by M. Malone
Still Brazen
M. Malone
Nana Malone
Contents
Blurb
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
More from The Malones
About the Authors
Blurb
How the hell did I, the perpetual bachelor, end up accidentally married in Vegas—to my client?
As soon as I find out who’s trying to kill her, we’ll get a quickie divorce…or will we? I was never supposed to be married. I was never supposed to fall in love. I was never supposed to put her in danger.
But now that she’s back in my life I wonder if some things shouldn’t stay in Vegas.
To keep her I’ll have to fight for her. Good thing I’m brazen enough to do just that.
* * *
*The conclusion to the Brazen duet
1
Hailey
“God, you were always treated like a goddamn princess.”
What was he talking about? Yeah, Dad and I had a great relationship, but Mom never loved me. But I knew better than to say that to him.
“Look, we all love you. And I’m just – honestly, I’m just trying to survive. I’m just trying to do the best that I can for this company, Mom, Dad, you. I never meant to shut you out.”
“God, you’ve got everything. Dad bent over backward to make you feel loved and wanted.”
Where was he going with this? Was he upset that Mom was drinking again? Or is this about what I’d just seen?
“Evan, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I love you. I don’t know why you hate me. You never used to. I was always the one that you would come to. You used to talk to me. And it just changed.”
“I didn't change. This is me. The perpetual disappointment.”
“And six months ago, what the hell did I do to you? You started acting like—" I didn’t finish that. I was going to say that he’d, started acting like Mom. “You started acting like you didn’t care. Like you hated me. Like I’d done something to you, and I still can’t figure out what I did to deserve your loathing. You stopped coming to work. You started gambling.”
His brows snapped down. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yes, I do. Who do you think paid your debt two months ago at the horse races? You made a bet out there and Deborah Lachlan approached me. I was kind of embarrassed. So I just—I made it go away.”
“I don’t need you to do anything for me.”
“You’re my brother.”
“Stop saying that.”
“Why would I stop saying that?”
He ran his hands through his hair, tugging it. All I could do was stare at the gun.
“Evan, just put the gun down. We’ll talk about this, okay? You don’t have to do this. Whatever you think you need to do, you don’t. You and I can fix everything.”
He lifted his brows then and shook his head flatly. Then he glanced down at the gun. “This? This is for protection. There’s someone out there shooting.” He exhaled a long breath. “And yeah, okay fine, I’ve been gambling a little. And there are some people that want money that I don’t necessarily have right now, so I got it for protection.”
“Okay, I get it. But maybe you could put it down now.”
He lifted his gaze to peer at me and shook his head. “You think I would hurt you?”
“What am I supposed to think?” To be safe, I began to back away because he still held the gun, and I wasn’t sure if the safety was on. “Evan, in case it has escaped your notice, there’s a maniac out there shooting people.”
“What? And you thought it was me?”
“Well, yeah. You came into the safe room with a gun.”
“This is the safe room, remember? I’m part of the inner circle. I knew that this was a safe room.”
Had he? I couldn’t ascertain the truth of that. “Okay, then tell me what the hell is going on. What happened six months ago?”
He tugged at his hair again. “Fuck! Why can’t our parents just fix their own goddamn problem?”
“I have no idea. Why don’t you tell me what’s happening?”
“It’s all about you. As always.”
“Explain, because clearly, I don’t know what the fuck is going on.”
He chuckled then. “Ah, there she is, the real Hailey. The one you never let out because, God forbid, you’d look less than perfect.”
“Fuck you.” I knew I shouldn’t have said that, but goddamn it, I was tired.
He laughed then. “You know, I actually prefer it when you’re you. At least you’re honest.”
“I am honest.”
“Whatever. You just need to be perfect.”
“I try really hard to be perfect for Mom. We’ll just—" I didn’t finish. I wasn’t going to give him that piece of ammo.
“Isn’t it enough that you have Dad?”
“I don’t think it’s unreasonable to want both of my parents to love me.”
“When I found out, it was like everyone had fucking lied to me.”
“Found out what?”
“God, you don’t even know? How dumb are you? You’re adopted! I found out six months ago. And considering that you’ve worked with Dad to edge me out of my own company, I assumed you knew.”
Just hearing the words come out of his mouth let the wind out of my sails. I didn’t even care if he shot me at that point. I eased into one of the conference chairs and let the air seep out of my lungs.
So it was true, the images I’d seen. The dates had been right.
“Fuck, you really didn’t know?”
I shook my head. “No. I didn’t know.”
My brother frowned then. “So, Dad giving you a piece of the company, all this time, you didn’t do it on purpose?”
I shook my head. “Evan, I would never do that to you. I would never force you out. This is your home as much as mine. I had no idea. I didn’t try to steal the company from you, or whatever the hell it is that you think I’ve been doing. I wanted Miriam to be a success so Mom would be proud of me. So that she would—" I took a deep breath. “So that Mom would love me. Pathetic, I know. Saying it out loud, I recognize how sad it sounds.”
