Mister Bossy (Bad Boys in Love Book 4)

by Cassie-Ann L. Miller

  Still, this little girl is what I’m most grateful for. She’s worth the emotional rollercoaster. As long as I have her, I’ll be okay.

  So, here I am, bringing this sledgehammer down again and again on my rotten front porch. The physical exertion makes me feel a little bit better. After all the labor I did in prison, I’m no stranger to getting my hands dirty. I focus on swinging my hammer until the porch is nothing but a hollowed out frame.

  I’m taking a break, leaned up against the side of the house, when I see Walker’s truck puttering up the drive with a loaded trailer behind it. He parks and hops out of the cab.

  When my daughter sees him, she abandons her toys and goes scampering across the yard. “Uncle Walkerrr!” she yells as she leaps into my brother’s waiting arms. The two of them share a tight embrace.

  Well, damn. What do I have to do to earn a greeting like that from my girl?

  Callie is chattering her little face off, asking Walker a million and one questions about his newborn twins as they saunter in my direction, hand in hand.

  “Ma said you were redoing the porch,” my brother says when Callie runs back to her toys. “I had a bunch of leftover two-by-fours I thought I’d drop by.” With his chin, he gestures toward his truck.

  He’s in his cowboy hat with a flannel shirt, work boots and beat-up jeans. Cannon, Jude and I may not see eye-to-eye on much. But one thing we easily agree on? Walker’s deplorable fashion sense.

  Dripping sweat and chugging water from a metal canister, I peel my ass off the house and meet the farmer halfway.

  I walk past him and stroll around his trailer, examining the load he brought over. This is some quality lumber, and as much as I want to prove that I can do this on my own, that I don’t need anybody’s help, I’d be an idiot not to take it.

  “I could use this, actually,” I admit reluctantly, hating to take a handout from my brother. “I was planning to head into town to see what the hardware store had in stock later today, so if you don’t need this, I’ll take it off your hands. How much?”

  “Nothing, man. It was just sitting in the barn.”

  We argue about the payment, but before I know it, we’re unloading the lumber and Walker has weasled his way into helping.

  My oldest brother may have visited me once in prison, but he’s still on my shitlist. Especially considering how quickly he wrote me off after I got arrested. He’s the only person I told the truth…and he didn’t believe me. He knows me better than anyone and yet, he thought I was lying.

  Me and him? We used to be the tightest. That’s why his betrayal hurt more than Cannon’s or Jude’s. I mean, if he didn’t believe me, who the heck would?

  I battle myself internally until finally, I push my resentment aside and focus on the task at hand. I’m out of jail now and that’s all that counts. Let bygones be bygones.

  The afternoon is awkward, but tensions thaw the longer we work. I suppose working yourself to the point of exhaustion does wonders to ease your pent-up bitterness, too.

  After we have half the porch measured, cut, and nailed down, we drop to the ground.

  “Is it ever gonna rain or what?” Walker looks up at the sky with a creased brow. “This is the driest spring for as long as I can remember.”

  I make a sound in my chest. “Must be hard on the crops, huh?”

  “I’m using every irrigation technique in my bag of tricks but the crops are just waiting for it to come pouring down from the heavens, man.”

  “I can imagine.” Crescent Harbor and the neighboring communities rely heavily on small farms like Walker’s for fresh produce. “Don’t let it get to you. It’s gotta rain eventually.”

  My brother yawns loud enough to make Callie giggle. “Christ, I’m so tired,” he complains.

  “Long nights with the twins?” I ask.

  He nods. “During the night, I actually enjoy getting up with the babies. It’s the only one-on-one time I get without one of Penny’s friends trying to steal my kids. But those nights sure catch up with me during the day.”

  I grin. My grumpy big brother is a dad now. It’s kind of nice, being able to bond with him over this stuff. “Ha. I remember those days. They go quick. Too quick. Cherish them.”

  “Parenting is so damn weird. It’s like the best and worst, most exciting and most terrifying thing ever, all rolled into one.”

