Web of Lies: A Brook Brothers Novel

by Delaney, Tracie

  She filed away some emails and marked a few for Bernard’s attention when he’d gotten over his snit. With little to occupy the rest of her day, she flicked aimlessly through a celebrity magazine, pausing when she came across a picture of her and Nate. It still shocked her every time she spotted herself in the press, but it was something she’d had to get used to. In a way she found it comforting, because the only girl Nate was ever photographed with was herself. Despite what those two assholes had been gossiping about the night she’d gone to the set with Nate, he’d never once given her any cause for concern.

  She was about to give the plants a quick watering to see them over the next two days when the elevator pinged to signal someone’s arrival. She groaned. Please don’t let this be one of Bernard’s clients hoping to see him without an appointment.

  Her head came up in time to see Nate strolling down the hallway. Her breath caught on an inhale. God, he totally did it for her. She never got sick of the sight of him. He was dressed in a pair of black fitted pants and a white shirt, open at the neck with the sleeves rolled up, revealing his strong, tanned forearms. Almost a year had passed since she’d first watched him come toward her a week after she’d started the job as Bernard’s personal assistant. She’d spent six months drooling over him before that fateful day a few months earlier when his actions had caused Bernard to fire her, sending their relationship spiraling in a direction she couldn’t have imagined in her wildest dreams.

  He plunked a bag down at her feet and bent over to give her a kiss.

  “Get changed, Titch. I’m taking you somewhere special.”

  She glanced at the clock. “I’ve still got thirty minutes to go.”

  “No, you haven’t.” He took her by the arm and pulled her upright. Pointing his chin at the bag he said, “Dressed. Now.”

  Excitement buzzed through her. As much as she was a feisty, independent woman, she secretly loved it when Nate went all alpha male. She unzipped the bag and frowned at the contents. She took out a gorgeous ivory dress that had somehow remained uncreased.

  “This isn’t mine.”

  “It is now, as is everything else in there.”

  She narrowed her eyes and then delved back inside the bag. She spotted a pair of ivory pumps, her makeup bag, a jade-green necklace with matching earrings—and a couple of straps of material that, she guessed, was supposed to pass for a bra and panties.

  “Why do I need all this?”

  He rolled his eyes. “I told you. I’m taking you somewhere special.”

  “Nate,” she said in a tone meant to chastise. “You know I hate those pretentious places.”

  “Who said it was a pretentious place?”

  “Well, if you were taking me to a diner, I’d hardly need this get-up, now would I?”

  Nate made a frustrated noise. “Fuck’s sake, Titch. Just get dressed.”

  She laid the dress over her arm, picked up the bag and, sticking her tongue out at him, swanned off to the restroom. She returned a half hour later to find Nate sitting in her chair, his feet up on her desk, and Bernard looming over him, his eyes bulging in response to something Nate had said. As she got closer, they both looked in her direction. Bernard, furious. Nate, mischievous. He unfolded his tall frame, got to his feet, and slid his gaze over her. She actually felt her body temperature increase.

  “Bernard’s given you a week of vacation time, Titch,” Nate said with a wink that Bernard didn’t see. “Isn’t that good of him?”

  Dex’s eyes widened. “I haven’t got a vacation planned.”

  “Sure you have,” Nate said as he came toward her, snatching up her purse on the way. He took the bag from her hand and brushed a kiss against her temple. “Ready?”

  Mute, she simply nodded.

  “She’ll see you in a week, Bernard,” Nate said with more than a hint of glee in his tone. “Unless I manage to persuade her to jack in this shitty little job before then.”

  His hand clasped her elbow, and he steered her toward the elevator, leaving an apoplectic Bernard behind them.

  “What have you done?” Dex asked, giggling as the elevator doors closed and Nate pressed the button for the lobby.

  “Fuck him,” Nate said. “And I meant what I said about trying to persuade you to leave.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “What would I do instead?”

  He shrugged. “Me.”

  She giggled again. “You are a bad, bad man, Nate Brook.”

  “You love it.”

  “I love you.”

  He pressed closer, murmuring in her ear, “And I burn for you, Titch.”

  Nate helped her into his car and then tossed the bag in the trunk. He might not be the type to utter the usual three little words, but it didn’t matter, because she was confident in his love.

  He climbed in the driver’s side and filtered into the traffic.

  “Where are we going?”

  “You’ll see.”

