Page 3

Chapter three

The Level Boardroom

Hunter

“So, how did the intervention go?” Russell Chase asks as he steps through the door of the boardroom. I glance up from my phone and glare at him. It was only a matter of days ago I strutted out of here, announcing I was telling my wife she wasn’t getting a divorce. She shot me down in flames. Russell is the most immense pain in the ass of my circle of friends. He won't let me live it down. I’ve been avoiding them all.

Before I can open my mouth to speak, his younger brother, Connor, opens the door before it closes. He is a slightly smaller version of Russell, but they’re incredibly similar to look at with dark hair and eyes. He, however, is far more sensible. Connor can assess a situation thoroughly before reacting, a quality his brother somewhat lacks. This tends to be to Russell’s detriment, but his impulsivity has occasionally saved his skin.

Between them, they make a good team in the law firm they co-own with their best friend, Harrison Waite. The brothers’ ability to work as a team extends far beyond the law, and more recently, they’ve come to an arrangement over the one girl they are both crazy about. The thought doesn’t sit well with me; there is no way I could share my woman. But if they’re happy, so am I.

But you do share your girl .

The little voice in my head that mocks these sorts of statements I make blares immediately. Isabella has lovers. I know as much. But they don’t mean anything—about that, I’m sure. The love we had as kids could never be replaced. Her having sex doesn’t mean I share her affection with another; it is purely a way for her to have her needs met. Whether or not my self-explanation is true isn’t something I want to consider further; in my mind, she still loves me, and I am her husband. This is a belief I hold on to each day we have been apart. It keeps me as close to sane as I’ll ever be.

“Morning, Devane,” Connor says with a smile. “How’s operation no-divorce going?” The two brothers glance at one another and laugh. Connor then moves and starts preparing coffee for everyone as he always does. I take my knife from my belt and throw it across the room. It pierces the wood panel to his left, and he freezes.

I stroll over and casually pull my blade from its resting place as the elevator echoes the arrival of another member of our little team. Damon McKinney steps out. His eyes move over each of us, taking in the scene before him. He chuckles, shakes his head, then throws himself down in the nearest chair at the long glass table.

“Okay, which one of you idiots upset him?” Damon asks.

“Who upset who?” Harrison appears from nowhere, clutching a file. He could be the Chase’s third brother to look at, but he’s their brother-in-law. I look around the room and think, what a fucking complex bunch we are. Not one of us has had a straightforward route to love.

“Chase One and Two are being fuckwits,” I mutter, wandering over to sit down beside Damon.

“No change there then,” he replies, grinning at me. “Any tasks for me today or can I have a day off?” My friend, who now works with me full time since leaving the police force, tries to keep his expression impassive, but I can see the pleading in his eyes.

“Plans or opportunity?” I ask, and his grin expands.

“Opportunity. Annie is at nursery, and Emma is working from home today.”

“So, you want your dick sucked?”

“I want the opportunity to have my dick sucked. There is a difference. Emma still has to approve the suggestion.”

“Emma doesn’t have time to be pleasuring you,” Harrison interjects. “She’s too busy trying to clean up his fucking mess.” He wags his finger at me as Connor passes out coffees, and everyone takes a seat at the boardroom table. Emma, Damon’s partner, is a trainee lawyer with Chase, Chase, and Waite Law Firm. Everything is so damn interconnected, I get confused half the time.

“What have I done?” I shoot back, pissed off at being called out without warning.

“You,” Harrison snaps, his previously hidden fury appearing fast. “You were caught on CCTV outside the gym holding a man against a wall with a knife at his throat.”

“When? I hold my knife at a lot of throats.” He rolls his eyes, and I smile at him.

“Not on CCTV, and not on video that is then possibly leaked to the media.” Everyone falls silent on that bombshell, and we all stare at each other. “You don’t need me to tell you how bad this is.” I shrug, attempting to appear unworried, but inside, I am dying. Although there are a lot of rumors about my underground activities, nothing is ever proven. I have enough friends in high places that I’ve been able to squash any previous attempts to out me.

“What CCTV was it? I made sure I was in the back alley. The only coverage there is our own.”

“It’s ours from the gym. Someone has managed to get hold of the footage. They are threatening to pass it to the press.”

“How much do they want?” I ask him.

“One million pounds.”

“And you think I should pay?”

He looks between each of us, his usually solid demeanor lost. Harrison’s decision-making and problem-solving tend to outwit most of us, but this time he doesn’t look so sure.

“I don’t know,” he says honestly. “They could have copies. They could keep coming back for more.”

“Fuck them,” Russell pipes up. “Let them leak it. We can deal with the fallout.”

“Hunter has business dealings with the most influential people in London and worldwide. They won't want to get their hands dirty if his reputation becomes mud. Rumors are all right, but cold hard evidence makes people nervous,” Connor advises, and his brother scowls at him.

“Always the voice of fucking reason,” he mutters. “Sometimes I wonder if we’re related at all.”

Connor jumps out of his seat, strides across the room, picks up a glass of water, and proceeds to pour it over his brother’s head. Russell shoots out of his chair and wipes at the cold liquid running down his face and suit.

“You’re such an arsehole,” he growls, furious.

“Takes one to know one,” Connor shoots back.

Russell opens his mouth to respond, but Harrison bangs his hands on the table to stop the nonsense and bring attention back to him. Disappointed at the show being stopped, I start playing with my knife, then pick up an apple from the bowl in front of me to peel it.

“If we are all ready to have an adult discussion,” Harrison says with a sigh, “some of us have work to do.” Just then, there is a knock at the door, and his wife, Violet, wanders in with their young daughter on her hip.

“Hi everyone,” she says in her usual sing-song voice. Harrison immediately forgets everything he is doing and takes her in his arms. He kisses her softly on the lips, then his daughter’s forehead, before dropping to his knees and saying good morning to their unborn baby in her belly. “You were gone when I woke,” Violet continues as he rises and smiles goofily at her.

“You need your rest, Vi.” His hand rests on her stomach. “You have the most important job of all of us.”

“True,” she agrees with a slight shrug. Evie gurgles happily at them both. “Anyway, we just came to say good morning to Daddy. Didn’t we?”

“What about her uncles?” Russell asks, standing and going to join the little group. His niece reaches for him, and he eagerly takes her. Within moments, Connor is beside them. I groan with the family moment. Damon chuckles beside me.

“Is your house like this too?” I ask him, and he glances my way.

“Sure is. You don’t know what you’re missing, Devane.”