Chapter One
Gavin James put down his coffee and looked out over the Dallas skyline. From the top floor of the Black Oak Oil building, he could practically see all the way to Fort Worth. He knew the view well. The same buildings and trees, the same smog hanging over the same traffic jam this time of morning. Even the coffee was the same, just like every other morning. He rose long before the sun, nightmares chasing away any semblance of peaceful sleep. He always gave up and, after a punishing run, came in to the office. His employees thought he was dedicated, but the truth was he had nothing better to do.
His only reason for smiling anymore was the one person he must stay far, far away from. Hannah Craig.
Yeah, you did such a great job staying way far away from her, you idiot. You hired her as your admin. Way to keep the girl safe. She’s a whole twenty feet away from you eight plus hours a day. Good going, James.
The phone ringing on his desk interrupted his nasty inner monologue.
“Hey, bro, I’m going to be a little bit late.” Gavin’s brother Slade yawned as he spoke.
“What a surprise. Another late night at the club?”
Maybe Hannah wasn’t the only one who made Gavin smile. He couldn’t help the way his lips quirked up, thinking about how his brother spent his nights. Spanking women was rapidly becoming a second job for Slade—and he was good at it. Often, Gavin wondered why he didn’t go out with his brothers. Maybe not to the BDSM club they frequented, but dinner would be nice. He’d become so solitary in the last ten years since—
Nope. He refused to think about that.
Gavin forced a cheery tone to his voice. “Did Dex keep you out all night?”
“I did not keep him out,” Dex said as he strolled into the office, proving once again that he was always on time. Of course, he also was the illegitimate child who felt the need to prove he belonged. “Slade managed that all on his own. He found a pretty blonde. Surprise, surprise. When I left the club they were getting mighty cozy.”
Gavin’s brief foray into a decent mood took a nosedive. Slade would have picked a pretty blonde for one reason and one reason only—to pretend she was Hannah. Of all of Gavin’s many reasons for staying the hell away from his admin, the fact that both of his brothers were crazy about her sat at the top of his list.
Who are you fooling? That’s not why you stay away. If you don’t, you know what will happen. You know what you’d do to that girl. You already lost one. Do you really think you deserve a second chance?
Gavin took a deep breath and forced a smile. Dex already believed that he was indifferent. He didn’t want to push his half brother even further away.
Punching the button on the phone, Gavin put Slade on speaker. “Tell me you’re going to make the board meeting.”
Dex snorted and tossed his big body into one of the chairs in front of Gavin’s desk. He crossed one leg over the other, his beat-up cowboy boots poking from his tailored suit. That was Dex. Gavin could force him into a designer suit, but he was never going to lose the cowboy.
“Of course I’m going to make the meeting,” Slade said with a long-suffering sigh. “I’m not late because I partied too hard. I just talked to the blonde. Mostly. Candy? Sandy? I don’t remember. She was nice, but she wasn’t…”
Hannah. Gavin watched Dex’s mouth turn down. He was obviously thinking the same thing.
Slade continued. “It doesn’t matter. Listen, I got a call about the Alaska site. We’ve had a little trouble there. Something’s gone wrong with the infrastructure. I’m going to have to head up there for a few days. I spent the morning calling around to make sure the house is ready for me after the board disperses.”
Gavin arched a brow at Dex, who waved him off. “It’s an engineering problem, not security. I already talked to Mike in River Run. He said it’s been really quiet there. The worst they’ve had is some kids deciding the base office needs new graffiti on the side. They have computer problems, too, but the IT guy is on it. The situation Slade is talking about just needs a little follow-up and supervision.”
Well, at least security was one thing he didn’t worry about. Since Dex had taken it over for Black Oak Oil, that function had been running smoothly.
