“It’s Kayla. Kayla Dauler.”
“Dow-ler?” Her mouth made a round O shape when she pronounced the last name.
“Yes. That’s it.” Maybe that was the problem. They thought her last name was supposed to be Mancetti. She didn’t feel like explaining the potential mix-up. She was proud she was a Dauler, especially now. Especially today.
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thank you.” Kayla walked to the sitting area and perched on the edge of the couch. The leather was cool and soft against the back of her thigh.
She had worn a short skirt with her jacket. It was part of the dress requirement. That had been made clear. She tugged at the hem, but it didn’t make a difference. She scooted her high heels closer, tapping the seams together.
People walked in and out of the lobby. She watched them, wondering if they had some sneaking suspicion of why she was here. If they had any clue what had brought her to the Miller-Wentmore Center.
They stared at their phones and ran with their messenger bags. She was the only one who was a bundle of nerves. She was the only one who was embarrassed.
At twenty-five, she was getting ready to take on the most important role of her life. Everything was dependent on this meeting.
She picked up a magazine resting on the coffee table and stared at the glossy front. The co-CEOs of Miller-Wentmore Global were on the cover, posing in fitted suits. Undoubtedly ridiculously expensive. Custom-made just like their expensive leather shoes, and Italian silk ties. They were mirror opposites.
Wyatt had dark hair and dark eyes. His square cut jaw was like something out of a sculpture museum. And then there was Jason. Tall, dark blond, and green eyes that shimmered even on a magazine cover. She realized they had shot the photograph in the lobby. She recognized the pillars behind her.
Kayla tossed the magazine on the table. They were the kind of men most women drooled over. The bedroom eyes. The athletic bodies. The ungodly amounts of money they each had. And more power than anyone could dream of. But she wasn’t falling for it. She didn’t have the luxury to be lulled by their good looks, or charmed by their expert flirting. No, she wasn’t here for fun. She was here to work. She was fighting for her freedom.
This meeting was a means to an end.
A means to end a family debt.
And she was going to pay it.
Two
Wyatt
Vickie knocked on the door. “Annette phoned from the lobby. Are you expecting someone named Kayla Dauler? Apparently, she’s downstairs.”
Wyatt looked up from his laptop. “Dauler?” He pressed his lips together. He didn’t have time to pry for details. “Yes. I am. We are,” he corrected. “Send her up and let Jason know.”
“I will take care of it. Not a problem.” She smiled.
“Good. Tell him we can meet in here.” He slammed the screen shut and pushed back from his desk. “Clear my schedule for the next hour at least.”
“Anything else?” she asked.
“We don’t want to be disturbed.” He eyed her with a dark stare.
“Understood, sir.” She closed the double doors behind her.
Wyatt leaned in his seat. This wasn’t the arrangement he wanted, but he didn’t see what options there were. He had always been logical and pragmatic in his approach to business deals. This one made him color outside the lines more than he ever had before. He didn’t want to admit it made him uneasy.
Five minutes later his business partner waltzed into office, cocky and arrogant as usual.
“You mind telling me what the fuck this is all about? Who is this girl and why is she here?” Jason Wentmore’s voice was deep and boisterous as he slammed the door behind him.
Wyatt walked around to the front of his desk. Jason was already busy pouring a drink. Bourbon straight.
He didn’t have much time to talk Jason into this. It was rare he made a decision like this without him, but it had happened late last night. Jason had gotten in from an east coast tech conference.
“How was Boston?” he asked.
Jason rolled his eyes. “I ate lobster, fucked a waitress, and made us a five-million dollar acquisition. Ok I guess.” He shrugged.
“Glad you enjoyed yourself.” Wyatt leaned on the edge of the couch. “I need you to hear me out for a minute.”
“Sure. Anything brother.” Jason grinned.
“Remember Lana Tatum?” Wyatt prodded.
“Of course. She left six months ago. Marketing hasn’t been the same since. That department is a revolving door. We can’t keep anyone in there.”
“Well, while you were gone I found her replacement.”
“Hell, Wyatt. I don’t give a shit who gets hired to run marketing. I want it taken care of. Leave me out of the hiring process. You know I don’t get involved in those details.”
The dark brooder eyed his friend. “That might be, but I think I need to bring you in on this hire.”
“I’m listening.” He slung the drink back.
“The Mancettis backed out of the resort deal yesterday.”
“What?”
Wyatt knew he finally had Jason’s attention.
“Yeah, they royally fucked us over. They pulled everyone off the job. It’s a ghost town.”
“I don’t believe it. We never should have gotten into business with them. I knew it.” Jason’s brow furrowed.
Wyatt tried to calm it. “I paid him a visit. He’s broke. In debt up to his eyeballs.”
“I don’t give a shit. We aren’t shelling out more money.”
“Hold on.” Wyatt held his hand up. “It turns out Rudino has a niece. A niece who happens to have a degree in marketing.”
“And you swapped her for a ten-million-dollar land deal? Does she have a ten-million-dollar brain?”
