Damage Control

by Lisa Renee Jones

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  Table of Contents

  About the Author

  Copyright Page

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  Dear Readers,

  I am so very excited to share Damage Control with you. If you haven’t read Hard Rules, you need to read it before you read Damage Control, as we are going to be starting our story the moment after Hard Rules ends. And spoiler warning—I’m now going to recap Hard Rules for readers below.

  We ended with Shane confronting Emily about her identity. He’s long known she has a secret, but he wanted her to trust him and share it on her own. But thanks to Seth, Shane’s right-hand man (The Fixer, who will get his own story!) Shane now knows she is not who she says she is, and his fear that she is either a federal agent or working for his family to set him up is in the forefront.

  But how did they get to this point?

  It all started with the wrong coffee. Emily picks up Shane’s order by accident and drinks from it, and when he takes it back and drinks from it her lipstick ends up on his mouth. From there, a one-night stand evolves, and then passion, love, and friendship follow. Emily has become the one pure thing in Shane’s life as he battles to save his family empire from their self-created corruption. He NEEDS her to be that person he trusts, who restores his faith in life and love. Will he lose that now? That’s the real question. And if she has betrayed him, how do they recover? Can they recover?

  Just a little more history, to refresh your memory about what Shane’s facing:

  If you remember, we learned that Shane was fast becoming one of the leading attorneys in the country when he left New York to return to Denver to save his family empire from the aforementioned corruption of their own doing. Brandon Enterprises has long been run by his father, Brandon Senior, and brother, Derek, who both walk the gray line, and Derek does so with less skill than his father. Shane pulls his brother, and the company, out of legal chaos while his father is diagnosed with terminal cancer.

  Brandon Senior isn’t one to repent, rather he is ready to kiss the devil hello, but only after he’s pitted his sons against each other for control of the company, and a race to win the vote by the board of directors. It’s a battle Shane reluctantly enters at first, as it means leaving all he’s worked for in his law career behind, but he decides he wants to save his family name. He’s going to win control of the company, but his brother feels he’s earned the leadership role.

  Shane buys a pharmaceutical company certain to produce enough revenue to offset any dirty money running through the company, but his brother wants that spotlight back. Derek makes a deal with a drug cartel, to run a new performance-enhancing drug (Sub-Zero), through Brandon Pharmaceuticals. And that drug leads to a high-profile baseball player’s wife threatening to expose the ruse.

  Now Shane is faced with a drug lord, a brother who might just be willing to kill him or Emily to win the head of the table, a father who is dying, and then let’s not forget his mother. Is she with him or Derek? And what about Mike, the largest stockholder, who owns a professional basketball team? Could he become a problem?

  So onward to that moment in the kitchen and Shane’s declaration to Emily of “no more lies.” It’s time to find out who Emily really is!

  I hope you enjoy and thank you so much for choosing to spend your time with one of my books!

  Lisa

  XOXO

  CAST OF CHARACTERS

  Emily Stevens (27)—Heroine in the series. She is Brandon Senior’s newly appointed secretary. Learned after landing her new job that the one-night stand she had the night before is her boss’s son, Shane Brandon. Emily has secrets, and she’s running. But Shane will not let her run from him. During Hard Rules, the two had a lot of push and pull about their relationship, his family, and her secrets.

  Shane Brandon (32)—Hero of the series. Shane Brandon is the black sheep of the family. The good one. The one willing to risk everything to play this game on the up-and-up and keep his brother from ruining the family empire, Brandon Enterprises, by getting in bed with the Martina family drug cartel. But Shane is treading on thin ice as he bring his legacy back from the brink of corruption. He is also dealing with Emily Stevens. A woman who breaks through his defenses and brings an innocence to his life that he can’t have as a distraction. He wants and needs to protect her, possess her, and be worthy of her. She is already making him a better man and keeping him grounded. But she has secrets and could be the one to ultimately send his world crumbling harder than he ever anticipated.

  Derek Brandon (37)—The older brother. While he’s brilliant and good-looking, his greed for power drives him to make rash decisions. He and Shane were close as kids, but once they became adults and Shane joined Brandon Enterprises, that shifted. Everything became about who would control the empire. Derek has gotten the family corporation into bed with the Martina drug cartel, and Shane will do everything in his power to stop his brother.

  Maggie Brandon—Shane and Derek’s mother. Seemingly befriending Emily, yet we are uncertain about her ultimate motives concerning the current struggle between her sons for control over Brandon Enterprises. Married to David Brandon (Brandon Senior)

  David Brandon—The head of Brandon Enterprises and the Brandon family. Father to Derek and Shane. Husband to Maggie. He is dying of cancer but wants to leave a legacy and hold on to control of Brandon Enterprises as long as possible. He’s a bastard and pushes Shane and Derek in all the wrong ways. He is gruff, cold, and hard at every turn. He enjoys watching his sons battle for power. It entertains him.

