Page 2 of One Little Mistake
“What’s her deal?”
Preston’s voice is uncharacteristically somber when he finally speaks. “I don’t know all the details,” he begins, “but she’s in pretty rough shape. She’s far too thin. She’s barely eating or talking, at least to me. All I know is Loki needed to rescue her. Your guess is as good as mine as to what kind of hell Miles put her through, but she’s family, East. We take care of ours.”
He’s right. We take care of our family, so he knows I can’t say no. It’s one of the first things our parents ever taught us. Family by blood and family by choice, it makes no difference. Once they’re family, they’re family forever.
Searching for my notepad, I ask, “What do I need to do?”
“She’ll call you on Monday morning. Hopefully, she’ll like you better than she does me.”
“Wait, what? What do you mean? What the hell are you getting me into here, Preston?”
His chuckle ripples through the phone. “She seems to be the one girl I couldn’t charm. We’re like oil and water, and somehow, I ended up having her in a headlock about a month ago.”
I sit back, stunned. Not because playboy Preston couldn’t work his magic, but because apparently, she has spunk if they went head to head.
“She doesn’t like you? Seems like a smart girl,” I tease.
“She only thinks she doesn’t like me,” he says smoothly. “Honestly, we’ve had some kind of truce lately. But I think getting back to work would be good for her. It seems like Miles may have literally stripped her of everything. I just had my shopper bring her clothes because she showed up here with nothing. Nothing at all, East.”
Preston is rarely serious, so his tone has me leaning forward.
“Are you sure she’s in the right frame of mind to work? Does she know it’s an executive assistant position?”
“I’m not sure, but she’s extremely smart. She was the number one buyer in all of New England for a large department store until one day, everything just vanished. They blacklisted her overnight. I have EnVision Securities looking into it, but I’m willing to bet Miles was behind that, too.”
Shit. “All right. Forget the call. Just tell her to be at my office by seven a.m., and I’ll get her set up.”
“Thanks, man. I’d hire her in my office, but I’m afraid we’ll kill each other.”
“And you think my sparkling personality will be a better fit? Jesus, Colton is fucking Peter Pan. His merry ass would be better suited to take care of her.” I don’t know if our younger brother, Colt, will ever grow up, but his heart is huge.Unlike my blackened one.
“I know, but Lexi is a stubborn piece of work who lets her pride run the show. Colt doesn’t have any openings, and if she got one sniff of us making something up for her, she’d rip off my balls.”
My bark of laughter is unexpected and has me choking on air. Finally composing myself, I try to speak. “Sounds like she might be right up my alley.”
“Jesus, let’s hope so. Lexi needs something to bring her back to life. Verbal sparring with me aside, she’s a shell right now, and it’s fucking miserable to see.”
“If she can last longer than my last assistant, she’ll be fine. Dealing with me isn’t easy sometimes.”
“No shit?” Preston remarks sarcastically.
“Whatever. I need to go. I have a shit ton to get done so I can head home for the night.”
It’s not a lie, but I won’t go home until I’m nearly passing out. It makes walking into an empty house that much easier to handle.
Chapter 2
Lexi
It’s six a.m. I’m showered, dressed, and already on my third cup of coffee. I don’t know why I let Preston talk me into this. I have only met his brother, Easton, a couple of times and never had much interaction with him. My cousin, Lanie, and her best friend, Julia, tell me he’s misunderstood, but the few times I’ve seen him, I thought he was a grumpy asshole.
“Come on, Lex. You’ve dealt with much worse in the last few years. You can handle one grumpy asshat,” I tell an empty room.
Peering around, I take in the apartment I’ve called home for the last few days. Technically, it belongs to our friend, Loki, but it’s mine for now since he’s out on assignment. I shudder, remembering how he could have died trying to rescue me. I don’t know if the nightmares will ever end, but at least now that I have my own space I don’t have to worry too much about my screams waking anyone.
My phone vibrates next to me, and I can all but guarantee it’ll be one of the girls. Or both of them. Lanie, Julia, and I all grew up in the tiny town of Burke Hollow, Vermont. They, and my grandmother, GG, are the only constants in my life. Glancing down, I see I’m right.
Lanie: Kick butt today at work, chica! Luvs!
