Double Mountain Trouble

by Katerina Cole

  Lee wiped the sleepy look off his face and drew her against his chest. Tyler sighed. They had something special. Something unreal.

  And he was going to do everything in his power to make sure nothing changed when they got back to the city.

  If this was the life Brooke wanted, he was going to make sure she had it.

  Thirty-Four

  Brooke

  The cameras came out of nowhere.

  “Tyler! Lee! What is the big announcement for the StarCon?”

  “What do you plan to tell the shareholders tomorrow?”

  “Who is your friend?”

  Brooke’s head whipped in one direction and then another as the reporters threw out questions in the lobby of StarCon. She held up a hand to protect her eyes from the constant flashes. They had tried to prepare her on the ride from the cabin, but she didn’t think there was a corporate manual that covered this kind of media ambush.

  The quiet and remoteness of the wilderness already felt a million miles away.

  Tyler stepped in front of her, shielding her from the barrage.

  Lee’s hand slipped in hers as he whispered in her ear, “We’ve got you. Just keep walking and we’ll be in the penthouse in just a minute. They’re just curious.”

  She plastered a smile on her face and walked, feeling steady with his hand in hers and Tyler keeping her protected from the mob of reporters.

  “What surprises do you have?”

  “Any big concerts this year?”

  “How was your corporate treat? What is this new launch?”

  The reporters followed them to the gold elevators. Tyler grinned. “You’ll just have to see tomorrow. Thanks for coming out. We have big news for you tomorrow.”

  He waved as the doors closed.

  “Oh my God.” Brooke felt the breath she had been holding escape.

  “You ok?” Lee asked.

  She nodded. “I had no idea it was going to be like this. Do you deal with this all the time?”

  Tyler chuckled. “When we are together or have press events. We seem to have a way of drawing a crowd.”

  “It doesn’t help that we’ve been out of the public eye for three months.” Lee rubbed his scruffy beard. She hoped he didn’t shave it just because they were back in the stylish corporate world.

  She realized Lee was still holding her hand. She didn’t let it go.

  The doors retracted and deposited them in the penthouse of the StarCon building. It was the private home of the two men she loved.

  Brooke’s jaw dropped. She’d never seen anything like it in her life.

  Tyler walked to the bar. “I think our first day home calls for a celebration.” He poured a round of drinks and handed one to Brooke and then Lee.

  “What should we toast to?” Lee asked, holding his glass in the air.

  Brooke felt the heat of their stares fall on her. She was at a loss for words. They had a way of making that happen. Being around them lately made her feel like she had so much to learn about herself.

  “To a mutually successful launch.” Tyler winked. “To our star artist.”

  Lee laughed. “In every way.”

  Brooke knew she was blushing. “Yes. To your happy shareholders. And to as many donations as we can get for the foundation.”

  She sipped the vodka before choking. It was straight. She stared at Tyler. “You didn’t add a mixer?”

  “It’s day one, baby. We drink the most expensive liquor there is. I’m not going to ruin it with watered down soda.”

  The elevator chimed behind them. Their personal butler entered the suite with two brass carts full of luggage.

  “This is Danny,” Lee introduced him. “He’s here if you need anything at all.”

  She nodded. “Nice to meet you.”

  Danny cleared his throat. “Sirs, I prepared a room for your guest upstairs.”

  “There is an upstairs?” She gawked. She shouldn’t be surprised after spending two months at the cabin, but she couldn’t help it. The penthouse was a new level of posh, even for these two.

  “Thanks, Danny.” Tyler dismissed him.

  Lee turned toward her. “We hate to do this to you, but we need to head downstairs for a meeting.”

  Her mouth dropped. “What?”

  They each walked forward. “It’s in an hour. We’ll make sure you get a full tour first but then we have to go. We’ll be back for dinner. But tonight is unfortunately going to be about the launch tomorrow.”

  She knew she was sulking, but after two months of utter mountain bliss with her men, it was going to be hard to learn how to share them with the rest of the world.

  “All right,” she conceded.

  “Come on, we’ll show you your suite. You’ll love it.”

  Thirty-Five

  Tyler

  This meeting couldn’t have been more fucking boring than it was. Tyler didn’t care about meeting with shareholders and shaking hands with investors. It was his career. It was his life. But it didn’t seem to matter with Brooke upstairs in the penthouse. Things were different now. Clear in a way they had never been before.

  He kept cutting glances at Lee to see if he was as distracted as he was. Lee laughed and slapped one of the board members on the back. Maybe he was trying to do anything he could not to think about her.

  All Tyler could think about was getting another taste of her lips. Feeling her tits under his hands. Licking and sucking every inch of her body. He wanted to hold her while she came over and over. Fuck.

  Lee looked up when one of the speakers walked to the podium. Tyler saw it. The same look in his eye he had. Hunger.

  Hunger for one thing.

  And she was twenty floors above them. Shit.

  Why did she have to be so damn adorable and sexy? There was an air of innocence that floated around her. And she was theirs now. They had to protect her and keep her safe.

  Tyler coughed in his fist to stifle a groan.

