Understatement. Finn rebuttoned his shirt and stood because he hated being the only one sitting. “I’m pretty sure if he could stuff me into a cargo hold and ship me out of here, he would.”
Ty laughed. “That sounds like Billy.”
And that sounded like Ty might have some intel. Finn fought the urge to rush ahead with a staccato burst of questions. “Do you deal with him?”
Ty finished chewing before he answered. “He likes to think he’s helping the little doctor lady.”
“Wow.” Finn knew just how ridiculous that bit of misogynist mansplaining was. Kit’s file set out her credentials and the list was pretty damn long.
She was the overachieving type. Smart, dedicated and not easy to shake. She volunteered for difficult, even dangerous assignments. Threw in with Doctors Without Borders for a few years before committing to her own charity.
Finn didn’t doubt her commitment or her ability.
“Right?” Kit rolled her eyes. “Look, I’m willing to listen to him explain my job to me if that’s what it takes to get the tough-to-find supplies.”
“Like what?”
“Some medication, the type that tends to go missing or is impossible to get due to political barriers.” She didn’t get any more specific. “Billy knows people who can get stuff.”
“He’s so helpful.” Finn didn’t even try to hide the sarcasm in his voice.
“What’s really going on?” Ty sat on the table and finished off the bar. “Why are you really out here with the rest of us?”
The way he said it dug at Finn. He knew Ty was just asking, but the question hit on the issue Finn had with the way the company ran its charitable arm—from a distance. He planned on fixing that.
But until he’d settled that with his brothers and finalized the plan that would keep him out in the field for long stretches, he went with the simple answer. “I want to make sure the shipments that came in short were an aberration. I need to know that whatever the problem was, it’s solved now.”
“How does one do that?” Kit asked.
“The usual. Review every document, look into every person who touched the shipments and try to pinpoint where things went wrong and why.” That was as noncommittal as Finn could make it sound. He avoided details because until he knew who was behind the problems, being careful was key.
Kit smiled. “With the full weight of Drummond Enterprises’ resources behind you.”
“Something like that.” Everything like that, actually.
Ty winked at Kit. “Told you this wasn’t a routine stop by the money man.”
She shot him a warm smile. They didn’t touch, but the intimacy and attraction zipping between them were tough to miss. They communicated without saying a word.
Finn envied them. He’d never known that closeness. He’d spent most of his life convinced he didn’t need or want it. Then he watched his tough big brother fall in love. Then he spent time with Justin…Now everything was mixed up and confused in his head. What he thought was attraction had morphed into something bigger, something he couldn’t control.
His mind stopped running long enough for him to pick up on the silence. The three of them were alone in the tent except for a couple sitting a few tables away who hadn’t even looked up at them and two people working in the kitchen area.
When the quiet dragged on, Finn figured he’d missed a question or part of the conversation and rushed to fill the uncomfortable void. “Drummond is thinking about extending its charitable work.”
“Is that your idea?” Kit asked.
He had not meant to go down this road. He’d specifically just decided to wait on sharing the information, but it was too late now. “Yes. I would be in the field, running it. Or at least regularly checking on it. The details are hazy.”
“It’s all news to me.” Justin’s voice rang out right behind Finn.
Finn jerked. Turning around he spied Justin and the flat line of his mouth. That was enough to switch Finn to defensive mode.
“Hey, Justin.” Ty held out his hand and shook Justin’s. “Finn was telling us about the possible extension of your operation.”
“Yeah, I heard.”
Ty’s gaze switched from Justin to Finn and back again. He slid off the table and his eyes widened as he shot Kit a quick glance. “We’re here to grab some boxes and Doc wanted to do her usual check-in with Finn and your medical staff.”
“You’re both welcome anywhere in camp.” Justin hadn’t moved. He stood just a few feet off to the side, staring at Finn.
Finn could practically feel his skin melt under the intense glare.
“We’ll check back in before we go.” Kit pointed at Finn. “I want to do a follow-up exam on you before we head out.”
He knew that meant a more in-depth physical, which was exactly what he wanted to avoid. “Would it do me any good to say no?”
“No.” She laughed. “Nice try, though,” she added as Ty put his hand on her lower back and directed them both toward the kitchen and out of sight.
The couple had taken one look at Justin and scurried off toward the door. That left Finn basically alone with Justin…and his fury, which expanded to suck up most of the oxygen in the tent.
Justin’s hands went to his hips. “We need to establish some rules.”
The gruff tone, the battle stance…Finn knew this was going to be bad. “I thought we already did that.”
“And what do you think the boundaries are, Finn? Fill me the fuck in because I’m confused.”
“This is about the conversation you overheard? And now you’re pissed.” Which seemed to be one of only two emotions he possessed. Finn knew what was happening, even predicted it in his head the second Justin walked in the tent, yet the full force of Justin’s commanding presence threatened to knock Finn back. “Again.”
Justin’s arms dropped to his side and he took a step, then another, until he stood in front of Finn. “It’s about the conversation you’re having with someone else—not me—about my charity.”
