Free Unbound: The Pentagon Group, Book 2 by Rosemary Rey

Her revelation sent my mind reeling. I felt nauseas and dizzy, and I needed fresh air.
    “Annie, I have to go to work. I dropped off something for Matt. Please make sure he gets it. Thank you.” I gave her another hug and pulled away, running out of the office to the elevators. Annie couldn’t have possibly heard him right. Why would he take the ruse so far as to tell his staff he was going to propose? She was so specific about time and place she couldn’t have been mistaken.
    As I walked toward Duration, my anxiety lessened with the physical activity. The walk gave me time to think about all of this. Everyone told me Matt may have had ulterior motives for starting a relationship with me, but he’d fallen in love with me. ‘Was it enough to change my opinion of him?’ He had every opportunity within the acquisition of Liberty Inn to break up with me, but he didn’t. He didn’t know Pentagon’s acquisition of Parisi was the impetus for my divorce. He was surprised when I revealed my ex-husband demanded I agree to pay back over one hundred thousand dollars, which he’d wrongfully accused me of embezzling.
    I stopped before I entered Duration’s building, which I had been avoiding for days. I feared I couldn’t keep my emotions together and be the professional woman I worked so hard to be. I sat down on the granite planter bench to take a deep breath while admiring the beautiful flowers and leafy plants bursting with color.
    My phone rang. I didn’t recognize the number and took a chance in answering.
    “Hello.” I answered with apprehension.
    “Hello. Is this Perla Mercurio?” The male caller asked.
    “Who’s calling?” I asked gruffly.
    “This is Kevin Zipperer.” Matt’s best friend identified himself. I took a deep breath.
    “Attorney Zipperer, what can I do for you?” I asked firmly.
    “Perla, Call me Kevin or Zipper. I’m sorry about your recent discovery, and worse, how it’s impacted your relationship with Matt. He really does love you and . . .”
    “Attorney Zipperer, not even an attorney would be able to convince me to give Matt another chance. You’re wasting your time. Good . . .”
    “Wait. Perla, don’t hang up. Please.” He pleaded. “I’d like to meet with you. There are some things I’d like to discuss about what happened and hope you can come to my office at noon.” I smirked and huffed loudly.
    “Attorney Zipperer, I have absolutely zero business with you or anyone from Pentagon. Please do not call my number. As an attorney, you understand the term ‘harassment’, right?” Without giving him an opportunity to answer, I continued.
    “There’s nothing to discuss. I’m done with all of you at Pentagon. If you think I’ll sue or bring the authorities into this matter, you can be assured I have no interest in spending another second of my life on this issue. If I were you, I’d advise Matt to leave me alone, or I will be forced to report everything to the media about how a prominent doctor seduced an innocent, hardworking woman to obtain information to purchase property for the new Pentagon project. I just want to be left the hell alone and I never want to set eyes or ears on any of you people ever again.” I hung up the phone and proceeded to block his number, cursing the day I ever heard of the Pentagon group.
    I felt searing pain in my chest. I didn’t want to be nasty. I never liked that side of myself. It took me years to curb my hellcat personality. When I cooled off, I walked into work to start my day.

FOUR
    I went through the morning half of my shift like an automaton. I hated being at Duration Fitness. I was sad, angry, and bored. I had a bunch of pent up energy, which needed to be expended. I decided it was time to get back into consistent exercise. There was no way I would allow myself to gain the weight I’d lost by sitting still, thinking about my woes, and eating my frustration away.
    When I had enough of sitting behind the desk, twiddling my thumbs,