Gavin grabbed the stack of mail he’d taken from Hannah’s desk, waiting for her arrival in thirty-four minutes. God, he was an idiot. He knew the exact time she would walk in the door, and he waited on her like a dog waiting for a promised treat. Anxiously, he sorted through the mail. It was too early to expect anyone else to be in for meetings, and he had nothing else to do. She was far too efficient. He’d hired her straight off the bus from some no-name West Texas town, never imagining how quickly she would become essential. Sometimes, Gavin even found himself twiddling his damn thumbs because Hannah ran his workload so efficiently.
There was a slight pause on Slade’s end of the line, and then his brother sounded almost reluctant. “Gavin, Dex and I want to talk to you about something. Do you think we could schedule lunch after the meeting?”
The mail was all crap. He could throw most of it away. He came to a large envelope that looked more interesting. Maybe it contained something other than an offer to halve his budget for bulk paper. Gavin sliced his letter opener neatly through the material as suspicion about this luncheon crept into his mind. “About what? Business?”
Dex shifted in his chair. “Not exactly.”
Fuck. He didn’t want to do this with them. “Is this about Hannah?”
Why had he even asked? He knew. His brothers had been sniffing around her since the day Gavin had reluctantly hired her almost a year ago. Somehow, they’d zeroed in on the fact that he wanted her, as well.
“What we want isn’t going to change, Gavin,” Dex said, his mouth a stubborn, flat line. “No matter how much you want it to.”
“She’s an adult.” Slade’s voice was cajoling where Dex went straight to the fight. “She’s smart and capable of making her own decisions. She’ll be fine.”
“She’s what? Twenty-two or something.” Practically a child. At least he kept telling himself that.
Dex leaned forward as if ready to fight if need be. “Gavin, you were running this company at twenty-two, don’t forget. Besides, Hannah is twenty-five.”
A chill raced across Gavin’s skin, and suddenly the room seemed way too small. Hannah was twenty-five. They had just celebrated her birthday not a month before. He’d brought in a cake, and Dex and Slade had thrown her a party. Gavin remembered the jealousy he’d felt as his brothers had led her out of the office. He’d wanted to be there beside her, too, celebrating with Hannah. Holding her.
“If you’re being at all honest with yourself, Gavin, you want what we want. Hannah is not Nikki, and you’re not the same person you were then. You have to let it go and live again,” Slade said. “I’ll be there in ten minutes. We’ll talk more then.”
“Regardless of her actual age, she’s naïve. She’s not ready to take on multiple men or play your games.” Gavin was pleased with how stable his voice sounded when all he could see in his mind’s eye was Nikki’s body laid out on the impersonal slab at the morgue.
Lately in his dreams, Nikki’s body turned into Hannah’s. The image seared itself in his head. He managed to breathe, barely. He had to focus or he would lose it. And he needed to find another job for Hannah. If he kept her this close… No, he just couldn’t.
“Damn it, Gavin,” Slade growled. “When it comes to Hannah, these aren’t games, and we’re not playing.”
Gavin’s heart stuttered. “Give the girl time to grow up.”
He upended the large envelope in his hand and let the contents drift to his desk, hoping Dex didn’t notice his shaking hands.
“Don’t act like it’s all just Slade and me. You’re not fooling anyone,” Dex said. For once, the big cowboy almost looked reluctant to speak. “I see how you look at her. You want her. You care. That’s nothing to be ashamed of. Hell, if there’s one thing both Slade and I understand, it’s how a man can be crazy about Hannah.”
Slade’s voice came over the speaker. “Dex and I have given this a lot of thought. We think it’s time, and all of us need to be on board.”
“Exactly.” Dex leaned forward. “We have a plan.”
“What the fuck?” Anything else they were about to say got lost as Gavin saw what spilled out of the envelope. Photographs of Hannah. He frowned. Ten pictures, all of them of her gorgeous body wearing lovely, lacy creations in soft colors that showcased her plump breasts and gorgeous ass. In one, a shot of her backside, she wore nothing at all. Gavin’s breath fled, and his cock stiffened at the sight.
