by Diana Downey
“If I put anything up for sale, I’ll let you know.” The problem is many foreign countries steal American commercial technologies without paying for them, copying them as soon as they get their hands on them, and the US doesn’t protect entrepreneurs from foreign entities.
“Thank you, Mr. O’ Flannery. It was good talking to you.”
I nod. “Mr. Wong.”
“That was strange,” Niki says.
“Not really. He’s interested in what I work on.” It happens quite often. I had offers on my first company within the first year, and he was one of them.
Niki tongues the rim of her snifter of Godiva liquor. Her dress shows a hefty amount of cleavage, but I can only think of Cyn’s sweet ass pressed against my groin.
“You could come by tonight,” she says.
I have no interest in Niki. “I have to work.”
She slams down the snifter, sloshing the liquor onto the table. “You always say that. What is it, Shane?” Anger flares her nostrils. She reminds me of a wolverine, teeth bared and crazy eyed.
“Let’s go.” I want to see Cyn. Niki and I together is never going to work.
She pouts, and all I can think about is Cyn in that skimpy nightie. It gives me an eternal hard-on.
I escort Niki outside and notice a row of black Escalades lined up across the street in valet. I pat my gun under my sport coat while uneasiness presses onto my chest. It wouldn’t protect me against automatic weapons, and I consider carrying my assault weapon. Living in Texas, I’ve seen how the Mexican cartels operate. I’d like to take Cyn and Willa away from Austin. They’re not safe here.
With one eye on the SUVs, I open the door for Niki.
When I drop her off, I peck her forehead, like I would my grandmother. She looks disappointed, but I don’t really care. My mind targets Cyn and all the naughty things I’d like to do to her.
Niki’s blue eyes sizzle with fury. “Why won’t you kiss me?”
I should end our relationship. “I don’t know that I want to continue dating you, Niki. You dumped me, and it was over the money I lost.”
Her expression softens. “You told me you might go to prison. What kind of life would we have had if you did? You’re probably not going to go now and you love me.”
Not anymore. “I don’t know about us. I’ll talk to you later.”
After she traipses into the sorority house, I leave. Going out with her is fruitless and pisses off Cyn.
I don’t notice anyone tailing me, but I drive around the block a few times before parking by Willa’s Camry.
When Cyn opens the door, she jumps onto me, wrapping those beautiful legs around me. My cock aches for this brave woman.
“Did you get my present?” I ask. It’ll make sleeping here easier for me.
“Now I don’t have room for my dresser.” She drags me by the arm to her bedroom.
With her head in a textbook, Willa waves at me.
“Hi, Willa,” I say. “Save me.”
She laughs. “I know you don’t want to be saved.”
Cyn points at the oversized bed crowded into the small room. “I can’t even open the dresser drawers.
I hop onto the new bed that takes up most of her room. I special ordered it, so I could fit on it. She jumps onto the bed with me, and I corral her into my arms.
Cyn unbuttons my shirt and my cock twitches in my jeans. “Did you go out with Niki tonight?”
I nod. “We’re not getting anywhere. She hasn’t told me anything of value.” Not that I listen. “I told her it probably wasn’t going to work.”
“I don’t like that you take her out for dinner and then come over here for a booty call.”
“I don’t either.” I kiss her bare shoulder. “Not when all I can think about is you.”
Chapter Willa
“I don’t want to meet with Fay,” Cyn says adamantly.
“Let’s just hear her out,” I say. I hate that Cyn and Fay can’t talk to each other, but against Cyn’s objections, I keep driving to the studio anyway. “And we need the money.”
“She’ll probably take all of it.”
“Fay said we’d split it evenly.”
I pull up to the studio, excitement firing my nerves. It’s the same one on Aedan’s card. When Fay asked us to meet her here, I jumped at the chance. Cyn was not as enthusiastic.
His truck is parked toward the back, and my stomach does a backflip. I park close to it, and Cyn laughs.
“He’s very cute,” Cyn says, “but he may be too old.”
“You didn’t mention that at the cemetery,” I say. All she did was encourage me to make a fool out of myself.