Wyatt grinned. “Something like that. It’s up to her, but she has a chance to erase her uncle’s debt if she can grow our global presence by ten percent in the next year.”
“Can she do that? Have you seen her resume?”
Wyatt braced himself for what was coming next. “I only know what Rudino told me. But it’s on her. On him to deliver. We either have a ten percent growth, or we will find a way to collect what he owes us.”
Jason chuckled. “Fucking unbelievable. You think this will work?”
“I had him by the balls, brother. It was the only offer he made. She works for us until the profit grows with the campaigns she produces.” Wyatt smirked.
“Have you seen her?” Jason waggled his eyebrows.
“No.”
“Hmm.” Jason looked interested. He poured a second drink. “So that’s the meeting? We size her up and see if she’s up for the challenge? You couldn’t have told me this earlier like maybe over coffee?”
Wyatt nodded. “I like surprising you when I can. But I can handle it from here if you prefer.”
He shook his head. “Hell no. I want in on the interview.”
“Good, because she should be here—”
Vickie walked through the door. “Miss Dauler is here.”
They smiled at each other.
“Send her in.”
Three
Kayla
Kayla followed the thin assistant into the opulent office. She noticed she was wearing a pencil skirt with a fitted blouse. It was hard not to stare at her chest. Her breasts were enormous. She was distracted from the breasts to the wood paneling. The bosses had spared no expense to update every square inch of the entire building—all the way to the top floor.
She had waited almost twenty minutes before she was allowed in the elevator. Security had escorted her the entire way.
As soon as she entered the CEO’s office she heard her name. “Miss Dauler.” She was greeted by Wyatt Miller first.
She stared at him, unable to hold the glare she had intended to use. He was a freaking work of art. Sexy as hell. His fitted suit outlined exactly how athletically fit he was. His chest was broad and his arms were well-toned. He
was gorgeous.
And then she turned her head when she heard Jason Wentmore’s voice. It sent chills down her spine and along the backs of her thighs. He was tall and equally as handsome as his partner. She couldn’t stop staring at his eyes.
“Thanks for coming in,” he added. “Especially on such short notice.”
“Umm. Yes. Well, my uncle said this was an opportunity to put my marketing degree to use.” She didn’t know how long she could sugar coat the meeting.
“Why don’t you sit?” Jason Wentmore offered. “Can I get you a drink?”
She shook her head. “I don’t drink alcohol during job interviews.”
He chuckled. “This is anything but a standard interview, but suit yourself. Can I get you one, brother?” He turned to Wyatt Miller.
“Are you brothers?” she blurted out. “But your last names… I always thought…”
Wyatt grinned. “Fraternity brothers. Met at Harper University in business school. Both rushed the same fraternity that semester and then we built the Miller-Wentmore empire together. The rest is history as they say.”
He sat across from Kayla. She couldn’t help but notice how he looked at her. His dark eyes seemed to follow the lines of her mouth. She could feel the gaze trace her throat and to the dip between her breasts. The attention made her warm. There was a smolder that emanated from him.
Jason joined them. “Yeah, never really gave up the fraternity brotherly code.” He glanced sideways at his business partner. “Brothers for life.”
“Oh, I see.” Kayla shifted in her seat.
“Your uncle tells me you have a marketing degree.”
She nodded. “Yes. I do.” She wanted to answer the questions the way they wanted. If she let this position slip through her fingers, she knew things would go from bad to worse. These answers were everything.
Despite the fact that her uncle was the only family she had left, she despised that he had put her in this position. She had to push down the anger that was under the surface. Wyatt and Jason were holding something over him. She knew that. She just didn’t know what. She wouldn’t be here otherwise. She didn’t know who to blame: her uncle, or the god-like men in front of her.
“I assume he told you we are in need of a marketing director?” Wyatt was direct.
“Yes. He did.” She fidgeted in her seat. “I brought my resume if you’d like to see it. I have a degree from Northwestern and I’ve worked for three years as a marketing executive.”
The men exchanged looks. Jason spoke up. “I don’t think we need it. I’ve seen enough.” He rose from the couch. “When can you start?”
Wyatt interrupted. “You’re satisfied?”
He nodded. “Hell yeah, brother. You handle the details.”
Kayla didn’t know whether to be elated or not. “I-I don’t understand,” she stammered. “I have the job just like that?”
Wyatt smiled. It made her knees go weak. She almost lost her breath. Why was she reacting like this? She was supposed to hate this man, not react like a teenager.
“Just like that.”
When he winked, she had to put her hand on the couch to steady herself. These men had her completely undone and there was no explanation for it. It made the bitterness grow.
“Thank you. I know you’re doing this as a favor to my uncle.”
Wyatt laughed. “After meeting you, I might see it as the other way around.” He stepped toward her. She felt the heat rise between her legs. He had an unreal effect on her.
“When do you need me to start Mr. Miller?” She was afraid her voice sounded breathy. Her heart beat erratically. What in the hell was going on?
