Page 6 of Red

“Soon as we finish this last sale, and we get that casino built.” Nico played with the ice cube in his glass. “We have the last girl. We can get this over with, right?”

Erik left his empty glass on the wet bar and shook off his suit jacket.

“There’s still the little matter of the inheritance. We need that to get the ball rolling. I can’t get the permits, the real estate, or any of the million things we need to get the casino started without the money Uncle Kristoff left you.” Nico continued listing all the blocks still in the way of Erik’s plans.

Erik cast a wary glance at his little brother. “’Yes, I’m aware.”

“And you’re aware you can’t collect that money until you fulfill all of Uncle Kristoff’s requirements,” Nico pushed. Being younger rarely stopped him from trying to climb over Erik.

“I know what my duty is.” Erik turned a hard stare on Nico. Brother or not, he would plant his fist between his teeth if he didn’t stop badgering him. “I don’t need you to explain it to me, little brother.”

“So, let’s unload this girl and then you can pick out your wife.”

“Pick out my wife?” Erik laughed. “Is there a store I can shop at? Maybe she’s simply sitting on a shelf waiting to be plucked up and given a good home?”

“You know what I mean.” Nico grimaced.

Erik did know. Get a girl. Marry her, collect the money, and put the family back on track. Kristoff Komisky and his fucking son, Marcus, had derailed the entire family with their conniving stupidity. It was up to Erik to pull it all together again.

First, the girl.

The other two had been easy to deal with, but they had been aware of their futures. One of them had seen it as an opportunity to get out of an even worse situation. The other had come to terms and left with a long trail of financial debt—but she had her freedom. Her debt was now owed to a brick-and-mortar loan shark and not to the Rawling family. Melinda’s grandfather had wiped away any hope of her being able to pay off his debt when he requested the house and any other debts he owed be paid off as well. He put a steep price on his granddaughter’s head, making it impossible for her to find a way out of Komisky’s clutches.

But Melinda had something different from those girls. She had a fire in her, and she wasn’t going to take this situation lying down. Even now, she probably paced the bedroom she’d been locked away in, trying to figure a way out. Of the house. Of the transaction.

He almost looked forward to thwarting her attempts.

Almost.

He, like Nico, wanted the whole business over with. The sooner they had all the money, they could move to the next step and get out from under the shameful shadows their uncle had cast over them.

“Mr. Rawling?” A soft knock came on the door.

“Come in.” Nico winked at Erik. He liked pissing his big brother off too much. It was probably time to knock him down a peg or two.

Marianne, a woman who played both housekeeper and motherly roles in the house, stepped into the office, wringing her hands.

“I’m sorry to disturb you, but I was putting away the towels upstairs, and I heard glass breaking in the bedroom adjoining the master suite.” Marianne pointed behind her. “I knocked, but no one answered.”

Erik was on his feet and out the door before Marianne could register his movements and get out of his way. He nearly barreled over the old woman to get to the stairs.

He’d known Melinda would be trouble.

She had the air about her.

But he’d figured she’d wait at least until sunrise before starting a fight.

“Do you need help?” Nico called.

“No,” Erik yelled down the stairs. He would handle her. She needed to understand her place and what was happening. And he would be happy to help.

He shoved the key into the lock and pushed the door open to the bedroom adjoining his. A cold breeze hit him from the window; drapery flapped in the wind. He stepped in farther, but she wasn’t to be seen.

Broken glass crunched beneath his boots.

“Melinda,” he called.

He peeked out the window, in case his gut was wrong. If she had jumped from that distance, she would have broken her neck.

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