SweetHarts (5 Book Box Set)

by Kira Graham

  “More like looking for some afternoon delight,” she snorts, her giggles joining my own chuckles.

  “No doubt, but the other part of it is all about his paranoia. He hardly sleeps, and when I do see him looking refreshed, he’s had no fewer than four guys at the front door with the panic system in place. That’s what it’s taking for Addy to sleep, and I know from what Honey’s told me that Cleo’s still having nightmares. So, in the spirit of full disclosure, I think that you and I should team up on this.”

  That way, I can keep her close, help her work through her trauma, and then maybe, if we get a lucky break, figure out who wants Cleo and why. Because at this point, and after the failed brakes on Chilli’s Porsche—which wasn’t Rosetta or Alex, according to their security guys—it’s clear that someone is more than willing to use her family in order to play their way closer to Cleo.

  “You and me? Work together? After that elevator?” she scoffs, shoving away when the car stops and the door opens.

  I push my way out first, using a hand behind her head to shove her face into the seat to stop her struggles, and then turn back to hold a hand out to her while I laugh.

  “Why not? You afraid you can’t resist all this?” I ask, flexing my hips to remind her of just what she’s missing.

  Not to boast, because it isn’t required, but I’m pretty blessed in the dick department, and we all know it. Even Honey, thanks to Cleo’s loose lips.

  “Keep that anaconda of yours in your pants, Hart, and we’ll be just fine. Yes, we share an attraction, since we’re both hot and not at all blind, but keep this in mind at all times: I am not ever, ever going to fall so far off my rocker that I fall for a Hart. I won’t say ‘again,’ because as far as I’m concerned, I was blinded by lust when I saw Chilli. You—you’re my friend and someone I want to keep in my life, and that means hands off,” she warns, taking my hand to step out of the limo.

  I don’t tell her that I could smell her the whole way here, and I won’t mention that she’s stroking my bicep and making a purring sound at the back of her throat. In short, I will humor her and lie through my teeth in order to get what I want. More of Rosetta.

  “I’ll keep my distance if that’s what you want, but remember this, Rosetta-mine. I’ll take it any way you want to give it to me, no matter where or when. It’s your call, beautiful lady. Now, let’s get this shit over with so that I can flirt shamelessly and try to convince you that you want to ride my dick,” I purr back, chuckling all the way into the hotel while Rosetta gapes and talks to herself.

  It’s all going according to plan, I tell myself as I lead her into the hotel. This is how I’ve won most of my battles, and, since this is a war, it’s how I’ll take the prize.

  Rosetta-mine.

  Chapter Six

  Rosetta

  The minute that I step into the ballroom, or, as Dad usually calls these places, a damn fangled fancy hall, I know that I’ve made a huge mistake in coming here. Donald and his wife Maggie are standing near the buffet, somewhere Maggie and I would always congregate because, manners aside, that’s the only reason we ever came to these damn things. The food is always good at the buffet. Always.

  To the left and standing among a group of long-winded idiots is Perez, while the other partners are all scattered around the room holding their own long-winded courts.

  I don’t want to be here, and in fact, if Z didn’t choose that very moment to clamp a hand over my hip and force me to his side, essentially towing me along beside him, I think that I’d have turned on my heel and run. Being around my enemies isn’t a good look for me because, no matter how I’ve worked, or how I’ve taught myself to play the long game, my temper always gets the better of me, and tonight it is no different.

  I want to stalk up to each and every single one of them and punch them in the crotch, and as for Maggie, who spots me and then turns away, like a coward, I’d have to say that she deserves, as my cousin Tee would say, “a twat punch.”

  “Zeus,” I hiss when he walks me right toward Donald and Maggie, his path so clear that even a blind person could see it.

  “Hush, and stop getting mad. This is the only way to handle these situations, and handle it we will. Play it cool, and for God’s sake, calm down. You’re as red as a freaking beet,” he grumbles, hitting on the one thing that drives me crazy.