Dex stood, peering down at the pictures on the desk. “What’s that?”
Gavin had a sudden desire to hide the provocative images. Instead, he glared. At times, Dex had been known to think way outside the box when he solved a problem. Dex had said he a plan. Was taking these pictures a part of it? Or Dex’s immature way of reeling him into their twisted little arrangement?
“Do you want to explain this?” He shoved the least seductive image in Dex’s face.
“That’s Hannah. What the hell?” Dex grabbed the picture.
“What’s going on?” Slade asked, his voice rising in alarm over the phone. “What do you mean by ‘that’s Hannah?’”
Dex stared at Gavin, his face taking on that same blank expression he’d had for the first two years after Gavin and Slade had found him in a foster home. Dex had been the child their father hadn’t planned on or wanted. It had been pure chance that Gavin and Slade even discovered that Dex existed. “You think I would do this?”
His half brother’s indignant tone registered in Gavin’s head, but rage rode him hard. “Do you know what Hannah could do to you if she found out about this? She could call in the cops, and I would let her. And your sick ploy won’t work. You might be able to pull Slade into your perversions, but don’t think you can do the same with me.”
“Goddamn it, Gavin. Why would you say that?” Slade slammed a door, and Gavin knew that his brother was on his way.
Dex practically radiated fury. He was a huge bull of a man, and Gavin thought they were about to have the throw down he’d always suspected was coming. Dex loomed over Gavin, his fists clenched and ready, but then he shut down. Dex’s shoulders relaxed, and his face became a mask of bland politeness. “Listen up, Gavin. The only reason I am not walking out the door right this second is that I want Hannah safe. After I figure out who’s stalking her and make sure he can’t do it again, I’m leaving. You won’t have to deal with this perverse bastard ever again. But next time your rich-boy conscience takes over, don’t you dare come looking for me.”
Gavin looked at the pictures again and realized he’d made several terrible errors. He’d been so concerned about the photos that he hadn’t taken time to really look at the envelope. It hadn’t been addressed to him, but to Hannah herself. There was no stamp on the front. Some bastard had walked right into her office, stood at her desk, and made sure she would receive his “gift”.
Dex flipped over one of the photographs and slapped it on Gavin’s desk with a resounding thud.
You’re mine.
The menacing words had been written in blood-red marker, the color a stark contrast to the white of the photo paper.
“This is not some prank I cooked up to trick you into joining us. You’re really accusing me of becoming a stalker and trying to terrify the woman I love? And yes, I love Hannah. I won’t not say it because you’re too much of a pussy to handle it. I’m going to figure out what’s going on, and when I leave, I intend to take her with me. And you, big brother, can go to hell for all I care.” Dex turned on his boots and strode out the door.
Gavin tried to stop the queasy feeling in his stomach as everything Dex had said sank in.
“What the hell did you do, Gavin?” Slade asked, his voice barely audible over the sounds of traffic.
Gavin bit back the urge to put his head in his hands. He’d utterly mishandled everything. But that was the story of his whole fucking life. “Get your ass up here now, Slade.”
He hung up the phone and couldn’t help but stare at the pictures in front of him. Hannah was in her bedroom, and the pictures were obviously taken from a distance. They had a grainy quality. In most, Hannah was reading or watching television in her tiny bedroom. She wore a nightgown in two of the pictures, but the majority featured her in a lacy bra and barely-there panties. So fucking gorgeous. She hid that body under nearly shapeless clothes and always kept her hair in a ponytail. In the pictures, her rich honey hair flowed down her shoulders in loose curls.
He loved the one where she leaned back on the bed, the phone in her hand and a smile on her face, like she was laughing. Her green eyes were bright, and that smile could light up the whole fucking world. The clock by her bed read ten o’clock. Gavin remembered calling Hannah at just around that time a few nights before. He’d lost an important phone number. She’d teased him about his organizational skills.