“Oh, today, Kayla. You start today. And please. Call me Wyatt.”
Four
Jason
When Wyatt mentioned the Rudino land deal, he sounded insane. It had been a long time since they had shared someone. And to bring someone into the arrangement like this seemed like a bad idea, but one look at Kayla and he knew she was the one.
She was fucking gorgeous. A goddess. She had beautiful auburn hair with sun-kissed highlights. And her soft lips were damn kissable on the spot. He didn’t know how they were going to convince her to belong to them, but he was sure going to try like hell.
Wyatt would do the same. He knew without a doubt, she was the woman for them.
He left Wyatt’s office feeling confident. Having a new burst of energy under his skin. He didn’t give a shit about the marketing department. He had bigger things to worry about at the company. But just knowing that Kayla would be working in the office every day. That he would walk into the office and see those long legs. The delicate features on her face. The perfect roundness in her tits. His cock twitched. Fuck. He was already hard and he’d only spent twenty minutes with her.
He didn’t know how the arrangement had come up. Why in the hell would Rudino trade her for anything? She was a treasure. Someone who should be protected. Cherished. And that’s exactly what he and Wyatt would do. They would keep her safe from the world. They’d make sure she had everything she ever needed or wanted.
She only had to say the words.
The words that would change everything.
He walked into his office, closing the double doors behind him. He needed a minute to think without Janet bugging him, the phone ringing, or one of the interns hounding him for answers.
He didn’t know how long they could wait. How many days or weeks before she would belong to them in every way.
He pressed his palms into the frame of his desk.
Five
Kayla
She barely made it to the elevator before her knees buckled. Kayla grasped the walls, tapping the button for the third floor. Wyatt Miller’s assistant had instructed her to go there for her employee introduction. Someone there would show her her new office, give her a key card to the building, and set her up with her own cell phone and company computer. There was obligatory paperwork even when she was the pawn in a land deal gone bad. She thought they would have mentioned it. But they acted as if she had been a part of a standard interview.
It was overwhelming. It was dizzying. But even more, the brothers as they called themselves, were intoxicating. She couldn’t find center fast enough. Everything felt off balance and surreal. From the minute she laid eyes on them, she couldn’t remember why she had held such anger and resentment coming here. It was hard to gaze at their sculpted bodies and not want to touch them—or worse, be touched by them. God, she was pissed at how good looking they were. It wasn’t supposed to happen like that.
They should be ugly old bald men she could sit around and curse and hate. Men who would repulse her and make it easy to resent every minute she spent inside these walls. She held her head high. And they were nice and charming. She would have to work hard to find a way to hate them—but she would find it.
She shook her head, straightened her back, and exited the elevator on the third floor. The offices were like a convoluted mouse maze. How was she supposed to find anything in this place? After trying two wrong doors, she finally found the one marked Human Resources.
Kayla knocked cautiously. “Hello?”
A man with a narrow nose looked up from his computer. “Oh, you must be the girl Vickie called down about.”
“If you mean the new director of marketing, then yes. That’s me.” She smiled, hoping it would change his attitude. She was going to use her new title in every way she could. This would be a resume-builder. A platform to launch a career that would mean something.
The next year would suck, but it wouldn’t be for nothing. She would make it worth her while.
He rolled his eyes before reaching into the desk drawer and slapped a file on the surface. “You need to fill this in.”
She leafed through the paperwork. It looked fairly standard. Health information. Previous employer. College dates.
“Anything else?” she asked.
“I’m supposed to give you unlimited access to the building.�
�� She sensed resentment in his tone. “Not sure why.”
Kayla tried to smile. The unwarranted attention made her feel uneasy. “I’m not sure either. I guess I’ll be working lots of unusual hours. Early in. Late to leave.”
“Whatever. Just get this back to me. And here.” He slapped a key fob on his desk.
“Thank you.” She realized she would be able to maneuver through the mazes with the door pass.
Kayla looked around. There was an extra chair in his office, but she didn’t want to stay longer than she had to. He already made her feel uneasy.
“I’ll bring the paperwork back soon,” she promised.
She left the office and walked the halls looking for a quiet place she could answer all the questions on the paperwork. She took a seat in the hallway near a tall potted plant. It was the kind that didn’t need much water. She wasn’t sure how it grew without sunlight.
By the time she returned to the Human Resources office, the rude guy had left for the day. Kayla hadn’t realized how late it was.
“Great,” she muttered. “Now what?”
There was a chance Wyatt’s assistant was still in the office. Maybe Vickie would handle it for her. She took the elevator to the top floor.
The lobby was quiet. “Vicki?” She knew it was silly to whisper, but there was something that made the office suites feel like the dark part of the library. The part where things were happening you weren’t supposed to know about.
She took a step closer to Vicki’s desk when she heard their voices.
She whipped her head to the side to see Wyatt and Jason in Wyatt’s office. The door was ajar.
“Oh, sorry,” she apologized, stumbling back from the assistant’s desk.
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