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“I don’t know. It’s been a long time since I was around him outside of our mom’s funeral.” Aiden sighed. “I want the whole damn thing to go away, you know?”
“I know.” Mark’s voice was sympathetic. “And if it makes you feel any better, the likelihood is he’ll be back in jail before the year’s out. In my experience, guys like him don’t stay clean for long. But in the meantime, we’ll approach him and make the offer.”
“When does he get out?” Aiden’s hands tightened around the report, his knuckles bleaching.
“In a few days. Our man will follow him from the gate. Offer to buy him lunch, show him a friendly face. And if he has the cash on him, I can’t see Jamie turning that down, can you?”
“How much are we talking about?” He knew a couple of hundred wasn’t going to cut it.
“I’ll ask him for an opinion, but I was guessing around thirty thousand. Enough to set him up for a few months. It should buy you some time if nothing else.”
Still holding the report, Aiden leaned back, a sigh escaping his lips. It wasn’t as if he was short of money. Nowadays he could lay his hands on a sum like that immediately. It didn’t make it seem any less dirty though. Like he was bribing a competitor or something.
But what choice did he have? There was no way he wanted Jamie coming anywhere near Angel Sands. The thought of him getting within breathing distance of Brooke and Nick made his blood turn cold.
Only a few hours ago she was laying in his arms, her body curled against his. He’d stared at her as the early morning light started to haze through the windows, watching her face as she slept. Her skin was soft, unlined, still so young in spite of the years they’d been apart. Maybe that’s what he liked the most – she was still the same person he’d known, yet somehow so much more.
“Okay, I’ll get the money wired over today. I want our guy all over this.” Aiden waved the report in his hand. “I need to know if my brother so much as takes a piss in a toilet that isn’t his. Every move he makes I want to know about. Doesn’t matter how much it costs.”
He was still holding the report as he walked out of the office building, heading over to his car parked alone in the lot. Like the inside of the building, the outside was deserted.
Throwing the file onto the passenger seat, he climbed into the car, pulling his phone out of his pocket to check for messages. There were the usual – overtime reports from the site foreman, a quick update from Robert about his plans to visit next week – but nothing from her. He quickly pulled up her number and pressed ‘call’.
“Hey.” Brooke answered before it had even started ringing. It made him smile.
“Hey yourself. What are you doing?”
“We’re walking into the apartment. I’m going to make Nick lunch and get some work done. How about you?”
He looked up at the tall glass office building. “I’ve been in a meeting. Going to head over to the site to check things out.”
Her voice was teasing. “You really are a workaholic, aren’t you?”
Yeah, he was. Or he used to be. But now he was less sure. Glancing in the rear view mirror, he saw the corner of his reflection. He looked like the same man, he sounded like the same man, but inside he wasn’t so sure any more.
A taste of her and he was changing. His body reacted to the memory of her, of her soft skin and warm breath, of the way she felt when he slid inside her.
“You’re working too, remember?” he replied, a smile playing at his lips. “Sounds like the pot calling the kettle black.”
“We’re two peas in a pod. Made for each other.”
He liked that. A lot. Liked hearing her saying it even more. There was something growing between them, something new and precious, and it felt like it was his job to protect it.
“So we never talked about our next date. What are you doing tomorrow?”
“I’m working at the shelter.”
“If it’s me against the animals, I know I’ll lose. How about Monday?”
He heard her sigh. “I’ll be free after ten. I’m helping Clara get everything ready for the gala next Saturday. Everything’s getting crazy at work.”
“Maybe I can help. Come in and lick envelopes or whatever the hell it is you’re doing,” Aiden suggested.
“You’d do that?” Her voice was soft.
“Of course. I want to see you.”
He heard her breathe – long and deep. “In that case, I have something else to ask you.”