  Seth Cage (35)—Shane’s right-hand man. Shane hired Seth away from their firm in New York to help clean up a mess for his family, and from there Seth remained on Shane’s personal payroll, as well as taking up the role of head of security at Brandon Enterprises.

  Jessica (29)—Shane’s assistant. Ever the loyal employee, she followed him from New York and becomes friends with Emily as she starts to work as Brandon Senior’s assistant. Jessica’s job knows no bounds, as she helps Shane with everything from securing a new apartment to keeping an eye on Brandon Senior and Derek when Shane is not in the office and relaying any curious goings-on.

  Eric Knight—A friend of Shane’s from college who is a brilliant surgeon and has squeaky-clean morals. Eric is the doctor of the patient who was running her mouth about Brandon Pharmaceuticals (BP), part of Brandon Enterprises, being the distributor for an undetectable performance-enhancing drug that her Major League Baseball–player husband is taking. Eric brings this news to Shane, causing Shane to take action

  Adrian Martina—The son of the Mexican cartel leader, Roberto Martina. Runs the U.S. side of the operations. He has some relationship with Derek Brandon, the extent of which is not fully known yet. Brother to Teresa Martina, who is sleeping with Derek.

  Teresa Martina—Sister to Adrian. Sleeping with Derek. Bartender at Martina’s Casa.

  Randy—Security guard of the building where Brandon Enterprises offices are located. Emily and Shane have a conversation with him over her missing cell phone. Keeps Shane updated on David Brandon’s
activities.

  Mike Rogers—Sits on the board of Brandon Enterprises. Holds 20 percent of their stock and owns a professional basketball team. Key player in the hedge fund as well. Has a lot to lose if Brandon Enterprises were to shut down their investment division. His company, Rogers Athletics, is one of the proposed investments for the hedge fund. When Seth and Shane are trying to pull dirt on the board members in order to influence their votes for power of the company, Seth cannot find anything substantial on Mike.

  Rick Stevens—Emily’s brother. Is aware of her secrets and why she is hiding. He’s very hard for Emily to get in touch with, and his silence and evasiveness make Emily nervous.

  Lana Smith—A brilliant scientist and businessperson at Brandon Pharmaceuticals. She wants Shane and has caused him trouble in the past. She hid weed in his car and almost cost him his attendance at Harvard. She is still trying to get close to him now and caused a slight rift between him and Emily in Hard Rules.

  Nick Snyder—Knows Seth from their CIA/FBI days. Saved Seth’s life, and now Seth has brought him to Shane so Nick can help get to the bottom of the true involvement of the Martina Cartel in Brandon Enterprises. Confirms that the Brandon Enterprises trucking division is already distributing cocaine. Is going to help Shane and Seth figure out how to maneuver a takedown and extricate the company out of the hold of the Martina cartel.

  CHAPTER ONE

  SHANE

  “No more lies,” I repeat, my hands pressed to the counter behind Emily, my body caging her against my kitchen island, though it’s her web of lies that is now her prison, and my personal hell. “I know you aren’t who you say you are.”

  Panic flashes in her beautiful blue eyes that I’d once thought the window to innocence, while her palm flattens on my chest, as if preparing to push me away. “What are you talking about?” she demands, no doubt weighing how much trouble she’s in, yet her voice is steady, her demeanor remarkably cool. The kind of cool that takes practice and skill. The kind of cool someone undercover exhibits.

  “No more games, Emily. Or whatever the hell your name is. Seth had you investigated, and nothing about who you are quite manages to add up.”

  “Investigated,” she repeats. “Right. Because why in the world wouldn’t you investigate the woman in your bed?”

  “Since the person you say you are doesn’t exist, clearly for good reason.”

  “My secrets are mine. Mine to know. Mine to share. When I’m ready.”

  “When exactly were you going to be ready?”

  Her fingers curl where they rest on my starched white shirt. “I never meant to lie to you,” she says, another lie, and her voice is no longer steady, a tremble and a quake in its depths.

  “But you did lie to me,” I remind her, a lock of her long dark hair slipping over her face, a veil that will be no better a shield to protect her than more lies.

  “I never even meant to go to dinner with you, let alone end up this close to you.” She hesitates. “I thought we’d be the sum of that night. One night … The rest just happened.”

  “Ah yes. Dinner. The night the lies began.”

  “No,” she says tightly. “My secrets didn’t begin with you and they don’t end with you. And I darn sure wasn’t going to spill them to a stranger.”

  “I’m not a fucking stranger.”

  “You were,” she reminds me. “You were a stranger when I told you who I am.”

  “I haven’t been a stranger for a long time and we both know it. I want the truth.”

  “I can’t,” she says, her gaze falling to the buttons of my white collared shirt, the absence of my tie and jacket proof of how relaxed I’d been only fifteen minutes ago.

  I cup her jaw with one hand and force her gaze to mine. “You will,” I insist, the words darn near guttural, as emotions I don’t want to name splinter through me.

  “Let me go,” she says, giving me a full-body push. “Move, Shane.”

