by Aubrey Rose
Stuart groaned again and scrubbed his hands over his face. His mouth felt as though some sort of furry creature had crawled inside and died, and his head, now that he was awake, was beginning to pound.
The promise of coffee—rich, black, and strong—drew him from his chair in the living room and out in the direction of the kitchen.
Riley had one of the new-fangled coffee machines and it hummed happily on the kitchen counter. Stuart’s mouth practically watered at the smell it was emitting but he had no idea how he was supposed to get the complicated contraption to work.
After unsuccessfully poking and prodding at it and only succeeding in making the machine complain loudly he gave up and rifled through the cupboards. He found a jar of instant coffee and quickly boiled the kettle but the moment he lifted the weak, bitter-smelling brown concoction to his lips he winced.
It tasted worse than he could ever have imagined. Closing his eyes he swallowed down several large gulps, reminding him of the way he used to eat vegetables as a child.
Moving to the sink, Stuart ran the cup beneath the tap, watching the water as it disappeared down the drain. A shower was his only hope for feeling more human. The coffee machine hissed and gurgled as though it agreed with him and Stuart shot it a dirty look. He wasn’t the type of person who always needed the latest gadget. As far as he was concerned simple was always better, although the disgusting cup of instant coffee he’d just had would argue that point.
Heading from the kitchen he moved through the house and out into the hall. There was silence and Stuart considered calling out to his brother, since he had to be somewhere around the expansive property. Giving up on that idea, Stuart grabbed his travel bag with the few items of clothes he had brought and headed up the stairs.
Moving to the end of the hall Stuart easily found the room he used to stay in. Pushing open the door he dropped the bag down on the large bed and began to strip.
The en-suite bathroom was just as he remembered it and as he stepped beneath the hot spray of water in the shower, a sound from the bedroom caught his attention. He paused mid-lather and strained to listen above the flow of water.
“Hello?” he called out but silence greeted him and Stuart shrugged. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d been wrong. He continued to shower, the water reviving him and driving the cobwebs from his head. Stepping from the shower he grabbed a towel from the rail and wrapped it around his waist. The towel was far too small and as Stuart stepped out into the bedroom he quickly realised what the sound had been.
A woman was draped across his bed and stared up at him with deep green eyes. She dropped her gaze, her lips spreading into a smile as she took in the towel that barely concealed him.
“Who the hell are you?” Stuart’s voice lifted, anger making him tense.
He watched as she stretched across the bed, spreading her highlighted hair beneath her as she stared up at him with a pout on her face.
“Is that any way to speak to your future boss?”
Stuart shook his head and laughed in disbelief.
“Boss? I don’t think so.”
She pouted again and sat up. Pushing to her feet, Stuart was left in no doubt as to how little material made up the dress she wore. It skimmed the tops of her slender thighs, barely concealing the juncture to her legs and as she stalked towards him he couldn’t help but wonder what exactly was holding it in place across her artificially inflated chest.
She paused in front of him, one perfectly manicured nail trailing down the front of his chest to the top of the towel perched across his hips.
“I could be the best boss you’ve ever had...”
Her voice dropped to a low purr.
Stuart struggled to take a deep breath, the cloud of perfume she’d arrived in was slowly smothering him. He took a step back and moved around her heading for the door.
Her hand whipped out, her fingers closing around the top of the towel as she attempted to snatch it from his grip but Stuart was there first. He caught her wrist and swung her body in towards his own before bundling her towards the door.
“I’m sure you’ll be just as good when I’m dressed.”
Stuart dumped her outside the bedroom door and slammed it shut. What the hell was Riley thinking? The last thing Stuart wanted was a complication like that. His brother had a warped sense of humour if he called him up here with the promise of a job and that was what he had in mind.
“Suit yourself!”
Her voice was high and irritating as she called to him through the door. Stuart gritted his teeth and curled his hands into fists. When he found Riley he’d give him a piece of his mind.
The moment he was dressed, Stuart headed from the bedroom and down the stairs. The door into Riley’s office was shut and as Stuart approached it he could hear raised voices from within.
He didn’t see the point in knocking and pushed the door open without invite. The woman who had draped herself across his bed was now lying across a leather couch Riley had set against the back wall.
Riley himself was seated behind a large desk that to Stuart looked as though it belonged in some sort of English Duke’s study and not here in his older brother’s office.
“We need to talk...”
Stuart didn’t wait for Riley to speak but the unmistakable flicker of irritation in his brother’s eyes told him he was happy for the intrusion.
“If this is about our earlier meeting you can say whatever you need to say in front of me.”
The woman on the couch sat up and folded her arms across her chest like a petulant child. Stuart contemplated bundling her from the office but instead he moved inside and took up a position near the window. Riley could deal with her. He’d already been propositioned by her once and Stuart knew a woman like that wouldn’t be brushed off a second time.
“This is a discussion between my brother and me. It’s a family matter.”
Stuart kept his voice even despite the fact that her mere presence in the room disturbed him.
“Riley, I won’t just be dismissed. You need me and...”
