Meet Eva King, a high-spirited manager in an international firm. She scraped her way up from zero to hero in the cold, hard world of power, money, and politics, where nothing and no one was going to get in her way.
Until handsome Sven came along. No...
This chapter and the Rocky tribute, featuring Eye of the Tiger, is for you. That's right. You.
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There he was, all six feet and two inches of solid muscle from working out and daily cycle rides. His wavy, brown hair was neatly combed, and his blue eyes sparkled as he flirted with the office staff on the third floor of Hudson Engineering's main office building. He wore a light-blue, collared, slim-fit Gant houndstooth shirt and a pair of navy-blue chinos to match his eye color.
Yep, that was my brother, Jack King, to a tee.
"Hey, Eva! How's it going?" Jack had his hands in his pockets as he turned toward me.
I recognized that distinct voice miles away, from when his voice broke in his teens to when he swore at me after I beat him multiple times playing Street Fighter. He, of course, was the Mortal Kombat master. I mean, how do you beat Liu Kang? Even when I played as Raiden, the god of thunder, I couldn't manage to beat Jack's Liu Kang.
"What on earth are you doing here, Jack? Coming to visit me?" I cocked my head at an angle to one side and let slip a sly smirk.
"I work here, didn't you know? I started last week." Jack teased me with a wicked grin, while his hands were still in his chinos.
Tool, I thought as I rolled my eyes.
"Do you guys know each other?" Marissa's beady eyes squinted me warily as she crossed her arms and tapped her feet impatiently.
Silly Marissa. As if I was competition, I thought. Hah!
"We're siblings," Jack and I proclaimed in unison.
Marissa's face reminded me of The Scream, a composition created by Norwegian expressionist artist Edvard Munch in 1893. The Norwegian title is Skrik, which is translated to shriek. The name said it all, especially as she placed both hands to capture her sinking cheeks.
Over the next few minutes, Marissa's attitude transformed from contempt and abhorrence to fawning, too-sweet, syrupy sycophancy.
"Eva, you never told me you had a hot brother." She gasped while eyeing Jack as if he was beef jerky.
"You never bothered to ask," I replied hastily, while Jack shot me a warning look. Be nice, was what he silently signaled to me.
"Jack, you never told me you started working here," I stated.
"You never asked." He smiled as he folded his arms.
"Fair enough." I sighed.
"Wanna join me for lunch today?" Jack raised one dark eyebrow, directing his gaze at me.
"Sure," Marissa and I replied at the same time.
"I wasn't referring to you," Jack spoke to Marissa. "I'm asking my sister to join me for lunch."