Finn’s temper flared. He felt it through every inch of his body as the heat inside him spiked, and not the good kind. “Technically, it’s Drummond Charities.”
“Yes, you’re a good boy and care about people. I get it.”
The condescending tone ripped through Finn, stripping away what little calm he possessed when it came to Justin. “Damn, that didn’t take long.”
“What?”
“For you to flip right back into asshole mode.”
Finn had seen glimpses of another side of Justin. Giving and warm to the people who needed his help, loyal to the people who worked with and for him, hot and selfless in bed. This side—sarcastic, perpetually pissed-off Justin—was Finn’s least favorite, yet it was the one he had to deal with most often.
“Do you blame me?” Justin asked as his voice rose.
“Right. There’s something Justin Miller is not in control of so, naturally, he gets pissed off.” The routine had gotten old and Finn was just about done dealing with it. “You know what people usually do when they have a question, especially if they’re sleeping together? They talk it out.”
“You mean like how you talked to me about this idea before talking about it with people you hardly know?” Sarcasm dripped from Justin’s voice as his voice boomed through the tent.
The man refilling the coffeepots looked up and froze for a second before retreating out of sight.
Finn didn’t blame him. No one needed to be the target of this. “You are unbelievable.”
“Help me out, here.” Justin jammed his finger against Finn’s chest. “You can’t control the shipping to this one camp but now you’re going to set up more? Mess with the setup we have here?”
“Are you done?”
Justin looked like he was about to say something, then he stil
led. His hand dropped and he nodded. “Yeah, Finn. I am fucking done.”
Finn understood the idea of a defense mechanism. He knew Justin had gotten a shitty deal in the military, took the blame when he should have been hailed as a hero for being honest. He’d built up walls as a means of self-protection, but Finn had run out of patience with being the punching bag.
He headed for the door and stopped. A million responses ran through his head. All the ways he could handle this. Walking away and then having to see Justin around camp was not going to work.
Finn turned around and faced Justin. “You know, you’re right. We do need new guidelines. Here’s one for you—I am your boss. You will listen to me, you will obey, or you will be out of a job.”
“Obey?”
“You heard me.” The wide-eyed, stunned expression on Justin’s face told Finn he’d gotten his point across. “You want to do this the hard way? We can. Starting tomorrow we’ll come up with a new command structure. One that reins you in.”
“Then tomorrow I’ll tell you to stick your new structure up your ass.”
He had an answer for everything. Good, because now Finn did, too. “Be very careful, Justin.”
“Get out of my camp. Go play somewhere else.”
Finn decided to let that one slide. “Some people have to learn the hard way.”
“Get. Out.”
* * *
—
Half an hour later, Justin’s temper was still spinning. The last time someone came into the camp and talked about expansion and had all these big plans, two of his people died. That was four months ago and the wounds were still fresh. Justin hated that he hadn’t been able to protect his people. Finn had to know that.
Justin stood up then sat back down in his desk chair. Neither position eased the energy whizzing through him. He’d cleared the tent when he walked in. Suggested everyone take a break and didn’t even bother to watch as they raced out of there.
He was just about to call Alec. Yell at him for a while, since one Drummond brother was as good as the next in his book. Then Oliver walked in, reading a file. It took him a second, then he stopped and glanced up.
“You look…” His smile fell as his gaze traveled over Justin’s face. “Now what?”
“He’s talking about changing the charity around. Making it bigger and being around more often.” Justin leaned back in his chair hard enough to nearly tip the thing over. He regained his balance just in time. “Some fucking nonsense.”
Oliver took his sweet time closing the file and rested it on the edge of the desk. “This is about Finn, then.”
“Who else?” The guy swooped into camp and turned everything upside-down. “He’s a damn menace.”
Oliver sat down in the chair across from Justin. “Indeed. Everything is about Finn lately, including the ever-fluctuating state of your mood. I wonder if you understand what that means.”
“It would be good if you were not annoying right now.”
“I’m thinking my main job is to stay here and ensure you don’t do anything stupid.”
The memory of the fight came rushing back. It had been mostly one-sided, with him getting pissed again. But this round amounted to more than a push-him-away-before-it’s-too-late thing. Justin could barely admit he engaged in that behavior—repeatedly—but he was pretty sure that wasn’t what this argument was about. “I told Finn to get out of the camp.”
“Ah, I see. So you already did something stupid.”
“He drives me fucking nuts.” Justin said it more to the room in general than as necessary information Oliver should know.
“I wonder why that is.”
“Don’t do that smartass cryptic thing you do.”
Oliver smiled. “You’ll have to be more specific.”
“Just side with me and don’t say anything else.” Was that really so hard? Justin didn’t want to dissect every word and plow through tons of guilt and rethink all his reactions.
Something about Finn churned up something in Justin. He ached to be better, to be more decent, but his brain shouted for him to increase the distance between them. His protective instincts rose and he shoved before Finn could even raise his hands in defense.
