Indecent Proposal: A Reverse Harem Romance

by J.C. Valentine

  “I didn’t say it wasn’t crazy. Being in a relationship with more than one person at a time presents a host of problems that I can only begin to imagine. I mean, there’s the whole date night stuff, and how the family will react when they find out—because they will. And don’t even get me started on who gets what side of the bed. That’s the kind of argument that ends relationships.”

  Sabrina laughed. That’s why Janet was so good for her. She gave her just the right balance of serious and humor to keep her on her toes and never get bogged down by the hard stuff.

  “So what do you think I should do?”

  “Do you, boo boo. I guarantee there are going to be some haters, but if you’re happy, then don’t worry about it. Lean on your guys. If they feel like you do, they’ll take up for ya.”

  So, long story short, Sabrina should just keep moving forward, and if she ran into any problems, she should seek the brothers for help. “Got it. Thanks for the advice.”

  “You’re welcome. Now…let’s discuss that bed situation.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  The work week dragged on slower than a snail’s pace, but Sabrina had been on a roll. Ever since going home and getting the rest the Hargreaves suggested, she’d been working smoothly and efficiently. It’d only taken her an hour to finish her work Tuesday that had taken her an entire day Monday to make a minor dent in. Ever since, she’d been knocking out one project after another, hitting all of her meetings with lethal efficiency, and earning the appreciative and much impressed nods from her guys. Hell, even she was proud of herself for how well she’d been doing.

  This was the Sabrina she’d worked to become her whole life, the one she brought into every business transaction, the one that turned heads and helped make a name for herself apart from her father. It was this side of her that put her on the map and made hers a household name alongside her father’s.

  So why was he calling her on a Friday afternoon acting like she’d made a grievous error?

  “Daddy, I don’t understand. Would you just slow it down and backtrack a bit? Who told you that?”

  From the instant she’d picked up the phone, he’d been off on a tangent. All she’d gathered was that someone had said something about the Hargreaves, was concerned about the business arrangement that’d been made, and for some reason, he was so angry that he’d felt the need to come out of his vacation long enough to rip her a new one.

  “What are you four up to there? I send you in to make a deal of a lifetime, and this is how I’m repaid?”

  She was confused. “Daddy, I really don’t know what you’re talking about. We made the deal. It’s been great. The Hargreaves are working diligently and have been nothing but an asset.” Where was the problem?

  “I’m only going to ask this once, and you’d better give it to me straight.” There was a long pause, and then he said, “Tell me you’re not sleeping with them.”

  Sabrina’s eyes widened and she collapsed back into her office chair, the air expelling from her lungs in one giant whoosh.

  How did he know? Who would have told him? Who even knew, outside of her, Conner, Oliver, and William?

  The Hargreaves. She glared at the closed door to her office, imagining them somewhere on the other side. Of course. It was obvious. It’d all been a setup designed for her failure.

  All week, they’d been attentive, but not too much. Since Monday’s confrontation and show of concern, they’d been aloof, tending to business and family things that dominated the majority of their time. Not once had they asked to come by her apartment or take her out to dinner or anything even remotely expected of a budding relationship.

  A show. Yes, that’s all it was, wasn’t it? She’d been lied to and manipulated, hadn’t she? Why? That was the million-dollar question. Was it for money or power? Likely, both.

  Fury boiled in her gut like lava. Through clenched teeth, she told her father, “No, Daddy, I’m not.” Not anymore, anyway. He didn’t need to know about that one night. It was a huge mistake that she didn’t intend to repeat. Not now that she knew the truth. The Hargreaves were not to be trusted. They were moles sent into her company to destroy her and her father’s business, to bring down the rising conglomerate so they could reclaim their fledgling business and, maybe, if they were lucky, hold on for another five years before they started to tank again.

  Sabrina had seen it too many times to count on both hands. A company like theirs, one that started out strong and held on throughout the years, suddenly taking a nose dive due to changes in the economy and a poor business model that refused to change with the times. It was the perfect storm, the kind that, if allowed to persist for too long, would tear it to its foundation, reducing it to rubble.

  The Colloway Corporation had absorbed them out of respect and a belief that they could mutually benefit from one another. But not anymore. Now that the wool had been pulled from her eyes, Sabrina could see the whole situation for what it really was: a farce. They’d had ulterior motives all along, and it all hinged on taking down the perceived weak link: her.

  And here she’d been entertaining deeper feelings for them. Well, she would show them who the weak link was.

  “You’d better not be lying to me,” her father warned. “You know how badly that would look for us. For you, especially. I can’t have that kind of scandal going on in my company. Everything needs to be on the up-and-up. Keep your nose clean, focus on business, and for the love of God and your parents, stay away from those boys. The Hargreaves are known to play the field, and often.”

  “I’m aware of their reputation,” she ground out. “Rest assured, I’ll be sure to keep my distance.”

  “Good.” He expelled a relieved breath. “I can’t tell you how much I hate being out of the office like this. Not having my hands in the business’s day-to-day is driving me up the walls.”