  I nod. I know exactly what he means. The emotional highs. The physical lows. We were still going through a lot of sleepless nights with Callie when I went away. She was only two at that time. I wish that I hadn’t missed out on so much time with my child, during those crucial years. I promise myself that, next time, I won’t miss a single day.

  Next time?! Jesus. Do I even want more kids in the future? I used to. It’s been a while since I allowed myself to contemplate that question. Once upon a time, I wanted a houseful of children with Gabby. I was sure it was going to happen. But that was long, long ago and a lot has changed since then.

  “So, I heard you stopped by Kingston Realties the other day,” Walker says awkwardly.

  “And I heard you signed over your shares to our power-hungry brother,” I snipe back.

  “Don’t be like that,” Walker growls. “We all did what we had to do.”

  “You did what you had to do?” I laugh bitterly. “You guys practically ousted me from the family company when I wasn’t there to defend my position. You and I both know it wasn’t right. That’s not how it should have been handled.” I launch my empty water bottle at a tree. It bounces off and rolls down the driveway. My daughter pins me with a cautious stare. Shit. I really need to keep my temper under control.

  Years ago, Dad and Gramps transferred all shareholdings in Kingston Realties to my three brothers and me. We were equal owners together. Twenty-five percent each. That seemed fair to me. But while I was in jail, Cannon cooked up some scheme to have our brothers sell their shares to him. Now, he owns seventy-five percent of the company. I’m the minority shareholder. I have no say-so. My hands are tied.

  Walker shakes his head. “Bro, Cannon had to make some major sacrifices to save the company.”

  “Bullshit. Cannon screwed me over. He shouldn’t have pushed me out.”

  Walker lets out a heavy sigh, and I know he’s about to play peacekeeper. “Listen—if he hadn’t intervened, the whole company would have been dismantled. All of your work. Dad’s work. Gramps’s work. It would have been for nothing.”

  I grunt, leveling him with a look that calls bullshit. “Dad gave me a quick rundown of the legal changes in the company back during one of our parents’ monthly visits. I think he would have said something if our business was crumbling.”

  “You know Lexi?” Walker ignores my outburst.

  “The nanny’s sister,” I grumble.

  A blitz of sensations comes rushing in alongside the memory of Jessa. Her feverish kisses. Her unquenchable sighs. Her exploring hands. I can’t get any of it out of my mind.

  The worst part is how mean I’ve been to her. All because controlling myself around her is so damn hard. So much fucking guilt. I just want to give in to her. Drown in her beauty and innocence and light. In any case, I need to get my act together because repeatedly continuing to hurt this girl is unacceptable.

  Yeah, she may be insanely naive, annoyingly cute and over-the-top happy but she is good. A good person. And it’s been a long damn time since I’ve come across one of those.

  I shrug the thoughts off, pushing to my feet and picking up my hammer. If my brother and I are going to have it out, then we might as well get this porch done.

  “Lexi is Cannon’s wife,” Walker brings me back to the conversation. “Let’s just say their relationship wasn’t all rainbows and butterflies at the beginning.”

  I feel my impatience rising. “What are you getting at?”

  Walker lowers his voice and steals a peek at Callie to make sure she’s not listening in on our conversation. “Initially, Cannon and Lexi only got married so that Dad
would hand over the company to him.”

  “I knew it!” I shout, feeling justified. “I knew our brother was a crook.”

  “No, you don’t understand, Eli.” Walker huffs out. “Dad was rundown. Mom was falling apart. Everything was crumbling around them. Kingston Realties employees were quitting left and right to save their reputations when your fraud charges hit the papers.” Damn—I feel a pang when he says that. “Dad was ready to close down the business once and for all because it was too much for him to handle. Until Cannon stepped in and announced he was getting married.”

  That’s when it all clicks. “The deal…The deal between Dad and Gramps…” I mutter.

  Thirty-something years ago when Dad took over the CEO position from Ma’s father, Gramps made Dad promise him one thing—Kingston Realty Holdings would always be run as a family business. No outsiders would ever sit at the helm. And if one day, the family became unable to run the business, the assets would be liquidated and the company would be shut down.