Evan eased into the chair across from me and laid the gun on the table. “You really didn’t know?”
“Nope. I just saw the pictures from the presentation, and I thought they had the dates wrong because, if they were right, Mom should have been huge. But she looked basically the same. I thought it was a mistake. I—I didn’t even imagine something like this.”
Evan’s body sagged as he slouched into the chair. “Well, fuck!”
Oskar
“What the fuck do you mean he got away?”
Matthias’s voice came over the coms. “Everyone has reported back. No shooter.”
“Okay, where is she?”
Rafe’s voice was clear. “I’m out back with Tyse having another look around. Hailey is in conference room one.”
I took off running. I just had to see for myself that she was okay. I called her, but she didn’t answer.
“Come on. Come on. Come on.” I called her again. Straight to voice mail. “I’m heading for Hailey.”
Everyone confirm
ed on the coms. The sooner I could get out of here, the better I’d feel. We were missing something. Whoever this asshole was, he was three steps ahead of us. I ran down to the board room. When I opened the door, there was a flurry of activity. Hailey was at the conference table, and so was Evan, but he was standing with a gun in his hand. I had my weapon out in one second. I tapped my com unit. “May day, conference room.” That was all I needed to say. Everyone would come.
Hailey stood.
“Oskar, wait.”
“Wait for what? He has a gun on you.”
Evan threw up his hands. “Oh, for fuck’s sake.”
I steadied my gun on him. “Stop moving, asshole. I happen to be a crack shot.” Evan, the asshole, did not drop his weapon. The side door opened and Rafe came through, gun raised, but he didn’t fire.
I shifted my glance to him for a second. “What the fuck? Shoot.”
Rafe assessed the situation and shook his head.
“Asshole. Hailey, baby come here. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. He’s not going to hurt me. Evan, tell them you’re not going to hurt me.”
“I have zero intention of hurting my sister.”
“Great, asshole, then drop your fucking weapon.” I kept my weapon raised and shifted my body in front of Hailey’s. She tried to shove me out of the way, but yeah, good luck with that. I softened my voice. “Hailey, are you okay?”
Her voice was softer too. “Yes, I’m fine. Are you okay?”
I scoffed. “Yeah, clearly. Except, my girlfriend’s brother is trying to give me a fucking heart attack.”
I could almost hear her smile. “I’m your girlfriend?”
“Actually, technically you’re my wife.”
“I do like how you say that.”
I rolled my eyes. “Rafe, what the fuck?”
Rafe shook his head. “You know the directive. You don’t shoot unless there is clear and present danger. Right now, he’s not aiming the weapon. But dumbass should fucking let it go.”
Evan shook his head. “What guarantee do I have that you guys aren’t going to shoot me unarmed?”
Hailey tried to peek out from under my arm. “I will guarantee it. Gentlemen, do not shoot my brother.”
Rafe didn’t budge. He didn’t even glance her way. I, on the other hand, just tucked her back behind me. I was wearing a bullet proof vest. But in her dress, low cut as it was with a slit so close to heaven I wouldn’t even have to take the damn thing off to fuck her, she was not bulletproof.
Evan shook his head. “You have to put your guns down, and I’ll put mine down.”
I shook my head. “That’s not how it works, asshole. You have a gun on your sister, I keep my weapon. And you really don’t want him to shoot you. He likes killing things. I don’t relish the thought. It would piss your sister off.”
Evan swallowed hard. He shifted his gaze to Rafe and then back to me. Slowly, he eased the gun onto the table. At that moment, Tyse and Jonas came running to the door. Matthias was fast on their heels.
Noah was in my ear on the coms. “What the fuck is happening?”
I spoke evenly. “Evan Livingston thought it might be fun to hold a gun on his sister. And your boy Rafe, Sir Kills-a-lot, isn’t shooting him.”
Rafe eased forward, making sure that Evan didn’t reach for his gun again. Then quickly, he secured him.
Tyse, apparently knew his job, because he came over with the zip ties and had Evan’s hands locked and loaded, and was already taking him from Rafe.
Rafe grabbed the gun and stuck it in his back. I glowered at him. “Oh sure, now you want to think before you shoot people.”
Rafe just shook his head. “I didn’t even shoot at you. You think you’d let that shit go.”
“Never.”
I pulled Hailey out from behind me, and I ran my hands over her face. Her neck, her shoulder, her breasts. Hey, I just had to check that the girls were okay. And then finally, her torso and her back. She was uninjured as far as I could tell. “I just had to see for myself.”
She raised a brow. “You needed to test my tits to see if they’d been shot?”
