Page 9 of The Southern Thirst Trap

Like seeing Harlowe did this morning. It was even better than the freefall out of the airplane that had preceded it. I’d forgotten how she warms my blood and sets my pulse racing with a look. But her anger and coldness were a wall around her, and I’m the reason it had been erected in the first place.

“I think the brother protests too much,” Payton says, his smile looking particularly evil as he targets me with his typical brand of middle brother meddling and my own personal hell. “You wanted her enough at one time to break your own golden rule of one night and spent two whole weeks with just her. You cut off communication as soon as you got home, which is normal, but now that she’s back on your radar you can’t help asking questions and seem far too invested in the answers. Could it be that you’re willing to break another rule and do repeats? I think you want her. Bad.” He crosses his arms over his chest and levels me with a satisfied smirk. The bastard is too spot on and he knows it. I hate my brothers.

“I think we have a shit ton of work to do and talking about a woman I fucked a long time ago and haveno interestin now isn’t going to help us accomplish anything.” I grab a stack of papers out of Hayes’s hands, and he makes a move to take them back, but I’m faster, and fan them out in front of me to bring home my point.

five

Zander

“PleasetellmeaboutHarlowe, I’m begging you,” Javi pleads.

I give him a measured look across the booth we are ensconced in with Luca and Diego at Dionysus, where we gathered after work for drinks. It’s an upscale place with an impressive liquor list and discreet employees, close enough to walk from Olympus Tower that it’s a frequent haunt for us. I sip my Underworld Spirits bourbon on the rocks before lowering my glass as my mood cools.

“There’s nothing to tell.” I don’t want to share any of her with anyone. Every part of her that was mine stays that way. And it’s safely locked in the vault.

“Why are you so interested, Javi? Other than your absolutely childish crush on her,” Luca says, tracing a bead of condensation from his own glass and eyeing Javi with glacial indifference. Luca’s icy persona thaws a bit when Payton’s warm, golden retriever personality is around to temper him. Neither of my brothers joined us tonight, so we get the frosty version that matches his cool-blond hair and arctic blue eyes.

Hayes, of course, wanted to go home to Paige, who owns the distillery that makes this incredible bourbon. Payton said he had more work to do. He’s been putting in extra hours the last year as we recover from the industrial mining accident that was part of a corporate sabotage plan intended to take our company down a year ago. We managed to bring the responsible parties to justice, but not before our company image had taken a beating, which has lasted, and we lost a newly acquired property, along with the lives of twenty-four of the mine employees.

While we were able to turn over information on the group who orchestrated the fiasco and get the main people arrested, Payton has been expecting more subterfuge. The shadowy network of disgruntled former business owners set on seeing the demise of Olympus International is large. Partly due to our penchant for hostile takeovers and ruthless business acquisitions, and partly because we have what others want—power. There’s always the possibility of another fucker out for revenge looking to take us down.

“He probably wants to relive a special time in his life,” Diego quips, smirking over the rim of his drink at Javi. “Lord knows he hasn’t had many dates in the last five years to distract him from his Sports Illustrated subscription.”

“Y’all are no fun. Haven’t you ever had a list?” Javi asks, gesturing at us with his tumbler.

“A list?” Luca asks, disdain dripping from his clipped words. He cocks his head to the side as he narrows those unnervingly light eyes at Javi. He looks like a fucking Husky. Shrewd and wolf-like. Ready to howl or hunt. A little psycho. Don't leave him alone or your furniture will end up shredded.

“Yeah, a list of celebrities you would do anything to get with if the opportunity presented itself. Models, actresses, singers, that kind of thing.” He looks around at all of our faces, my own kept carefully neutral. “Oh, come on, you have to know what I’m talking about!” he says to our silence. Javi would definitely be a chocolate Lab. Something loveable and loyal. Maybe a little dumb, but intelligent when it counts.

I bark out a laugh, freeing him from his embarrassment. “Of course we know what you’re talking about. We just usually clear the list and are left with conquests instead.”

Luca and Diego nod in agreement, to Javi’s obvious shock.

“Youclear the list? How?!” Javi asks, perplexed. He looks to Luca and Diego next. “I know Zander clears it just by fucking everything that bats an eyelash at him, but what about you two? You’re not fuckboy billionaires.”

“But we’re hot as shit millionaires. And it’s all about who you know,” Luca answers, sitting back with a satisfied grin. “I’m in PR. I have the contact details for pretty much anyone who is connected in some way to a woman I may want to cross off the list. How do you think I met Keira Jansen?” His mention of the model half-sister of the Kartwright sisters, a notoriously media-friendly family with a reality show, is a good start to the conversation.

“Or you go to galas and fundraisers and get introduced by mutual acquaintances, which is how I found myself in the bed of none other than Samantha Jeffries,” Diego adds, mentioning one of the hottest up-and-coming young politicians Georgia has seen in years.

“You’re telling me I could have been clearing the list rather than fantasizing about them this whole time? Fuck!” Javi says, dropping his head in defeat.

I chuckle at his abject despondency for all the pussy he has missed out on when it could have been handed to him on a silver platter due to his employment at Olympus. Money and power can indeed get you a whole lot in this world if you want it.

“Cheer up, man. At least now you’ve met Harlowe and can cross her off your list and start working on the others.” I don’t want him fantasizing about how he could get with Harlowe now. She’s off-limits to everyone.

Except for that huge Condors tight end, an insidious voice reminds me. The smile slides off my face with that truth. Harlowe is dating fucking Knox Contraire, and that means he’s had his hands all over her. My stomach sours and I set my bourbon down. The Atlanta Haute List says they have been linked for the last few months, which means he’s already surpassed my ability to stick around, making him a much better choice for her, realistically. But a feral part of me doesn’t subscribe to reality and wants to make a call to an associate, one who doesn’t mind cracking kneecaps, and have him take care of Knox, so he’s no longer a rival.

What the fuck am I even thinking?I’m not looking to get back with Harlowe, so I don’t have any rivals that I should be considering taking out, hypothetically or not.

My phone vibrates in my pocket and saves me from the back-and-forth struggle in my brain where Harlowe is concerned. “Wishing you joined us, after all?” I say when I see Payton’s name on the screen.

“I could use you guys back at Olympus,” he says, a note of urgency lacing his tone.

A wave of dread passes through me and I press the phone tighter to my ear to block out some of the bar noise. “What happened?”

“Olympus is under a cyber attack. We’ve had over fifty attempts to breach our servers in the last half hour, and our team is scrambling to keep our firewalls and protections in place. I already called Hayes. He’s on his way back to the office now. We need a plan for if they succeed. The team here has started moving assets around so they’re not in danger if the hackers get in, but it’s tight.”

“We’re leaving now. Give us five and we’ll be there.” I hang up and turn to the guys. “Sorry to disappoint, but we have to go back to work.”

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