I keep an eye on the doorway to make sure my brother doesn’t overhear this conversation. “Fair warning, your juvenile efforts are wasted.”
Trent continues to flip the spatula in a maddening way. He doesn’t respond.
I look him over and do my best to appear unimpressed. “You don’t shock me, Trent. Go get yourself an inexperienced little wallflower to play with. Maybe you’ll have better success shocking her. There’s nothing you can show me that I haven’t seen and done already.”
He chokes on his laughter and then shoots me a look of respect.
There’s something else there too. He’s so keyed up he would probably drop his pants in half a second if I gave him a sign.
Trent shakes his head and tightens his hold on the spatula. “You’re killing me, honey.”
Pointedly, I glance down at his pants. I cluck my tongue at the evidence of a significant bulge trying to break through his zipper. “Funny, from my perspective you look immensely healthy.
On that note, I leave him there and take a short stroll to the carriage house to check on the girls.
I’m sure he’s watching me go.
Good.
I feel the grin spreading across my face. I haven’t felt this energized in quite some time.
6
Trent
I’ve been slacking on my workouts and the pent up energy is getting to me. On an average day I’m disciplined when it comes to spending an hour at sunrise and another hour in the evening using my personal gym. However, I left my setup behind in Miami and I haven’t replaced it yet. Unlike Danny, who uses the gym in town, I have a strong dislike for public gyms teeming with sweaty creeps who think too much of themselves. So far I’ve been making due at home with a set of free weights and a floor mat.
I’m on the tail end of my fourth set of one-handed pushups when I hear the chime from my phone, a warning it’s time for my video conference call. Throwing on a t-shirt is about all I’m willing to do to look presentable. The call is just my daily check in with Kaia Morales, who’s been my second in command at Payback for the last three years. Kaia doesn’t give a shit if I look like a bum.
Taking a seat at the kitchen counter, I flip open my laptop and find that Kaia is already waiting.
“Ready,” I say by way of greeting.
Kaia has worked for me long enough to be unaffected when I don’t waste time with a show of manners. She launches straight into a detailed account of what’s new with the variety of properties under the company’s umbrella. She recites from memory, not looking down at her notes once.
“It’s time to renegotiate lease terms for three of the tenants in the Centerpoint complex.”
“Which tenants?”
“The dry cleaner, the dance studio and the deli.”
All family owned businesses. “Don’t raise the rent.”
“I thought you’d say that. But I still feel compelled to point out that rents in that particular neighborhood have risen by thirty percent in the last two years.”
“Noted. Don’t raise the rent.”
“Fine. Have you made up your mind about the condo building on First Street?”
“Yup. Unload it.”
“The market is down since the holidays,” she warns. “Might be better to wait and see what happens in the summer.”
“I’m aware. Unload it anyway.”
Her brow furrows. She’s wondering why I’ve decided to switch tactics lately and keep a drastic amount of liquidity on hand. That’s not a subject that requires discussion right now.
“When are you starting your maternity leave?” I ask her, partly in an effort to move on.
“I’m not due for another three weeks. I can work right up the labor pains start and even then I’ll probably stay on the clock until it’s time to push.”
I let out a low whistle. “That’s crazy. Why don’t you start next week?”
“What about the First Street condos? There’s a lot to be done before those can be slapped on the market.”
“Get Diane to handle it.”
She hesitates.
“Come on,” I urge, feeling bad that my most dedicated employee has been pushing herself too hard since I relocated. “You and Linus can enjoy a pre-baby getaway or something.”
She’s still thinking. “He’s been trying to get me to step back. My blood pressure has been a little high.”
“There you have it. Don’t worry about anything. Take the full three months, longer if you want.”
Kaia grins. “For a notorious badass you sure are a hell of a boss.”
“Don’t let that news get out. I’m more effective if I’m widely known as an asshole.”
“No one will hear the truth from me. Thanks, Trent.”
“Take care.”
She disconnects and I stare at the picture on the screen for a moment. It’s one of the few pictures of my mother that I still have after my dickhead brother destroyed photos, mementos and anything else he could get his heartless hands on. She’s not posing here. She’s in the middle of speaking, using her hands with an animated look on her face. It was taken at some summer neighborhood block party during our early years in Lake Stuart. Danny was the one who sent it to me after I was finally free of Tavington. He said Jules discovered the picture in a box filled with random photos and thought I might want to have it. I’m sure I never thanked her for passing it along but I was grateful.
I click the internet icon and scroll to my latest bookmark. Social media holds zero appeal for me so I keep my distance. Gretchen, however, takes a more normal approach and has accounts for both personal and professional use. The page I’m looking at is the only one that shows a profile picture and I’d like to see the rest of the content but her account is set to private. If I want to see it then I have to send her a freaking friend request, which is like waving a stalker flag. She might not even update this account anymore. It looks to me like the profile pic was taken a couple of years ago. She’s wearing a college sweatshirt and sitting at a table at a bar. Her red hair gleams and she’s laughing while some faceless guy drapes a casual arm over her shoulders. It’s probably unreasonable for me to hate that guy but I’d still like to growl and smack his arm away. He shouldn’t be touching her, not even digitally.
Gretchen.
I can’t recall another woman who’s captured my attention the way she has. She’s smart and she’s obscenely sexy and nothing fazes her.
Nothing.
There are times when I look at her and I’m sure that if I don’t do something soon my dick is going to become outraged enough to start a revolution.
When that happens she stares back at me with a superior smile as if she knows what’s on my mind and is entertained by my assumption that I might have what it takes to handle her.
I’m dying to show off just how well I can handle her.
Gretchen, for all her worldly, feisty confidence, won’t be able to walk straight for a fucking week if I decide to surrender.
I’m still deciding.
Because she’s still Danny’s sister and because I don’t want to be a prick.
But mostly because starting something with Gretchen will mean opening the door to complications I was never expecting to have.