Kestrel (Hart Briothers #3) Read Free Page A

Target.
    “Shayla,
I’ve never set foot in a Target. Will they deliver?”
    Her
brows pop up to her hairline. Then she laughs and laughs some more.
    “Are
all you New Yorkers like this?”
    I
rub my chin. “Probably not. I’m a little odd.”
    “Hmm.
Tell you what. I’ll pick up a coffee pot on the way home. What kind should I
get?”
    “The
best kind they have. I’m particular about my coffee. And can you pick up some
good coffee too? I like to grind my own beans.”
    She
shakes her head and mumbles, “Well I’ll be.”
    “I’ll
see you tomorrow.”
    “Good
night, sir.”
    It’s
going to take a little bit for me to get used to this “sir” thing. It makes me
feel like my asshole of a father. He always insisted everyone call him sir. My
cell rings, interrupting my thoughts.
    “Kolson.
I was getting ready to call you.”
    “How
is everything?”
    “Other
than Shayla tried to poison me, I’m fine.”
    “Poison
you?”
    “She
fed me instant coffee.”
    My
brother breaks out in a roar of laughter. “Oh, hell. Wait until I tell
Gabriella.”
    “No!
Don’t tell Gabby. She’ll get your pilot to fly her down here to try and save
me. And don’t tell her my ass is killing me. The damn thing is purple from
where she knocked me over the other day. Your wife is a menace.”
    “Shall
I hire you a nurse?”
    “Only
if she’s a black-haired beauty with huge …”
    “Hey!”
he protests.
    “You
asked.”
    “I
suppose I deserve that. So how’s the office?”
    “Good.
Shayla is well organized and if I can get her to stop calling me sir, we’ll do
fine together.”
    “Sir,
huh?”
    “Yeah,
and I hate it. Reminds me of Langston, that fucker.”
    “Truth.
So, there’s this huge software company you need to get on. And Jack will be
down next week to move on some things,” Kolson says.
    “Right,
but I need to get the staff up and running. I need at least three more people
to get this place functional.”
    “Whatever
you need, Kestrel. I’ll be down to hopefully close out the land deal in the
next month. If all goes as planned, the rest of the building will be opened up
and will have over a hundred on staff by the end of next year.”
    “Good.
I honestly don’t see anything stopping us. We won’t be stepping on anyone’s
toes. The smaller companies don’t want what we want—they can’t handle it.
And the large corporations have to outsource it all anyway. There isn’t another
company down here that offers the complete package like we do.”
    “That’s
why I needed you so badly, bro.”
    “One
other thing. The proposal I made to the governor should be back in the next
week. That should help our land deal.”
    Kolson
hummed. “We can certainly promise the state some higher paying jobs if they can
give us a few tax breaks. That’s a given.”
    “Oh,
do you know when my vehicles are supposed to arrive?”
    “Hang
on. Let me check.”
    I
can hear him clicking on his keyboard.
    “Yep.
They should be pulling in tomorrow.”
    “Great.
And let me know if you get a line on any good properties down here. I’m going
to get off here so I can head to my executive apartment, which I’m sure is more
like a hole in the wall.”
    My
brother chuckles. “No doubt. I’ve stayed in some that are worse than youth
hostels.”
    “Shut
the fuck up. With my luck, the toilet won’t flush or something.”
    “Kestrel,
did you even have anyone check it out for you?”
    “Your
agent, remember?”
    “Oh,
it’ll be fine. Gaston never sends me anywhere that’s not up to standard.”
    “I
hope you’re right. Catch you later.”
    The
driver is waiting for me as I exit the building. My apartment is downtown, in
the old section of Charleston where all the historical buildings are. In fact,
the studio is in what used to be an old carriage house. It’s quaint and beautiful,
with wide planked heart pine floors and gorgeous antique furniture. I’m quite
dumbfounded. This far exceeds anything I expected.
    Much
to my