***
"Hey buddy!" Liam opened the door to his elaborate mansion and moved back with a big smile on his face. "You look like shit."
"You say that a little too often, asshole." I smiled and pulled him into a quick hug.
"It's the truth. I owe you that if nothing else." He patted my back and closed the door. His black hair and dark eyes left him looking nothing like me, but it was probably for the best. The last thing I needed in town was a doppelgänger, especially one that acted as poorly as my older brother did.
"You remember my best friend from school, Cole?"
"Matthenson?" I walked down the hall as the sound of the TV filled up the hallway.
"Yeah. He and his brother, Ian, own a security company in San Doggie. They're in the middle of some shit right now, but I told him to come up for a day to get away from everything. He's a hot mess. Headed toward divorce with Cindy."
"Do I know Cindy?" I whispered back as we entered into the kitchen. Liam shook his head and walked toward the big guy nursing a beer at his kitchen table.
"Hey man. You remember my little brother, Ethan, right?" Liam stopped beside the guy as he glanced over his shoulder and nodded at me.
"Your brother is the next James Bond, idiot. Of course I know him. Everyone does." He stood and extended his hand to me. The thin bony kid that looked like he was always scrapping for a meal was long gone. The dude in front of me looked like something out of a special ops group. Dark brown hair cut close to the scalp, tanned skin and a mean ass look on his face that warned anyone that came around, this fucker wasn't buying anything, including Girl Scout cookies.
"Hey man. Good to see you again. It's been a while." I shook his hand and turned to grab a beer from the fridge.
"You ready for another, Cole?" Liam followed me into the kitchen as his friend grunted a response I didn't hear. Didn't care to either. I wasn't his waitress, but it was cute that my brother was. "So what's going on? You still suffering over that hot little piece of ass they hired to work next to you?"
"Yep." I got a beer and popped the top off of it. "Her mother died in an accident and the funeral was this morning."
"Hence the monkey suit." He reached out and tugged at the lapel of my suit jacket. "Hey, what happened with Izabella the other day? I haven't heard anything from her."
"That's because you pimped her out." I chuckled. "Why would she call you? Jackass."
"Don't be jealous that I have a new business in the making." He pushed at my cheek as Cole walked into the kitchen.
"Selling women is illegal. Ain't that right, Cole?" I moved over a little as Liam turned to face his childhood bestie.
"Yep, but none of my business." The big guy ran his hand over the top of his head. "Women are trouble, nothing else. My brother is locked in the game of his life right now over a pretty girl with big blue eyes and a perfect rack."
"Here, here." I lifted my beer toward him and tapped it against the side of his as he tilted it toward me. "I say we gather all of them up and spank them."
"I'm in." Liam moved toward the fridge as he mumbled something incoherent.
"Hey, Liam told me about Cindy. I'm sorry to hear you're going through that shit." I nodded at Cole, trying to seem a lot more like the caring type than I was.
"Thanks. It's been a bitch of a year this year, but I'll make it through."
"Tell him your plans." Liam glanced over his shoulder as he passed us with a plate of steaks.
"I'm thinking about maybe applying to be a cop here in L.A."
"A cop? Ugh. Don't we have enough of those bastards? Why not just be a security guy like you are? I thought you had a pretty rock-solid business down by the beach."
"I do. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it. I'll probably keep it and work it on the side, letting Ian take over the majority of the work if he's up for it." He shrugged. "He's still playing muscle for Senator Moore right now."
"Senator Moore." I shook my head as we walked toward the back patio. "That guy has everyone fooled, right?"
"Yep. Asshole. He looks like a tree-hugging, baby-loving grandpa, but he's not." Cole shrugged and held the door open for me. "He'll unravel soon. No one has to do anything to help him. Greed makes sure of that no matter who you are. It respects no one."
"Yep. Take Liam for instance." I nodded toward my cocky older brother as he snorted and glanced over his shoulder.
"What about Liam?" my brother asked.
The smirk on Cole's face said he knew where I was going. I spoke directly to Cole and ignored Liam as if he weren't there at all.
"He's greedy for pussy. Pretty soon that shit is going to catch up with him. He's going to try and get in the wrong pair of sloppy wet panties and boom! The bitch is going to own him."
Cole chuckled and nodded toward me. "You got that right. Make sure you call me when it happens. I'll bring some beer up so we can celebrate."
"I'll buy the steaks." I turned and laughed as my brother barreled into me playfully. The asshole had me over his shoulder and headed toward the pool before I could figure out what was happening.
"I'll show you wet, you little turd."
"No! This fucking suit is-"
He jumped into the pool, pulling me and my beer, and my four thousand-dollar suit with him. I popped back up and finished what was in my beer bottle as he swam to the side.
"Four thousand dollars." I chucked the bottle at him and lay on my back, floating as he got out.
"That's chump change to you." He ran his fingers through his hair and shook hard, getting Cole wet in the process.
"That's just asinine. I didn't say I wanted you to learn a lesson." Cole lifted his beer toward me. "That was all Ethan."
"Oh, great." I gave him a look as Liam turned, ran back toward the pool and did a cannon ball, splashing me in the face with a tidal wave.
He came up laughing, but stopped as I grabbed him and ducked him under.
"You want some of this?" I growled and wrestled with him playfully.
"Cole! Help, you bastard. He's stronger than me." Liam pushed at me as best he could, but I had a good hold on him.
"Really guys? What are we, ten again?"
"You guys might be ten, but that would make me two. I'm still young and beautiful, you decrepit old bitches." I laughed and pushed Liam under again.
"Oh, hell no." Cole pulled off his t-shirt and ran for the pool.
I might not have been in trouble before, but I sure as fuck was now.