Page 11 of Desperate Needs

If Josef Aziz needed a new building that was not my concern.

After all, I didn’t want to put the guy out of business. I just needed to launch mine to the next level by taking out some of his.

Nothing personal.

Okay, well, fucking his daughter might seem a little personal.

But with any luck, she wasn’t the type of woman to go crying to her daddy about her boyfriend issues.

Boyfriend? What the fuck?

* * *

Yes, I had some of my team, the ones I trusted, to do some of the tracking when I needed to see to other things. But most of it, I did myself.

I knew it was unhealthy. Dangerous for me to get so attached. But what could I say?

There was something about the redheaded beauty that drew me in and held me captive. The idea of any other man studying her this closely sent me into a fucking rage, so why bother?

Clementine Aziz was too young for me. Too damn pretty and sweet. But she held a key piece to the puzzle, and I planned to take it, without her knowledge, of course.

Tonight, I was finally going to take the next step. And as it turned out, I didn’t have to do a thing.

Imagine that?

The little beauty shocked the shit out of me when she approached me at her family’s reception for Liam’s son’s baptism.

She’d invited me to text her for a drink.

Just left the door open for me to stroll on through. Bringing me one step closer to what I needed to get done.

Finally. So close.

Chapter 5-Connor

Blood rushed through my veins, and it took all of my willpower to stop myself from going back inside and seeking her out and rushing her along.

This was really going to happen.

I was going to redeem my family name. And I guess I was excited about that.

But for some reason, that wasn’t what I was thinking about.

No, all my thoughts were on her.

Ever since I laid eyes on the curvy little redhead, a secret plan started to develop inside my head. One that had nothing to do with my family.

Now that I was confronted with it, I wasn’t even shocked.

If my mind wandered away from the interest of Callahan Protection Group, I was hardly to blame. I’d dedicated fifteen years to this venture, working night and day, doing things I would never utter to another soul just so I could try to wash away my father’s connection to me.

But what was the point if all I got for my efforts was a boardroom full of unhappy relatives and an empty house to come home to?

Suddenly, I wanted more than that.

Maybe it was because I spent the last two years working closely with Liam, watching his company grow and his family, too.

It was sort of funny. The success of ODI wasn’t the reason he wore a smile daily.

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