I nodded sagely. “You never know. Sometimes adrenaline can make you not feel any pain, so I had to double check.”
She shook her head. “What is going to happen to my brother?”
I pulled her close and kissed her forehead. “Let’s get home. We’ll deal with it after that, okay? I just want you safe and out of here.”
“It’s not what you think.” She pulled back. “I swear. He wasn’t going to hurt me.”
God, I wished I could believe her. “We’ll sort it out at the penthouse, okay? Come on. Right now, I just want to make sure you’re safe.”
For once, she didn’t argue with me.
2
Hailey
They wouldn’t tell me anything.
I fumed silently, watching as Oskar and various other members of the Blake Security team came and went, all of them tacitly avoiding my eyes. The most logical response to the events of the last few hours should be fear, but I was too far gone to even be scared. I’d blown past scared and straight to furious.
Evan had pulled a gun on me! Sure, he claimed he hadn’t been planning to use it, but the more I thought about it, the less certain I was of his words. After all, he’d been lying for months about my true parentage. Who knew what else he was hiding?
Outside observers to our relationship might think I should have at least considered the possibility that Evan might want to hurt me, but I’d always thought our contentious relationship was like so many other sibling relationships. Competing for parental attention could make you unfriendly but not homicidal. How had I missed the signs? Or was Evan just that good at pretending?
I hugged my arms around my middle. Even if Evan didn’t feel the same way, I would always think of him as my big brother. The boy who’d once pulled my pigtails, shared his candy with me and made the most epic blanket forts. Whether we shared the same bloodline or not, we would always have those memories.
It was going to take a while before I was ready to face this new world.
Oskar entered the room again. I jumped up and stepped in his path so he couldn’t ignore me.
“What’s going on? I want to know what’s happening with my brother.” When he wouldn’t meet my eyes, I crossed my arms.
Oskar sighed. “He’s being interrogated by Matthias.”
Going through my mental catalog of all the guys I’d met recently, I shivered a little remembering the intense young man with the tattoos. He’d been friendly enough, but there was something in his eyes that made me sure he was anything but.
Just then the elevator doors opened and Priya walked out followed by Dylan.
“Hailey! There you are!” Priya rushed forward, arms open, and I accepted the hug gratefully.
All the emotion I’d been suppressing spilled over and I clung to her, burying my face in her shoulder. How had things gone so wrong so quickly? Just a few hours ago I was worried about whether I would nail my speech not whether my only sibling was trying to kill me.
“Are you okay? What happened? They wouldn’t tell me anything.” After sending a sour look over her shoulder at Dylan, Priya took my arm gently and led me over to the couch in the waiting area.
“I think… I still can’t believe this, but Evan might have been the shooter.”
Her eyes rounded. “Oh no. I’m so sorry, Hailey. What the hell is going on with Evan?”
“I wish I knew. We’ve always fought but all siblings fight, right? But tonight, there was something different about him. He didn’t look right.” My lip trembled remembering the hatred in Evan’s eyes as he’d raised the gun and pointed it right at me. “He really hates me, Priya. My own brother hates me.”
“Oh sweetie.” Priya pulled me into another hug, rubbing my arms gently. It was exactly the comfort I needed just then after having my entire world turned upside down.
“Is it stupid that I want to
believe he’s innocent? That maybe there’s something else going on and he wasn’t really trying to hurt me?”
“Of course, it’s not stupid. He’s your brother. You just want to believe the best. It’s not your job to believe the worst. That’s why you have us.” Priya looked behind us to where Oskar and the others were standing in a group talking. “If you have to be in danger, this is a good team to have on your side.”
Oskar broke away from the group and walked over. Priya looked between us and then squeezed my arm. “I’m just going to make you a cup of tea or something.”
As soon as she left, Oskar sat next to me on the couch. He looked uncomfortable. Not that strange considering what had just happened, but it still made me nervous.
“What is it? Did you find out anything else about Evan? What about my parents? I know you told me earlier they were fine but—"
Oskar held up a hand to hold off all the questions. “They’re safe. Everyone is safe, actually. Your brother isn’t a very good shot.”
My shoulders slumped. “So you’re sure it was him?”
His eyes were sympathetic, although he probably thought I was an idiot for holding out hope there was some other villain in the wings to blame.
“We’ll know more when Matthias is done with him. But there’s no more damning evidence than literally being caught trying to shoot someone. Fuck.” He ran his hands over his face roughly. “When I think about what could have happened… if Rafe had been any slower, you might not be here right now.”
I was moved by the emotions moving over his face. Not caring who could see us, I launched myself into his lap and pressed my lips to his. Oskar threaded a hand through my hair, dislodging the carefully arranged bun I’d styled with such precision earlier. Neither of us cared where we were or who was watching. All that mattered was this passion that sparked whenever we touched and reminded us what it meant to be alive.