  I always thought it was a silly agreement but fundamentally, I respected Gramps’s motivations. He’d spent the early days of his career completely devoted to building his empire, virtually neglecting his wife and two daughters. Eventually, my grandmother got sick of being overlooked and left him. That’s when Gramps began to fall apart.

  When my grandfather and I worked side-by-side at Kingston Realties, he always reminded me of that, he warned me of what would happen if I didn’t keep my wife happy. I never wanted to repeat Gramps’s history. I think that’s part of the reason I was willing to do anything, sacrifice anything to keep Gabby happy. It’s what my grandfather taught me. I spent my entire professional career striving toward the ideal the old man aspired to, struggling to balance the responsibilities of being a family man with those of being a business man.

  Look where that got me.

  “What the actual fuck?” I mutter, scrubbing a hand down my face.

  “Yeah,” Walker says. “If Cannon hadn’t stepped in, there wouldn’t even be a Kingston Realties to fight over today. Our family company would have been ancient history. Sold to some outsider. So, at least, this way, the business stayed in the family and we all got a nice payout.”

  Shit. That hits hard.

  My oldest brother shrugs a shoulder. “And on the bright side, Cannon and Lexi are happy now. They’re in love. They’ve got a kid. All’s well that ends well, right?” He chuckles.

  I huff and stew, letting this new information sink in. All this time, I’ve had Cannon framed in my mind as the bad guy. Maybe I was wrong? Maybe Cannon wasn’t deliberately trying to stab me in the back when he took over the reins at Kingston Realty Holdings? I guess I should be thankful to the bastard for keeping the company from completely falling apart. But ‘thankful’ still feels like a bit of a stretch at this point.

  Walker follows me back to the porch and grabs the other end of the tape measure to map out our next cut.

  “Anyway, speaking of happy endings, Penny and I are getting hitched in a few weeks.” Walker grins and puffs up his chest like a lottery winner holding up his oversized novelty check for the news cameras. “It’ll be a small ceremony. Right here on the property. You’ll be there, right?”

  “We’ll see,” I say noncommittally.

  Ma sent me a text message the other day, listing out all the upcoming events on the Kingston Family social calendar for the next few weeks. My parents’ 38th wedding anniversary. Gramps’ 90th birthday party. Walker’s wedding. It all gave me the hives. To say that I haven’t been feeling sociable lately is an understatement.

  Walker huffs out. “It would mean a lot to have you standing there with me, man.”

  “We’ll see,” I repeat.

  I know how much Walker loves Penny. I spent half my life watching my brother holding a torch for his best friend. Now he’s finally grown the balls to claim the woman so this is a big deal.

  Christ, I missed a lot in the past couple years. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to get back into the flow of things, to take my place in the family once again.

  I hang my head and set down the saw, feeling utterly defeated. “I’m sorry, man. I’m sorry for blowing up at you and for being an asshole about everything. The whole thing just isn’t fair, and I’m so goddamn frustrated.” Words and feelings and shit just all come tumbling out. “I want to get my life back, but I can’t. Nothing’s the same. I have no woman. No support. No job. Even my own daughter hates me. She’s terrified of me half the time.”

  His palm lands on my shoulder. “Just give it time, Eli. Callie will come around. She loves you. But she's a kid—she just doesn't know how to show it. She asked about you more than you know. When you were gone, she wanted to see pictures and hear stories and talk about you all the time.”

  My chest tightens when I hear that. I feel a flicker of hope inside.

  “If Callie’s mother hadn’t run off, things would be different right now,” I grit, so damn resentful of that woman. “I’ll never forgive Gabby for abandoning her daughter when the little girl needed her most.”

  “Remember, I know where she is,” my brother tells me. “We could go get her. Drag her back here. Force her to be a mother to her child.”

  I shake my head. My chest fills with a bitterness as black as tar. “It’s too late. I don’t want Gabby anymore.”

  A face flashes across my mind. The face of a woman I’d much rather instead. A woman who’s kind and playful and sweet. A woman I know I could never have.

  The face of the nanny.

