Or maybe it was the woman standing before him.
She was tall, only a few inches shorter than his six feet two inches, muscular, slim, with straight hair the color of black licorice down to her shoulders. Her eyes were the deepest brown with flecks of bronze and her face was cut glass, angles etched in amber.
Sarina was stunning.
And he was staring and holding her hand like a kid who’d just figured out that girls were hot.
The only consolation was that she was staring right back at him, heat answering heat. The pull from that night was back, leaving no question about how they’d ended up in this mess.
Hormones. Chemistry. It was as simple and hard and confusing and amazing as that.
Justin let go of her hand, his body singing in protest at the break in the connection. He stalked around the room, needing the activity to think this through. There were so many moving parts to this catastrophe but he could figure it out. He’d bashed through other barriers, done stuff that nobody thought he could accomplish. He was the kid that nobody thought would make it and he’d figured out how to fight to make sense of stuff that came so easy to other people. He’d become an expert at solving problems. This was just another puzzle to solve, right?
“So, you’re Adam’s business partner?” Sarina asked, her expression dark with a healthy dose of confused thrown into the mix. She wasn’t any happier about this than he was. “Does he know about...”
“About our getting hitched? Nope. I just got back to town a couple of days ago and I was trying to figure out how to deal with it without getting him involved.” Justin paused, recollecting one pertinent fact that might be the solution to their problem. “Wait. You married me under a fake name. That must mean that our marriage is invalid.”
She shook her head, her hand slashing across the air between them. “Not fake. Adopted. I’m in the middle of getting my name officially changed back to Sarina Redhawk but Sarah Moore is my name...for now.”
“They didn’t let you keep any part of your given name? Adam’s adoptive parents let him keep his name,” he said, realizing too late that he was probably not telling her anything she didn’t know.
“Well, that was mighty nice of them, wasn’t it? I guess it made them feel better about taking a kid from a perfectly happy family and erasing every piece of his heritage from his life. I’ll make sure they get a prize.”
Sarina did nothing to cloak the bitterness in her words and it was so potent that even he tasted the acrid taste of the betrayal. Justin had sat through many long talks with Adam over the years, wishing he could do something to help him, and this moment with Sarina was no different. He didn’t know the details of her life—they weren’t Adam’s to tell—but Justin knew that Adam’s younger siblings hadn’t had easy lives.
Unfairly taken from their family by the state when Adam was six years old and the twins, Sarina and Roan, were three, they’d been shipped off to families in separate parts of the country. Adam had hired Tess to find them as soon as he had the means, a search that had resulted in their reunion several months earlier. It wasn’t the happy event that Adam had envisioned, and Justin had ached for his friend. A quintessential first-born, Adam wanted to take care of everyone and it killed him that the pain of his siblings’ lives wasn’t something he could just fix with a wave of his hand.
Adam and Roan were making progress in their relationship but Adam had relayed that his sister had been angry, unwilling to even give it a try. She’d been through too much... They’d all been through too much.
“Yeah, Adam’s family isn’t great,” Justin said, knowing that it was the worst of understatements but it also wasn’t the point right this minute. Any minute now they could be interrupted, and they needed to figure some stuff out first. “But right now we have more pressing matters to worry about. No matter what your name is legally, we’ve got to figure out a way to end this marriage as quickly and as quietly as possible.”
“Agreed. How do we do that?” Sarina asked, one hand on her hip, the other making the speed-it-up motion in the air.
Justin bit back a laugh. She was snarky and prickly but he thought it was sexy as hell. He was pretty sure that telling her that right now would end in his death, so he kept his mouth shut.
“What the hell is going on? What marriage?”
Justin and Sarina both jumped at the sound of Adam’s voice, pivoting to take in the figures of Adam and Tess standing in the open office doorway. Sounds from the party drifted into the space, disguising Justin’s muttered “oh, shit” as he motioned them inside the room. So much for breaking it to Adam at the right time and place, and forget not telling him at all.
