Total pages in book: 136
Estimated words: 137131 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 686(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137131 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 686(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
My fist clenches.
The whole thing is utter bullshit.
We’re hardly the monopoly on the luxury rental market like the antitrust suit claims.
Still, if we have any time left at all, I want to attack this on more than just the legal front.
“I need dirt on Emberly,” I growl. “Every skeleton in his fucking closet, find it and pull it out. Got it?”
“Yes, sir, that’s your prerogative. There’s no rule saying you can’t do a little off-record data discovery yourself or enlist a few private investigators to help. Just please make sure you keep your nose clean and ensure they’re fully licensed with solid reputations.”
“I’ll have them report to you. The second they turn up anything, you call me.”
“But—”
I end the call and lean back in my chair, rubbing my face. Hennessy doesn’t like dealing in anything that isn’t a document, but he knows better than to fight me on it.
Three days of turning over our own records, crafting every single legal defense we have, and I’m exhausted.
When I close my eyes, I see grim-faced judges and lawyers with assassin’s eyes in my future.
This could fucking kill me, and my brothers too.
Everything we’ve built…
Fuck, it’s already gouging our expenses like a hungry bear.
Yes, we can afford it, but that doesn’t mean I want to hemorrhage money for months thanks to Carroll goddamned Emberly.
The office door creaks open.
I sit up in my chair.
“I’m on it,” I start, but when I see Winnie’s fiery mass of curls, I stop.
She’s pale in the midday light, but just as beautiful as ever. Seeing her knocks the air from my lungs.
It’s incredible how she still does it, even after we’ve been to bed more times than I can count.
If I ever stop and wonder why the hell I’m suffering this torture, there’s my answer, writ large in big green eyes and hair that teases at a glance.
“Sorry to barge in. I know you’re busy,” she says, hands tucked behind her back.
“Not for you, Sugarbee.” I reach out an arm, and when she comes over, I settle her on my knee.
She fits there too perfectly. I take a good, long breath of her, inhaling honey and something floral and delectable.
This woman always makes my mouth water while my dick turns to diamond.
For her, I’m insatiable, never too upset to not want to be balls deep inside her.
I kiss her neck, feeling her melt into me.
For a second, I actually relax, trailing one hand up her side.
“You came to distract me?” I whisper. My cock swells in my pants at the thought of bending her over this desk and fucking her right here.
Let the phone calls from hell wait.
“Actually, I came to ask you a question,” she says breathily, shifting on my lap and making my hard-on pure steel.
“Can’t it wait, Winnie?” I nip the tender skin under her ear and she gasps. God, she’s sexy. I’ll never get over how gorgeous she is. “Ten damn minutes. That’s all I’m asking.”
“Archer…”
“Use your mouth first and it’ll be five.”
Laughing, she squirms away from my lips, straddling me as she turns to look up at me seriously.
“No, I mean it. I need to ask you something.”
Too bad.
A sweet distraction would’ve helped, but I sigh and nod, settling both hands on her thighs. She’s wearing hip-hugger jeans today and they accent her shape. I’m sure they look even better on her ass.
“Okay, go,” I tell her.
“Have you heard from the conservation people?”
“Conservation people?” I frown at her, honestly perplexed. “You mean the specialist from the state? She called earlier, wanting to come out and look at the bees, but I figured it was your doing.”
Her face whitens. The slim hand on my shoulder tenses so much it hurts.
“Are you kidding?”
“No. Winnie, what’s going on?”
“It’s a trap,” she hisses. “Another hit job from my dad. I just thought… I thought maybe he was kidding, or maybe he wouldn’t do it, but he already has. He has and I’m so sorry.”
My vision shakes.
“Wait, wait. You talked to your dad again?” I do my best to keep my voice under control, but my earlier lust dissolves into pure frustration. “Winnie, I told you not to call him, didn’t I?”
“Yes, while you sit up here in your office, stressing over how my family keeps destroying your life.” She sighs, flipping her hair. “I had to do something.”
“It’s not your battle.”
“But it is.” She shuffles back off my lap and I let her.
She may be eerily beautiful when she’s mad, her coppery hair static and her eyes flashing like angry seas, but that’s not enough to distract me from the fact that she’s complicating this fuckery when she doesn’t need to.
I told her to let me deal with it.
Any legal crap is out of her league.
Not because she’s stupid—no, quite the opposite—but because this isn’t something she has any experience with. If her old man wanted to approach her and fix this with a family talk, he would’ve done it by now.