The VIP Room(21)

“I’m sorry Chloe, but you’re an intelligent woman. I’ve seen your brain in action. And where your dumb-ass brother is concerned, you lose all common sense.”

“That’s not true.” It was. I knew it was. Nolan was my soft spot and my weakness. And if that was so, how much of his current problems were my fault? Maybe if I’d been harder on him… I shut off those thoughts. They weren’t going to do me any good until I tracked down my brother.

“It is true,” Sam insisted. Standing, he said, “Get your things, we’re going home.”

“I can’t go home, they’re looking for me there.”

“Not your apartment, my house. You’re coming home with me. I have Axel’s best security. And I can keep an eye on you while we figure out what to do about Nolan.”

“Sam, I appreciate the offer, but I can’t come home with you. It’s not appropriate. I work for you. What about your Dad?”

It was stupid to protest. I didn’t really have anywhere else to go that would be as safe as Sam’s house. My best shot had been the model home, but it was clear Sam wouldn’t let me stay there. I just didn’t think I could deal with the intimacy of being in Sam’s house. Living with him. Seeing him all of the day instead of just most of it.

I knew I was heading for a broken heart, and it got worse every day I stayed and worked for him. I should have left and found another job. One that was just work, with a boss who was only my boss. But I hadn’t been able to bring myself to leave Sam. Not yet. If I gave in and stayed in his house, I had a feeling it would only push my feelings to the breaking point faster.

“Chloe, Dad loves you. He won’t mind you being there. And it’s a huge house. We have plenty of room for you.”

“But I don’t want anyone at work to think-”

“Chloe, it’s my company. We can do whatever we want.”

“Maybe you can,” I said. “But everyone will say-”

“What, that there’s something going on? Chloe, they all know us better than that. You’re too professional to get involved with me.”

“And you’d never fool around with your secretary,” I said. “But people still love to gossip.”

“First, you’re my executive assistant, not my secretary. Secretary sounds so nineteen-fifties. And second, your safety is more important than office gossip. We come and go together all the time. No one will think anything of it.”

Of course they wouldn’t. They’d probably assume I’d sleep with Sam in a heartbeat because who wouldn’t? But Sam was right, no one would assume he was sleeping with me. And we did come and go together at all hours. I accompanied him to a lot of his meetings, often early and on site, meaning we’d arrived at the office together more than once.

“Okay,” I said, unable to come up with a reasonable argument against his plan. I picked up my half drunk tea, rinsed the cup in the sink, and replaced it in the breakfast tray display set up on the counter. Sam waited by the door, prepared to be patient now that he was getting his way. As we left, he locked the door behind us and said,

“Grab your things from your car. I’ll have someone bring it to you tomorrow.”

“I can follow you,” I started to say. Sam gave a sharp shake of his head.

“No. You have unknown guys with guns looking for you. You aren’t out of my sight until we resolve whatever’s going on. Do you understand?”

I nodded. Sam was usually an easy going guy. Fun. Relaxed. Not too many people knew he also had a temper. It took a while to blow, but when it did, it wasn’t pretty. And I’d been there enough to know that he was getting close to his limit. It surprised me. Sam had been pissed since the moment he’d seen me in the model home, but I was fine. What had him so close to the edge so fast?





Chapter 3





Sam





It was taking everything I had not to drag Chloe to Axel’s safe room and lock her up until we could find her idiot of a brother. I should have known Nolan was going to cause Chloe trouble. Or worse trouble than he already had. She thought I didn’t know about the money she’d paid for the ticket and lawyer when he got his DUI. Chloe thought I didn’t know a lot of things.

I glanced over at her in the seat beside me; her face tired, head tilted to lean against the truck’s window. She looked tired and sad. And still the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. I knew she wouldn’t agree. She’d say she was plain. She wasn’t as showy as a lot of the women around Vegas, but she was something more.

Chloe was luminous. She glowed. Her smooth, perfect gold skin, her gleaming chestnut hair, her warm brown eyes. I wanted to kill anyone who upset her. There wasn’t a word for what I wanted to do to the men who had broken into her home and threatened to take her away.

I drove us home in silence, not trusting myself to speak. I was too pissed at her. She was so careful with everyone else and then careless with her self. She should have called me right away. Or gone straight to Axel. She had his number in her cell. She had all my important numbers. She practically ran my life. At least the business side of it. I would have had her in every part of my life if I wasn’t such a chicken shit.

I hadn’t always felt this way about Chloe. She’d joined Desert Vistas Construction just over three years ago as her second job out of college. For a while she’d worked as the assistant to the head of construction, but when my admin retired, she interviewed for the job. I’d hired her for her skills and her calm but focused personality. I’m embarrassed to say I hadn’t really noticed her yet aside from her job performance.