  I don’t even sway. “I’m not letting you go,” I say, gripping the material of her navy blouse at her waist. “Who are you?”

  “I can’t tell you. That’s it. There is no more, Shane.”

  “What are you after? Who hired you?”

  “Right,” she bites out. “I must be spying on you. Of course that’s what you’d think.” She shoves on my chest. “Move. Let me off this counter.” After one more ineffectual shove, she glowers at me and declares, “This isn’t about you or your fucked-up family, Shane.”

  “What do you expect me to think?”

  “Just what you did. Which thinking back, is why I stayed. You were always too wrapped up in them to ever really see me. That made me safe.”

  I flinch with an accusation I do not want to be true. “I saw you. I thought I did.”

  “Clearly you didn’t.”

  “You will not turn this on me. If this isn’t about me, then what is it about? Who is it about?”

  “Me. It’s about me. Just me. Why does it have to be about you?”

  I stare at her, searching her eyes, and damn it, I see torment and fear that I don’t want to be about her betrayal. I want them to be about something else. Something I can fix, but I can’t afford to be a fool. I release her, moving to the opposite side of the island, gripping the edges. I glance at the folder now lying between us, then at her. “Then explain the contents.”

  “I don’t need to look,” she says, refusing to look at it while the buttons on my shirt seem to have grown exceedingly interesting. “I already know everything there is to know about me.”

  “Don’t you want to know what I know about you?”

  She inhales and meets my stare, firming her voice. “This is just going to lead to questions I can’t answer.”

  “Open the folder,” I say, the steel in my voice and my will meant to send a clear message: I won’t let her refuse.

  She understands too. I see that in the way her jaw sets, the way her chest expands with a breath, which she holds. She opens the folder, flipping over a summary of her fake history, along with documents that show the many holes in her past. She has no yearbook photos. No driver’s license before several years ago. I’d ruled out witness protection based on those stupid mistakes. If I hadn’t exploited mistakes the Feds have made to save a few clients, including my brother and father, I wouldn’t know they are far from flawless. But does she? Is she one of them?

  Seconds tick by, becoming a full minute before she shuts the folder and looks at me, shoving hair behind her ear, then hugging herself. “You know I’m not who I say I am. I get that already.”

  “What’s your name?”

  “Emily.”

  “No games. Your real name.”

  “That person I was doesn’t exist anymore.”

  I grab the envelope that is still in the center of the counter, removing the damning evidence of her betrayal inside. “Explain that,” I say, plopping the highly confidential paperwork Seth found in her desk in front of her, the word “spying” ringing too damn true for comfort.

  She glances down and immediately back to me. “Shane—”

  “Who are you working for?” I demand, my voice low, tight, wrapped in barely contained anger, when nothing I do is ever “barely contained.” She has pushed buttons I don’t want pushed. She is a woman I let into my life and mind, who I trusted. Who I foolishly want to believe can explain all of this.

  “I was collecting those documents for you,” she says, giving me an answer I do not expect.

  “You’re going to have to do better than that, sweetheart.”

  “Have you even read them or did Seth just tell you they’re damning so you believed him?”

  “You tell me,” I order. “About the papers. About everything.”

  “Your father is up to something with the hedge fund he’s putting together. I pulled together the paperwork for you to look at.”

  “There’s a lot more in those documents than information about that hedge fund.”

  “I was alone in the offi
ces and I snuck into your father’s office.” She presses her hands to the counter and looks at me, really looks at me for the first time since I confronted her. “Shane,” she says softly, a plea in her voice, a vulnerability in her eyes I’m not sure can be faked. “I know how this looks, but I swear to you that I did not betray you. This situation I’m in really isn’t about you or your family.”

  I study her, trying to figure out why I want to believe her, when I have no reason to give her that trust at the point. “Then what’s it about?” I demand.

  “It’s complicated,” she says, another tremble to her voice.

  I resist an insane urge to close the space between us, grab her, kiss her, and fucking tell her everything is going to be okay. “Tell me.”

  “I can’t.”

  Rare, uncontained frustration rolls through me. “Damn it, Emily,” I growl, scrubbing fingers through my dark hair, which will no doubt soon be gray. I then rest my hands back on the counter to face her head-on. “What the hell is your real name?”

  “Emily,” she repeats. “And this is going nowhere.” She pushes off the island. “I’m sorry. I should have never gotten involved with you. I’m leaving and you won’t see me again.”

  She walks in my direction because she has no choice. It’s the only straight line to the door, and while I get that she is a caged animal trying to escape right now, that’s not going to happen. “You aren’t going anywhere until I get some answers,” I say, shackling her arm before she passes, turning her to face me, letting her see the distrust burning in my eyes. “This isn’t just about the two of us. This is about a company I pledged to protect.”

  “Check the hotel security footage,” she says. “I was carrying a folder when I came here last night. Not that I can prove it had this information in it, but it did.” She pulls against my hold, which I tighten. “Please let me go,” she says, the plea laced with what almost sounds like regret, but then, what is real with her? What was ever real?