  I push the thought away. I make another futile attempt to convince myself that I’ve got this, I can handle it all on my own, I don’t want Jessa. I’d prefer to be alone instead.

  18

  Jessa

  Baby Di lets out a little snort in her sleep then she smiles, rolls over and flings a stubby arm over her head. I titter soundlessly as I peer at my adorable niece over the edge of her crib.

  I’m hiding out at my sister’s McMansion today. Alexia and Cannon needed a night to themselves so I volunteered to watch their little girl.

  I don’t get to spend nearly enough time with my niece. Lexi has only been working part-time at her bridal shop since giving birth. Her employees handle the majority of the shop’s day-to-day activities so that my sister can spend most of her time at home with Di.

  On days when Lexi does have to go in to work, Di usually goes to the daycare centre that Cannon recently opened up for children of the staff at the Kingston Realties building. Yes—my brother-in-law opened a whole entire daycare centre just so his daughter could have other kids to play with.

  That’s some rich people shit.

  Quietly backing through the door, I leave the infant to sleep. Now that the little angel is down for the night, I have a bit of free time for myself.

  I brought my laptop along with me with the intention of doing some more job-hunting if I got a minute to spare tonight. As much as I love Callie, I no longer feel it’s reasonable that I continue working for her father. I need to find a new job. Preferably before the man fires me and leaves me homeless.

  I should be submitting online resumes to every child-focused job within the county. So why I’m curled up here on this cozy wingback chair in the living room, eating sour gummy worms and digging through rabbit hole after rabbit hole, researching the crimes that put Eli in prison is beyond me. Blatant curiosity and pounds of sugar keep me going. There’s no stopping me now.

  Over the past few months, I’ve gone through mountains of research. Every public file I’ve been able to dig up. The warrant details. Eli’s initial statements. Witness statements from former employees of Kingston Realty Holdings. Court case transcripts. Eli’s eventual guilty plea.

  Something just doesn’t add up.

  Why would Eli take the risk? Why would he compromise the good life he had going for him? He had everything to lose. His family. His reputation. His standing in the community. It doesn’t make sense that he would risk it all for a few thous
and dollars here and there when he had ‘Kingston-level’ money in the bank. I mean—they’re the richest family in town. By far.

  I pull up a photo of a smiling, waif-like blonde. Long moments pass as I stare at her again.

  Gabriella Grant-Kingston.

  Somehow, I feel like she might be the key. I just know that she’s at the core of the troubles that landed Eli in jail. But I don’t get the opportunity to fully explore that line of suspicion because, without warning, the front door blasts open. Lexi stumbles into the house with her husband hot on her trail, both of them laughing and groping each other like they’re fresh off their honeymoon.

  I’d know my sister’s tipsy-face anywhere. Her eyes are glassy, her mascara is smudged and her thick dark hair is an entire situation. Cannon’s appearance isn’t much better. His wrinkled shirt is untucked and there’s lipstick on his collar. I’m willing to bet they just finished having sex somewhere completely inappropriate.

  Lexi’s shoulders jut up to her ears when she glances over my way. “Is the baby sleeping?” she mouths as she steps out of her heels and makes a big show of tiptoeing into the foyer.

  I nod. She turns around and exaggeratedly presses her fingers to her lips, playfully demanding that Cannon be quiet, too.

  The two of them shuffle over to where I’m sitting. Cannon drops into a loveseat and hooks an arm around Lexi’s thigh, causing her to tumble into his lap. She tries to give him a stern look but the two of them end up stifling laughter.

  If they weren’t so cute, they’d be annoying as hell.

  “Was she good while we were gone?” Alexia asks.

  I can’t help the half-smile that comes up on my face at the mention of my niece. “She was an angel. As always.”

  Lexi grins while she shrugs out of her coat and tosses it over the arm of a chair. Then, she relaxes back into her husband’s arms. “So, what are you working on?” She juts her chin at my computer.

  The question jolts me back to the reality that I’ve been snooping around on my boss. Again. “Nothing.” I snap my laptop shut. I probably look guilty, though.