AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Well, I’ll tell you why I lived the lie. Because this operation needed an inside man, that’s why. If I openly defied Lana, if I questioned her and let her know just how suspicious I was of her, if I publicly supported Kaitlynn and held her hand out in the light of day for everyone to see, then Lana would never trust me again. She trusted me very little as it was, but she confided just enough for me to get my foot in the door, which was honestly all I needed.
Getting close to her and staying close was a distasteful side effect, but I was banking on the fact that the ends would justify the means. Whatever it took to expose what she was up to so I could stop her, I was willing to do.
And meanwhile, it couldn’t hurt if I put everything else I had into helping JFI return to its former glory. It needed to be in good shape when it moved to Kaitlynn’s hands, anyway.
After seating myself at my desk, I scanned my schedule for the day. A couple email replies and a phone call later, my personal assistant arrived, silently setting a cup of coffee on the corner of my desk.
I thanked him distractedly and told him to set up a meeting for me with my top designers as I read a new development I was scanning over on my screen that just might change things in our lineup for the spring fashion show. Trends seemed to shift more often than every six months these days. It was difficult to keep up. But as the head of the Shoes department for one of the top companies in the industry, I was determined to do just that.
“Lace-up boots,” I muttered, jotting down notes as I read the report in front of me. “Rhinestones on pumps, retro sneakers, square toes, platform boots. Jesus, not platforms again.”
The last time we’d gone through that fad, it had ended before we’d even gotten our stock on the shelves. We had experienced quite the loss in profit there.
I rubbed at the spot on the center of my forehead that began to ache whenever I grew stressed and wondered if anyone would notice if we simply skipped over platforms this time around. It was definitely an idea worth broaching to my people in our meeting this afternoon.
“Shocking news,” a familiar voice announced as my brother swept into my office and settled himself negligently in the chair across from me.
I arched him a dry glance as he perched his feet on the corner of my desk, dangerously close to my cup of coffee.
“So, I see,” I told him, frowning at the way a crumb of chocolate dropped onto the lapel of his suit jacket when he took a bite from the Snickers bar he was eating. The candy was probably his breakfast. “You’re actually here before nine a.m. Shocking indeed.”
Rolling his eyes, Brick flicked the chocolate off him and retorted, “Once again, your humor falls flat, bro. But no, my news is actually this: Nina, the vixen I’m currently banging, has a sister coming into town this weekend, so we need another guy to fill out a double date. Dinner, a show, and most likely knocking a whole lot of headboard against the wall before the night’s over, if big sis is anything like Nina. And I have chosen lucky you to be number four for the evening, so you’re welcome. Don’t say I never gave you anything.”
With a sigh, I kept working on my notes for the upcoming meeting as I mumbled, “No, thanks.”
“No, thanks?” Brick screeched incredulously, tearing his feet off my desk and sitting upright. “What do you mean, no, thanks? I’m handing you a sure thing there. What’s to refuse?”
Feelings, I wanted to answer.
/> But what I said was, “Hmm. Let me think about this. You want me to keep the ugly older sister preoccupied with stilted, awkward conversation and uneasy pauses so you don’t have to give up a weekend of sex with your pretty new flavor of the month. So, yeah.” I shook my head and went back to writing. “That’s a hard pass from me.”
“Hey. What makes you think she’s the ugly sister?”
I rolled my eyes. “Because you’re willing to pass her off to me.”
“Well, for your information,” he went on primly. “Both women are equally gorgeous. Not that it should matter. Gah, you’re such a shallow prick, Hayden. Only concerned about a woman’s appearance and not her personality. Big sister might be a perfectly lovely woman, you know.”
I glanced at him dryly, surprised his pants weren’t smoking from all the bullshit he was firing at me. “So you like this Nina woman you’re banging for her brains, is that it?”
He winced. “God no. She’s as dumb as a post and a bitch to boot. But she’s got an ass that won’t quit and she’ll take it in the back door.” Lifting his hands, Brick shrugged as if he were helpless but to capitulate. “Who am I to complain about her lack of smarts? That seems like a prejudice against the academically-challenged to me.”
Now that sounded more like the little brother I knew.
“So, if they’re equally gorgeous,” I countered. “Then why aren’t you chasing after both of them?”
Brick paused with his mouth agape as if to contradict me, but then he frowned, thinking my suggestion through and lifted a finger. “You know what? That’s a damn fine idea. So fuck off; I recant my invitation. You’re out, and I’m in. Both of them.”
Wagging his tongue, he stood up to tap out a farewell rhythm on the corner of my desk with his hands, then he veered toward the doorway.
“Yeah, good luck with that,” I called after him sarcastically.
He lifted a finger over his shoulder. “Don’t need it, but thanks for the sentiment.”
Once he was gone, I set an elbow on my desk and rested my chin in my hand, studying the chair where my brother had just sat.
He hadn’t changed much from the boy he’d been. He might’ve grown up to like the ladies a little too much for his own good, but he still had his unrepentant sweet tooth and annoyingly perky personality. And I loved the kid more than I thought possible. Somehow, his time under Lana’s thumb hadn’t changed or hardened or darkened him. Underneath his flirty, skirt-chasing manner and cocky grin, he had a heart of pure gold.
I think I was more relieved by his preserved personality than I was saddened by the way life had changed and hardened and darkened mine.