“Mom would want me to look out for you.”
She’s having a change of heart. It’s happened a lot since she’s been back. Sometimes she’s cool and then she turns all Mom on me. “Shane is five years older than you.” It doesn’t matter anyway. It’s doubtful that he’s interested. “He’s probably a drunk, like his dad.”
“He told you he was drinking over Dallas, so you can’t blame him. Dallas was an asshole, and it sounded like he neglected his duties as a father.”
Our dad was just misguided. He does love us.
Fay waits inside for us, and as usual is dressed for a high fashion shoot. Cyn looks fabulous in a designer dress and matching heels. I hope Fay isn’t attracted to Aedan. I don’t stand a chance against her, and I shouldn’t have worn jeans and my Chainsmokers’ band tee. I should’ve asked Cyn to dress me.
As soon as Cyn spots Fay, she grits her teeth and doesn’t look happy. I spend my time searching for Aedan.
“Hi, Cyn,” Fay says with not quite a sneer.
“How’s your wedding plans going?” I ask. It’s been a while since I spoke to her, mainly because Cyn doesn’t want to.
“I broke off my engagement to Trevor for obvious reasons, and now the ranch is up for sale again for anyone to buy. We need to get it back. Honestly, Cyn, you would think this is important to you.”
Cyn used to date Trevor, and Fay would never accept one of her rejects.
“I don’t think we could live under the same roof,” Cyn says. “Why are we meeting here?” She takes one of the seats in the studio office.
I hope she’ll listen to the studio’s offer. I could quit my sales job. Since we work on commission, the girls cut each other’s throats. I don’t like it.
Fay introduces the director and the producer of the studio. “We came up with a new reality TV show,” she says, excitedly.
Cyn folds her arms across her chest, not the least bit impressed. “Great.”
“We could make some good money doing this,” I say to her.
“I’m listening,” Cyn says. “Is it how to survive in Austin or keeping up with the Hunt and Diaz sisters? We can have fishies gnaw the calluses off our feet.” Sarcasm taints her words.
“Think of it as The Simple Life meets The Bachelor,” the director says excitedly. “Three beautiful women trying to make a living after losing their fortune. We’ll bring in a few suitors for each of you.”
“One of us is not broke,” Cyn says, glaring at Fay, “and I don’t need a boyfriend.”
“I’m barely surviving,” Fay defends. “We lost our income from the ranch and oil fields.”
Cyn laughs. “In your four-thousand square foot house in the gated Spanish Oaks community?”
“Fay, Cyn, please don’t,” I say. “We’re a family.”
Cyn blows out a breath. “I’m sorry, Fay.” Cyn must have switched to Mom mode.
“It’s good to have conflict and we’ll work that into the show,” the director says.
“What if we fight for the same guy?” Fay asks.
The producer grins. “All the better.”
Don’t let Fay go after Aedan.
“What’s the show called?” I ask, watching through the opened door for a glimpse of Aedan.
The producer is standing, eyeing us carefully, probably determining if we’re worth it. “R
iches to Rags.”
The director pushes a contract toward us. Fay picks it up. “I’ll drop this by our family lawyer today.”
Royce is someone we’ve trusted for years. The producer hands us a copy too. I glance through it. “It says we can’t have a boyfriend or date anyone on staff.” Disappointment plasters my face and curls my lips downward. I’d like to take Aedan for a spin.
“I have a boyfriend,” Cyn says. “And I’m not giving him up.”
“One woman is workable but no one else,” the producer says. “We may be able to work your boyfriend into the show.”
I probably won’t even get to see Aedan.
“I doubt Shane would want to,” Cyn says.
From the producer’s expression, he’s not happy with Cyn’s attitude. “We’ll also add a western theme to the show and we’d like to start at a country western bar. You ladies could bartend and we’ll work the bachelors into the setting.”
That could be fun.
We take the papers and walk out. Fay heads to her Mercedes because she took Mom’s old car. It hurts a little bit to see it. Mom took us everywhere in that car.
I glance back at Aedan’s truck. He’s getting something out of it, so I grin silly.
