Lucky 7 Bad Boys Contemporary Romance Boxed Set

by Pineiro, Charity

  But the bigger part of her cringed in horror at the idea of making a scene.

  “Drew, no,” she pleaded, grabbing a hold of his arm before he could plant his fist in Ruf’s not-so-smug-now face. “Beating him up won’t make anything better.”

  “It’ll make me feel better,” he snarled, glaring at the now sweating lingerie tycoon.

  “Drew,” she said quietly. “Please.”

  She held her breath, waiting.

  Slowly, with obvious reluctance, Drew let go of the other man, taking a second to clench and unclench his fingers in the guy’s face.

  “You’ll regret this,” Rufus hissed, his face purple. He gave them both a dark glare, then realizing how many people were staring, turned heel and left.

  Natasha watched him saunter away. Her head rang and the room seemed a little dim around the edges. How the hell had he created the same design, the same support system as hers? He couldn’t have. Any photographs would just show a pretty bra. Without the actual garment itself, he wouldn’t have been able to analyze the structure, the engineering that made it so special.

  And the bra had only been stolen today. How fast was his manufacturing process that he could copy it before tomorrow morning?

  “He couldn’t have come up with the same design, Drew. He just couldn’t.”

  Drew grimaced and shook his head, his eyes watching Ruf’s quick exit.

  “Nope. I’m sure he didn’t. He stole your bra.”

  Chapter Ten

  Natasha looked like she was going to be sick.

  “Babe, let’s get you out of here.” He wrapped his arm around her shaking shoulders, leading her to the exit. If they didn’t move quickly, he didn’t think he’d be able to stop himself from beating the hell out of that thieving pervert.

  “That creep stole my design,” she murmured as if saying it enough would help her believe it.

  Drew had no belief issues. Fury churned inside him as he considered something the guy had said.

  “C’mon,” he said, taking Tasha’s hand.

  “Where?”

  “We’re going to talk to Audra.”

  Fifteen minutes later, Drew found himself pounding on the same door he’d been at earlier that afternoon. Only this time, there was a different reason for his visit.

  “What?” Audra snapped when she yanked the door open. “Come to gloat? I have other things to do, so put it on hold for a while, okay?”

  “I want to talk to you.” Drew shouldered her aside and stormed into the room, kicking piles of clothes and shoes out of his way.

  “Audra, are you okay?” Natasha asked softly.

  Drew shot a glance at his sister. But other than the streaky black thing she had going on with her eye makeup, she looked normal to him.

  “The person who isn’t fine here is Natasha. Maybe you can help us out with that, Audra.”

  Looking confused at first, Audra gave a moody shrug. “What? She didn’t like her contract? Not enough bennies to keep her dressed in Ann Taylor?”

  “I’m more a Michael Kors gal, and that’s not the point,” Natasha said, her face tight.

  “What’s the problem then?” Audra plopped onto her bed and pulled her legs under her. “You got the contract. I didn’t. Other than Ruf offering up a whole lot of promises he didn’t keep to me, I don’t see an issue.”

  Audra paused, then gave an evil grin. “Well, he might be a mess when I’m through with him. But what’s that got to do with you guys?”

  “Audra, do you know anything about a special launch Ruf is planning tomorrow?” Natasha asked.

  Audra pressed her lips tight, the black smudges under her eyes standing out in strong relief.

  Drew’s heart sank. Damn. Ruf had hinted, but Drew had been sure the guy was just trying to blow smoke in a different direction. But if the look on her face was anything to go by, his sister had something to do with destroying Natasha’s business.

  “He won’t be going through with the launch,” Audra growled.

  “What do you mean? He told me he would be.” Natasha sounded confused.

  “He screwed me over, so the launch is kaput.”

  “What are you talking about?” Drew asked. “He told us that he’s going ahead with it, that he’s going to present a new bra design. A very special bra.”

  “Huh? I have no clue about that.”

  Yeah, right.

  “What do you think he’s launching then?” Natasha asked. Where the hell did she find her calm? Then Drew got a good look at her, and saw the mix of anger and worry in her eyes. “A new line?”

