by Lori Sjoberg
So she sucked it up, straightened her spine, and plastered a smile on her face. She wasn’t sure what to say. Normally, they traded sarcastic remarks, but it just didn’t seem suitable for the situation. In the end, she settled on a simple, “Thank you. Is there anything else?”
Judging by his expression, he seemed a little off-kilter as well, which made her feel better. He straightened and dragged a hand through his hair again. “Uh…no. I just wanted to clear the air. Larissa should be here in about an hour. If you see her before I do, could you fill her in on the tablet?”
“Sure, no problem.”
As she watched him leave, her heart tightened in her chest, and she felt as though she’d just missed out on something special.
Chapter Three
FOR THE NEXT few days, Austin steered clear of Nina, keeping himself busy with clients so he wouldn’t do anything stupid, like march into her office and kiss her senseless. The thought crossed his mind at least a dozen times a day, and each time he found it harder and harder to resist the growing temptation.
Clearly, too much time had passed since he’d last gotten laid. It was the only possible explanation for why he couldn’t get her out of his mind. How long had it been? A month? Two? He honestly couldn’t say for sure. With the business growing by leaps and bounds, he barely had enough free time to do much more than eat and sleep.
Shoving the thought from his mind, he shifted his attention to the security nightmare he’d been asked to evaluate.
“So what do you think?” Wayne Fenton, the vice president of Harcourt Industries, asked. He was a tall, stocky guy with a thin, receding hairline and jowly cheeks that made him resemble a bloodhound. The brown suit he wore looked new and expensive, and his shoes had been shined to within an inch of their lives.
Austin paused to give the building one last quick appraisal. Personally, he thought the place needed to be razed and rebuilt from the ground up. The plant was built in the 1960s for the purpose of processing orange juice, but Harcourt wanted to use the facility to manufacture and warehouse cell phone components. The main building was massive, with rows of conveyor belts and tons of equipment designed to reduce oranges into concentrate. Once the process was complete, the concentrate was stored in the cryogenic tanks in the adjacent building until they were ready to be shipped in bulk by train to a bottling facility.
It was an efficient setup. For oranges. But for electronics? Not so much.
“What are you going to do with all this equipment?” Austin asked.
“Probably sell it for scrap.”
“And the groves?” The plant was surrounded by two hundred acres of dead or dying orange trees, most of them choked with underbrush and weeds. One carefully placed match, and the whole grove could go up in flames.
“I don’t know.” Fenton shrugged. He used one finger to push his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. “We’ll probably leave them alone until we figure out what to do with them.”
Austin had a bad feeling he was going to say that. “Aside from being a fire hazard, all that dense vegetation could be used as cover for anyone wanting to break into the buildings. You might want to consider leveling it and turning it into a field. If you want, I can put you in touch with a guy who does that kind of work.”
The side door swung open and Ryan stepped inside, a tablet in his left hand. He and Nate had been surveying the grounds and other buildings so they could get a clear picture of exactly what needed to be done in terms of security.
“All set?” Austin asked his brother, and Ryan nodded.
“Nate’s packing up the equipment.”
Austin turned his attention back to Fenton and extended his hand. “Thank you for the opportunity to assess your security. I’ll be in touch with a quote within the next twenty-four hours.”
After a quick round of handshakes and good-byes, Austin and his brothers piled into the company SUV. No one spoke until they turned onto the main road.
“Man, what a dump,” Nate said from the backseat. “If we get a hurricane, that building is toast.”
Ryan nodded in agreement as he reached over to change the radio station. “Did you get a look at the storage shed? It was like something out of a horror movie. And I’m pretty sure I saw a homeless camp in the groves.”
Austin didn’t say anything while he mulled it over in his mind. He hooked a left onto the old county road that led back to the interstate. “It doesn’t make sense. Why buy a plant that’s about to fall down to make state-of-the-art electronic equipment? It’s going to cost a small fortune just to bring the place up to code.”
“Who the fuck knows? Maybe he got it at a really cheap price. Or he’s got more money than brains.” Nate tapped on his phone and frowned. “Piece of shit.”
Austin’s gaze flicked to the rearview mirror before returning to the road ahead. “What’s wrong with it now?”
“Nothing. It just keeps freezing up.”
Ryan snorted. “That’s what you get for downloading Mexican donkey shows.”
Austin barked out a laugh while Nate flipped Ryan off. The light ahead turned red, and Austin slowed the SUV to a stop. “Why don’t you have Larissa take a look at it?”
“I would, but she’s got something going on tonight at Emma’s school.”
“How about Nina?” Ryan asked.
Nate glanced at his watch and frowned. “She’ll be long gone by the time we get back to the office.”
Twisting in his seat, Austin held out his hand. “Give it to me. I’ll drop it off at her apartment on the way home.”
“You sure?” Nate asked. “I don’t want to be a pain in the ass or anything.”
“Dude, you’ve been a pain in the ass since birth. Now give me the phone before the light turns green.”
Nate handed over the phone and Austin placed it in the center console. Normally, he wouldn’t bother Nina after hours with something like this, but if he didn’t, his brother would bring it to the phone store, where he’d promptly get suckered into trading up to the latest model. Again.
