“Good morning, Mr. Granger.”
Dalton returned the smile to the woman entering his office carrying a stack of folders. He remembered her well. She was the receptionist from downstairs. He’d been quite taken with her his first day at Granger. He had wanted her for his private secretary, but Jace had been a killjoy and given his stamp of disapproval.
“Good morning. You’re Brandy, right?” Her dress was short and showed off a pair of gorgeous legs and a shapely backside.
“Yes, I’m Brandy. Melissa needed assistance today, and here I am,” she said, her smile widening.
“Yes, here you are,” he replied, scanning her up and down as she crossed the room to place the stack of folders on his desk. The one thing he appreciated was a woman with round, firm breasts, and she definitely owned a nice pair. A surge of dangerous heat spread through his body.
“Is there anything else you want, Mr. Granger?”
Dalton couldn’t help running his tongue across his bottom lip upon hearing that question while remaining focused on her chest. Brandy was definitely a hot number, but an involvement with her would ensure an ass-kicking from Jace. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t test the waters to see how far she was willing to go, just in case he decided to forget about Jace and yield to temptation.
“No, there’s nothing else at the moment, but I might think of something later,” he said, leaning back in his chair and shifting his gaze back to her face.
“Just let me know. I aim to please,” she said with a flirty toss of her head, sending luxurious auburn curls twirling around her head.
Dalton wasn’t a fool. He could definitely read between those lines. “That’s good to hear. How long have you worked for Granger?”
“This is my third year. I came right out of college.”
He lifted a brow. Most of the employees with college degrees had supervisory or management positions. She was the company’s receptionist. “You have a degree?”
“No, I quit school in my second year. I found the place boring.”
So had he. He’d only gone to class and kept his grades up because it was required to be on the football team.
“We’re a Granger family,” she said, breaking into his thoughts. “Both my parents used to work here.”
“Did they?”
“Yes. Mom went back to school for a nursing degree. She works at Virginia General. Dad divorced Mom eight years ago, quit the company and then moved to Texas.”
He was about to ask her something he shouldn’t...like what plans she had for tonight...when there was a knock on his office door. “Come in.”
Jace walked in, and when his brother’s gaze lit on Brandy, who’d gotten comfortable enough to prop her curvy ass on Dalton’s desk, a frown settled on Jace’s features. And when she kept sitting there as if her butt were glued to the spot, Jace said, “I believe Melissa is looking for you, Miss Booker. She has plenty for you to do.”
It was then that she eased off the desk. Dalton followed her every movement and appreciated his twenty-twenty vision.
“Yes, sir.” She turned to Dalton. “Will you need me for anything else, Mr. Granger?”
Dalton smiled. He would just love to give her an earful of ideas. However, none were decent enough to say in front of his straitlaced brother. “No, that will be all.” And then he watched as she sashayed her delectable backside past Jace and right out of his office.
Dalton shifted his gaze to his brother. “Do I have to remind you that I’m a grown-ass man who doesn’t need you for a watchdog?”
Jace walked to the middle of the room with his arms folded across his chest and his feet braced apart. “Yes, go ahead and remind me.”
Dalton’s face split into a sudden smile. “You’re crazy, you do know that, right?”
“Not until you told me just now. I thought I was perfectly sane. And I know you can take care of yourself, Dalton, but when it comes to Granger, we have to draw a fine line on certain things.”
“You don’t say?” Dalton said, picking up a pencil and toying with it while looking at his brother with shrewd eyes. “Does that apply to you, as well? Don’t know if Hannah mentioned it, but I dropped by last night.”
Jace moved to sit down in the chair across from Dalton’s desk. “And?”
“And you weren’t home.”
Jace shrugged. “Not a crime that I went out for the evening.”
“No,” Dalton said with a mocking grin. “But I know for a fact you never made it back home. At least, you hadn’t arrived when I left this morning.”
Jace’s face registered surprise. “You were there?”
“Yes. I arrived late yesterday afternoon and decided to stay the night.”
