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“Have you already gone up to your cabin?”
“No, but that’s only because I’m finishing a few things up here for a project. I’m heading up tomorrow.”
“Great.” He breathes a heavy sigh. “I need you to take Katie with you.”
I sit up straight in my office chair. Maybe I didn’t hear him correctly. “Excuse me?” Katie is Henry’s little sister. She’s almost ten years younger than us, and last I heard, she’s a handful. At least for Henry who has been looking after her and the rest of his siblings, since his father died five years ago.
“Katie needs a place to stay for a few days until we can fly home for Christmas.”
“Why me? Katie hates me.” Or at least she certainly didn’t love me. If I had to guess, she sees me as an overly stuffy, grumpy, stick-up-his-ass obstacle to her having a good time.
What she doesn’t know is that if I had less honor, I’d love to show her a good time.
“Katie doesn’t hate you.”
“Mm-kay.” I triple click my pen. “Why do I need to be her babysitter. She’s what? Twenty now?” I pretend like I don’t know that Katie Black just turned twenty-one on Halloween. Not that I’ve been counting down the months to when it wouldn’t be wildly inappropriate to fantasize about kissing her back, should I ever get the chance again.
While technically she’s an adult now, I can’t change the fact that she’ll always be Henry’s baby sister.
“She’s twenty-one, but she may as well still be sixteen for all that she can handle herself. I’ve had some problems, which I thought were limited to some of our business assets, but then someone emailed me photos of Katie, insinuating she was vulnerable if I didn’t kill this deal I’m working on.”
Dread trickles down my spine. “What kind of problems? What’s going on?” Henry Black is the head of a vast entertainment conglomerate that includes everything from movie studios to nightclubs. After his father died, Henry had to step into some pretty big shoes, but he’d been training for it his whole life. We’d met while at boarding school and after he’d punched me in the face for calling him a pampered prince with the most fuckable mother I’d ever laid eyes on we somehow became best friends. Henry Black is a golden boy.
I am not. He’s silver-tongued, persuasive, and charming when he wants something. I’m a sarcastic asshole with little patience and while my techniques might be persuasive, they’re hardly charming.
“It’s not something I want to get into over the phone,” Henry says. “But I’ll tell you as soon as I’m back stateside.”
“Are you safe? Do you need me to call in a team?” The Black empire might be famous and powerful, but mine is vast and often operates in the shadows.
“I’m good, I promise. But Katie might not be. I need you to get to her and get her out. Please keep her safe until I can fly back from Singapore.”
“I know Greyson and Adelaide are with you, but where are Baxter and Oliver?”
“Baxter is in London, and I can’t get ahold of him right now. Oliver is god-knows-where doing god-knows-what. I can’t count on him to get to Katie in time.”
I nod. Oliver is definitely a wild card, but something Henry says sticks with me. “What do you mean in time?”
“I think she’s in danger. I didn’t want to scare her because she was finishing up exams, but I need eyes on her immediately.”
“She doesn’t have security?”
“Not on campus because it’s never been an issue before. Katie enrolled under Mom’s maiden name so she could live like a normal girl.” I hear the air quotes in his voice. Plus, I want to deal with this discreetly. If Katie is suddenly surrounded by muscle, they’ll know they got to me.”
“Yeah, but if you don’t, whoever ‘they’ are might try to get your attention.”
A pause. “That’s why I need you to go get her.”
“Have you spoken to her?” I ask.
“I have. I wanted her to fly to Singapore, but she refused.”
“What makes you think she’ll agree to come with me?”
“Then do whatever it takes to persuade her. Please, Hiro. You’re the only one I can trust.”
The bar is hot, noisy, and full of horny college students. I tip my red cup to my lips and grimace. This is what passes for bourbon in this place? I wouldn’t be drinking at all, but the asshole at the door said no one stays without a drink. I glance around, hoping Katie will miraculously appear, but no such luck. Instead, a young woman in a red velvet bra, trimmed in fluffy white faux fur sidles up to me, opens her full red lips and sticks a candy cane in her mouth. She swirls it around, before sliding it out of her mouth with a pop.
“Are you naughty or nice?” she asks, eying me up and down like I’m her next candy treat.
