Hard Rules (Dirty Money #1)(65)

“And you want Brandon Enterprises.”

“Yes. I do.”

“But you worked so hard for your law career and were at the top of the food chain.”

“I resisted,” he says, scooting back to prop himself on the gray cloth headboard, and taking me with him. “But I think you know that’s why I’m still in this apartment.”

“What changed your mind?”

“The company’s going in the wrong direction, and I am certain this will be its demise.”

“But it’s an empire.”

“Empires do crumble. And I don’t want ours to be one of them.”

“And you think the pharmaceutical division is the key to successfully preventing that?”

“I know it is. It allows us to cut the dead weight that are many of our divisions.”

“Well, the financial division sure seems to be booming.”

“You base this on what?”

“The powerful, filthy rich people involved in this new hedge fund your father’s working on.”

“The hedge fund he didn’t tell me about,” Shane replies dryly.

“Why didn’t he?”

“He wanted to bury something I won’t approve of before it hits my desk.”

“What kind of thing?”

“Nothing good and nothing you need to think about.”

“But if I am staying, I should know what to look for.”

“I don’t want you to look for anything.”

“But Shane—”

He slides down to the mattress again and rolls me to my back. “You are not to get involved beyond helping me with my research today. End of topic.”

“I want to help.”

“I’ll fire you myself if you get involved in this Emily.” His tone is hard, absolute, and I believe him, but he softens the blow with a kiss, before rolling away, standing, and in all his naked abundant glory, walks toward a door opposite the bathroom that I assume is a closet.

Grimacing, not sure how I feel about this, I sit up, shivering with my still damp hair and a cold breeze from a vent somewhere nearby. “What are you trying to achieve with your research?” I call out, tugging the blanket to my chin.

He exits the closet in faded jeans, tugging a white tee over his impressively broad chest, giving me only a moment more to admire his defined abs before it falls to the waistband of his low-slung jeans. “I was behind this acquisition but I was too wrapped up in that legal matter I mentioned to dive in fully.” He sits down next to me, his dark hair a rumpled, sexy mess that I’m pretty sure my fingers created. “Now, I’m ready to take it to the next level.”

“Don’t you have staff to research for you?” I ask.

“I do, but I’m not prepared to let my strategy out in the wild.”

“You mean Derek.”

“Among others.”

“What’s your strategy?” I ask. “I mean, unless you don’t want to tell me.”

“You’re about to help me research. I’m not exactly keeping you in the dark. As for my strategy, it’s pretty direct and simple, at least on the surface. Know everything about this business, my competition, and everyone involved in the industry.”

“Everyone? That’s a big order, isn’t it?”

“Which is why few people are as prepared as I am and that’s how I win my battles. I make sure I know everything about everyone I’m in business with.”

“And you use that against them?”

“There’s a fine line.”

“How fine?”

His lips thin, his spine suddenly a little straighter. “I’m starting to believe that depends on who you’re dealing with.”

“What does that mean?”

His phone starts ringing again. “I better talk to Jessica before she shows up here to get me and I have a few calls to make myself. Room service?”

“Great,” I say, and I have the distinct impression he’s not as worried about Jessica as much as I’ve hit a sensitive topic he wants to avoid.

“How about omelets?”

I nod and give him my order before he grabs his phone from his pants in the bathroom and then disappears into the hallway, leaving me with one thought. He always knows everything about everyone. There’s only so long before that includes me, which brings me back to what I told him this morning.

“Your bags,” Shane says, reappearing in the room, carrying everything the hotel sent me into the bathroom before joining me again. “I’m going to order our food now.”

“Great,” I say as he heads toward the door.

“Did Jessica set up a meeting?” I ask, not sure how to dress. Okay, I’m not even sure I have clothes that fit.

“We missed it,” he tells me. “She’s working on it and she’s pissed.”

“Chocolate,” I suggest.

“She’s more expensive than that,” he assures me and once again he’s gone. I’m staring after him, a knot forming in my belly.

What am I doing? I’m crazy about this man. I don’t want him to find out the truth about me. I want to tell him, but that doesn’t protect him. Damn it, I refuse to accept this situation as unchangeable or unspeakable. Throwing off the blanket and darting for the bathroom, I quickly shut the door and lock it, beginning to scavenge through the items Tai had brought me, weeding through makeup, face cream, clothing, and a flat iron, to finally find my purse, which I’d scooped up by the door and shoved in one of the bags. Grabbing it, I pull the zipper open and grab the two phones, focused on the one I’ve been willing to ring.