“Like I said. How did I not know you’re such an asshole?”
“The same way I didn’t know you’re—”
His intercom buzzes and Jessica says, “Seth is here and he says it’s urgent.”
Shane squeezes his eyes shut, the lines of his handsome face all sharp edges and anger.
“I was what?” I demand.
His lashes lift, his eyes hard, and even colder than before. “Like everyone else. And this conversation isn’t over. Meet me at seven o’clock tonight in the parking garage.” He pushes off the door, grabs me and turns me so that my back is to his front, his hand back on my belly, his head lowering, intimately close to mine as he orders, “Be there.” Then he reaches around me and opens the door.
A moment later, Shane is no longer touching me and a tall, intimidating blond man in a suit is standing in front of me, blocking my path. “Excuse me,” I say. And damn it, he doesn’t move, his hard stare fixed on my face.
“You’re Brandon Senior’s new secretary.”
I have no idea how he knows this and right now, I really don’t care. “And I need to get back to work,” I say, and then repeat, “Excuse me.”
“Emily,” Shane says, his voice radiating along my spine. “Make sure you do go back to work.”
I don’t turn. “Yes, Mr. Brandon.”
The man in front of me eyes him over my head and several beats pass like hours, before Shane gives the okay for him to release me. Finally, he steps aside and I am free to go. Only I’m not free at all. Not even close.
I don’t wanna be a product of my environment. I want my environment to be a product of me.
—Frank Costello
CHAPTER NINE
SHANE
I watch Emily round the corner, adrenaline coursing through me like liquid fire and acid, and I slowly become aware of Seth and Jessica staring at me. Forcefully, I shift my attention to them, Seth is arching a brow at me while Jessica stands at her desk, holding on to it and looking confused and concerned. Obviously, I haven’t been discreet and I have no option but to offer an explanation. “She found herself inserted between me and my father,” I explain, and I’m really damn ready to know the details.
“Oh no,” Jessica says. “Shane, she’s new and I promised to help her learn her boundaries.”
“A little late for that, I’d say.” I’d laugh at the irony of that statement if every muscle in my body wasn’t clenched thanks to the scent of Emily’s perfume clinging to my clothes.
“Should I—” she begins.
“No,” I supply. “My father wants his deal memo. Tell him I read it and he can go fuck himself.”
She blanched. “Shane, not even I can—”
“Tell him I’m still reviewing it.” I motion to Seth and walk into my office, making a beeline for the window, where I stand, arms crossed, and will the adrenaline coursing through me to calm the fuck down.
Silent seconds tick by, and I can feel Seth at my back, just as I can feel Emily’s presence in this building, like she were standing right here next to me.
“What just happened?” Seth asks.
Yes. What the hell just happened? I’ve made a career out of reading people, and I don’t know how I got it wrong with Emily—unless I didn’t get it wrong and I was just a total dick. Whatever the case, there is too much on the line for me to be a fool with this woman, and yet, when I turn to face Seth, I go another direction. “I went to see the ‘other woman,’ as you called her. I offered her double what my mother’s paying her to give us the same information she’s giving my mother, but my mother isn’t to know.”
“What’s to stop Derek from doing the same?”
“I told her I’d ruin her medical career. She’s expecting your call.”
His eyes sharpen. “Gloves off. Now we’re playing like New Yorkers. Good thing.” He lifts a folder. “You aren’t going to like this.”
“Just get to it,” I snap irritably. “I can do without any more dramatics today.”
He drops the folder on my desk and flips it open to yet another photo of my brother, this time with a very young, pretty, dark-haired woman. “Teresa Martina,” he says. “He’s quite friendly with her.”
“And I care why?”
“Because she’s the daughter of Roberto Martina, the kingpin for one of the largest cartels in existence. And while Roberto favors Mexico, her brother Adrian runs the U.S. operations from right here in Denver.”
Anger rips through me and I press my fists to the desk. “Has he dragged the BP division into the cartel?”
“He has a relationship with Adrian, though I don’t yet know the extent.”
“In other words, if he hasn’t, he’s working on it. He has to have someone inside BP involved in this.”
“Agreed,” Seth says, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “William Nichols, your head of research and development, had some activity on the surveillance footage I find of interest, but nothing I can say is related to this.”