Calum stepped through the front entrance of the hotel. Jax ran it, although the whole family had an equal stake in the business. Past the lobby, off to the right of the long hallway, the communal lounge room and bar was full of guests.

He spotted Jax behind the bar and hovered until he caught his eye. “You okay?” he mouthed.

Jax nodded and grinned then turned away to serve the next customer. Jax was born to work in the hospitality trade—and he was damn good at it. Calum considered grabbing a quick drink and mingling with the hotel guests, but after the day he’d had, making small talk was too much effort.

Taking a left turn at the end of the hallway, he descended the steps into the basement that doubled as their private quarters. When Jax had come up with this harebrained idea to open a hotel and have them all move in, Calum had thought his older brother had gone nuts. But now, a few months later, he had to admit it worked—and they all saved a shitload on rent.

At the bottom of the stairs, he entered the family room. His twin, Cole, was dressed in his cop uniform, apart from his duty belt, which lay across the breakfast bar. He was leaning against the kitchen countertop, his hand cupped underneath a bowl, shoveling cereal into his mouth.

“You on tonight?” Calum asked, dropping his gym bag on the floor.

Cole nodded. “Twelve-hour shift coming up.”

Calum’s disappointment must have shown on his face, because Cole frowned. “Something up?”

“Nah. It’s fine.” Calum opened the fridge and grabbed a beer. He twisted off the cap and took a long drink. He wiped the back of his hand across his mouth and flicked the bottle top into the trash. “I needed that.”

“Gym session followed by a beer?” Cole laughed. “Something wrong with that picture, bro.”

Calum grimaced. “After the day I’ve had, it ought to be gin.”

Cole placed his bowl in the dishwasher. “I’ve got a few minutes, and they’re all yours. Tell me how your first day back went.”

Calum eased onto a stool at the breakfast bar and picked at the label on his beer bottle. “Met the new marketing woman today.”

“Ah.” Cole pulled up a seat next to him. “And?”

Calum shrugged. “As I expected—a complete know-it-all. Told me I’m shit at my job, without saying the actual words. She’s only been at Necron five minutes, yet she thinks she’s top fucking dog. If I get my way, she’ll be looking for a new job this time next month.”

Cole twisted the cap on a bottle of water and took a sip. “That’s a passionate outburst for a woman you barely know.”

Calum scowled. “If all you’re going to bring to the party is unhelpful comments, you can just go to work.”

Cole chuckled. “Bro, give the woman a chance. Who knows? You might learn something.”

“The only thing I’m likely to learn is how to refrain from sharpening my tongue on her shitty attitude. Something tells me I’m going to fail.”

Cole let out a low whistle. “She’s really gotten to you, huh? Better start examining those strong feelings, brother. Sounds to me like you’ve got the hots for this woman.”

“Bullshit,” Calum scoffed. “When someone who doesn’t even know me or the company I work for stands up at a board meeting and basically tells us all how wrong we’ve been running things for the past five years, forgive me if I don’t just bend over and take it up the ass.”

Cole grabbed his belt and slung it around his waist. He removed his Glock, checked it, then put it back into the holster. “Gotta go.” He walked past Calum and laid a hand on his arm. “As much as I love you, you can be a total dick at times. And who knows, in time, you might even end up liking her.”

“Fat fucking chance,” Calum muttered.

Alone, he paced, his irritation growing with every passing second. He played over the events of the day, from the meeting in the morning to what Jules had debriefed him on and then the trip to the deli. When Laurella had left him basically holding his dick in the elevator, he’d almost stormed into her office and given her a piece of his mind. But instinct had told him he had to be clever with this one. She had her high-heel-clad feet well and truly under the table, despite only starting with the company a few weeks earlier. Instead of his usual style of firing with both barrels, he’d need to be cautious—watch and listen, and when the time was right, strike. There was only space for one of them at Necron, and he would be taking that spot.

The earlier solitude he’d craved became an urge to be surrounded by people. He jogged upstairs and entered the bar. Jax was still running around and doing far too much, considering he wasn’t fully recovered yet. Calum shared a few words with a couple of the regulars then eased onto a chair at the bar.

“You want some help?” he said to Jax, who was mixing a martini with one hand and pouring a beer with the other.

“I’m good,” Jax replied. “Besides, you’ve done a full day already.”

“No more than you, and you’re still going.”

“It’s all good. I’m actually thrilled to be back at the helm. I’m only covering the bar tonight and tomorrow. Isa will be back from vacation then, so she’ll be able to take over the evening shift.” He finished serving a customer then set a glass of Barolo in front of Calum. “How was your first day back?”

For some reason, Calum didn’t want to share his thoughts about Laurella with Jax. Cole was a different matter. His twin knew the right things to say to keep him calm. Jax would ask too many questions and get his back up.

“Good. It was great to see everyone.”

Jax nodded. “It’s where you belong. I don’t think hotel management quite suits you.”

Calum painted on a faux-aggrieved expression. “How could you say that? The guests love me.”

Jax laughed and stepped to one side to serve another customer. Calum glanced around. Every table was taken up with guests of the hotel and some nonresidents. Early indications were that Jax was going to make a real success of this business. Calum had been the first to share his skepticism about this venture in the beginning, before the renovation had been completed. However, if bookings continued at their current rate and the buzz about the place didn’t let up, his brother would have a winner on his hands. That kind of success was no more than he deserved.

As the clock edged toward nine, more customers arrived, and Jax barely had a minute to breathe.

“Let me help.” Calum got down from his chair.