This was how she looked when she talked to him? Half-dressed, plump lips welcoming? Fuck, he’d explode next time he had to call her at home.
Gavin flipped the photo over.
Don’t let those perverted brothers touch you. You’re mine.
Gavin shoved the photo aside and surged to his feet. Hannah was in danger, and he’d been getting a hard-on looking at evidence. What kind of man was he?
You know, that voice said. You know exactly what kind of man you are, asshole.
He was a man who had just shoved his half brother aside in one of the cruelest ways possible. He shoved everyone away. Now, he was going to lose everything if he didn’t get his shit straight.
Not this time. By damned, he was going to make things right.
Gavin paced as he waited for Slade, a plan already forming.
* * * *
Hannah Craig stopped and stared as Dex Townsend walked out of Gavin’s office and into the grand reception area she liked to consider her turf. Walked? Dex never walked. He strode. He swaggered. And now he charged out of the office like an angry bull.
She inched back into the hallway to observe him. She’d discovered that all of her men tended to put on a front when they realized she was in the room.
Her men. It was all she could do not to laugh at herself, but that was the way she thought of the James Gang—Gavin, Slade, and Dex. In her fantasies, they were her men, though she would never, ever tell them. But she’d fallen madly in love with them, and all three were way out of her league.
Now one of her men walked straight up to the wall across from her desk and scrubbed an angry hand across his head. He looked back at the door to Gavin’s office as though he wanted to march back in and give his oldest brother a piece of his mind. Something definitely had Dex in a state. His handsome face was a mottled red and yet…she swore she saw a slight sheen of tears in his eyes. With a little huff, he pulled back his fist and put it straight through the wall. The drywall gave without a fuss, merely cracking and sending up a little cloud of dust. Dex yanked on his hand to pull it free.
It was time to bring that man down from whatever had him so mad or he’d start in on the furniture.
“I never did like that wall,” Hannah said softly.
Dex turned, shock obvious on his face. His angry, red flush muted to an embarrassed pink. “Hannah. I didn’t know you were here.”
She smiled at him and walked in as though nothing at all was wrong. Life was what a person made it, her Gran had always said. It was time to make Dex’s life a bit calmer. “I mean it. I’m glad someone finally put that arrogant wall in its place. I’ve slapped at it a couple of times, but it always just stands there.”
He huffed a little laugh. “You’re crazy, girl. You know that, right?”
The tension in Dex dialed down several notches.
“I have no idea what you mean. And you’re one to talk. I’m not the one taking out my frustrations on a wall.”
She set her purse down and looked around for the mail. Nothing. Gavin probably had it. She was going to have to have a discussion with the man about his priorities. A CEO looking at the mail. Hannah sighed. If she let him, he would make the coffee, too. Gavin James was a micromanager. She opened her calendar to get ready for the day ahead.
“Hannah, I’m sorry.”
When she looked up, Dex was in front of her desk, six foot five inches of the hottest cowboy she’d ever seen forced into a business suit. Dex had the broadest shoulders and the deepest chest, but what got her every time was how often he showed off his big heart. He tried to hide it, but she knew he’d helped out more than one employee with money troubles or medical bills.
If she told him what was happening to her, he would move heaven and earth to fix the problem. More than once, the information had been right there on the tip of her tongue, but she held back. Dex had his own troubles, and she could handle hers. She was an independent, strong woman who wasn’t going to panic because some idiot sent her a few letters. And called a couple of times. And had potentially killed her cat.
She forced a smile on her face. “You didn’t hit me, big guy, so no apologies. Do you want to tell me what’s going on with Gavin that has you feeling violent?”
She didn’t want to bring him into her trouble, but she couldn’t stay out of his. Dex and Gavin had a difficult relationship, to say the least. Slade was the bridge between the two, but he wasn’t here, so it was up to her.
Dex took a long breath and then that “aw shucks” smile was back on his handsome face. “It’s nothing, darlin’. Just a small difference of opinion. Put it out of your mind.”