He looked at Sarina, knowing her irritated but resigned expression was echoed by his own. Finally, she lifted a shoulder in a shrug that said it all: it was what it was. It wasn’t going to get any better. They needed to just get it over with.
Justin took a deep breath and faced his best friend, unconsciously moving closer to his wife as he broke the news. Maybe they weren’t destined for a ruby wedding, but they were in this together for now.
“This isn’t how we wanted to tell you...”
“I didn’t want to tell you at all,” murmured Sarina.
“That, too.” Justin’s lips twitched in a smile in spite of the seriousness of the situation. Sarina was a badass with a really twisted, dark sense of humor. He liked her. A lot. “When I went to Vegas last week I met Sarina at the casino...”
“You were at that high-roller poker game last week,” Adam interrupted, his brow creased in confusion. “How...?”
“They don’t tie us to the tables, man,” Justin said, rushing into the next part. “I met Sarina and we hung out and got married.”
It was overly simplistic and left out a shit ton of details, but did it really matter?
Apparently it did.
“How the hell do you go to Vegas and end up married to my sister?” Adam asked, not quite yelling but pretty damn close.
Justin really didn’t want to go into the how and why of the entire night. Not when he couldn’t remember all of it. But Sarina had no qualms about it. The brutal honesty he’d admired a few moments earlier was less appealing at the moment.
“Adam, it’s not that hard to figure out,” she said, her expression daring him to call her on any of this. “We met in a bar, got drunk, and woke up the next morning covered in glitter and in possession of a marriage license. I had no idea who he was.”
“I’ve only ever seen pictures of her as a child, Adam. I had no idea she had a different name.” Justin filled in his part of the story, hurrying to explain the insanity.
Adam’s mouth fell open and Tess grabbed on to his arm in an attempt to calm him down. Justin wasn’t worried—Adam wasn’t the kind of guy who punched first and asked questions later. But Justin had never married his sister before, so there was always room for error.
“Justin, did you sleep with my sister?”
“Adam.” Tess groaned at the question, flashing Sarina an apologetic look and Justin a lift of the eyebrows as if to say really.
Sarina wasn’t having any part of it, either. “Nope. We’re not going there. I wasn’t some innocent virgin lured over to the dark side. I was a fully participating adult in all activities including the marriage part and the sex part...which was great, by the way.”
“Agreed,” Justin couldn’t resist adding at the look of horror on Adam’s face. It really wasn’t funny but the alternative was facing up to the fact that he’d fucked up again and was living up to his reckless reputation. Adam was too shocked to be pissed right now but his anger when it came would be well deserved. Justin had one job and he’d messed up big time.
“No. No,” Adam spat out, his hands shooting up in a gesture meant to ward off all mention of his sister’s sex life.
Tess jumped in, stifling a laugh as she steered the co
nversation back to the heart of the matter. “So what are you two going to do about the marriage? Are you going to stay together or what?”
“No,” they both replied in unison, their gazes pulled together in a search for confirmation. The impact of the moment shook Justin again, as he felt the same connection, the same spark, the same flood of memories of smooth naked skin and hot, sweet kisses traded in the midst of tangled sheets.
His mind knew that he needed to end this marriage. His body said that he needed to get her back in his bed and indulge until he was ready to move on like he always did. His gut said that he’d be hard-pressed to find someone it was so easy to laugh with and talk to. Sarina had gotten him from the first moment.
Damn.
Sarina’s cheeks pinkened and she blinked hard, breaking the connection with a sharp turn of her body away from him and several steps in the opposite direction. Justin fought the urge to go over to her but they didn’t need to complicate this, especially since she’d still be in his life after this marriage was over because she was Adam’s sister. Damn, this was tricky.
“Justin, I don’t need to tell you how bad this would be if it got out in the press,” Adam continued, oblivious to the undercurrent pulsing between the two of them. “We have the chance to partner with Aerospace Link. This is huge.”