  I turn into a tomato when my temper is riled up, a sure way to tell when people should be running. It usually only happens around my family, and men who are pigs, but I’ve been known to scare a judge to death, and don’t even get me started on the lawyers that I’ve faced down. Word on the street, and by that I mean the reputation that I’ve cultivated for years, is that when Rosie gets rosy, you run. Or give her what she wants.

  And since I can outrun an Olympian, thanks to my compulsive stalking activities and the ThighMaster that my aunt Connie got me three years ago, I usually get what I want.

  Right now, though, I just want to leave before I embarrass Zeus and ruin the meeting he’s hoping for tonight. I can’t handle the thought of being an embarrassment to this man, and no, I don’t want to think about why that matters so much. It just does.

  “This isn’t a good idea, Zeus. You know that my temper is awful, and if that backstabbing cockroach says something to me, I will lose it,” I warn him, pasting on a false smile because people are already looking over.

  News spreads fast around here, and by now, nearly everyone in this room will know that I was fired for losing my mind. I hate them all for believing that, and I hate myself for being so wrapped up in my own demons that I gave them a reason to believe it. I am not falling apart, and I never will, because my family will always hold me together—and right now, Zeus is the one doing it.

  He takes me right up to Donald and Maggie and hands me a glass of champagne before nodding and greeting the couple.

  “We should get the awkward part out of the way. Donald, Maggie, I can’t say it’s good to see you both, but I owe it to you to at least be polite. Rose, say hello so that we can move on and go conduct some business.”

  I want to bite clear through my tongue, and I feel like a million degrees’ worth of scorn is blazing from my eyes when I look at them both and mutter a hello. The booze is gone within seconds and replaced so fast that I would question Zeus’s motivations if not for the way that he’s stroking my hip in support.

  “Yes, well—ahem. I’m so glad that we can put all the unpleasantness behind us, Rosetta, and move on,” Maggie says softly, and a bit nervously, when I glare back at her and force myself to keep my voice down.

  I want to scream my scorn to the whole room and tell them both to go to hell, but Z is right. Losing my temper will not change anything, and all it would prove to these people is that I have become a loose cannon. Screw the fact that my career is officially in the toilet now that I’ve been canned, and you can bet your last dollar that they’re spreading that story all over the place.

  “Unpleasant? Unpleasant is when you get your shoe stuck in dog shit right before a meeting. Unpleasant is when you walk in on your gardener screwing the housekeeper, who happens to be his sister-in-law. What your husband did isn’t unpleasant, Maggie; it was a downright insult and a betrayal that I thought that you, of all people, would at least fight against. And yet here you are, trying to sweet-talk me,” I mumble, shaking my head with a heap of silent scorn. “But I guess this is what I get for sitting with you for hours during chemo and helping Donald keep the firm running when he was so useless that he rivaled tits on a man.”

  “Now, Rose—”

  “Save it, Donald. Whatever you’re planning to splutter about, I don’t want to hear it, but I’m telling you and every single one of these turncoats here tonight that you will get your comeuppance.”

  “Rosetta! Goddammit,” Zeus grumbles, tightening his arm around me.

  “That’s all I have to say, so you can keep your bloomers unwadded, Hart. Now, how about you help me track down this big, bad CEO you want to
talk to? I’m sure that we can get Adonis that meeting, and then you can go drop me off back at the funny farm,” I sneer, ignoring his muttered curses as I turn and walk away.

  Tonight is not going to be a good night. I can just tell.

  ********************************************************************

  “Your market share isn’t worth the price, and you know it,” I tell Frederick Waters, the CEO of Hyde Global, a company that specializes in green energy and water projects that have changed the futures of many a third world country.