  “We’re looking forward to the announcement tomorrow,” Roger Hanson smiled at Tyler.

  He had almost forgotten he was surrounded by StarCon Global shareholders. He was lost in his own world where only Brooke existed.

  “Yes,” he answered. “It’s going to be exciting. Lee and I have worked on this for years.”

  The truth was they had no idea how everyone would react to the charity work they planned to pursue. But they both knew it was time they gave back. They had more money than they knew what to do with.

  Bringing Brooke into the project felt right. It was as if she completed the picture. He had joked about looking for an empress to run their empire, but it didn’t seem funny anymore. She was the one. He knew it.

  Thirty-Six

  Lee

  The next twenty-four hours were a whirlwind. Lee couldn’t believe how far away the cabin felt. He slept with Brooke nuzzled on his chest last night, but he was sleepless. Restless. Tyler couldn’t even come to bed. He was too spun up about the launch.

  Lee stood on the stage, looking at the audience. Tyler was next to him. Lee looked over his shoulder. Brooke was standing in the wings beyond the view from everyone else.

  It had taken years for this moment. They were about to announce the creation of Dreams with Wings. And it was crazy, but he knew without Brooke it never would have all together. Tyler had chosen her design for the branding because she was supposed to be a part of the project. Yes, she had the best concept. Yes, he saw something in her art. Lee had no doubt she was the missing link they had been searching for all these years.

  He smiled at her before turning toward the audience. She gave him a thumbs-up and a soft smile. The last two months were extraordinary. They were bonded in a way that could take him to his knees.

  The words to the speech she had helped with started at the top of the teleprompter. Tyler nudged him. It was time for the announcement.

  The cameras in the front row began to flash and Lee heard the constant click and snapping sounds the photographers made as the
y adjusted their shots.

  “Welcome, everyone.” He grinned widely.

  Tyler waved.

  “This is one of those times we don’t what happens here to stay here. Tyler Star and I have an announcement that we want you to take with you. Something that we hope transforms your lives the instant you leave this room.” Tyler shook his hand as he began to take over the next part of the speech.

  “You all are probably wondering what Lee and I have been doing for the past few months. Well, for one, Lee has been working on his beard.” He paused while the audience chuckled. “And other than that we have something that’s going to take StarCon Global to a new level.” Tyler beamed at the crowd. “It’s time you know about Dreams with Wings.”

  Lee didn’t think he had shaken this many hands since his college graduation. He and Tyler were in a receiving line, thanking for everyone for coming. He guessed the pledges for Dreams with Wings were already in the millions.

  “Where is Brooke?’ Tyler asked.

  Lee looked for her. She was trapped in in the corner talking to Andy Gallagher. “I think she needs rescuing. I’ll be right back.” He left Tyler to pry Andy away from their girl.

  “Hi, Andy. Glad to see you again.” He slapped the businessman on the back.

  “Excellent presentation. I like your vision. I was just talking to Brooke here. I was wondering if she had any suggestions for one of my global projects.”

  Lee slung his arm around Brooke’s shoulder. “She has an exclusive with StarCon Global I’m afraid. You can understand though why we wouldn’t to let her get away, can’t you?”

  He felt the softness of Brooke’s eyes land on him.

  Andy backed up. “Of course.” He pressed his lips together. “Well, if you get out of that contract, Brooke, give me a call.” He pushed a business card in her hands.

  “Thank you, Mr. Gallagher. I appreciate it.”

  He walked away and Lee pressed a kiss to Brooke’s temple. “Was he bothering you?”

  She laughed. “No. Boring me, yes. Bothering me, no. Were you worried?”

  Lee felt his chest tighten. Maybe this was what jealousy felt like. He’d never had it with Tyler, but seeing how Andy looked at her. How his eyes took in her legs and breasts, did something to him. He had an urge to punch the man who was about as interesting as a bologna sandwich.

  “Never worried. Protective is all.”

  “I think I like you being protective,” she whispered.

  “Good, because it’s my mission in life now to keep you safe.”

  Thirty-Seven

  Brooke

  Her body coursed with the kind of life she had only dreamed existed. Brooke stared out of her new office window. It was hard to focus with the memories of the cabin. They had been back in Denver for a week, but she couldn’t get the months in the mountains out of her head.

  Lee and Tyler had given her her own office at StarCon. She even had her own assistant. She hadn’t gotten used to either.

  They had a new kind of routine now. One that didn’t involve hikes or stocking up on groceries for impending snow storm. Someone life was still perfect.

  Together Lee and Tyler were everything she wanted. They were perfect together. Perfect for her.

  She was working a job she took only to satisfy a debt. She had accepted the design assignment to bargain for her own freedom. And now she felt as if she had a stake in StarCon Global. It mattered what happened to the company. It mattered because Lee and Tyler cared about it. They had built this empire. And the gravity of keeping it as safe and protected as they kept her seemed more important than ever.

  As the head of Dreams with Wings, she had never had a more important job. This was the most important venture to them. If that didn’t demonstrate how much they cared, she didn’t know what would. She blushed. She was so crazy about them. It was more than that. She knew she had fallen in love. And it was the best feeling.