Riley stood and smiled politely at her, his behaviour instantly piquing Stuart’s interest. This wasn’t the brother he knew. There would have been a time when Riley wouldn’t have behaved with such levity.
“Chelsea, I promise you this is not you being dismissed. if I thought that was the case then I would be the first to intervene and you know that.
“I’m afraid this is just a case of my brother forgetting his manners—a slip up I’m sure he’s very sorry for.”
Riley turned and shot Stuart a pointed look, one that said he expected him to play along, to apologise to the entitled brat on the couch.
Stuart plastered a smile across his face, the most charming look he could manage before returning his gaze to the woman Riley had addressed as Chelsea.
“Riley is right, I have no manners... It wasn’t something I was blessed with.”
Stuart shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans and fell silent. As far as he was concerned, Riley could play as many games as he wanted but he wouldn’t be dragged into them. Stuart didn’t enjoy the world of the rich and the entitled, it was one of the reasons he had forsaken his claim to his parents’ estate. His time in Special Forces made him particularly good at his job in personal security but that was as close to the world of super rich as he ever wanted to be anymore.
Chelsea’s eyes narrowed and Stuart knew he had made an enemy. She was a woman who liked to get her own way and Stuart was obviously the first man to reject her.
“Grey will hear about this.”
She stood and stalked from the room, slamming the door behind her hard enough to rattle the glass in the windows.
“What the hell was that about?” Riley said.
Stuart watched as his brother shoved his hands back through his dark hair, making his normally perfectly gelled hair stand on end.
“I could ask you the same thing. You led me to believe I would be working for a
man, an up and coming politician you said. Instead I get out of the shower and that harpy has spread herself across the bed, tells me she’s my new boss. Tried to rip the towel off me...”
Stuart trailed off as he caught sight of his brother’s incredulous look.
“And you did what exactly, Stuart?”
Riley’s voice was filled with warning.
“What do you think I did? I dumped her out of the room, got dressed and came here to ask you what was going on.”
Riley’s face suddenly filled with relief and Stuart felt himself bristling with irritation.
“You thought I’d...”
Riley cut him off before Stuart could even get the words out.
“I wasn’t sure. I know how persuasive Chelsea can be. Griffin almost fell for her charms when he stayed here during his tour. He was drunk and Chelsea was more than willing to try and help him out of his jeans.”
“And what happened?”
It didn’t surprise Stuart to hear that their younger brother had almost succumbed to a woman like Chelsea. The lifestyle of a rock star seemed to Stuart to be one constant party.
“Let’s just say it was more of Griffin than I ever wanted to see. Chelsea was more than happy to move onto the drummer...”
Stuart started to laugh, the sound bubbling up out of him as he imagined uptight Riley intervening.
“She seems to be particularly determined to bed a Reynolds and now that you’re in town and you’ll be working for her brother...”
“So I won’t have anything to do with her?” Stuart interjected.
“Well, it’ll depend on what Grey wants you to do.”
Stuart’s ears instantly picked up. Chelsea had mentioned the same name but it wasn’t the first time Stuart had heard it. The name was distinct enough to make him take note.
“Grey Mattheson?” Stuart asked, suddenly interested in what his brother had to say.
“Yeah, have you heard of him? I know he’s a politician but I didn’t think anyone had really heard of him outside of Breaker’s Point.”
“There was a waitress yesterday, and she seemed to think I was working for him, that I had the look of one of his boys...”
Riley nodded and shrugged.
“I guess you do but I wouldn’t take it the wrong way. Grey has quite a few guys working for him. You’ll fit right in.”
“I wasn’t taking it the wrong way. She was really upset... Who is this guy anyway? There has to be a reason why you’re so keen to get me in there?”
Riley took his seat behind the desk once more and steepled his hands in front of him. Stuart watched him, his impatience growing with every second that ticked by.
“Grey is one of the richest men in Breaker’s Point. He has some serious clout coming behind him too, especially since he decided to get into politics...”
Riley paused and Stuart fought the urge to reach across the desk and shake his brother.
“And? I can’t imagine that you’re interested in him for that reason. Anyone could say the same thing about you.”
Riley shook his head.
“No, not like this they couldn’t. Grey simply appeared. His money can’t be traced back in any concrete way. His parents were middle class, and hard working. I have a feeling that the people he’s connected to are very bad news and they have plans for Breaker’s Point.”
“And that concerns you how?”
Riley sighed, frustration evident on his face.
“He had me sign off on some building plans on an airfield. Nothing has come of it but I know there have been quite a few unscheduled comings and goings.”
Stuart sighed and moved over to the couch.
“And you expect me to do what, exactly? He’s not going to trust me. He knows I’m your brother. If he hasn’t brought you into the fold he’s not going to do it with me.”
“I never thought that would happen, Stuart, and I don’t particularly expect you to get close to him. But his men will talk. I want you to simply listen...”
Stuart narrowed his eyes and gave his brother a hard look.