  Yes, the company is huge, and yes, they have the potential to make the “Global” they tacked on to their name a reality, but as things stand now, and after an embezzlement scandal that’s made the news two weeks running, their price is way off, and they’re dreaming if they think that a place like Hart is just going to fork it over. Even with a takeover, and that’s where this is headed unless Waters sells fast, the company would need a major PR overhaul in order to turn it away from complete collapse. Personally, I wouldn’t touch the place with a ten-foot pole, and I’ve told both Waters and Zeus this, while keeping a smile on my face and daring anyone to argue.

  Zeus, surprisingly, didn’t argue for once, and went so far as to agree, which is why Waters stuck around instead of storming off the way he was probably planning to. Rule number one in any negotiation: always leave with the last word and preferably with the upper hand.

  Though I can’t see where Waters would get the upper anything, with the facts that Zeus keeps spewing, and my pit-bull rep for calling out bullshit. I’ve been involved in more than one negotiation in my time, and while it’s not something that I prefer doing all the time, I do relish the challenge of being a mean-ass shark within the male-dominated pond we work in.

  “The value—”

  “Is dropping by the hour with every fact that is revealed. Your audits came back as murky as hell, and with your CFO still in the wind, and no sign of the millions he managed to pilfer, I don’t see the value rising any time soon. Face it, Waters, you either sell now and walk away with the profits, or you lose it all, including the employees who are counting on you. Pension funds, their 401(k)s, any shares that have been given as incentives—they’ll all be gone and mean nothing in the next few weeks. Are you willing to lose it all and gamble the livelihoods of hundreds of people on the slim chance that confidence will return? What about the funding in Northwest Africa? It’s been proven that Aims falsified the documents and that the project never happened, despite the hefty payment made by the country in question,” I tell him, thanking my lucky stars that I watch the news religiously.

  I was pissed when I watched that specific story because, as someone who takes water and luxuries for granted, it really hit home how hard life is for some people. I could never imagine being grateful for having a working faucet situated a mile away from my home, nor can I begin to imagine what it must be like for that to be your reality—only to have it dry up when some rich westerner fails to come through on a promise.

  Hyde Global was contracted to find and drill boreholes, but instead of that happening, there are people out there dying without water because this man dropped the ball and let his CFO run the show. A CFO who not only stole millions, but also seems to have vanished.

  Someone has to clean this up, fast, and for some reason, Adonis and Zeus want to be that someone. I’d applaud them, but I know how Waters works, thanks to a meeting that Donald had with him weeks ago. The man is an opportunist who will drag this out no matter what, just to capitalize on it as much as he can.

  “Aims was responsible.”

  “Yeah, well, he dropped the ball—or, rather, stole the thing—and unfortunately, he’s gone. Do yourself a favor, Waters. Meet with Adonis Hart and talk things through. Before everyone ends up losing on this. Hart Inc. is known for its transparent business practices and its charitable donations to many causes. There isn’t a company out there that will give you a better deal, and you know it.”

  “My brother is a fair man. He’ll evaluate the risks down to the cent, and he won’t give you anything less than a fair price,” Zeus assures him, his eyes shining when he glances down at me and gives me a squeeze. “Just agree to a meeting and talk to him. There won’t be any guarantee on your side unless you like what you hear.”

  I watch almost gleefully as the man crumbles and then sighs, swiping a hand through his hair before he offers it to Zeus to shake.

  “Call my secretary tomorrow morning, and we’ll meet. As for you,” he mutters, turning to take my hand, “Donald was right; you are a shark. He was a fool to let you go.”

  “We agree on that, Mr, Waters, unfortunately. Thanks for your time, and please do tell your wife that it was a pleasure to meet her,” I say politely, lying through my teeth.

  Talk about an airhead who’s probably contracted a brain infection from all that plastic surgery.

  “Good evening,” Waters says before turning to walk away and find his wife, leaving me smiling at Zeus, who isn’t so much happy as ecstatic when he hugs me and smooches my cheek.

  “That was amazing. I thought for sure that he was going to walk when you asked him about the tax deficits. How the hell…?”

  “Eh, people always get antsy when I bring up the IRS. I thought that I’d go in hard, early, and unbalance him. We’re lucky it worked,” I muse, following closely when he tugs me to the buffet.

