Page 50 of Second First Kiss

Making sure his people were safe was his responsibility. And he’d failed on that count.

Again.

“Was it damage from the eggs?” Brynn asked. She sat at the end of the conference table in the back offices of the lodge where they held their weekly board meetings. And since the board was made up of their family, it included bickering, pestering, and a lot of disagreements. But it also included a lot of love.

They’d always been a tight bunch, exploring the mountains like it was their own personal backyard, having each other’s back, celebrating successes, and calling out BS when needed. But when they stepped up to take over the lodge that bond had quadrupled leaving Nolan with, not one, but four ride-or-dies.

Which was why it was so important for him to keep up his end of the deal—and that meant protecting them. From threats—inside and out.

“No, this was different.” This wasn’t some kid’s prank. This was done by someone with skills. The eggs—that was done by someone with a kid’s grudge, like Tommy. “The cameras were disabled.”

“Like broken?” Brynn wanted to know.

“No, they are working fine. There was still some egg yolk on the lens, but the feed from that night goes black for twenty minutes and when it comes back on, Kat’s standing over her car taking in R. J.’s handiwork.”

And working her ass off not to cry. He’d seen it in her eyes when she’d turned around to face him. What he hadn’t seen was the absolute fear that the camera showed. The way her gaze shot around the parking lot, the way her body fell in on itself as if trying to become as small as possible. It was a far cry from the tough girl who’d met his gaze head on five minutes later.

He wasn’t sure what made him angrier, that someone had put that fear in her eyes or that she’d gone out of her way to hide it from him. He knew it wasn’t personal, she’d hide any sign of weakness from whomever had found her in the dark parking lot. She’d walk through hell with a smile. But it didn’t take away how impotent he felt knowing she didn’t want his help.

Jax ran a hand down his face and leaned back in his chair. “So someone either erased the footage or stopped the cameras.”

“Yup.”

“Something else is going on,” Lucas said, and a heavy weight blanketed the room. “We’ve had three calls in the last week from guests with suspicious charges on their account after visiting the lodge. Maybe it’s a coincidence.”

Nolan believed in coincidence about as much as he believed in leprechauns. “I don’t think so. Between the missing alcohol and ski supplies, something bigger is going on.”

“What’s the update on the missing whiskey?”

“According to our invoices we have the exact amount in our storeroom as were ordered.”

“But?” Brynn ventured.

“But when I called our distributor, he had a different number of cases delivered. The invoices don’t match up.”

“We don’t have the best security,” Jax said in a tone that told the room he wasn’t surprised. “It’s not you, Nolan. It’s a leftover from Dad.”

Jax and Lucas hadn’t had the best of luck when it came to trust. Their ability to rely on others had been ripped out of them in childhood. Before they came to live with Nolan and his family, they’d been neglected and abandoned by the one person who was supposed to love them most.

Kind of like Kat, his inner protector whispered.

“I’ll look into this further this weekend,” he said, calculating just how many hours his work week would include. Between his job and the lodge, and now this, he’d be lucky if he pulled four hours’ sleep at any one stretch.

“No,” Brynn the caretaker said. “You’re already spread thin. We should hire someone to fix the problem. There’s a company in Tahoe who specialize in this kind of thing.”

Nolan shook his head. “This is my responsibility. When Mom and Dad wanted to sell the place, I stepped up and said I wanted to keep it in the family. I promised to keep the place safe. This is my problem.”

“You promised along with the rest of us. And when one of us is strapped, the rest of us pitch in,” Lucas said, like he wasn’t already cuffed to his desk.

Harris coughed Bullshit into his fist. “You’re the last one who should be talking. You spent half the week sleeping at the office.”

“Which is why he is also going to be hiring some help,” Jax said.

“I have to get the books in order before I can even think about bringing on help,” Lucas said.

“Well, Mom and Dad are coming next month and if this isn’t cleared up you all know what’s going to happen,” Brynn said.

A collective groan went up in the room.

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