“Hello, ladies,” he says in that deep sexy Irish brogue while walking toward us. The tee hugs his broad shoulders and he wears faded jeans. He’s black Irish, dark hair but brilliant blue eyes, tall and very masculine. He looks hot, and I fan myself.
“Have I met you?” he asks me, a playful glint in his eyes.
He doesn’t remember me, and my heart jumps off a cliff.
“You don’t remember us?” Cyn asks, coming to the rescue. “You kissed my sister.” She nods to me, and my face heats up like an inferno.
“I would’ve remembered kissing a pretty lass,” he says, smiling at me and eyeing me up and down.
“You were drunk,” Cyn adds.
He scratches his head. “That would’ve been at me da’s grave. Not a good day.”
“You don’t remember us driving you home?” Cyn asks incredulously.
Please remember. My fingers and toes are crossed.
Amusement flashes in his eyes, and I wonder what he’s up to. “Nope, but my sister does,” he says, winking at me.
Is he messing with me? How could he not remember our kiss unless I’m not memorable? His kiss is stamped into my memory for eternity.
Fay has left her car to join us when I wish she wouldn’t. Standing next to one beautiful woman is bad enough. Maybe he’s decided to hit on one of them and that explains the sudden memory loss. My sisters are beautiful.
“It appears Aedan is related to you,” Cyn says to her. “He’s like a cousin to you.”
“Really?” she studies him, sizing him up like she would any man. If she’s interested, I’m as good as dead to this man, though I already am.
“He’s Dallas’s son,” I say. He’s even more handsome sober. Those jeans are in love with his butt, like I am.
“It doesn’t surprise me,” Fay says. “He was a wild one. If you need a character witness, let me know. He gave his millions to the dogs, literally.”
Aedan mentioned the Humane Society. Why would Dallas do that if he had children? That was a shitty thing to do.
“I should get back to work,” Aedan says, “but thanks for the offer.”
His gaze lingers on me. I must be imagining it.
“Will you be working on the Riches to Rags show?” I ask, not hiding my excitement. Please, please, please.
“Yes, I am. I guess I’ll see you ladies this weekend at Midnight Cowboy’s.”
Isn’t that where Cyn’s sorority sisters like to go dancing?
“The director forgot to mention it was that bar,” Cyn says, sounding perturbed. She turns around and returns to the director’s office.
I watch Aedan walk away, and he watches Cyn. He looks good coming and going, other than his eyes glued to my sister’s butt.
Fay smirks. “Can’t date the hired help, Willa. Maybe after the show you can chase Mr. Fills-Out-His-Pants-Well.”
“He didn’t even remember kissing me,” I whine, slumping my shoulders.
Fay lays her palm on my back. “Don’t worry. He was looking at you and studying you hard.”
“He was watching Cyn’s butt,” I complain.
“You need to pay attention. He turned around to see if you were watching him. I think he was toying with you.”
“He did? He was?” How did I miss that? Because I thought he was eyeing Cyn. I have no confidence around men, and I shouldn’t be so down on myself. Cyn is always boosting my ego by telling me how pretty I am. She couldn’t possibly be right. When it comes to my feelings, Cyn’s like Mom. Since her death, she’s been really good to me.
Cyn comes back out. “Here, Fay. This is a copy of the schedule. They plan on shooting all weekend, so we better practice up on mixing drinks and shooting.”
“Guns?” Fays says.
“Yes. You’ve shot your dad’s, haven’t you?” Cyn asks.
I was thinking the same thing.
Fay crinkles her brow. “No.”
“We’ll show you,” Cyn says.
“Forget that,” I say. “The hot bachelors can.”
“That’s true,” Fay says, grinning.
“I’ll swing by Royce’s office in about an hour,” Cyn says. “Willa has homework, so I’ll drop her off at home.”
Getting into the Mercedes, Fay says, “Sure.”
As Cyn drives us away, I stare in the side mirror. Aedan didn’t remember me, and it hurts. He wasn’t looking at me. Fay was being nice.