Besides, knowing Nina, she’d root out the problem in less than an hour and have it working better than new. As long as she didn’t have plans for the night, she was usually open to the overtime. And if she wasn’t, then Nate would just have to wait until she got to it the next morning.
The traffic light turned green. Shifting his focus back to the road, Austin tried to ignore the way his body hummed at the thought of seeing Nina. It was business, he told himself. Nothing more. And maybe, if he repeated it enough times, he might actually believe it.
AFTER STOPPING AT the box to pick up her mail, Nina pulled into an available spot in front of her apartment building and cut the engine.
One of her roommate’s cars was parked a few spots down, which was surprising, considering Dorcas was supposed to be working tonight at the Paisley Pig. The bar was about a mile north of the university, with over two dozen beers on tap and décor that could best be described as well lived in. Maybe later, after Nina had time to decompress, she’d drive over and play a few games of darts with the regulars.
As she got out and slipped her purse over her shoulder, a large, four-door black Mercedes parked in the spot beside hers. She glanced over, noted two men in suits up front, and her breath caught in her throat at the sight of her brother, Ivan, in the backseat.
Apparently, Victor had recognized her after all.
The older man gave her a curt nod and a thin smile from his spot behind the wheel. A younger man sat beside him, staring at her in the same way a predator sized up prey.
Her first instinct was to run, but what was the point? They obviously knew where she lived. Probably knew where she worked. She might as well get this over with and see what they wanted. Leaning against her car door, she folded her arms across her chest while she waited for Ivan to get out.
Dressed in a black Armani suit with his dark-brown hair slicked back, her younger brother looked serious, and a little pissed off, especially whe
n his gaze met hers. She inwardly cringed as a twinge of guilt went through her, and she ruthlessly brushed it aside.
The last time she’d seen Ivan, he’d been a fresh-faced teenager about to graduate from high school. As kids, they’d been close, only a year apart in age, and she’d often wondered how he’d handled her sudden break from the family. More than once, she’d considered sending him a message, but in the end decided against it because she didn’t want to take the chance of her family finding out where she’d gone.
Ivan closed the car door and straightened to his full height. He was taller than she remembered, at least six two, and an extra forty or so pounds padded his once-athletic frame. Even though the heels of her boots gave her a couple extra inches of height, she still had to tilt her head up to meet his eyes.
“Antonina.” His voice was clipped and carried a slight Russian accent, which struck her as strange, considering he was born and raised in California. Deep-set eyes stared at her, sharp and assessing, and she fought the urge to squirm. “You look good. Different.”
Years ago, for obvious reasons, she’d made a point of altering her appearance. As soon as she left home, she’d chopped off her waist-length hair and ditched the preppy clothes her mother had picked out for her. The drastic change felt weird at first, but it didn’t take long before she’d embraced a style that better reflected her true personality.
Before she could respond, Ivan pulled her in for a hug. His strong arms squeezed her so tightly that she found it difficult to breathe. Or maybe it was due to the ball of emotion lodged in her throat. In spite of everything, she’d missed him. For an instant, it brought her back to better days, when she was ignorant about her family’s true nature.
When her brother pulled back, some of the tension had left his features, and it made him look ten years younger. But there was something in his eyes, dark and jaded, that set Nina’s nerves on edge.
She forced a smile. “It’s good to see you, Ivan. What brings you to Orlando?”
A pair of lines creased his forehead. “Father’s gone. You’re aware of it, yes?”
“I recently read about it online.” A vehicle drove past, but with her focus locked on Ivan, she barely noticed it. “I’m sorry.”
“So am I.” His voice went lower. Darker. “The doctors failed to diagnose the cancer until it had invaded every organ in his body. To watch such a strong man grow weak and defenseless was…difficult.” Reaching out, he took her hand and gave it a light squeeze. “It’s time for you to come home, sestra. The family needs you. I need you.”
“For what? You’ve obviously done fine without me.”
“Only because we couldn’t find you. Now that we have, it’s time for you to assume your rightful place within the family.”
She shook her head as a sliver of fear went through her. “No, my place is here.”
“Antonina.” He spoke her name in the exact same tone her father had used when she was in trouble. With her father, it meant she was about to get hit. She didn’t know what it meant with her brother. When she tried to pull her hand away, his grip on it tightened to the point of causing pain, and her fear turned into panic.
“You’ve been away long enough,” he said. “You have responsibilities. It’s time for you to come home.”
“She’s not going anywhere with you.”
The sound of Austin’s deep, rough voice filled her with relief. She glanced over her shoulder to see him behind her, looking big, bad, and madder than hell.
Ivan’s steely gaze shifted to Austin, and the lines on his forehead deepened. “This is a family matter. It does not concern you.”
“I beg to differ.” Austin placed his hand on her back, and the solid weight felt like a brand against her skin. He bent his head, and when he spoke, his breath was warm against her ear. “Are you okay?”
She gave a curt nod as she slipped her hand free of her brother’s grip. “I’m fine. I just want to go home.”
Ivan’s eyes narrowed. “Home is with your family.”
“Not anymore.”