She looked over at the hole in the wall.
He flushed again. “I’ll have that fixed.”
The outer doors crashed open, and Slade rushed in. He was one disheveled hunk of male hotness. His dress shirt hung together by one small button at the hips. The rest fell open, exposing his hard pectorals and giving her a breathtaking glimpse of his ridged abdomen. She damn near swallowed her tongue. His inky hair sat slightly askew. And he looked rattled.
Hannah managed to smile without panting. “You are going to be a big hit in the board meeting.”
He looked down at his clothes as though it was the first time he’d given it a thought. “I was in a hurry. Hannah, are you all right?”
“Fine.”
She picked up the phone, knowing exactly what he needed. This wasn’t her first rodeo, as the folks back in Two Trees liked to say. “Wendy, you have a code blue.”
Wendy, Slade’s admin, sighed. “Which part do I need to replace? Tie? Socks? That man is constantly wearing athletic socks with his dress shoes.”
Hannah looked Slade up and down. He knew the drill, turning in a circle for her inspection. “Nope, Wendy. This is a head-to-toe fixer-upper.”
She hung up the phone just as Slade got a look at her wall. He stared at it a moment before glaring at Dex.
“Seriously? Please tell me that wasn’t Gavin’s head. Where’s his body? Do I need to call 911?” Slade asked the questions with a sarcastic edge, but Hannah heard his concern.
Dex simply shook his head. “No trouble at all. I’m going to call maintenance and get them up here to fix this. Then I have a few things to do. I think I’ll skip the meeting.”
“You can’t skip the board meeting.”
Dex shrugged as he moved toward the door. “Watch me. I have more important things to do. And Hannah, you’re having lunch today with me and Slade.”
She glanced down at her calendar. “I can’t. I agreed to have lunch with Scott.”
“Who the hell is Scott?” Slade demanded.
“He works with the IT teams. He said it was important,” Hannah explained. “I’m sure it has something to do with those installs I’ve been helping to coordinate.”
Both men went very still.
“You’re not meeting Scott anymore. You’re having lunch with us, and we’re going to have a long talk, the three of us.” Dex’s dark eyes held hers for a moment. He was so serious that her heart started racing. When his voice got deep and dark, it made her blood pound.
“Absolutely.” Slade crossed his arms over his chest.
“Okay,” she said. She hadn’t sounded that breathy, had she?
Dex walked out, the doors slamming behind him. Slade shook his head. Even disheveled, he was a gorgeous sight. With thick, dark hair and a face that looked like Michelangelo sculpted it, Slade always made her sigh.
Gavin opened his door and stepped out. He radiated power. Unlike Slade and Dex, there was nothing less than perfect about his appearance. No suit would ever dare to wrinkle while Gavin James wore it.
He nodded grimly at her. “Good morning, Hannah. I need to talk to Slade, but I would like you to stay close to your desk this morning.”
“Of course.” It was an odd request, but one she could handle.
Slade disappeared into his brother’s office. Gavin closed the door, watching her intently until it shut between them with an ominous thud.
And then Hannah was alone.
She reached into her purse and pulled out the number for the private investigator she’d hired two days before. He’d cashed her check but hadn’t returned her calls. Maybe it was time to admit that hiring someone named Vinny who worked out of the back of a tarot reader’s shop hadn’t been the greatest idea. When he didn’t answer, she left another message while e-mailing Scott to cancel lunch. After that, she called the local animal shelters to check if they’d found Mr. Snuggles. Her cat had been gone for days, and Hannah was beginning to fear that she was gone forever.
Her eyes teared up. She was going to have to take action and soon. She felt alone now that her three men were gone. It was a long time until her lunch with Dex and Slade. The office seemed big and empty. She wanted so much to call them back and tell them her trouble.
But why tell the busy men she loved—who couldn’t possibly love her in return—that someone was trying to kill her?
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