Page 2 of Explorer's Revenge
There’s a snicker behind me, and I turn to meet my cousin’s eyes. Logan is almost the same height as me, and for a moment, I see the young boy turning up at our doorstep, all his worldly possessions in two bags at his feet, his shoulders rounded in pain. Now he stands tall, his gray eyes alight with mischief as he grins at me, flashing his pearly whites. “Yeah, but she’s hot.”
“All the crazy ones are,” Way mutters at his side, his eyes closed as he leans back against the wall, the lights flashing across the new ink on his head. When he feels my gaze, he opens his eyes to wink at me. Despite the fact that he’s not blood related to Rick, Logan, or me, he’s just as much family. I glance at Aiyaret next to him, who’s purposely looking at the doors, ready to get this over with. He feels uncomfortable in this high-rise building, just like the rest of us. We prefer to be in wide open spaces, not this mechanical prison with too many people and too much noise—not to mention the monkey suits we were forced to don to visit the bosses.
They pay our bills, though, and give us the freedom to explore like our hearts call us to, so we play nice, even if we hate it. “Put your phone away,” I mutter to Rick as the doors open. “And remember to keep that smart mouth shut. We don’t need another probation because you called one of the board members an old, fat bastard who couldn’t get an erection if a whore was riding him like a bronco.”
Rick laughs, as do Logan and Way, but I just roll my eyes, fighting a smile even as I glare at him, showing him I’m serious. He mimes zipping his lips as we step off onto the top level of Venture Enterprises, the company we all work for as a team. They have their fingers in a lot of shit, from racing to drinks and equipment. We are their Adreno Squad, as they call us, due to the nature of our jobs.
I ignore the looks we get and the photos being taken as we traverse the corridor. We are used to it by now, even though I remember the first time we nervously walked these halls as cocky teenagers and no one knew who we were. Now, the whole world does, and we are the best at our jobs.
We are a wandering family living wild. We explore every inch of the world together. Men love us and want to be us, while women want us, and Venture? They made us.
Without bothering to knock, I open the glass door to the conference room filled with board members. They are sitting around the large table in their stuffy suits with their bottles of water and laptops, looking like zombies—apart from the man who hired us and the reason I took this job.
Ajax is the son of the man who founded this company and the one who made it about excitement and adventure. He understands my need for exploring, and he wants to be out there himself, but instead, Ajax is stuck in boardrooms. Behind him are framed photos of him climbing Mount Everest and diving in the deepest, darkest holes in the world. He is a businessman, but his heart is wild like ours.
“Wilder!” he calls with a genuine grin, clapping my back. I return the greeting, a smile on my lips.
“Hey, Ajax, how are you?” Despite the fact that he’s my boss, I genuinely like the guy, and I knew the first moment he asked us to join them that I would. He had the same fire and excitement we feel. He’s older now, but he’s still the same young man who wanted to take Venture into the twenty-first century and do things no other company dared, and he has. Hence why he’s the richest man alive.
“Better now that you’re here, friend. Take a seat.” He gestures at the free chairs on the other side of the table. I sit, with Rick lounging in the chair next to me. Logan takes a seat, but Way and Aiy lean near the door, wanting to escape. The men in the room shift uncomfortably at our rugged appearances—tattoos, piercings, tan skin, and worn hands—compared to their silken, unblemished richness. I smirk, knowing they wish they looked like us, all hard edges and muscles, but only because it suits our needs.
The strength we need is hard earned and keeps my family safe when we explore. The tan protects my skin and is a perk.The hard calluses are finally strong enough not to hurt when I climb.
Every inch of us is carefully crafted, not for aesthetics or pleasure, but for work. The plus side of it is it creates envy in men and lust in women.
“We are so excited you agreed to come in. We know you were relaxing after your successful win of the Adventure Race.” Ajax grins. “Which, by the way, congratulations on again. You guys were amazing.”
I just nod, and he carries on, knowing I only speak when I feel like it.
“However, we have something for you, something that’s time sensitive. No other person in the world knows about this, and no others could ever hope to find the lost city of Apear.” He lets that sink in as I frown. It sounds familiar, but I can’t figure out why. Luckily, he doesn’t make me guess—another reason I like him.
“It is also known as the city of gold. It was thought to be lost hundreds of years ago and hasn’t been mapped or found ever since, but recently, a survivor of a boat wreck stumbled upon an island they swear has gold ruins that have never been explored before. We paid him off, but who knows how long he will hold his silence, which is where you come in. If you and your team want to, we would like to send you there to find this city for us and document it. Of course, whatever is found will be given to museums, but the press it will bring the company is invaluable, and you have free rein and an endless budget.” He leans forward, pressing his hands to the table. “I mean it, Wilder, whatever you want, name it. Your team has all our resources and no rules. Find us this city, and for the rest of your life, you can do whatever you want.”
The press is important to them, but for us, an unexplored lost city on an island in the middle of nowhere? I can’t deny the excitement that builds within me as I think about the things thatcould be there and what would be needed. I glance at the others and see the same emotion reflected in their eyes.
This is a big deal. We will be the first ones there in hundreds of years, and we can finally show Carter who the real explorers are.
“We’re in.”
TWO
MAEVE
Istride into Venture Enterprises, the company who scouted me five years ago after I freebased from a skyscraper and gained internet fame, grinning and waving at Bob, the security guy behind the desk. I scared the shit out of him five years ago. I did go back and apologize after, but he laughed it off, telling me he’d framed the news article, and then he asked me to sign it. When Venture came knocking, offering everything on a silver platter, I brought him with me. He loves his new job, even if he sometimes finds me doing crazy stuff.
I was overjoyed and slightly starstruck when they approached me. Once a boring business, Venture gained notoriety for its new CEO, Ajax Howard. He’s a sexy as hell adventurer who stepped up when his father died. He brought the company into the modern century, and I had been dreaming of working for them for years, but I still brought my dad with me to read the contracts, needing his approval and knowledge. I don’t do anything like that without his approval, and despite his condition, he said yes and was overjoyed, and my dad made fast friends with Ajax, even if he did threaten him and tell him to look after his baby girl.
It’s been five amazing years, and I get the best of both worlds. My bills are paid, and I have the freedom to follow the wildness my father said we were both born with. I do the events they ask, like cliff diving, climbing, racing, and so on, and then in my free time, they pay me to explore. Their dick squad hates that. Wilder, Merrick, Way, Logan, and Aiyaret are five sexy explorers who were already signed with Venture. I think Ajax hoped I would join them, but they made it very clear they are a family and no one else will ever be allowed to work with them.
I hate them. The cocky assholes look down on me. They clearly think I am nothing more than a woman trying too hard to be like them. They have made it known that they find me lacking, so yes, the dick squad might be sexy as hell, but I’d rather punch their smug faces than sit on them.
One day, I’ll show them and get my name out there before theirs as the best explorer of all time, and then I’ll shove it in their pretty boy faces as I drive off in my Ferrari toward my mansion.
My dad always says it’s good to have dreams, but I don’t think that’s quite what he meant. Oh well.
Pushing all thoughts of those assholes away, I take the stairs to the top floor, racing my last time as I leap and drag myself up until I break out onto the floor. I grin at a startled businesswoman as I straighten my blouse and pants. That’s about as good as they will get. I still have my sneakers on, and they will never get me in heels no matter how much they ask. They are death traps meant to slow women so men can catch them.
I hurry to the boardroom we always meet in.
