Page 2 of Evil Beautiful

Her name, Pixie, said it all. She was tiny, a little sprite of a woman and stunningly beautiful. Everything about her made you want to protect her at all costs. Not that she would have allowed it. She hesitated and for a minute looked about ready to bolt but quickly shook it off. Her wide blue eyes narrowed and a frown pulled her dark brows together.

“I’m looking for Dominick. I called him three days ago, he said he would get back to me and I’ve still not heard a word from him. So, since he didn’t have the decency to call me back I’m here to camp outside his door until he’s forced to talk to me. But as usual, according to the dragon out there, I have to get past you before I can speak to your lord and master.”

It was very obvious that she was pissed at her brother for some reason.

Calling him my lord and master was very close to the truth. But he was also my best friend, had been since we were boys. It is true that I am Dominick’s right hand, his dark hand that took care of problems, most of the time permanently. But not today.

Today it was my job to find out why she was pissed and then defuse the situation. Or solve her problem. If she had been any other woman it would have been easy.

But she was Pixie Maingarde, Dominick’s baby sister, and he had very specific instructions when it came to her. She was to be treated with the utmost respect and every effort was to be made to give her whatever she wanted. I had to solve any problem she might have, whether she brought it to us or not.

“Sorry, Pixie, he’s out of town at the moment. There’s a problem with one of our suppliers and he had to fly out to Singapore at short notice. How can I help?”

Flames virtually shot out of her pissed off blue eyes and she stomped a tiny boot clad foot.

“He’s such an asshole. I told him weeks ago I want to finalise the sale of my shares. But all I get from him are evasions and stupid excuses.” She pushed her wildly curly ringlets away from her face and hooked them behind her ears then slammed her hands down on her hips.

“Every time I bring it up he says the time isn’t right to sell. I’m doing this strictly by the book as laid out in our parents will. I’m giving him first option to buy the shares. I need the money and he’s dragging his feet.”

I still didn’t understand why she wanted to sell her shares. Why do something so damned stupid? The company made her a lot of money. What did she need more money for?

“Please sit down and tell me exactly what’s going on because I have no clue what you’re talking about.” I lied as I waved a hand towards the leather couch and coffee table set up to maximize the ocean view.

I had to control myself not to grin when she stomped over to the couch and flung herself into it. She was highly pissed off but instead of making me wary I wanted to laugh. Her feet barely reached the ground when she finally stopped moving around to get comfortable and settled.

I turned sideways as I sat down next to her so I could watch every thought she had flitting over her expressive face. She was so different from her brother where that was concerned. Dom never allowed any expression to show on his beautiful face.

The siblings were both dazzling with the same blue eyes and wildly curly black hair. Dom kept his short to control the curls but Pixie’s hair was long, almost waist length. Where she was a tiny petite little pixie he was tall and muscular. Her skin was a delicate creamy white and she had a sprinkling of freckles across her nose and the tops of her cheeks. She was a beautiful woman that Dom was manically protective of. Something very few people knew.

Over the years many had been fooled by his indifference to his only living family member. And that was exactly what he had wanted them to believe because it had kept her safe from his enemies. The biggest of which was Winifred Harrison, their evil step-grandmother.

After the death of their grandfather their parents took over the running of the Maingarde Corporation. But their time at the head of the company was very short lived. They were killed when their private plane crashed. The investigation found engine malfunction as the cause of the crash which Dom always believed to be utter bullshit. His dad had been a very careful man and wouldn’t have taken his wife on a trip if the plane wasn’t in good flying condition. Dom was thirteen at the time and Pixie had just turned six. Winifred became their guardian and stepped up as CEO of the family Corporation. Ostensibly to run it until Dom was old enough to do so himself. An absolute load of shit because he had only recently been able to seize it from her control.

Life with the bitch had not been good for his little sister and a few months before she turned nine he persuaded Winifred to send her to a boarding school in Johannesburg. He had to pretend he hated her and wanted her gone to fool Winifred into letting her go.

He had wanted her out of the house and safe from the bitch’s mental abuse. The other reason was that she was getting older and he didn’t want her to know what he had to do to keep them both alive. As a sixteen year old he had already experienced abuse and humiliation at Winifred’s hands and he didn’t want that for his sister. With her gone the bitch turned her focus on me. Dom and I had known it would happen and we had bargained on it to some extent. What had been done to us turned us into the men we were today.

Predators.

Pixie tapping me on the leg brought me back to the present.

“Sorry, my mind was wandering for a bit there. Now, tell me why you need to sell your shares when your dividends have been earning you a shitload of money.”

She rolled her eyes and pulled an annoyed face.

“I told Dominick. I want to branch out, open more shops and maybe even open a shop in the US. And for that I need money, lots of money. Money I don’t have right now.”

Her shoulders slumped despondently. I was about to give her a hug when I frowned and pushed the idea out of my head. I have purposely kept her at arms length over the years therefore we didn’t have a relationship that would allow that kind of behaviour. Plus I wasn’t known for my empathy. It would ruin my reputation as an unfeeling bastard if any of our employees spotted me acting out of character.

Even though my office was secure I did not want to discuss Pixie’s finances where there was even the slightest chance we could be overheard.

“I’ll handle this for you.” I said quietly. “I’ll call Dom and have a chat, then come over to your place later to tell you what he said. Will you be at home or at the shop?”

She frowned. “There’s no need to come and see me. You can call me once you’ve spoken to him.”

That wasn’t going to happen.

“We’re not going to discuss your business over the phone, Pixie. And you’re my best friend’s sister so it’s my duty to look out for you.”

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