  She stared out the window, looking at the mountains in the distance. Her phone buzzed.

  “Hello?”

  “I saw the pictures, Brooke.”

  “Niall?” She hadn’t bothered to look at her phone. She had been in too much of a daze. Her stomach turned at the sound of his voice.

  “How are things, cuz?”

  “Don’t ‘cuz’ me. We aren’t family. I don’t know that we ever were.”

  She should hang up.

  “Oh come on. Looks like my little deal has turned out rather nicely for you.” She could hear the sneer through the phone. “I see you’re being treated like a princess.”

  “And what if I am? It’s none of your business anymore. You pawned me off. You don’t give a damn about me. Don’t try to pretend now that things are different.”

  “Oh I wouldn’t pretend. How about you pay me back for the nice life you have now?”

  She felt her jaw drop. “Pay you?” She looked outside her door to make sure no one could hear her. “You had me carted off in the back of someone’s trunk, Niall. You can’t honestly think I owe you anything. I’m hanging up now.” She wasn’t about to tell him she had wagered and won for her freedom.

  “I wouldn’t do that, princess,” he taunted. “Your boyfriends might not be too happy if I told them about what you used to do.”

  The hair prickled on the back of her neck. “Niall,” she hissed. “Why can’t you leave me alone? You paid your debt. Move on.” She felt the panic rising. She could almost taste it in her mouth.

  He chuckled. “So I struck a nerve? Well, why don’t you make a few payments if you want me to keep your secret?”

  “That’s blackmail.”

  “You can call it whatever you want. I want the money. You aren’t so innocent, are you? You’ve done your own things for money, cuz.”

  “How much?” she whispered. “What will it take to make you go away?”

  “See? I knew family was supposed to stick together.”

  “How much, Niall?” she insisted. She wanted to throw up.

  He paused. “Why don’t you make a few payments and I’ll let you know.”

  Brooke ran out of her office in search of the elevator. She tapped on the buttons rapidly.

  She squeezed her eyes tightly as the elevator finally arrived. A woman scrambled off.

  “I wouldn’t get on there if I were you. I got stuck on the ninth floor.” The woman was flustered.

  “Thanks.” Brooke smiled meekly. “I’ll take the other one.” It must be why everything was running so slowly.

  “Princess?” Niall was still on the phone.

  “I’m at work. I’ll call you later. Don’t do anything, Niall. Swear to me you won’t. I’ll get your money. Just don’t say anything to anyone.”

  “It’s our little secret. Always has been. Unless you don’t come up with the cash. Then it will be everyone’s secret.”

  Brooke stepped on to the next elevator. Niall held her future in his hands. And if there was one thing she knew, it was not to trust him for a single second. There was nothing steady or honest about him. He was filled with one thing only—greed.

  She leaned into the elevator. This was all going to fall apart. It would crumble at her feet.

  Thirty-Eight

  Brooke

  Trying to sit through a meeting and share her success about Dreams with Wings, should have made Brooke feel triumphant, but instead she felt sick. All she heard was the sneer in Niall’s voice, echoing in her head. It was like a broken record and she couldn’t pick up the needle. Why did he have to ruin everything? Steal the only happiness she’d ever known? She felt the pit of hatred harden. It was money—it always came back to money.

  How was she going to get through this?

  “Brooke?” Bruce waited at the other end of the conference table.

  “Yes?”

  “You were going to lay out how we should integrate your design into the website? Do you have that for us?”

  She blinked. “Yes. Right. Exactly.”

  She scrambled th
rough her notes, looking for the file on the web design. It wasn’t her area of expertise, but she knew how she wanted it to look and feel when donors or families clicked to research the foundation. It would be the main basis for information. It had to be perfect.

  “Bruce, I’d like to consult with the web designer and then we could work through that at the next meeting.”

  “But we need that for the celebrity endorsement page. That should come up first, don’t you think?” he asked.

  Her head pounded. Why was Bruce giving her a hard time? “Sure. But I need a consult first,” she spat the words with more anger than she intended.

  “Sorry.” He pushed back from the table. “Let me know when you have something for me to see.”

  He marched out of the conference room.

  Brooke sighed. She had let her fear surface in front of everyone. She smiled at the group. “Let’s reschedule this meeting for tomorrow. Ok? I think we all need a day after the launch’s success.”

  She hurried out of the meeting, looking for a place to hide. She ran to the ladies’ room and splashed water on her face. She dabbed a towel to her neck. She had broken out in a sweat.

  There was no way she was going to give Niall money, but if she didn’t, she could lose Lee and Tyler.

  She didn’t have enough in her savings to make a payment that would satisfy her greedy cousin. She could take out a loan, but she knew that still wouldn’t be enough to make him happy. If she had been worth six-digits to Tyler in a poker game, Niall had to be thinking a figure somewhere near that.

  She leaned into the wall for support. The chills ran through her. Heat and cold. Back and forth, controlling her body with fear and rage.

  Where was she going to come up with that kind of money?

  Danny greeted her at the door when she arrived at the penthouse. Lee and Tyler were stuck at the office in a meeting. They told her to go ahead and eat dinner without them.