Sarina turned to face them with a confused expression, and Justin filled her in. “Aerospace Link is the largest satellite company in the world and it’s still a family business. They are pretty old-school and have expressed hesitation at some of my lifestyle choices.”
Sarina shook her head in confusion. “Your private life isn’t part of the deal. One is business and one isn’t.”
“When you’re asking people who’ve invested billions in a joint venture to trust a company that’s a relative infant in the tech industry to deliver what we promise, the behavior of the guy who runs the financial end of the business is part of the deal,” Justin explained. “If they can’t trust me, they can’t trust Redhawk/Ling.”
“They act like he’s the poster child for Billionaires Gone Wild and aren’t thrilled that the CFO of our company spends a lot of time on the front page of tabloids,” Adam added, his tone protective of Justin. It was a familiar theme of their friendship; Justin had been the black sheep of his family and Adam was his biggest cheerleader.
Justin appreciated it but he couldn’t let Adam downplay the truth of the headlines. “I like women and parties and high-stakes poker games,” he explained with unapologetic honesty. “But I don’t gamble with company money and I’m a damn good CFO. Numbers are the easiest thing in the world to me and I can sniff out a turn in the market faster than anyone else. I’m not interested in letting them dictate my personal life, but I have to agree that getting married while drunk in Vegas isn’t a great thing to put on my résumé and is a legitimate reason for them to question the stability of Redhawk/Ling.”
“So dissolving this marriage needs to stay off the front page,” Sarina stated, her expression reading more exasperated than confused.
“It needs to stay off any page, or Aerospace Link will back out and other partners and investors will wonder why. Big business leaders talk to each other and we’ll be loath to find anyone who’ll want to do business with Redhawk/Ling. This could be a long-term disaster for us,” Justin said, flashing a look of regret at Adam. Once again he was a disappointment to the people in his life. “I’m sorry, Adam.”
His best friend waved off his apology, his expression kind as usual. They’d been through a lot together, supported each other through the worst and celebrated each other through the best. It would take more than this to make Adam Redhawk turn his back on him, but sometimes Justin wondered where the line was and when he would cross it.
“Justin, you didn’t do this by yourself.” Sarina’s voice was firm and clear across the room. She walked over, stopping to stand shoulder to shoulder with him to face her brother. “And I don’t want to be part of the reason Redhawk/Ling suffers.”
She didn’t reach out to touch him but there was no doubt that she was in this with him, that she was here for the long haul. Justin recalled that she had been in the army and her body language was the definition of loyalty born from a shared experience in the trenches. This situation wasn’t ideal but it would be easier if they weren’t at each other’s throats.
Justin smiled at her, hoping she read the high level of thanks in the expression before turning back to Adam and Tess. “I’ll contact our attorneys to get this wrapped up as quickly and quietly as we can.”
Sarina nodded at each of them as she backed away and headed for the door. “So let’s recap—we get divorced but keep it off TMZ. Adam and Tess, congratulations on the baby boy. I’m tapped out on family time for now, so I’m going to go.”
And just like that morning in Vegas, she was gone.
Justin watched the door shut behind her, admiring her style. It was why they hooked up in the first place and why he couldn’t take his eyes off her. Sarina was direct, no-holds-barred and a challenge. Hell, he never could resist a challenge. And Sarina Redhawk was a walking, talking invitation for him to keep making bad choices.
Adam stepped into his field of vision, arms crossed as he glared at him. “Don’t think I forgot that you slept with my sister.”
Justin grinned. What else could he do? “But I married her first. That should be a consolation.”
Four
The Valley Hotel was a shithole.
Okay, maybe that was a little bit harsh, but Justin felt like it was one double murder in the parking lot away from being in the category of hotel that was featured prominently on cable television shows with titles that included “unsolved” and “most wanted” and played in constant cycles of syndication. The faux-Spanish, single-story hacienda-style building was old and decaying and had given up a long time ago.