“No need.” Jax pointed his chin toward the entranceway. “My cavalry is here.”

Calum glanced over his shoulder. His gaze sliced to Jax’s girlfriend as she walked toward them, and he clenched his jaw. Fucking India. Jax may have forgiven her for almost getting him killed and nearly succeeding in ruining them financially, but Calum was a long way from that. Jax was blind when it came to her, but as sucking Calum’s cock to secure his forgiveness wasn’t exactly on the table, India would have to use different tactics to get him to look at her with anything other than barely veiled hatred.

“I’m so sorry,” she gushed, tossing her purse and coat behind the bar. “I tried to get here earlier, but work has been crazy.”

“You’re here now.” Jax’s eyes filled with adoration, and he bent down for a kiss. “That’s all that matters.”

“Yeah, that’s all that matters,” Calum repeated, his tone laden with sarcasm. “Well, seeing as you don’t need me, I’ll be off.”

He stomped out, but before he reached the door that led to their private quarters, India appeared behind him.

“Calum, wait,” she called out.

Yanking open the door, he jogged downstairs. The damn woman followed him. He stalked into the living room and turned around, hands planted on his hips, eyes narrowed. He glared at her. “I thought you were helping Jax. So fuck off back upstairs and do what you came to do.”

She met his venomous gaze with one of her own. “This can’t go on, Calum. You need to face facts. I’m going nowhere, and as you aren’t either”—she gestured between them—“we have to figure this out.”

He stepped toward her. To her credit, India stood her ground when Calum got right up in her face. “I don’t have to do anything—not where you’re concerned.” He laughed, the sound short and bitter. “You might have Jax conned, but you don’t fool me. After what you did, how he can bear to look at you—let alone stick his cock inside you—is beyond me.”

The slap to his face sent a ringing sound ricocheting off the walls. Despite the sting, Calum didn’t touch his cheek. Anger and adrenaline rushed through his body, and the muscles in his legs quivered.

“That’s a freebie.” He moved in closer, which brought them nose to nose. “Next time, I’ll return the favor.”

“I’ll bet you will,” she sneered. “Hitting women is something you’re sadistic enough to get off on, right? Calum Brook—thinks he’s a big shot. In reality, you’re just a bully. Well, go and find someone else to pick on, Calum, because you don’t scare me.”

“No?” he said, his voice menacingly low. “You should be scared, sweetheart.”

Despite her bravado, India’s bottom lip quivered. She bit down, but too late. She’d shown her hand. “If you bothered to listen—and I mean really listen—to the full story, you might be more understanding.”

Calum snorted, turned his back, and strode across the living room. He grabbed another beer from the fridge—without offering her one. He twisted off the cap and flicked it in her direction. It bounced harmlessly off the wall behind her head, but she flinched regardless.

“Go on, then.” Derision laced his tone. “I’ll give you airtime. Five minutes to prove to me you’re not a manipulative bitch who set my brother up and almost got him killed.”

Her chin fell to her chest. “I never meant for Jax to get hurt. Not like that. But Phil—”

“Oh, here we go again. I guess it’s easy to blame a dead guy. Your brother might have been crazy as fuck, but at least he owned his part in your little scheme. Yet you stand there, pretending like you didn’t have a mind of your own. I don’t buy it, India, but go on. Do your best to convince me you’re the innocent party.”

A flush crept up her neck, inching over her jaw, bleeding into her cheeks. “What’s the point?” she said with a slow shake of her head. “You’ll believe what you want to believe.”

She went to leave then paused on the threshold and glanced over her shoulder. “Like I said, Calum, I’m going nowhere. Jax has forgiven me, and we’re together. The sooner you accept that, the easier this situation will be for all of us.”

Before he could think up a suitable retort that didn’t involve the words fuck and off, India spun on her heel and left. Her footsteps sounded on the carpeting as she jogged upstairs, then came the slam of a door, and silence.

Calum stared at the empty space she’d occupied until five seconds before. She sure knew how to press his buttons, but she was right about one thing—Jax was completely smitten. Sooner or later, Calum would have to call time on his antipathy toward her, for the sake of his relationship with his brother. When Calum had made to leave a few minutes earlier, he hadn’t missed the pleading in Jax’s eyes, and no doubt, they’d have an argument about his treatment of India as soon as Jax closed up for the night.

With a heavy sigh, Calum flopped onto the couch. The beginnings of a headache pounded behind his eyes, and he closed them for a moment, pinching the bridge of his nose with a thumb and forefinger.

He reached for his iPad. He’d meant to do more digging on Laurella Ricci before going back to work, but apart from a brief review when Zane had told him he’d hired her, Calum had been too busy. As Jax could no doubt testify, running a hotel didn’t leave much spare time.

He started his search in Google. After thirty minutes, he’d managed to glean that she was one of six siblings—three brothers, two sisters. Laurella had been born and raised in Milan, but her British mother had made sure she’d received English lessons from a very early age, which no doubt accounted for her near-flawless command of the language. Well, that and the fact she’d attended Harvard Business School, gaining a double major in business administration and marketing after four years. This pissed him off even more because such an achievement reaffirmed her brilliance.

From there, she’d returned to Italy where, for the past seven years, she’d gradually worked her way up at Spirito, ending her career there as second-in-command to the marketing director. And now, at the age of thirty, two years older than him, she’d turned up on his doorstep to make his life a goddamn misery.

He cast his iPad to one side. Something told him that getting rid of Laurella Ricci wasn’t going to be as easy as he’d first imagined. Still, understanding the enemy was the first step. Next step? Get creative.