Cyn’s phone rings, so I answer it through the car. “Hola, Abuela.”
My grandmother speaks in Spanish, and mine has grown rusty. “Is Cyn there?”
“Sí,” Cyn says.
“You should give Manny the drive,” our abuela says.
What the hell? Is she out of her mind? She can’t be serious unless she wants us to die. I swallow down the rocks of pain. She loves him more than us. She always has. She never liked our mother Grace.
“Tell Uncle Manny that I have enough copies to fill a bathtub, and if something happens to any of us, that the feds will receive many of them,” Cyn says.
Grandmother then talks about her dogs, wishes us a good day, like she didn’t just tell us to more or less die, and hangs up.
“She chose her son over us,” I say.
“It doesn’t surprise me,” Cyn says. “Manny foots her bills.”
“Mom used to give her money.”
“Not after she died, and I sure as hell wouldn’t give her any.”
I don’t like her quietness for the rest of our ride home. I know her too well. It’s like she’s planning on something that could be dangerous. I wish she wouldn’t risk her life for me.
Chapter Shane
Niki is becoming a pain in my ass. She’s called and texted me several times already today, and I have a lot of work to do. She’s pissed because I told her I was busy tonight, and it’s Friday. I thought being honest with her she’d back off, but it’s only made her more aggressive.
Niki hasn’t once mentioned my online dating business, other than to ask if we’re making money. The only way she’d have access to any of my computers is if I were sleeping with her at my place, and that’s not going to happen. I don’t give a fuck what the feds say. I haven’t gotten any information out of her about embezzling my last company or any other businesses.
Cyn on the other hand has already been useful by finding the opened port. Damn, that girl’s smart and sexy, and I love the hell out of her.
It doesn’t help that Cyn doing the books next door distracts me, and I think Niki has figured that out and wants to see me more. I can hardly concentrate while thoughts of Cyn straddled on my desk while I fuck her hard bombards my fantasies and my reality. We’ve christened the desk several times.
Timmons has sent me several texts too. He wants to know what the sniffe
r picked up. When figuring out who embezzled my money, two motives come to mind—technology and money. I’ve started to look into international companies with my telecommunication technology. It’s a dead end so far.
The sniffer I spent all night writing picked up traffic, and now I’m waiting on another package to figure out more of the routing IP addresses. Maybe I could exchange the sniffer for the back taxes I owe. A few of the IP addresses I found were private, so the feds will have to get warrants to obtain the owners’ information. I sent them to Timmons.
My smart phone buzzes and without looking at the caller ID, I gruffly answer it. “What?”
“Hi, Shane,” the buttery silky voice intones.
“What do you want, Lindsey?” I ask. She was my very first girlfriend.
“My mom’s going out of town next week, and my son and I really need a place to stay until she gets back,” Lindsey whines. This is how it always starts, though we’ve been broken up for years.
I’ve never really understood why Lindsey cannot stay at her mom’s while she travels with her boyfriend. “You’ll have to make other arrangements.” I try to sound civil since I did kill her brother in self-defense to protect Cyn and me. Under Manny’s direction, he and his uncle had murdered Cyn’s mom and tried to abduct Cyn.
I worry now that her uncle has given her a temporary reprieve and will come after her soon. I don’t know how to protect her against a large organized Mexican cartel, but I know that I will.
“Why can’t you stay at your mom’s?” I ask. Lindsey’s mom and mine are close friends and somehow guilt always wins.
We’ve been through this before. When we were kids, I thought I loved her, but as a teenager, I probably would’ve been in love with any girl giving me blowjobs in the nut-numbing cold of Alaska.
“She’s having it fumigated while she’s out of town.”
“Look, Lindsey. You took a blade to my throat when I pissed you off, and I shot and killed your brother. This isn’t a good idea.” I absentmindedly touch the scar she gave me running underneath my jaw.
“Please, it’ll only be for a few days. You wouldn’t put my son and me out onto the streets, would you?”
She’s got me there. I like her son, and at one time, she tried to convince me Remy was mine. A DNA test later, I found out he wasn’t. “Why not get a hotel?”