“What exactly are you hoping to get out of all of this? I’m not buying the ‘citizen of the year’ crap, Riley, that’s not you. You’re a good guy but you wouldn’t deliberately put your neck on the line and risk all of this” —Stuart gestured to his surroundings— “without something truly important at stake. So either come clean and I’ll consider helping you, or I leave.”
Riley’s expression turned sour and Stuart could see the inner battle he was having. Whatever it was, it was important enough for Riley to want to get involved in something that normally he would have avoided like the plague.
“This has to do with some woman, doesn’t it?” Stuart said, realisation dawning on him.
“No, it has nothing to do...”
Stuart cut his brother off and pushed up to his feet.
“If you’re going to lie, Riley, I’m going to leave. Sort it yourself.”
“Fine, there’s a woman but it’s not what you think.”
“You don’t know what I think,” Stuart quipped back as he sank down into his seat.
“I’m not comfortable telling you any of this... She doesn’t even know I’m doing it for her...”
“What hold has she over you, Riley?”
Stuart couldn’t imagine any woman having such control over his brother, a brother who was normally so untouched by everything going on around him.
“Grey did something, or at least I have a suspicion he did but I can’t prove it until I have some sort of confirmation from you.”
Stuart shook his head and scrubbed his hands across his face.
“I’m not even sure what you expect me to do, Riley...”
“But you’ll do it anyway, right?”
Riley’s face was filled with hope making him look much younger. It was an expression Stuart hadn’t seen on his brother’s face since before the death of their parents.
“Fine. Give me Grey’s address, I’ll head over there now.”
Riley smiled and stood, hastily scribbling an address down on a scrap of paper. He handed it across the table and Stuart took it.
“I won’t forget this, Stu. I promise I’ll make it up to you.”
Stuart shook his head.
“Nah, you won’t, I just hope that all of this is worth it for you...”
He turned and left the room, the scrap of paper clutched tightly in his hands.
CHAPTER SIX
Ellie stopped her car outside the large iron gates that led up to Grey Mattheson’s estate. Even the simple sight of the house filled her with anger. Everything about him was a lie. He was a bully and a murderer and she planned on exposing him. She would show everyone in Breaker’s Point exactly what sort of a man Grey Mattheson actually was.
She pressed the buzzer near the gate and the intercom crackled to life.
“Eleanor Blair to see Mr Mattheson.”
She spoke clearly and distinctly into the intercom but she was greeted by silence. Seconds ticked by and Ellie slumped back against the seat. She hadn’t planned how she would handle it if he refused to even let her inside.
You’re a fool, Ellie!
The small voice in the back of her mind had her burying her face in her hands. She was a fool—a fool to believe that she could simply storm up here and sort everything out. She couldn’t look after her own mother, so how the hell was she supposed to take care of a problem as big as Grey?
The ornate iron gate in front of her creaked and an electronic hum filled the air. Ellie watched with surprise as the gates slowly trundled open, leaving the smooth road up to the house free of any impediments.
Ellie paused, her hands fixed on the steering wheel. If she went up there what the hell would she say? A plan to put a stop to Grey’s tyranny sounded wonderful in theory but how was she going to actually put it into practice?
“The gate is open, Miss Blair.”
Grey’s smooth voice crackled over the intercom and
it was all Ellie needed to gun the engine. She could practically imagine the smug look on his face. No doubt there were surveillance cameras set up on the gate. He’d probably watched her moments of indecision from the comfort of his office.
The car shot over the smooth road and up the incline. The moment she reached the top, Ellie killed the engine and hopped out, slamming the door as she mentally prepared for battle. Grey would have an answer for everything, he always did and Ellie expected nothing else from him at this point.
An image of her mother lying in the bed, helpless and frightened fuelled Ellie’s rage and she picked up her pace, climbing the front steps at a near run. The front door swung inwards without Ellie even having the opportunity to bang on it.
A tall man stood framed in the entryway, his wide, muscular shoulders barely hidden beneath the tight black t-shirt he wore. He was built to intimidate but Ellie wasn’t scared. All of her life bullies like Grey Mattheson had tried to frighten her, bully her into submission. She wasn’t about to let him win and so his guards, no matter how big or menacing, meant nothing.
She attempted to push into the hall but a strong hand clamped around her upper arm halting her movement.
“Get your hands off me! I’m here to see Grey. He knows I’m here.”
“Wilson, it’s fine. Let her go.”
Grey appeared in a doorway a little ways down the hall. He wasn’t as tall as his guards and he certainly wasn’t as muscular as them but there was something about him that made people wary. As far as Ellie was concerned he reminded her of a snake. He was quietly confident and Ellie knew without a doubt that given an opportunity he would strangle the life out of anyone who got in his way.
The hand that held her disappeared as soon as Grey spoke and Ellie was free once more. She strode into the highly polished marble hall and headed straight for Grey. He stepped aside and gestured for her to step into the office.
“You need to call off your goons.”
Ellie didn’t wait for him to shut the door before launching into the speech she had spent the drive over planning.
Grey smiled as he moved across the room and took up his position behind the large glass desk in the centre of the room.
