“Scarlett.”
“Hey, big sis.”
A flood of love hit Harlow. “Hi, little sis.”
“I haven’t got long,” Scarlett said. “I’m about to head into a lecture. I just wanted to say hello.”
“How’s school?”
“So awesome.” Her sister’s voice lit up. “I’ve finally found my thing Harlow. Like you did. Another year, I’ll have my degree, and I have so many plans.”
Harlow smiled, but her hand curled around the phone. Her sister was so happy. After several years of being so miserable doing a business degree, she’d switched to studying teaching at UCLA.
Harlow couldn’t let that get ruined. “Do you need anything? I can organize for—”
Scarlett let out a huff. “I’m a big girl now, Low. I can do things for myself. I know you love to keep us all organized, but you need to chill.”
“I just want to help.”
“I know.” Her sister’s voice softened. “But I’m not a little girl anymore. And Mom and Dad depend on you too much. I know you organized the new gardener at the house, and booked their upcoming cruise, and made dad’s doctor’s appointments. They’re adults.”
“I like helping.”
Her sister sighed.
It was an old argument that Harlow usually sidestepped. “You keep studying hard.”
“I will. You don’t work too hard. Hey, on my next vacation, I’m coming home. I can help you knock down some walls when you get a place.”
Harlow’s belly knotted. “Sure.”
“Or I can paint. I’m good at painting.”
“I have to go, Scarlett.”
“Sure, me too. Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
When Harlow ended the call, she dropped her head into her hand. Then she looked up and logged onto her bank website.
Her savings account showed a big fat zero.
The money was gone.
Well, she hoped her dad was safe now.
“Find a problem, solve the problem.” This would all be sorted out soon.
“Harlow?”
She jolted, spun, and threw the pen in her hand. Easton caught it before it hit him in the face.
He frowned. “You okay?”
She felt heat rising in her cheeks. “You just surprised me.”
He eyed her like a scientist studying a sample. “I overheard you talking with your sister.”
“You shouldn’t eavesdrop. Shoo, I have reports to finish and meetings to schedule.” She waved her hand. “Go buy a Rolex or something.”
Easton pressed his hands to her desk and leaned across it. Her pulse spiked.
“I know something’s not right with you. You work for me, so you belong to me. I protect those who are mine.”
His face was only inches from hers and her heart did a funny jerk. “I don’t even know where to start with that.”
“Talk to me.” His voice was low and smooth, like melted chocolate.
“I’m not dumping my personal problems on you.”
“Others do.”
Yes, she noticed way too many popped by to share their problems, which he could solve with a check. “Well, I’m not others, and you need to learn you can’t control everything.”
Suddenly, there was a ripple of whispers through the office. She looked up and saw a man walking toward them. Her spine straightened.
Vander Norcross looked a lot like his older brother. They both had coal-black hair, muscled bodies, and blue eyes. Although Vander’s eyes were deep, midnight blue, so dark they almost looked black. Easton’s were a prettier cobalt that she got lost inside.
The middle Norcross brother was slightly leaner than Easton, harder, and even though he wore a suit, he didn’t have the same elegant, classy edge Easton radiated.
No, Easton looked like he could stride into a boardroom and initiate a company-wide takeover without breaking a sweat. Vander looked like he could defeat an army before breakfast, dismantle a biker gang at lunch, and then take over a small hostile nation at dinner time, maybe followed by a little global assassination for dessert.
Harlow locked her knees. Vander was the definition of hot badass, but he also scared the bejesus out of her.
“Harlow,” he drawled.
“Hi, Vander. If you’ve come to see your brother, he has a tiny gap in his workaholic, make-a-billion-dollars-before-dinner-time schedule.”
Vander’s lips quirked, and damn if it didn’t make a little curl of heat pulse in her belly.
Easton shot her a look. “Hi, Vander. Ignore Ms. Smart Comeback and come in.” He waved his brother into his office. Then he looked back at Harlow. “We’ll talk more later.”
She didn’t miss his emphasis on talk.
She rolled her eyes.
As the brothers disappeared into Easton’s office and closed the door, Harlow dropped back in her chair.
A notification popped up on her screen.
She had a new email. She clicked it, and her heart clenched.
It was a sale alert on a gorgeous, rundown Victorian home. A diamond in the rough. The house had wonderful curb appeal, but needed new paint, and inside, it needed a complete gut.
She closed the email and deleted it.
Time to stop daydreaming and get back to work.
Her cell phone rang. It was her father.
Chapter Four
Easton closed the door.
“How are things?” he asked his brother.
“Busy.”
Easton sat behind his desk, while Vander strode to the windows. His brother had always been intense, even as a boy.
Vander had joined the Army, and soon ended up leading a Ghost Ops team. A covert special forces team made up of the best of the best across all the special forces in the military. Their younger brother Rhys had also been Ghost Ops. They’d all fought for their country. Seen too much. Done too much.
“We have loads of work going on,” Vander said.
“That’s good.”
“Not making billions like my big brother, though.” Vander’s lips moved into a grin.
Easton rolled his eyes. “Don’t start. I cop enough smart-ass sass from my assistant.”
“Your sexy new assistant who you watch like she’s your favorite candy.”
Easton felt an instant jerk of annoyance. He didn’t need Vander noticing that Harlow was sexy.
Vander’s dark gaze was on him and his grin widened. “You got a thing for tight skirts and sexy heels?”
Easton made an annoyed noise. “No.”
“No? I suspect for you those are just icing on the sharp mind, and the fact that she’s a woman who doesn’t bend under the force of Easton Norcross.”
“Did you make time out of your busy day just to come here and give me shit?”
“No.” Vander moved over to Easton’s desk. “You asked Saxon to run a background check on Harlow.”
Easton straightened. “You found something.”
“You sure you want to wade into this?”
Easton growled.
Vander nodded. “You want to wade in. Don’t blame you.”
“Vander, get to the point.”
His brother pulled an envelope out from the inside pocket of his jacket. He dropped it on Easton’s desk.