Determined: To Love: (Part 2 of the Determined Trilogy) by Elizabeth Brown

was different. It was missing the easy, flirtatious sensibility that characterized our relationship. I turned around to face him.
    “Is everything all right? You seem distracted. Is everything okay at work?”
    He was quiet for a moment and looked back at the house and then back down at me. “Everything is fine. I didn’t want you to be worried. It’s all under control.”
    Now I was worried. I sat up straight and turned around, looking him in the eye. “What’s going on?”
    “Nothing. It’s not a big deal. Just someone giving me some trouble back home.”
    “Who is she? I’ll kill her,” I teased, trying to lighten the mood. His face remained serious and unchanged.
    “ He , Ms. Sharp, is my old college roommate, Brian. So no need to worry your sweet little head.” He kissed me on the forehead.
    “Have I met Brian?” I asked.
    “No. We had a falling out in college and went our separate ways. We see each other at business functions occasionally, but that’s it. He’s a computer whiz and works with some of the same companies I do.”
    I was surprised to hear about this guy. David never seemed to have relationships outside of work, let alone a roommate and friend. I wanted to pepper him with questions, but resolved to ask him more about that later.
    “So what’s going on?”
    He hesitated. “My security team has been tracking several incidents of someone trying to impersonate me. Not in person, but online and across different accounts. And from what they can tell, the work has all the hallmarks of Brian.”
    I cocked my head to the side, trying to figure out what he was saying.
    “Someone is trying to hack and dismantle Keith Ventures from the inside out.”
    “I don’t understand. Why would someone want to do that?”
    “Being hacked would create such a frenzy with the press that it would scare away almost any current or potential client.”
    Oh. That was bad news.
    “Can’t you hire someone to stop him?” Surely David had enough resources to thwart this. And he’d never seemed shy about throwing money at a problem.
    “That’s just it. Normally he’d be the one you hire to stop something like this. He is the best, but they can’t locate him. It’s like he just disappeared.” His gaze returned to me. “But don’t worry, we’ll find him. He doesn’t pose a physical threat, just a financial one.” He said, forcing a smile. His phone buzzed and he glanced down at the screen and then back at me. “Enough about that. Dinner is ready. Will you do me the pleasure of joining me, Ms. Sharp?” He stood up and offered his hand.
    I knew he wanted to let the issue go, so I took his hand and followed him back into the house. I could ask him more about this later, but for now, I was going to enjoy our tropical paradise.
    ~
    By the time we landed back at SFO on Sunday night, we had only been gone less than seventy-two hours, but it felt like much longer. After the talk on the beach David finally relaxed, and we were able to take advantage of the private nature of the villa, christening almost everything, including the outdoor shower.

4
    Getting back to work on Monday was hard. The relaxing weekend had really been too quick, and shuttling back and forth between time zones had confused my body. I slept in as late as I could, and miraculously managed to squeak into the gallery at only two minutes past opening.
    I booted up my computer and started a pot of coffee. I decided to skip my morning dalliance around the shop in favor of catching up on my email. I logged on, and mug in hand, started to go through the emails that had come in since leaving early on Friday. Most of it was normal gallery stuff—artist inquiries, notes from Curtis with reminders about shipments, things of that nature.
    As I was scrolling, the front door opened. It was rare that anyone would come into the gallery so early in the morning, especially on a Monday. I stood up, smoothed my navy pencil skirt, and walked into the main