Trust and Faith

First Encounter

"Uncle John, for the last time no!" Kassi said rolling her eyes and using everything she had to not chuck the phone at the wall. She loved her godfather dearly but this had to be the tenth time this week he was pestering her about New York. He owned a company that helped build bars. Basically he went in, built the bar, made the concept, hired the staff, designed the menu, and got it opened. Once he was satisfied that the owners could handle it on their own, his job was done. He had been doing it for over 20 years and was very successful. He owned his own bar that Kassi ran in their hometown about 20 miles outside of Boston but when it was a big job that was close by he brought his goddaughter along to help.
This project would be the biggest one yet and he wasn't taking no for an answer. New York was just too far away when you're a single mom with two small boys at home. She wasn't doing it.
"Kassi, I need you for this. Do you have any idea how big this account is? Renee will be home to help with the boys and it won't kill their father to step up for his kids a little more" John said putting major sarcasm as his talked of Kassi's ex-husband. He had never been a fan of him and finding out he was cheating a year ago just proved him and the rest of her family right the entire time.
Kassi huffed on her end of the phone, she wasn't ready for this argument again. "John, I just can't leave my kids for 3 months!" Kassi said hanging up the phone

One month later, Kassi sat on a train on her way to New York. She chuckled to herself thinking how she never stood a chance against her beloved godfather. He had done so much for her since her father died 10 years ago she just couldn't say no. Of course the raise he offered her didn't hurt either. It was the most money she would be getting for a job; with the extra cash she would finally be able to paid off her students loans completely and focus on her boys' futures. It sucked leaving them for so long and she cried all morning before leaving but at the end of the day it would be in their best interest financially. She worked out a schedule between her ex, her uncle John's wife Renee, and her best friend Mia. With everyone chipping in her boys would be just fine. Getting away for a while might do her some good. The past year had been so crazy. After suspecting for some time that her husband was up to something she finally found out of his affair with his assistant at work. Once she confronted him and started the divorce process that's when he completely lost it and things were real bad for a little while. No one in her family knew how bad it really got and how close Kassi came to getting seriously hurt at the hands of her ex. But that was all in the past; he eventually accepted the divorce and now they were trying their best to get along and coparent their two boys; Austin who was 2 and Tommy who just turned 15 months.  Laying her head back in the seat, she closed her eyes, it would be another hour before she pulled into New York so she might as well get some rest before her godfather had her working like a dog for the next 3 months straight.

Kassi didn't even have time to check into her hotel. Before getting off the train she received a text from John's assistant telling her to meet them at the location of the new bar, which happened to be right in the heart of New York City, Times Square. John wanted everyone together to meet with the new owners and get paperwork started. Luckily the location had already been a restaurant in the past so it wasn't like they had to start over completely from scratch but it was very beat up and needed tons of work. She sighed as she placed her luggage in the corner out of the way and took a look around. As she observed her new workplace for the new few months she followed the voice of her godfather.

John heard footsteps behind him and turned around, "Perfect timing." He smiled "And this is my right hand girl, everyone meet Kassi. She has been working with me since she was a kid, she will be very involved with this project."
Kassi gave an awkward wave to the group of people sitting around, she hated having everyone in the room looking at her.
"Kassi it's great to meet you, I'm Doug, The Tenderloins manager." The tall man of the group said stepping forward and shaking her hand.
"Very nice to meet you as well." Kassi replied politely trying to hide her confusion on who the hell The Tenderloins were.
She then focused her attention to the four other men who one by one got up and introduced themselves. The first three were Joe, James, and Sal; all seemed very nice, welcoming, and eager to start this project. The fourth man had wavy hair covered by a backwards baseball hat along with dark facial hair. His eyes were dark and intensely almost staring right through her. She couldn't remember the last time she felt so exposed by a person. His voice was deep as he took her hand in his to shake, "I'm Brian, very nice to meet you." His shake was firm but gentle at the same time. Kassi kept trying to remind herself she was here to do a job, not get the chills from some tall dark intimidating stranger.
John's voice brought her back to reality as he instructed everyone to take their seats so they could go over some details. He explained it was going to be a chaotic few months. As John laid out the plans he had so far, Kassi tried her best to pay attention but she kept feeling eyes on her. Glancing up from her notepad she locked eyes with Brian. What she found so unusual was most of the time when you catch someone staring they will turn away when you notice; not in this case. Brian had his eyes locked on hers in a very intimidating yet in an extremely sexy way. She felt her face start to flush a bit and could have sworn she caught a small smirk come across Brian's lips.
"You're just here to do a job Kas" she kept saying over and over in her head completely
missing anything John was saying at the table.