Page 108 of Reckless Hearts

The door to the conference room opens, and in walks Alistair.

And by “walks” I mean “strides like a conquering king entering the city he’s just sacked”. Which is, as I gather, pretty much how Alistair enters any and every room.

Tall, with broad, muscled shoulders and a lean build, Alistair’s blond hair and bright blue eyescouldhave the potential to make him come across as charming and friendly.

That is, if he hadn’t tailored the rest of his face and general demeanor to strangle that charm and friendliness while they were still in diapers.

Instead, the man has ended up with a sharp, somewhat deviant, sinister vibe to him, which lurks in the shadows of his sharp cheekbones and the flicker of malice in his eyes.

In case it’s not obvious, there’s a reason we know each other and get along. Not to mention a reason this man was head of The Reckless at Knightsblood long before me.

Amusingly, his adoptive brother Gabriel, who looks so much more the part of the villain with his dark hair and hazel eyes, was president of Para Bellum at the same time that Alistair ran The Reckless. But of course, that was before whatwasa friendly college rivalry escalated into the Cold War it apparently still is today.

…Yeah, I’ll takesomeresponsibility for that.

“And here I thought I was meeting with onlyoneDrakos brother today.”

Hades shrugs, pulling out a chair and going to sit. But I slide it back under to the table with my foot, smiling at Alistair as he takes a seat across from me.

“Hades was just leaving.”

“Well, I mean,” my brother shrugs. “If I’mhere,might as well sit in?”

Alistair lifts a questioning brow at me. When I give him a look and silently shake my head, he turns back to smile at my brother.

“Hades, as much as I enjoy seeing you around the office when you stop by to destroy the productivity of my best lawyer with your mid-afternoon fuck-fests—”

“Easy, Black,” Hades hisses quietly. “That’s my fiancée we’re talking about.”

“Yes, I think the offices across the street are quite aware of that when you two lock her office door but don’t bother closing the blinds.”

Hades grins. I roll my eyes, turning to him. “I can catch up with you later, Hades. But I do need a few minutes with Alistair.Alone.”

Hades sighs. “Fine.” He grins at me, clapping me on the shoulder before sauntering for the door. He turns as he steps into the hallway. “I can take a hint that I’m not wanted.”

“So long as that hint is playing through a loudspeaker and surrounded byneon signs, apparently.”

He laughs, closing the door and then holding up his middle finger through the glass. Alistair reaches over to a button on the conference table. When he pushes it, the door and the wall of windows looking from the conference room into the rest of the Crown and Black offices instantly turn opaque.

“Siblings,” he sighs, shooting me a sympathetic look of understanding.

I like Alistair. Probably because we’re cut from similar cloth. This is one of the reasons I’ve been working with him since coming back to this city and making my aggressive acquisitions of Adele Roy’s companies.

“I’m guessing you’re curious why things have stalled,” Alistair growls, eyeing me across the table.

“It’s been more than slightly on my mind, yes.”

He sighs. “It appears we’re hitting roadblocks.”

“So, blow them up.”

Alistair eyes me keenly, rubbing his jaw. “May I point something out?”

I shrug. “Sure.”

“The way you’ve been pursuing these companies…” he frowns. “I’m concerned that you may be letting personal issues cloud things with this.”

My jaw grits. “It’s just business, Alistair. I have nothing personally against Adele Roy. But a fire sale is a fire sale, and that is precisely why I’ve hired you to pull the trigger on these deals. Legally speaking.”

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