Sexy in Stilettos Read Free Page A

wasn’t home out of any obligation. He was here for her. Because in all the years of running away from himself, she’d been the only constant.
    “As you know, our plan is to go public with Westhorpe Inc. next year. Until then, we need to keep our noses clean. Stay out of the news, that sort of thing.”
     “How clean are we talking here?”
    “Suffice it to say pristine isn’t good enough.”
    Alec folded his arms over his chest. “So you need me to keep little brother’s nose clean? Honestly, Mimi, you could have your security guys do that.”
    She smiled at the use of his childhood nickname for her before she spoke. “I also need someone to look at the financials for the hotel and the hotel clubs. Synthesis has its grand opening tonight, and I don’t want the same kind of losses I’ve been seeing at the other hotel clubs. To make the San Diego Westhorpe our flagship, we need the full hotel experience—Five Star restaurant, full-to-the-brim nightclub, and the ultimate in luxury hotel. With that model, our books should be in fantastic shape. But I’ve got accounts not adding up. It was Max’s job to look into this and considering he’s not here to do it, I wanted someone who’s part bloodhound, part business wunderkind and all discreet.”
    “Get someone else to do it. I’m not the guy for the job. You need someone who’s responsible. I’m the black sheep, remember?” If he left tonight, he could be back in Durban in a day.
    “Only in your mind. I have my suspicions about why my hotels are losing money. I need you to verify them.”
    “You want Max for this. Not me.” Where the hell had his brother run to? “Did you check the usual places?” Max taking off wasn’t something new. Why Adele wanted him back so badly was the real note of interest. “You don’t need me to find him. You can hire many a private investigator. Better yet, hire Caleb Atkins. He’s got a whole security team that does nothing but solve corporate security issues.” And it never hurt to throw his best friend some work.
    “It’s a little more complicated this time.” She paused to fiddle with a flower arrangement on the table. “I’m sure you remember Sue Wentz, your former girlfriend. Well, she’s pregnant, and Maxwell has run away from his responsibility.”
    Sue . Pregnant? By Max? This was a round of deja vu he could do without. His mind’s eye filled with the image of the strawberry blonde girl with the kind eyes he thought he loved once.  From the start he knew they weren’t a good match, but he tried to give her what she wanted. In the end, he made them both unhappy.
    Clearing his throat, he said, “Mimi, this is a family dispute. They need to work things out on their own.”
    “You know he’s spiraling out of control. I need you to help me stop it. The board gave me two weeks to bring him back and handle the situation of our books.”
    “Still not my problem.” Alec needed to get out of dodge before she roped him in. He rocked back on his heels.
    “Do you at least care that he drained his trust fund?”

Chapter Three
     
    After three days, Jaya still couldn’t pull herself out of the fog. Whenever she thought of getting up and actually getting dressed, her brain reminded her she had nowhere to go and she plunged back into the paralyzed pit of despair. She knew the situation was dire when her usual cadre of bad action movies couldn’t cheer her up.
    Cracking an eyelid open, she surveyed the wasteland that was her apartment. The urge to vomit came on strong. Chinese food cartons, empty ice-cream cartons, empty chocolate wrappers—the mess was so bad, she returned to hiding under her cover, where it was safer.
    The buzzer to her front door rang. She ignored it. Cue the Calvary. Maybe if she pretended she didn’t hear them, they’d go away. She’d managed to avoid her two best friends Ricca and Micha for the past several days, but it was only a matter of time before they insisted on seeing her.