  “Nothing,” Audra said in a sullen tone. She didn’t meet their gaze, but instead focused on a string hanging from her ratty jeans.

  “Audra?”

  “What? It’s not a biggie. He’d promised me the account, and said he’d be introducing me as his new assistant tomorrow. Since he lied about the account, I have to figure he lied about the job, too.”

  “Oh, my God. What a total sleaze,” Natasha breathed. All the pain was gone from her face. Now she looked ready to kill someone—especially someone with a stupid little moustache.

  “That dirtball promised you the contract and a job if you stole Tasha’s design?” God help him, Drew was going to beat the living crap out of the old guy.

  “What are you talking about? He promised me the account and the job, sure. But what design?”

  Drew and Natasha exchanged glances. The pain in her gaze made him want to pound something. Or someone.

  “What design are you guys talking about,” Audra asked again.

  “Apparently, Ruf is planning to present his latest design. It’s so amazingly similar to mine, according to him, that he’s not only uninterested in my proposal, but he’s strongly suggested I not try to market my design, since it could be considered bootlegging on my part.”

  Audra’s jaw dropped in shock.

  “That son of a bitch!”

  “To say the least,” Natasha agreed, the tears she’d been holding back spilling over.

  Drew wanted to run from the room, but manfully held his ground.

  “Aw, damn,” Audra said, seeming just as uncomfortable. She got up and scooted into the bathroom to grab tissues, then shoved them toward Natasha.

  “We’ll fix it,” Drew promised.

  “How? How can this be fixed?” The tears cleared and a manic look lit Natasha’s eyes. “I know. We’ll haul Ruf off to a strip club, Audra can accuse him of accosting her and we’ll get the bouncers to beat him up. He’ll be hospitalized for so long, my patent will probably come through.”

  Whoa. Drew blinked a couple of times to make sure that was still his sweet Natasha standing there. Who knew she could think that way.

  “That’s one option,” he said slowly, shooting his sister a dirty look when she applauded. “Or Audra can admit she stole the bra for him so we can nail him for this whole mess.”

  “What?” Audra yelped. “You think I stole that bra? Are you crazy?”

  “You said you’d made a deal with Randall to make sure you got the contract, didn’t you?”

  “And what? That means I stole from Natasha?”

  “I think it’s a strong possibility.” He hated to believe it, but it made sense.

  “What about the fact that I didn’t get the contract, huh? Doesn’t that tell you anything?”

  “It tells me there’s no honor among thieves. Obviously he has no issue with lying to anyone about anything.”

  “You’re such a jerk, Drew. You think you’ve got it all figured out? Fine. Go ahead and pass judgment. I don’t need this crap from you.”

  “Too bad,” he snapped, finally having enough. “You’ve run wild long enough, Audra. Sure, it’s fun. Yes, you deserve a good time. I never wanted to hold you back the way I was. But I’ll be damned if I’m going to let your actions hurt Natasha.”

  “Oh, poor you, having to give up running wild. As if,” she snorted. “You didn’t have to give up a damned thing, Drew. You ch
ose to quit riding your Harley, to quit playing pool. Nobody made you. Just like you chose to let me go. You lost custody and you walked away.”

  “Oh, sure, I walked. I carried a debt the equivalent of the state deficit to cover your support payments, Dad’s medical bills, and the damned business you wanted bad enough to steal for. So if you want to call that walking, you go right ahead.”

  “What the hell are you talking about? What debt?”

  The red-tinged edge of fury fading, Drew sucked in a deep breath and shrugged. He shouldn’t have brought it up. The debt, the responsibility, it was his.

  “It doesn’t matter. It’s not like there is anything you could do about it. All I asked was that you get your shit together. But that was obviously too much, wasn’t it?” Drew shook his head and gave an ironic laugh. “I’m through. You screw Natasha over and we’re done.”