A Silicon Valley landmark it wasn’t. He wasn’t even sure it passed the fire code. He shuddered when he thought about what a black light would reveal if it was aimed at any surface in this place.
Justin navigated a discarded bag of fast food on the asphalt, narrowly missing stepping in a puddle of spilled milkshake and half a joint. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and tapped the screen to call Adam.
“Adam, do you know where Sarina is staying?” he asked, disgust coating every one of his words. “Why isn’t she staying with you?”
A big sigh wafted over the connection and he could picture Adam sitting at his desk, hands reaching for the ever-present drumsticks to tap out his frustration. His buddy was secretly in a band that played at a local dive bar once a month. The members were a group of engineers from Stanford so it wasn’t going to hit MTV anytime soon but they were pretty decent and had a rabid following. “Yeah, I do. It’s a shithole. She won’t stay with me and insists on paying her own bill. I’m not arguing with her about it anymore. It’s exhausting.”
“You can’t let her stay here, Adam. This place is disgusting and very likely dangerous,” Justin said as he scanned the room numbers for the correct one. He spied it across the lot and headed over, determined to find Sarina and get her out of here.
“Well, she’s your wife, Justin. So good luck with that.” Adam drawled, his tone more you’re-an-idiot and less I’m-going-to-kill-you than it had been since they’d revealed the Vegas wedding to him. It was an improvement. Justin expected him to hang up so the chuckle over the line surprised him. “She was in the military, Justin. Trained in firearms. Be careful that she doesn’t shoot you.”
The call ended and Justin jammed the phone into his pocket and cursed out his best friend/brother-in-law. Sarina’s staying at this place wasn’t funny at all. It wasn’t safe and she was his wife. He wouldn’t sleep at night knowing that she was here. He had enough money to buy this hotel about thirty times over and he could pay for her to stay anywhere else. This was unacceptable.
&
nbsp; He headed across the lot, growing more determined with each step to get to Sarina’s room and get her out of here. Justin stopped at the door to room 18 and knocked, listening for any sign that she was inside. He glanced around the lot, looking for her motorcycle, but it was nowhere in sight. Sarina loved that bike—that was something she’d made clear that first night in Vegas—so its absence didn’t bode well.
He heard someone approach the door and he knew that he was being observed through the peephole. He smiled and pointed at the doorknob.
“Let me in. I need to talk to you,” he said, relieved when he heard the lock slide inside. The door opened enough for him to see Sarina scowling at him. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she wore no makeup, but he’d never seen a more beautiful woman.
She didn’t need any of that stuff his mom and sisters spent hours applying and hundreds of dollars stocking in their larger-than-life bathrooms. Her skin was flawless, a honey-caramel color, black lashes thick and heavy as they lined her deep, expressive brown eyes. Her lips were full even when they pulled tight in a frown, even when her smile only hinted at the plump, sexy pout.
Justin swallowed hard; his first instinct was to lean in, kiss her and claim that mouth just like he had that night in Vegas. He knew how to get that mouth to soften, knew how to coax her into opening to him and letting him take deep, drugging kisses that left them both shaking. Damn, he’d wanted her so much and they’d been combustible in bed. She’d been responsive and demanding and insatiable and completely into him. He’d had a lot of women under him over the years but none of them had left him aching and wanting more like her. It was the best time he’d ever had inside and out of the bedroom.
Sarina had been his match but he’d been too caught up in the maelstrom of passion that night and he’d had no time to overthink it. And the next morning when he’d woken up to her gone he’d experienced a level of disappointment he wasn’t accustomed to. There wasn’t much in life that Justin wanted that he didn’t get. He’d grown up in a wealthy family and now he had his own money, a fortune that put his family’s bank account to shame.
Seducing His Secret Wife (Mills & Boon Desire) (Redhawk Reunion, Book 2) Page 3
