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“So where to next?”
“I’m not sure. Callaghan’s changed his schedule. Bastard’s been off grid the past two days. He’ll have seen the announcement about us changing suppliers to stock Aunt Iris’s gin. He’s doing it on purpose because he knows I want to speak with him.”
“He’s slipperier than a dick on a porn set,” Hayden quips.
I grunt in response.
Ava gets up from her sun lounger and stretches. Her love of expensive lingerie must extend to swimwear, because she’s wearing a barely-there white bikini with a ruffled trim. The back of it cuts high up over her ass cheeks. Cheeks that were bright red with my handprint only days ago.
“I’ve already got the team on it. They’ll sniff him out in no time. Callaghan’s not one to miss a moment to gloat about whatever fancy place he’s visiting.”
“Good.”
Ava’s talking to her friend, Liv, who’s visiting for a couple of days. She spent the morning in the garden typing on her laptop and wiping her eyes. She’s not spoken a word to me since leaving the estate yesterday. I saw her scowling at me through the window when I was skipping this morning, but since the moment Liv arrived, she’s been beaming. Their laughter’s echoing around the house.
It's the happiest she’s been since I arrived.
“Oh, and the kid signed the non-disclosure,” Hayden says, bringing my attention back to him.
“He knew what was good for him, then?”
“His father ripped him a new one when we told him you were serious about banning all employees of their company from flying with us again.”
“It’s the least he should have expected. No one takes videos of our passengers and tries to sell them to the press for a quick buck.” I follow Ava with my eyes as she walks along the poolside, smiling and waving to someone.
“She wasn’t even that drunk. I’ve seen way worse,” Hayden says.
“She wasn’t drunk. She’d taken a herbal remedy that she didn’t react well to. She said things she doesn’t remember.”
“Whatever it was, the video’s gone now.”
“Thank you.”
My shoulders tense as David and another man join Ava and Liv. The four of them begin chatting and laughing like it’s a fucking party. “I’ve got to go. Call me the second you find Callaghan,” I say, hanging up.
I toss my phone onto the desk and stand with my hands on my hips surveying the scene outside. David’s chatting to Liv. And Ava’s got her hand up, shielding her eyes from the sun as the other guy stands far too close to her.
I turn back to the desk and throw myself into the chair. This has got to fucking stop. She’s already occupied my thoughts more than I should allow. This deal with Callaghan must be my sole focus. I can’t lose my head over a feisty brat who likes to push me. The only reason she’s getting under my skin at all is because I haven’t had sex since I left New York.
It’s blue balls. That’s all it is. They make it hard to focus.
I clench and unclench my hands a couple of times, then open up the emails on my laptop.
A guffaw, followed by female laughter outside, makes my fingers jolt on the keys. That’s fucking it! Some of us have businesses to run. I abandon my laptop and storm through the house, leaving the door wide open as I march across the grass to the pool.
Ava’s back is to me. But David sees me, and his eyes widen.
“All right, Mr. Grant? This is my brother, Ed. He runs the landscaping business with me.”
I nod a curt greeting at the other man.
“They were telling me about the new club we’re going to tonight,” Liv announces.
“Sounds fun.” I breeze past without glancing her way. “Ava?” I snap.
Her spine straightens before she turns slowly.
“I need to speak with you.”