  Dex pouted and folded her arms. “Spoilsport.”

  Nate didn’t react, so she settled back in her seat and waited for his special place to be revealed. After what seemed like an age but, in reality, wasn’t very long at all, Nate pulled off the highway and parked up in front of one of the best hotels in LA.

  “What are we doing here?” she asked as they got out of the car and Nate tossed his keys to the valet.

  Nate ignored her. He linked their fingers together and led her inside the hotel. He crossed the lobby and headed toward the conference rooms at the rear. He paused outside a set of double doors that had The Connaught Suite embossed in gold over the door.

  “Do me a favor, Titch. Think before you speak.”

  She didn’t get a chance to respond with “What the fuck does that mean?” because Nate opened the doors.

  Dex’s mouth fell into a perfect “O” shape as she was greeted by a roomful of people who all began clapping when they spotted her and Nate standing in the doorway. Nate’s brothers and their partners were sitting inside, along with her high school friends from back home in Wisconsin that she hadn’t seen since she’d moved to Los Angeles. Elva, her husband, and the kids were in the front row, their faces shining with happiness. Then her gaze fell on Mom, sitting in a wheelchair at the end of a row of chairs, a bemused but excited expression on her face. There wasn’t any recognition in her eyes, but for once, Dex’s heart didn’t clench in pain.

  She turned around to question Nate about what the hell was going on, but instead of finding him standing beside her, he was bending down on one knee, holding out a diamond the size of her fist on the palm of his hand.

  “I’m so sorry to spring this on you, Titch, but I was worried if I asked you in private, you might say no, and I couldn’t risk that. So, selfish bastard that I am, I thought I’d put you in a difficult position.” He cleared his throat while she continued to stare at him, her mouth flapping like a fish tossed on to the quayside. “You set me on fire from the moment you yelled at me across the street. Every night since, I’ve yearned for you, and only you. I don’t deserve you, but if you let me, I will spend every single day of the rest of my life earning your love. I know I said I wasn’t the marrying type, but you, Titch, my everything, you changed all that. So, in front of all these people, Dexter Nolan, will you marry me?”

  Hot tears rushed to her eyes as she was drowned in a rush of emotion so strong it pushed all the air from her lungs. She sank to her knees, fisted her hands in his shirt, and pulled him to her.

  “Where do I sign?”

  THE END

  FROM MY HEART

  Well, here we are, at the end of the Brook Brothers story. Thank you so much for reading. I really appreciate each and every one of you. I do hope you enjoyed getting to know the ‘real’ Nate - and with any luck, my beloved youngest Brook Brother can finally lay his demons to rest.

  This isn’t the last you’ve seen of Jax, Calum, Cole, and Nate though. I’m planning two spin-off novels. One will be Draven’s story - the darkness is really g
oing to come out in that one - and the other Zane’s, Calum’s best friend. I’m really looking forward to writing their stories. Draven constantly mutters at me. Who knows, he might even reveal his Christian name in that book… maybe LOL. He’s resisting, but I’m going to try my best to persuade him.

  So what’s next?

  I’m currently working on a billionaire romantic suspense duet, the Irresistibly Mine series, with the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author, M. A. Comley. Tempting Christa is available for preorder here at just 99c/99p until release

  The follow up, Avenging Christa, is due out in May.

  Writing is such an isolating job at times that it’s been wonderful to bounce ideas off another author.

  Then I plan to return to my beloved sports romance with a series of books set in the glamorous world of motor racing. The men are hot, the women feisty, and the romances will sizzle - I guarantee it. I’m aiming to release the first book, Friction, in August 2019.

  To be kept up to date, and to share in exclusive excerpts and early cover reveals, be sure to sign up to my reader group (if you like email) or my facebook group, Tracie’s Racy Aces (if you don’t).

  Would you consider helping other readers decide if this is the right book for them by leaving a short rating on Amazon? They really help readers discover new books.