  “That wasn’t luck, babe—it was pure skill, and it was a pleasure to watch. I hate doing this shit because I usually lose my cool by the third or fourth bullshit play from these guys. You have no idea how many times I’ve had to negotiate these things, only to have them pull out and then let their companies flounder. Last year, we lost out when that big clothing manufacturer went bust instead of selling at a fair value. Adonis almost lost his shit,” he tells me, handing me a plate and then making one for himself.

  See, this is why I love—I mean like! Like. I like Zeus because he’s an equal opportunity guy. He gets me food and drinks and doesn’t once expect me to return the favor. My previous dates would have told me to get them something while they talked business, and then slapped my ass to get me moving. Not Z. No, he keeps chattering on and complimenting me while ensuring that I have everything I need before steeringme to an empty table off to the side.

  I follow, and before long, I’m moaning around every mouthful and asking myself why I used to hate crab cakes. These things are awesome…

  “You sealed it, though, and we both know it. He’d have fudged it and walked if you hadn’t reminded him about Adonis and his business practices. Everyone knows he’s fair. All Waters needed was a guarantee, and you gave it to him. Now, stop with the compliments, and let’s talk about other things. How’s Chilli?”

  “Rosetta.”

  “No, it’s just curiosity—I swear. Ever since I saw him at Mom’s dinner, looking like hell, I’ve been thinking about it. Is he okay?” I ask, truly concerned.

  I can’t have a victim if someone else takes him out, people. I mean, duh!

  “Alex is ignoring him, someone cut his brake lines, he totaled the Porsche that he bought his first year at the company, and then they found a gas leak at his place,” Zeus says, shrugging and biting into a shrimp kebab.

  “That doesn’t sound coincidental to me,” I murmur, watching the room while I continue to eat and consider things.

  “I said the same thing, and he told me to start taking meds. He won’t listen to me, and honestly, I can’t exactly argue. I have become paranoid lately. I analyze everything Cleo says about her day, and I watch people like hawks. Like, right now? That guy over at the door? Who is he? What’s he doing just hanging out at the door?” he asks, his eyes going hard when the guy scans the room, his eyes landing on me.

  “He does look fishy, but then again, most people do. I think he’s looking for—ah, there you go,” I laugh, watching a beautiful woman slither his way and then practically melt all over the guy.

  He’s good-looking e
nough that she might really want to be with him, but I’d bet it’s got more to do with his Rolex, his suit, and the diamonds in his cufflinks.

  Money. It makes the world go round, it makes the sun come up for some people, and it rules many days and nights. Not so with Zeus or the rest of the Harts. With those guys, money is just something they use to keep the machine working, and as much as they enjoy the benefits, it’s a natural progression. I guess Dad is right. When you’re born with it, sometimes you end up not being an asshole about it. Me, I hate having so much money that I don’t have to work, but I gotta say, knowing that it’s there, especially now that I may be unemployable, is a relief.

  “What are you thinking?” Zeus asks as we finish up, set our plates down, and start to make our way out towards the car.

  The evening air is pleasantly cool in a mid-autumn way that will soon disappear into winter. Not that it’s much of one, at least not compared to the weather in New York when I was on a case there last year. God help me, I don’t know how people live in the snow. It’s barbaric.

  “This? It’s just proof of how monumentally fucked my career is. I practice company and divorce law, Z, as strange as that combination sounds—”

  “No, it doesn’t. Statistically speaking, those are the two biggest payers in law. And technically, they’re the same thing. Just contracts being voided, with penalties paid to certain parties.” He shrugs as he steers me down to the car and then helps me in.

  When we pull away, I finally answer, somewhat surprised that he’s noticed something that most people don’t. I like the contracts and seeing things being made and then unmade. I like knowing that I have a hand in helping people when love is on the rocks, and I like knowing that a company can be created or sustained with the things I do for them.