier. The room service kicked ass, and there was always someone at the bar to chat with if I got lonely.

I was caught between two cities, with lots of new, lucrative things getting started down here, and all my old business waiting for me up in LA. I had begun thinking that San Diego was going to be the place I ultimately chose, but was that just because Olivia was down here?

Now that I knew why there had been that odd tension all morning, I was still stumped about something. There was still something going on with Olivia that made her act sad. Maybe even… scared? I knew her well enough and had observed her so closely for so long that I could feel it radiating off of her, even if it hadn’t been so obvious in her eyes.

We finally rolled up to the front entrance of Max’s house, a towering Mediterranean revival style with arched columns and a big fountain splashing merrily in the roundabout where he parked his sports car. Someone ran up to take the keys from him as we headed inside the cool, welcoming interior.

As soon as the giant front door shut behind us, there was a squeal from the vast interior of the house, and a moment later, a whirlwind clad in joggers and an oversized t-shirt came barreling toward my brother.

“You should have told me you’d be home early,” Brooke said, tossing herself into Max’s outstretched arms. “I would have had something ready for you to eat.”

“That’s why we didn’t tell you,” I joked, turning away as they just about ate each other’s faces.

As if they’d been apart for weeks instead of a few hours, Max kept a tight grip on her as we headed toward the back terrace to sit by the pool in the remaining hours of sunlight. Was I jealous of what they had? Maybe a little. One by one, my older brothers, who’d all been sworn, lifelong bachelors, were pairing up with their soulmates.

While mine was moving away.

Shocked that such a thought even crossed my mind, I fell into the nearest lounge chair and stared out at the glistening blue water of the pool. Soulmates. What a crock. I was attracted to the woman, nothing more, and I didn’t like missing out on something I wanted. I’d wanted Olivia for two years, but until the last few months, when we’d begun to work somewhat closely together, did it turn into this driving need.

A perfect hostess, even if a lousy chef, Brooke had us set up with drinks and appetizers while the cook put the finishing touches on dinner. We chatted about her classes, which she was passionate about, having given up her prestigious scholarship to Berkeley to be with my brother.

I noticed she wasn’t drinking the very good vintage wine like Max and I were, but prying about their pending parenthood was better left to someone like our younger sister Mila, who could brazenly ask any question of any of us without fear of retaliation. If Brooke was pregnant, it would come out in due time, and I had more pressing concerns on my mind.

“Do you know why Olivia’s going back to LA in such a rush?” I asked when there was a lull in conversation. “Or did working for this tyrant finally wear her down?”

Adding that little jibe would keep them from wondering why I was so interested, but there was no way I could keep from asking. Olivia and Brooke had become friends, while Brooke and Max had to keep their marriage a secret, and surely, she knew something.

Brooke’s eyebrows shot together in a scowl, and she shrugged. “I have no idea either, and honestly, I’m a little upset about it. She loves working for Max, and Lord knows he pays her enough, so something must be wrong at home. I thought we were better friends than that, but she obviously doesn’t want me to know whatever’s really going on.”

“So, you think she’s hiding something?” I asked.

“I know she is,” Brooke huffed, looking sad and disappointed.

“Enough, you two,” Max interrupted before I could start speculating. “I don’t like losing her either, but her mind was made up, and I, for one, am going to respect her privacy.”

Uh, to hell with that. I was more determined than ever to get to the bottom of things, especially with Brooke looking so worried for her friend. Olivia had been a huge help to her since she had come into the relationship not knowing a damn thing about how organized crime families worked, and it was definitely odd that she hadn’t shared if there was a problem.

Which either meant it was nothing and Olivia was just ready for a change, or it was super fucking serious.

“Oh, damn,” I said, pretending like I’d just remembered something. “I’m sorry, but I just realized I have an appointment and have to run.”

I was up before they could say anything and heading toward the front, the wheels in my head spinning so fast I barely registered them teasing me about having so many women that I couldn’t keep track of all my dates. I ignored their mildly judgmental tones because if they knew where I was heading, they would have had something to say about it.

Since I knew so much about her, Olivia was likely still at the office, getting everything done. Since she was obsessed with a particular coffee shop, and it was the only kind she ever brought us, I headed to Jen’s Java. I also suspected the place was close to where she lived, though I never went so far as to follow her home.

Yet.

It might just come to that, but for now, I parked myself at one of the tables with a view of the door and waited. I was getting to the bottom of what had Olivia on the run.