“Antonina…” The way he said her name was loaded with such menace that it took all of her strength to keep her knees from shaking. She was a grown damn woman, one who’d been on her own for more than a decade, but in her brother’s presence she felt small and weak, and she hated every second of it.
Austin inserted himself between Nina and her brother, his back blocking most of her view. The alpha move should have pissed her off, but at the moment she was far more concerned about getting the hell away from her brother. “You heard the woman. It’s time for you to leave.”
“I’m not going anywhere without my sister.” Ivan’s features hardened, and at that moment he looked so much like their father it sent a chill down Nina’s spine. He tapped his knuckles against the side of the car, and Victor and the other man got out. They stared at Austin, not saying a word, but the threat was unmistakable. “This is not your business. Leave now, while you still can on your own accord.”
Austin chuckled, though the sound was tinged with aggression. His shoulders were back, his big body tense, while his hands half-curled into fists. “What, is that supposed to scare me? I’ve shit bigger than you and your friends. But to be honest, I’d rather avoid making a scene, which is why I called the cops when I got here. They should arrive any time now, so you might want to get the fuck out of Dodge.”
Ivan’s eyes widened a fraction at the mention of the police, but then narrowed just as quickly. This time when he spoke, there was urgency in his voice. “Antonina, get in the car. I’m not going to ask you again.”
Drawing strength from Austin, she straightened her spine and tipped up her chin. “I said I’m not going. This is my home now. End of story.”
Her brother made a frustrated sound, as though he were dealing with a petulant child throwing a tantrum instead of a grown woman. “Very well, but remember you chose this path.”
What the hell was that supposed to mean? She felt frozen in place as she watched her brother and his men climb back into the car. Holding her breath, she watched them leave, and as soon as the taillights disappeared from view, she blew out a heavy exhale.
“Are you all right?” Austin turned to face her, and the concern on his face melted some of the tension twisting her stomach.
“Yeah. Yeah, it’s just—” She stopped herself from finishing the sentence. If she started talking, she wouldn’t be able to shut up, and she’d probably end up saying something she’d rather keep private. “Ivan’s my brother, but you probably figured that out already. I haven’t seen him in over a decade. He looks so different I almost didn’t recognize him.” As she peered up at Austin, it was all she could do not to wrap her arms around him and bury her face against his muscular chest. Suppressing a shudder, she tried not to imagine what would have happened if he hadn’t shown up. “Did you really call the cops?”
He shook his head. “Nah. He just struck me as the type who’d spook at the mention.”
“What if he hadn’t?”
A muscle flexed along the line of his jaw. “You’re not going anywhere you don’t want to go. I mean that. You’re a part of Six Points, a part of the team. And we always take care of our own.”
Despite her best efforts, she smiled at his statement. It had been so long since she belonged anywhere, and the thought filled her with a deep sense of yearning that made her heart clench in her chest. Then she thought of something. “I appreciate the sentiment, but why are you here?”
“Oh. Yeah.” For a second, he looked a little sheepish. “Nate jacked up his phone again. He wanted me to see if you could fix it. I tried calling to ask, but you didn’t answer, so I figured I’d stop by on my way home.”
The answer didn’t surprise her. Nate was notoriously hard on electronics. “I keep my phone off while I’m driving. What’s wrong with it?”
“He said it keeps locking up when he goes online.”
That didn’t sound too hard to fix. Odds were, he’d p
icked up a virus or malware, or his internal memory was maxed. If that wasn’t it, she’d dig a little deeper until she figured out what was the problem. “Where is it?”
“Hold on, I left it in the car.” He jogged over to his SUV, got the phone, and jogged back. “Sorry for bugging you after hours with this. I would have asked Larissa, but she’s got some PTA thing going on tonight.”
Nina made a dismissive sound as she accepted the phone and pressed the side button to turn it on. “Don’t worry about it. I don’t mind Nate owing me a favor. You don’t happen to know his password, do you?”
“Squishy. All lowercase letters.”
She arched one eyebrow. “Squishy?”
He shrugged. “Don’t ask me. I don’t even want to know what goes on in that pea brain of his.”
Unable to hold the laugh back, she slowly shook her head. “I’ll work on this tonight. Barring anything catastrophic, I should have it ready in the morning.”
“Thanks.” His eyes met hers, and she couldn’t look away, no matter how hard she tried. “Are you sure you’re all right? You look a little pale.”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. It was just a shock to see my brother after all these years. As you saw, my family can be a little pushy, but I think he got the message.” She summoned a smile, even though her insides felt like they were doing backflips. She hoped her family would move on with their lives and forget all about her, but she had an awful feeling it wasn’t going to happen.
And if that was the case, how far would they go to get what they wanted?
Chapter Four
IVAN PETROV SAT on the plush leather chair and swirled the ice in his glass. He’d purchased the penthouse when he learned of an opportunity to expand his business into Orlando. A patient man, he’d taken his time to ensure every last detail was in order. In another month, two at the most, the new facility would be operational.
Leaning back, he stared at the fireplace. Of course, it wasn’t lit—it was too damn hot in this godforsaken state to enjoy a roaring fire. But he’d be home soon enough, as soon as he convinced Nina to join him.