  Books by Tracie Delaney

  The Winning Ace Series

  Cash - A Winning Ace Short Story

  Winning Ace

  Losing Game

  Grand Slam

  Winning Ace Boxset

  Mismatch

  Break Point - A Winning Ace Novella

  Stand-alone

  My Gift To You

  The Brook Brothers Series

  The Blame Game

  Against All Odds

  His To Protect

  Web of Lies

  Irresistibly Mine Billionaire Duet

  Tempting Christa

  Avenging Christa

  To be the first to hear about upcoming releases why not sign up to my newsletter

  Reader Group Sign Up

  And as a bonus, when you sign up, you will receive a FREE short story entitled Cash, which is a prequel to my extremely popular Winning Ace series. This short story can also be purchased on Amazon

  Tracie’s Racy Aces

  For those who find email doesn’t work quite so well for them, why not join my Facebook group where I regularly chat to fans and share snippets, excerpts, covers, and generally have lots of fun. I’d love to have you join me and the rest of the Racy Aces team. Simply click on this link and come join us crazies. Or if the link doesn’t work, search Tracie’s Racy Aces in Facebook and you’ll find us right there!

  Acknowledgments

  I know I’m starting to sound like a broken record, but as ever, I have so many people to thank. What a wonderful team I have. Each and every one of you are so important in getting me to the point where I hit publish. I love, respect, and adore you all.

  In no particular order….

  To my wonderful hubs for not complaining when I disappear for hours at a time, locked in my study while I bash away at my keyboard, and for the endless supply of coffee. You still make the best coffee I’ve ever tasted.

  To Louise. My Rock. My friend and confidante. My amazing PA. The person I turn to for a giggle when I’m flailing about desperately, knowing that you’ll pull an outrageous comment out of the hat that will have me doubled over laughing. You rock xxx

  To my critique partner, Incy. When you sent the marked up MS of Web of Lies and there were three chapters where you barely made a note, I knew, I just knew, I had the story right and, even more importantly, I’d hit the right emotional level. Even so, you still made me work my balls off (not that I have balls, but if I did, they’d be worked to mush!) Thank you for pushing me so hard. Mwah.

  To my alpha reader, Allison. I don’t know how you do it, but your attention to detail, your ability to point out where something doesn’t feel right, your skill in finding those consistency errors… so annoyingly brilliant! I’m so glad you loved Nate and Dex’s story. And THANK YOU for one of the best lines I’ve ever had the pleasure to include in a book.

  To Lexi - what can I say except NATE BELONGS TO YOU! I remember, months ago, sending you an excerpt from the first chapter and you were all “Mine!” and you’ve never wavered. I’d offer to help you fend off all those others who try to steal him from you, but you do such a good job of defending your corner that there’s no point. Enjoy! PS, Send B and Jace now please…. and maybe Kylan (yes, I know I’m greedy!)

  To Del. I can’t thank you enough for everything you do. The hours and hours you selflessly put into my work, the painstaking line by line checks, and then, after all that, you have to put up with talking me through your suggestions for hours on end! I’m sorry Nate isn’t as eco-friendly as you’d like him to be and that Dex doesn’t like champagne - what a heathen she is LOL.

  To Emmy. Thank you for fixing all my IBP’s! Oh, and for reminding me of the many things eyes cannot do… Not to mention pointing out my danglers (no sexual pun intended). I can’t help noticing only one ‘crutch’ mentioned in your edits this time - see, I am a learning computer. Just know that I adore working with you.

  To my ARC readers. You guys are amazing! You’re my final eyes and ears before my baby is released into the world and I appreciate each and every one of you for giving up your time to read—and point out the odd errors that slip through the net!

  And last but most certainly not least, to you, the readers. Thank you for being on this journey with me. It still humbles me to think that my words are being read all over the world.

  If you have a couple of minutes, would you consider leaving a short review on Amazon? Reviews really help readers discover new books, and they’re particularly important for up and coming authors. You’d be helping more than you know

  About the Author

  Tracie Delaney realized she was destined to write when, at aged five, she crafted little notes to her parents, each one finished with "The End."

  Tracie loves to write steamy contemporary romance books that center around hot men, strong women, and then watch with glee as they battle through real life problems. Of course, there's always a perfect Happy Ever After ending (eventually).

  When she isn’t writing or sitting around with her head stuck in a book, she can often be found watching The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones or any tennis match involving Roger Federer. Coffee is a regular savior.

  You can find Tracie on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, or, for the latest news, exclusive excerpts and competitions, why not join her reader group.

  Tracie currently resides in the North West of England with her amazingly supportive husband and her two crazy Westie puppies, Cooper and Murphy.

  Tracie loves to hear from readers. She can be contacted through the following platforms

  www.traciedelaneyauthor.com

  traciedelaneyauthor@gmail.com