  “Just like that? It’s all or nothing with you. You don’t even look for other options. If you don’t get your way, you bail. And that sucks.” Audra clenched her jaw, glaring at him through their father’s eyes. It was that same expression Drew had seen so often—a combination of disappointment, resignation and angry helplessness. She shot a quick look at Natasha, who sat silent in the corner as their family drama spewed around the room.

  Then Audra gave Drew her patented sneer and screw you shrug.

  “Whatever. I’m outta here. You have fun up in that ivory tower, Drew.” She headed for the door, then stopped and turned to look at Natasha again. “I’m sorry for this mess and that your design was stolen.”

  Then, just like that, she left.

  Drew dropped into the chair and covered his face with his hands. With a deep breath, he tried to gather his thoughts, but it was useless.

  “We’ll figure out a way to fix this,” he said softly, finally looking up at Natasha. “Somehow I’ll make it up to you.”

  “There’s nothing to make up,” she said in a tight voice.

  “Sure there is. If nothing else, I can try to corral a few contacts who might be interested in your aunt’s business.”

  Natasha’s eyes narrowed.

  What? He was making solid suggestions here.

  “You sound as if you don’t think I should buy Sensual Supports any longer.”

  “Why would you? That dream went belly up. Without that design, or a contract with Randall, what do you have? Not enough to keep you afloat and take care of your aunt, too.”

  “And just like that, I walk away from it? The dream was more than this convention, Drew. More than a few contracts. It was a lifestyle. A freedom.”

  “There isn’t much freedom in starving to pay off debts.”

  She silently considered his words. Frown lines furrowed her forehead and she finally heaved a deep sigh.

  “Drew, why don’t you have dreams anymore? When I asked you about it, you brushed me off.”

  “Who the hell has time for chasing dreams? I’m too busy cleaning up messes.”

  “I think you’re so used to cleaning up messes, you see them where they don’t actually exist.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “I’m sorry. But I agree with Audra. You really do have an all or nothing attitude sometimes. How did she put it? It sucks?”

  “Again, what the hell are you talking about? I don’t expect Audra to make sense, but you’re smarter than that.”

  “I’m talking about your habit of leaving if things aren’t exactly the way you want them.” She swiped a hand down her tear-streaked face, managing to look cool despite the ravages of her earlier meltdown. “From what I understand, when you didn’t get custody of Audra like you wanted, you just walked away.”

  How damned easy did they think it was to juggle all the expenses he’d been stuck with? How much more was he supposed to have done? Sure, there had been times when he’d felt that he’d taken the easy way out. He knew his father would have expected him to spend time with Audra, even if she wasn’t living with him. But he was working three hundred and sixty plus days a year. When was he supposed to have hung out with a teenager?

  “You’re overreacting,” he muttered.

  “Am I? Look at how you gamble. You toss everything on the table and hope it works. Just like you bet on me keeping the Perfect Passion account from your sister. You put one hundred percent into something, which is great. But when it doesn’t pan out, you don’t look at what’s left of the pieces. You just let it all go.”

  She stood and ran a hand over her hip to smooth her skirt. Then she met his eyes. And Drew knew it was pointless to offer any explanation, any argument. She wasn’t going to listen. Talk about all or nothing. She’d already made up her mind.

  “Before you can do it again, I’m going to be the one to leave. Goodnight, Drew.”

  “What about the stolen bra design?” he asked. Somehow he was going to have to come up with a way to make that up to her. “I won’t let Audra’s idiocy ruin your plans. Your business.”

  Natasha shot him a look that made him feel like he’d stepped in something

  “Unlike you, I don’t think your sister stole my design.”

  Drew snorted and rolled his eyes.

  “I don’t. Audra is hardly the type to sneak around. If she wants something, she might grab it out from under your nose, but she isn’t going to skulk around to get it. And somehow, I doubt she’s going to run away if she doesn’t get her way.”

  “What? You think Randall’s fairy tale is true?”

  “Hardly. But I’m willing to look beyond my personal feelings and his little smokescreen. There has to be a much simpler explanation. Why don’t you try it?”

  The solid snap of the door as it closed behind her held an air of finality.