  “I thought you liked being in the tropics. I know Mom loves having you all to herself.” For years, she’d complained about their lack of time together. Now she had all the time in the world. She must be on cloud nine.

  “Don’t get me wrong, I love the extended vacation and spending time with your mother. We’re learning a lot about each other and catching up on lost time. Plus, the sights are amazing. But I’ve never been one to sit idle for long, you know that. It’s hard to change gears, to give up control that only I’ve ever held.”

  “I think I understand.” And she did. Sabrina was filling big shoes, but she was filling them. Giving even a slice of it up now would probably drive her up the walls too. It was hard to slow down and take a time out when you were used to putting the pedal to the metal every day, giving your all to a project that meant so much to you and everyone around you. She didn’t want to fail—not her parents, not her coworkers or the investors, and certainly not herself.

  She’d gone astray when she’d gotten into bed with the Hargreaves. Now she was going to correct her path and make damn certain they didn’t succeed in ruining all she’d achieved.

  After a few gentle and caring words and some brief catching up between them, Sabrina disconnected the call with her father and took several cleansing breaths designed to get her through what she was about to do next. She was going to need all the strength she could get.

  ***

  “What do you mean you need me in the UK office?”

  Conner was shocked to hell at Sabrina’s declaration. It showed on his face, the way his eyes flared and his jaw unhinged. His tone of voice was higher than normal, too, as if he were seconds from shouting at her but was desperately trying to rein it in.

  She shrugged negligently. “There are a few details that need to be gone over with our partners there. Shawna will give you all the paperwork you’ll need to catch up on the case before the end of the day. Mr. Maxelle already knows to expect you. Check with her, too, about scheduling your flight out in the morning.”

  This time, his nostrils flared too. “The morning! Sabrina, what the hell?”

  She
blinked innocently up at him. “Is there a problem?”

  “Yes, there’s a fucking problem,” he hissed, deliberately lowering his voice so not to be overheard by the rest of the office. “Why the hell are you throwing this at me last-minute? Did I do something to piss you off?”

  He was so on the nose, she almost laughed. Sabrina, however, just stared straight back into his eyes. “This is business, Conner. Sometimes you have to roll with the punches to get things done. This needs doing and you’re the only one I can trust to do it. So, are you going to handle it or not? Because if not, I can get someone else on it. Maybe Daniel. He’s always been a team player.” She picked up the phone, pretending to be ready to make the call, which only raised Conner’s ire more.

  With a sure hand, he snatched the phone away from her and slammed it back into its cradle. “I’ll do it,” he snarled. It was the first time she’d truly seen him angry. The snarling, angry beast in front of her wasn’t the least bit attractive either. But maybe that had more to do with her hating his guts than his actual level of attractiveness.

  “Good,” she chirped. “Daniel is out on paternity leave anyway, so that would have been a fight to get him to come in, let alone jump on a plane out of the country.”

  If heads could explode, Conner’s just might. His face was that bright red of a freshly-cooked lobster, and for the sake of his health, it was alarming. She hoped he had good health insurance.

  He stared her down a moment longer, as if waiting for her to yell, “Just kidding!” but Sabrina only picked up her red pen and got back to jotting down notes about her upcoming meeting with a man from uptown who had a few shares he wanted to sell her in exchange for her help on a project having to do with imports and exports.

  When he didn’t get anything more out of her, Conner shoved away from her desk with a curt, “Fine,” and stormed out of the room.

  Fine, indeed.

  Sabrina couldn’t contain the amused smile any longer. She wanted nothing more than to get her revenge, and having the wheels set in motion satisfied her better than any sex could. How dare they come into her home and think they could dismantle her establishment?

  Little did Conner know, his ticket would be one-way. She had no need or desire to see his face again.

  Now to figure out a way to deal with William and Oliver.

  Although, when she thought of Oliver’s sweet, handsome, earnest face, something inside of her twisted. She didn’t want to hurt him. It went against everything in her to do it, but she had to remind herself that as much as she wanted to care about these men, they had set out to do her dirty, and not the fun way. She had to protect herself. She had to show them that she wasn’t a weak woman that they could push around and take advantage of, and that there were consequences for doing so.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Per usual, it seemed, the Hargreaves showed up on her doorstep that evening, sans their eldest and arguably sexiest brother. He was, no doubt, off somewhere licking his wounds.

  As Sabrina had found to be true many times over the years, men of their caliber often had fragile egos that demanded constant worship. She’d bruised his today and she doubted she’d be hearing from him again for a long time. Well, at least not until he realized he wasn’t returning to the States on the company dime.

  If only she could bar him from returning at all, but she didn’t wield the proper authority for that.

  “What are you doing here?” Sabrina was in no mood for confrontation. Hence the reason she held the door in an iron grip with her other hand propped on her jutted-out hip. She didn’t want to give Oliver or William any illusions that she was happy to see them.

  Although, she wasn’t being too successful when it came to herself. Inside, she was a bubbling mess of emotion, both wanting to slam the door shut in their faces and pull them inside for an impromptu make out session that would lead to some heavy petting and possibly hardcore penetration.

