Page 49 of Decoded
I groan at the mention of our latest acquisition and the biggest pain in my ass. We’re bending over backwards to provide them with every possible security measure they can dream of, but nothing we do is ever enough.
Giggling, Anna leans over and gives me a kiss. “Come on, hubby, let’s go to work. As we walk into the office, I realize our hands are linked together and she’s not pulling away. She isn’t trying to run for me or hide that there’s something between us, and this is the happiest I’ve been since our night in Sin City.
“It’s about time the two of you showed up,” Lincoln huffs, his permanent scowl is deeper today than usual. He runs his hand over his dark military cut and shakes his head, the motion allowing me to catch a glimpse of the tattoo on his neck peeking out. When he’s at work, Lincoln wears long sleeves and long pants, but the man is completely covered in ink. “You seem to forget every time we have a meeting with this fucking company.”
“I didn’t forget. We got here just in time. Besides, what do you need me for? You could hold this meeting on your own.”
He shakes his head at me. “Nope, you’re the boss man. That’s why you get paid the big bucks.”
When I told my brothers about the business I wanted us to go in on together, it was my goal to split things amongst us equally. Camden was in college at the time and said he didn’t deserve that since he couldn’t afford to put into it. Lincoln claimed that since this company was my idea and I’m the one that brought them on board and provided them career opportunities, that I deserved to be the main shareholder. Technically I own forty percent of the company while each of my younger brothers owns thirty. Still, I have made it clear since day one that we are all equal, no matter what the numbers might say.
“You’re just as much the boss as I am, Linc.”
“And youallmake the big bucks,” Anna adds.
Lincoln rolls his eyes at us. “Just get your ass into the conference room.” As he turns and walks away, I lean into the woman standing next to me.
“So glad he’s in a good mood today,” she giggles adorably and it makes me want to claim her right here in front of the entire office. Janine would be so fucking pissed. So instead of dealing with my chief people officer, I boop Anna on the nose and we go our separate ways.
“I’m so fucking done with them. Let’s just cut our losses and tell them we can’t work with them anymore.” Usually Lincoln is the grump, but for some reason this fucking company gets under my skin. We’ve installed next-generation firewalls with intrusion prevention built-in. We’ve encrypted every single piece of data they’ve thrown at us. We even provided online training for their staff to prevent falling for phishing scams. Nothing we do is enough for Caruso Enterprises and it makes me wonder what exactly they’re trying to keep hidden.
“They’re the hottest thing in Vegas right now and that place is a fucking desert. If we can put up with their bullshit demands a while longer, you’ll see it’s all going to be worth it.” I hate it whenmy brother is being reasonable. Sometimes I think he was meant to be the oldest of us siblings.
“Is it too early for bourbon?” I ask, needing something to calm me down after hearing about how our firewalls are inadequate and being told how we should run our business. If they think it’s so fucking easy, why didn’t they choose this field over their fucking slot machines?
Lincoln pours each of us a glass of Basil Hayden and sits in the leather chair beside me.
“How’s mom?” I ask, feeling guilty that I haven’t been out to see her in a few days.
“She’s doing better, but still not great. Would probably love it if Anna came out and saw her again.” I nod at that and smile, remembering how well the two of them got along.
“We can definitely do that. Anna’s been itching to go out there and take some photos.”
“I forgot she’s into that. I may have to have her take some photos of Charlie. My Little Bit isn’t so little anymore.”
“How’s the nanny search going?” I ask and he heaves out a stressed sigh.
“I’ll admit that I’m extremely hesitant to just open the door for anyone when it comes to who is gonna spend the day with my girls, but it’s slim pickings out there. To find someone who will sit with a reclusive woman and take on a rambunctious six-year-old is not proving to be easy. But Janine called me this morning and said she thinks she found the right one.”
“That sounds promising,” I say, straightening in my seat at the positive news. But Lincoln shrugs.
“I don’t know about her. She’s real young and fresh out of college. Mama might eat her alive.” He takes a sip of his bourbon. “Janine did ask me if I had any secret wives out there that she needed to know about before she hired someone, though. Know anything about that?”
My brother smirks at me as I flip him the bird like the mature adult I am. We shoot the shit for a few more minutes, finishing up our drinks and genuinely enjoying each other’s company. I really like my brother when he isn’t being a grumpy asshole. Fine, I like him then too, but I like him more when he’s like this.
“How are things with you and Anna?” he asks.
I can’t help the smile that spreads across my face. “We’re really fucking great. Things have been pretty awesome. She told me she loves me, ya know?”
He raises his glass at me in congratulations. “And you feel the same?” I smirk in his direction. “Yeah, I know you do. Happy for you, brother.”
I make my way to the bathroom before heading to my office, but when I look at Anna, there’s an older man standing in front of her. Overall, he’s got a slender frame, but there’s a bit of a gut that’s formed from either beer or age. His hair is slicked back and that dye job ain’t fooling anybody. I look back at Anna’s face and when I see it covered in fear, I know instantly who the man is that’s way too close.
Daniel. Fucking. Brenner.
He reaches over her desk and runs his hand down her cheek.
“Get your fucking hands off my wife.”