  Drew sank to the bed, wondering how the hell a weekend in the wildest of cities had ended up blowing life as he knew it all to hell.

  How ironic was it that it had taken Natasha walking away for him to realize he did have a dream. Something he wanted deep in his heart of hearts. He wanted her. Damn. He was going to have to do something about this mess. Because he’d just realized she was one dream he wasn’t going to let go.

  * * *

  Natasha sat in the softly lit hotel bar and nursed her third drink. She was teetering on the wrong side of buzzed, but the rum hadn’t made a dent in her depression.

  “I’m sorry, Tash,” Lanie said for the fourth time that hour. Natasha had left Audra’s room to find Lanie, then insisted they hide in the bar since she didn’t want to go near her room in case Drew tried to track her down.

  “I just can’t believe I wasted the week chasing that scummy cheating thief’s account.”

  “Well, how were you to know? Your aunt wanted it. You were helping her business survive.”

  “Sure. Except now, it’s my business and it’s in the toilet. I can’t pitch to C.C. and Company with a questionable design. Unless Ruf owns up to being a scum sucking underwear thief and gives up his evil plan, I’m screwed.” Natasha drained her rum and coke, and signaled the server for another round.

  She’d had such big plans for tonight.

  She’d figured she’d be on top of the world, sporting offers left and right to launch her big entry into the lingerie business. She’d planned on celebrating by having countless sexual adventures with Drew, possibly ending in propositioning him to see her back in California, even if she had to proposition him while he was passed out between rounds of sex.

  Instead, this night totally sucked.

  Especially since she’d called her parents and tendered her resignation, officially burning that bridge.

  Brilliant.

  “’Scuse me?”

  “Audra?”

  “Yeah, um, hi.” The expression on the younger woman’s face was one Natasha had never seen before. Vulnerability.

  “Hi.” Natasha gestured to the server, and asked, “Want to join us?”

  “You’re kidding, right?” She clearly didn’t expect to be welcomed. What? She thought
Natasha would rip her to shreds? Wasn’t one unfair attack a day enough?

  “No, please, do join us.”

  “Yeah, c’mon.” Lanie grabbed a chair from the empty table next to them and pulled it over, then gestured to Audra to sit.

  Once she’d tentatively joined them and Natasha had made formal introductions, the server took her order. Lanie stared, not even trying to hide her curiosity.

  After a confused look at the redhead, Audra took a deep breath and angled her body toward Natasha.

  “Look, I’m not trying to make excuses for working to get that account, you know? I’m not all nicey-nice. If I could have got that account, I’d have taken it and not looked back. But I wouldn’t steal to get it. I didn’t swipe your design.”

  Natasha smiled to the server as the woman set their drinks on the table and slipped her enough to cover all three plus a tip. Then she took a sip of her sugar-laced booze and gave Audra her coolest look.

  “And I don’t regret winning the account. I’d say it was good for both of us to compete for it, although I didn’t feel that way most of this week.” Natasha set her drink on the table and leaned forward to look the young woman direct in the eye. “Audra, I never thought you stole my design. I told your brother that already.”

  She didn’t bother to mention those were some of the last words she’d said to Drew. She wasn’t ready to deal with the hurt, the disappointment in him.

  “You don’t think I stole it?”

  “No. You’re not that sneaky.”

  “Oh.” Apparently Audra hadn’t expected that, because she was at a loss for words. For a moment. Then she sucked in her pouty lower lip, squared her shoulders and lifted her chin. “Well, good. I’m glad I don’t have to waste a bunch of time trying to convince you, ya know? Because I’m pretty sure I know who did steal it.”

  “Ruf?”

  “Yeah. I guess you figured it out, too.”

  “He’s really the only one who has anything to gain. He must have figured I wouldn’t try too hard to chase a design when this isn’t even my business, and he was throwing my aunt the account as a bone to pacify us both.”

  “Except now it is your business,” Lanie added, stirring her margarita with the large strawberry before chomping into it. “He obviously figured wrong.”