I wake up with so many questions. Who broke into my dad’s house and only stole his laptop? If the security company called Uncle Richie right after me, what took him so long to get here? Why does my dad have a dossier on the brothers at CronCorp? Maybe I can get at least one answer.

I call CronCorp and ask for an appointment with the Michaelson’s, and their secretary informs me that they have an opening this afternoon at two o’clock. I have four hours to kill so I might as well read the dossier on the brothers.

It’s a very straight forward report. It lists each brother, their age, schools, backgrounds, and relationship status. It looks like at the time the report was written, all four brothers were single. Well, that’s interesting. I start to read again, getting to know each brother a bit better:

I snort to myself after I read about North. No hobbies and no police record. Sounds like North is exactly how I would describe him: dull. Too bad he’s so pretty. I look at my phone and see that it’s been two hours since I sat down and started reading. I now know all I need to about the Michaelson brothers and their business. I’m going to have to rush to get showered and dressed before my meeting with them.

After I shower, I blow out my long ebony hair, add simple makeup with blood red lipstick, and get dressed. Today I’m going for business casual. I am wearing my dark skinny jeans, a red satin button up blouse with rolled sleeves, and my red Prada kitten heel pumps. I grab the keys to my car and my purse, and head out the door. CronCorp is by the airport, which is a twenty-five minute drive. I pull into the parking lot with ten minutes to spare.

CronCorp was an old refurbished warehouse. The lobby is an open floor plan with a security desk front and center. Over to the left is a waiting area with black leather couches and a coffee bar where you serve yourself, to the right is a big screen TV, a black leather sectional, and a pool table. It looks like a man cave, not the home of a corporation. I inform the security officer that I’m Alice Du-Kane, and I have an appointment at 2p.m. He swipes open a tablet, then looks up at me and says, “Yes ma’am.” He points to the cage elevator behind him and informs me to go to the third floor. I haven’t seen one of these old elevators in a long time. I step inside and pull the cage door closed and press the button labeled with a three. It starts with a jerk and a clang, I’m just hoping it gets me to the third floor and I don’t plummet to my death. My nerves are completely shot by the time I hear the ding letting me know I can open the door. I’m taking the stairs back down. There is no way I’m getting back in that death trap.

Once I get the door open, I step out into the lobby, if you can call it that. It’s one big room. There are no walls whatsoever. The ceiling has high beams and the floor is covered in what looks to be repurposed wood. A gorgeous woman is sitting at the front desk. She has striking green eyes, porcelain skin, and auburn hair sitting just below her shoulders. She gives me a smile and asks me a question, but I’m too busy staring at her size F boobs that are threatening to break free of her blouse, to hear anything she says.

She clears her throat and I finally snap out of it. “You must be Miss Du-Kane. The Michaelson’s are expecting you.” She points to her left and I notice that all four brothers are sitting at a large wooden table about a hundred feet from me.

I straighten my shoulders, and give Miss Boobs a smile before I walk toward the Michaelsons. As I get closer to them, I’m reminded of just how good looking these four men are. Cash is sitting at one end with his legs up on the table. Ridge is standing next to him looking like a mountain and giving me a smoldering grin. Oren is sitting in a chair looking down at a laptop, and North is sitting at the other end of the table. When he looks up at me, I could swear his expression goes from hot to cold in an instant. You can cut the tension with a butter knife.

Ridge says, “Well hello there, Alice. You just couldn’t stay away could you?”

That corny line is just what I need to relax. I sit down in one of the chairs before anyone else can say anything, and then Ridge takes a seat directly across from me. This man is too distracting, especially when he’s staring at me like a starved man who just got handed a steak.

“What do you want, Miss Du-Kane?” North asks through gritted teeth.

This man has a stick up his butt about two feet long. “I would like to know why my dad has a dossier on each of you, and if you would happen to know about a break in at his house last night?”

North puts his hand on the table and leans forward. “Are you calling us criminals Miss Du-Kane?”

Well this is going south fast. I shake my head no. “I am doing no such thing. I merely asked you a question.”

Cash chooses this moment to put his feet on the ground and he gets a serious look on his face. I don’t like that look. Casually laid back Cash is so much sexier. Oh lord Alice, get your hormones under control and your head back in the game.

Cash glares at North. “North, quit being rude. Alice. May I call you Alice?” I nod my head yes and he continues. “Your father probably looked into our backgrounds because we had approached him about buying his company. As for the break in, were you there? Are you ok?”

“Yes, I’m fine. I was at my apartment when it happened. There was no damage and the only thing missing is my dad’s laptop.”

Ridge says, “If you need someone to stay with you and protect your body, I’m your man.”

This has me snorting and North glaring daggers at his brother.

Oren looks up from his laptop, his face is scrunched up. “Why would they take his laptop Miss Du-Kane?”

“Please, call me Alice. I have no idea, but I intend to find out. Why would y’all think my dad would sell his company that has been in our family for generations?”

North mumbles something I can’t decipher then turns his scowl back on me. “You don’t know do you? Your father’s company has been suffering the past couple of years. Of course, he declined our offer, but after his death your Uncle approached us. He said once he inherits the majority of the shares, he would like to discuss with us a deal to buyout Du-Kane, Inc. He has yet to contact us again though.”

I am so pissed I’m seeing red, and I don’t mean my cute kitten heels. “He won’t be approaching you again, gentlemen. I inherited the majority of the shares and I intend to take over the company. It’s what my dad would have wanted. What did you mean when you said the company is suffering? My dad never mentioned anything to me about being in trouble.” At this point my voice has raised at least two levels.

Oren looks at me with a sad smile. “Alice, I’m sorry that we have to be the ones to break this news to you. If you don’t sell it soon, it won’t be worth much. The sales have been plummeting and the company is almost in the red. The only way you could possibly save it at this point, is to figure out a way to raise your profits, and fast.”

I sit back in the chair stunned. This is definitely not how I thought this meeting was going to go. I’m not sure how long I’ve been sitting here in my own thoughts, but Ridge starts snapping his fingers in front of my face. “Guys, I think we broke her.”

I shove his fingers out of my face and stand up. “Thank you, gentlemen, for your time. It was very informative.”

As I’m leaving, Oren gets up and strides over to me. He places his hand on my shoulder while saying, “Alice, let me know if there is anything we can do for you. I hope you don’t blame us for wanting to expand our company.”

I look into his face and see his sincerity. “Thank you, Oren. This is a lot of information to process, but I appreciate your honesty.”

He opens the cage door and I step into the elevator without looking back. The death trap creaks and jolts as it descends to the bottom floor. Dammit! I meant to take the stairs! “You need to replace this damn death trap,” I yell. I swear I hear a chuckle floating back down. Stupid Michaelson brothers.

I pull into the garage at Dad’s house, well I guess it’s my house now. I must be on autopilot because I don’t even remember getting into the car. The house is quiet and empty. I gave Sofia the week off after the funeral. My world has just turned upside down for the second time in just a few days. The only thing that I know to do is open a bottle of wine and order Chinese to be delivered.

After eating my cashew chicken and downing the entire bottle of Pinot Grigio, I begin to channel surf. The Animal Channel catches my attention. There is a man talking about the dog breeding business. He explains that he almost quit breeding dogs due to the fact that more people were adopting dogs instead of buying them from breeders. That is, until someone got the idea to cross-breed certain dogs. The dogs are intentionally cross bred to provide hypoallergenic breeds. These new breeds became known as designer dogs.

I jump up from the couch and somehow manage to trip over my pumps that I left on the floor. I land with a thud next to the coffee table where my cell phone is sitting. I know just who to call.