Free The Secrets of Their Souls by Brooke Sivendra Page A

threw in the ‘hot guy’ just for fun and with the endless gossip generated at Mason this story would be lucky to get any air time. Regardless, she had no desire to be known as a gossiper and decided to kill the rumor as quickly as she had birthed it. Zahra shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know, it might not even have been her. They were quite far away and it was dark.”
    *
    Zahra’s stomach growled as she waited impatiently for her latte. “How was your week, Lou?” she asked the master barista behind the counter.
    “Busy,” she replied. The word meant little, but the saucy grin on her face told a much different story.
    Zahra smiled. “Please do share.”
    “We’ve been experiencing an unusual early morning rush. Mr. Tohmatsu has slipped into a morning routine of picking up breakfast here at seven. Let’s just say, that is now our peak rush of the day. I had to bring in three extra staff!”
    After laughing at the ridiculousness of it all, Zahra wondered if she might be the most ridiculous of the lot. “Well, at least he’s good for business. Mason will have the lowest tardy rates in history.”
    Nodding her head in agreement, Lou handed Zahra her latte and a green juice.
    Back in her office, Zahra swept her eyes over her emails, looking for anything urgent, thankfully not seeing anything that couldn’t wait until that evening. Jayce had never emailed her, she realized, and she suspected that his assistant having access to his account might’ve been the reason why. Zahra took a large mouthful of her latte, the warm, caffeine-loaded liquid running through her veins while she opened up Google.
    Jayce Tohmatsu
    Pictures of Jayce flooded her screen and she chose a close-up. Using the eyedropper tool, she hovered it over the pixel color she wanted to identify and then sent the code to Holly. Reference problem solved.
    *
    The day had been long and when Zahra finally turned off her computer, it was 11:30 p.m. George Stavros was standing tall and alert when she arrived home. George was her doorman and had been ever since she’d moved into the building. He had broad shoulders and a looming height that would have been frightening if not for his dazzling smile. Zahra always made an effort to match his uplifting mood, even when all she wanted to do was to crawl into bed.
    “Hey, George!”
    “Evening, Miss Foster. You’re home late again. I hope that new boss isn’t driving you crazy.”
    Zahra giggled. “He’s all right.” She shook his hand, “How is the family?”
    George’s family were everything to him, and he was possibly the most selfless man she had ever met. Hard-working, caring and generous: a testament to the basic goodness of humankind.
    “They are well. Marie’s busy baking her goodies—you know she sells them at four local bakeries now. She’s looking for a commercial site so she can expand her business.”
    Marie was his wife and an equally kind woman. They had raised three children and it was nice to now see Marie doing something for herself, Zahra thought. And she could vouch for her cookies—they were damn fine. “She should be very proud,” Zahra said as he opened the door for her.
    “Oh, I nearly forgot, a parcel arrived for you a few hours ago,” he said, smiling, as he walked up to the lobby desk and retrieved a FedEx package.
    Zahra looked at it hesitantly. She never received packages at her home address.
    “Uh, you gonna open it or you think it’s a bomb?”
    Zahra smacked his shoulder and took the box from him. It was light and when she shook it, it didn’t make a sound. Interesting.
    The elevator slowly climbed up until it stopped at the seventh floor, Zahra’s floor. She unlocked the door and dumped everything down onto her dining table. She grabbed a knife from the kitchen and slid it around the edges of the box. “What the hell?” Zahra said under her breath. Inside was a white envelope with a red ribbon. Pulling one end, the silk bow unraveled and with trembling