  If they had it their way, that’s probably exactly what would happen, but Sabrina was a woman of strong will, and she wasn’t about to give in to her desires just because they happened to look delicious in their jeans and T-shirts that perfectly matched their stormy eye color.

  Stormy because they weren’t any happier than she was at the moment.

  “What’s this about you sending Conner off to the UK?” William brushed her aside like a flea and entered her apartment without invitation, as if he owned the place. With their financial struggles, though, they definitely didn’t.

  “Yes, please, come in.” Sabrina was laying on the sarcasm, making no bones about how she felt. If he was going to lay it out, then so was she. She raised her eyebrows in expectation at Oliver, who at least had the decency to wait for her to let him in.

  See? That’s why a part of her still liked him. He was courteous. He didn’t stomp all over her rights like his brothers.

  But she had to remember that he was still a Hargreaves and couldn’t be trusted.

  She locked the door and stood in place, waiting for the inevitable fight to start so she could put them in their place. William wanted to barge into her home and assert himself? Then he was going to have to go toe-to-toe with a master.

  “We have business there, and he was the man for the job.”

  William scolded her with just a look. “Come on, ‘Brina, we both know you could have sent anyone else. Hell, you could have shot off an email! The whole thing is so simple, even a monkey could do it. It’s a waste of corporate dollars.”

  “I don’t see it that way.” He was right, of course. Anyone with half a brain and comatose could seal the deal. All it really needed was a quick read through the fine lines of the agreement and a signature. Shawna had handled them many times for her. “I prefer to make a personal impression. To show our partners that we’re in it to win it. We’re family.”

  It was obvious by his stance—arms folded over his chest, legs wide, scowl firmly rooted in place—that he didn’t believe a word she said. “That could be accomplished with a phone call. This is just a waste of money. Money better spent elsewhere. If this is how you do business, then you’ll run it into the ground in no time.”

  “You would know all about that,” she sneered.

  William’s arms dropped to his sides, fists balled. His lips pressed together so tight the skin around them blanched, and he had the devil in his eye, giving her a tremor of awareness that she might…possibly…most definitely have touched on a sensitive subject.

  “Low blow,” he ground out. “Every business sees its share of struggle. It doesn’t make them weak or ignorant. It makes them typical.”

  “And here I thought you were all so exceptional as to be gods. Lord knows your father sure has sold himself that way for years.”

  “He has a big ego. So what,” William argued. “It takes ego and cajones to make it in this field. Hell, in this world.”

  “And I’m sure next you’ll tell me that I don’t have what it takes. That I’m just a little fish swimming in an ocean surrounded by big fish in danger of getting devoured.” She’d heard it all before. No one took the woman at the head of the table seriously. She’d proved them all wrong, and she would continue doing so until the day she passed the company down to her daughter. Which she probably needed to get on with having before her eggs all dried up. It was the one thing she needed a man for, however, and right now, she didn’t really like her options.

  “You carry around so much attitude,” William accused. “Don’t you think if that’s how we felt we would have made it clear by now?”

  “Isn’t that what you’re here to do?” She looked from him to Oliver and back again, waiting for something chauvinist to leave his mouth so she could feel warranted in upping her level of anger and kick them out with a good riddance and a “Don’t let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya” farewell.

  William stopped his rebuttal and just stared at her, studying her for a moment too long, before his features softened. Sabrina didn’t know what
he’d seen or what conclusion he’d reached, but it was disconcerting because for some strange reason, she felt disarmed. As if, with just a look, he had that kind of power over her.

  “What ever made you think something like that? We like you, ‘Brina. We care about you.” He approached slowly.

  Sabrina’s gaze flickered to Oliver, who so far had chosen to take to the sidelines and let his brother do all the talking.

  “It’s always difficult getting to know someone, to merge personalities and lives, and I can imagine it’s even harder for you—three times as hard, in fact—when you have all three of us nipping at your heels, but I can assure you, our interest is in you, not the company. Has been since the first day we walked into that boardroom and you put us all in our place with class and grace and a ferocity that has yet to be matched in any woman we’ve ever known.”

  He was standing directly in front of her now, and he dared to reach out and touch her, smoothing her hair back from her face with light fingertips. “You’re the most incredible woman we’ve ever known. That’s why we’re so attracted to you, why we want you so badly that none of us could bow out gracefully but had to agree to share you so we didn’t end up killing each other.”

  Sabrina couldn’t look away, so drawn in by the earnestness in his eyes that she felt completely encapsulated in warmth and love. She’d never felt that way with anyone before, and down deep inside, she was aware that she could get lost in that feeling if she allowed it.

  William sighed, as if to impart a huge secret. “I realize now that you think we’ve stormed into your life and are trying to somehow take it over, to push you to our agenda, but the only agenda we have right now is figuring out how to keep you, to convince you that you want us, all of us, for the long haul. All we want to do is love you, Sabrina.”