After a few seconds of silence, Oliver nodded. “Fine.”
Not the response Justin expected, but he didn’t question his luck. It was about time something went his way. “Good.”
A few more minutes passed in quiet, but Justin did not relax. Tension buzzed around the tent. He could feel Oliver winding up, ready to land a shot.
And the man did not disappoint. In minute three he shifted in his chair and started talking. “You’re sure this isn’t about the fact that what you feel for him is bigger and deeper than you ever thought?”
He could not be that transparent. Justin refused to believe that was true. “No.”
“Excellent.”
Silence descended again. The only sounds came from the rumble of background noise outside the tent and the creak of Oliver’s chair as he crossed one leg over the other and swung it back and forth.
An unseen pressure slammed against Justin. He tried to breathe through the suffocating sensation of having his chest cave in. When that didn’t work, he moved to the question bouncing around in his head. “I have no idea how to deal with what I feel for him.”
“You could try talking to him about it. You know, like a grown-up.”
“We’ve known each other for a week.” Time usually flew by here as he rushed to keep up and stay on top of the work. With Finn around, the hours didn’t melt into each other. Justin could count time, recall every conversation, based on the hours he shared with Finn.
Holy shit, he had it bad for the guy.
“You’ve been secretly pining for him, half in love with him, for something like six years.” Oliver stared at Justin as if daring him to disagree with the assessment.
“That can’t be true.” But it was. Justin tried to count back, to erase the years and act like the attraction amounted to an unimportant crush, but he couldn’t even say the false words. “Jesus, is it?”
“There’s really no other explanation for your foul mood.” Oliver dropped his foot to the ground and leaned in. “Look, I’ve known you for years. You’re a good man.”
It was the way Oliver said things. Like he was fattening you up before the slaughter. “I sense this conversation is about to take a sharp turn.”
“But you are a complete fool when it comes to Finn.” Oliver shook his head. “An absolute disaster.”
Justin already knew that, so he stood up, thinking a walk around the camp might clear his head. “Okay, good talk.”
“Sit.”
Justin dropped back into his chair. “Everyone wants to order me around these days.”
“You are fighting this so hard.” Oliver held up a hand. “And do not ask me what ‘this’ is because you’re a smart man and you know.”
“I don’t feel all that smart at the moment.”
“Coincidentally, you’re not acting it either.” When Justin started to talk, Oliver rushed his words and kept going. “Everyone—and by that I mean anyone who is paying any attention at all—can see you’re into him. You hate it, you don’t want it to be true, but you are.”
That meant his staff. People at the camp. Kit and Ty. Probably Billy. It also meant Justin’s plan to stay gruff on the outside and not give in to all the things he wanted to do with Finn was a waste of time. “What I hate is this conversation.”
“So, instead of dealing with your feelings and filling him in on your longtime unrequited love, you’re lashing out. It’s cute, really. I imagine it’s how five-year-olds act.”
The verbal blow landed, but Justin pretended to ignore it.
“Life would be easier if Finn just left.” The words actually stuck in Justin
’s throat. It hurt to push them out, but he did it and kept going. “I could get back to work and figure out this shipment issue without worrying about him.”
“See, my memory is that the thought of him distracts you. Now that the two of you have had sex…” Oliver’s eyebrow lifted. “Yes?”
No way would he provide a play-by-play of his sex life, regardless of how good it was. “Get to your point.”
“You’re never going to get over Finn without working through this.” After dropping that bombshell, Oliver sat back in his seat again. “Unfortunately for you, that means talking and being an otherwise responsible adult.”
The memory of the things he said to Finn came rushing back. This time Justin couldn’t fight off the wince. “I said some pretty shitty things.”
“Yes, I figured that out.” Oliver made a tsk-tsk sound that might have outdone his humming in the annoyance department. “There is one thing on your side. While you may be acting like a dick, Finn seems to be a decent human being. Maybe he’ll forgive you.”
He’d somehow stepped into the middle of a soap opera. Justin hated many things about how he acted with Finn. Most of all, he hated that his life had been turned inside out. “I do have a camp to run, you know.”
“Fix your love life first. Everyone who works with you wants that,” Oliver said. “Trust me.”
Chapter 16
Finn tried not to think. It had been another long day, filled with calls and meetings. The last shot of the day came when he called Billy, who hung up on him, as expected. Finn’s last message was that he was coming to Billy’s office the next day and they would either meet or contract termination procedures would begin. Amazing how fast that threat got Billy to pick up the phone.
The calls likely started a countdown. Billy now knew for certain Finn was poking around. That was Finn’s intent. Enough investigating and working behind the scenes. He needed someone to make a move. He didn’t explain it to Rania that way, but whatever he said was enough for her to call in more firepower and insist on riding ahead to check his place before he got there tonight.
With all that settled, his mind turned back to the blowout with Justin. He actually thought he could order Finn to leave. That he wanted to, that he said the words without even an ounce of remorse or hesitation, killed Finn.
Dirty Games Page 16