Dalton figured there was no need to tell him he’d known he could count on leftovers since Hannah was known to prepare a feast for Sunday dinner. She hadn’t disappointed, but Jace was nowhere to be found and hadn’t told Hannah where he was going. Dalton figured Jace would return at a decent hour and had hung around, caught a ball game on television and eventually dozed off. When he’d awakened, it was past midnight, so he’d decided to stay for the night. He’d gotten up around six this morning to return to his place, and Jace still hadn’t come home.
“Surely, you’re not questioning my comings and goings, Dalton.”
“No more than you’re questioning mine. But I am curious who you spent so much time with. One-night stands are my specialty, not yours.”
Jace held his brother’s stare. “Do you know that for certain?”
Dalton’s gaze was sharp and assessing. “No, I discovered that, in this life, nothing is for certain. Do you want to know what I think?”
“Not really.”
“I’ll tell you anyway, and since you don’t kiss and tell any more than I do, you don’t have to confirm anything. I think you were with your wonder-woman.”
Jace frowned. “Your thinking is wrong.”
Dalton didn’t think so, mainly because his older brother couldn’t lie very well. He had the word cover-up written all over his face. But Dalton would leave it alone for now. “Okay, my mistake. I just hope whoever the lady was that she was worth your missing Hannah’s delicious dinner. She wasn’t too happy with you, and was glad I dropped by so dinner wouldn’t go to waste. I even brought some in for lunch today.”
Jace nodded. “You came into the office early. Why?”
Dalton chuckled. “Definitely not for the same reason you were late. I happened to notice your wonder-girl was late, as well.”
“Was she?”
“Yes. Makes you wonder.”
Jace stood. “Don’t be a pain in the ass, Dalton.”
“Okay. Then let’s agree on something. You stay out of my business, and I’ll stay out of yours.” Dalton stood and extended his hand to his brother. “Deal?”
Dalton didn’t miss the scalding look in his brother’s eyes when he reluctantly shook his hand. “Deal.” Jace glowered at him for a minute and then turned and walked out of the office.
Dalton couldn’t help the smile that touched his lips. He’d never been certain just what kind of hold, if any, Jace’s ex had on him after the divorce. But he had a feeling his brother was finally shaking free of the woman Dalton had long ago nicknamed Evil Eve.
Even if the woman Jace was being elusive about was wonder-woman, Dalton was damn glad about it.
* * *
A few moments later, Jace stood at the window with his hands in his pockets as he looked out. Frustrated. Disgusted. Dalton was too damn smart for his own good. His brother had pretty much figured things out before he and Shana could get through day one. Although Jace had not admitted to anything, Dalton pretty much thought he was onto something. Hopefully, their handshake would keep Dalton’s mouth shut and his assumptions to himself.
And Jace would have to admit his own fault in day one getting off to a suspicious start. He hadn’t intended to spend the night with Shana, but one lovemaking session had led to another and another and then another. By the time they’d gotten out of bed, it was past midnight and they were starving. He had driven her to a fast-food place that stayed open twenty-four hours. They had gone through the drive-through for burgers, fries and shakes and had taken them back to her place. After they had consumed their food, Shana had walked him to the door. But it had been the hot and heavy good-night kiss that had driven him to sweep her off her feet, into his arms and back up the stairs to her bedroom.
After a night of marathon sex, they had overslept. He hadn’t left her house until after seven, rushing to Sutton Hills, dashing past Hannah with an apologetic look on his face in an attempt to shower, get dressed and out the door in an hour. He would have made it had Caden not called for an update. That conversation had cost him a good twenty minutes. He’d arrived at the office a half hour behind Shana. No one had noticed...except for Dalton.
Jace turned when the intercom on his desk went off. Moving away from the window, he pushed the button. “Yes, Melissa?”
“This is Brandy. Melissa had a dentist appointment.”
Jace rolled his eyes. “Okay, Brandy, you buzzed me.”
“Yes, sir. Your wife is on line two.”
A muscle in Jace’s jaw began to tick. “I don’t have a wife.”
“That’s what I thought, but the lady says differently.”
Jace settled in the chair behind his desk. “Put the lady on.”
He drew in a deep breath, wondering what the hell his vain and shallow ex wanted this time.
“Jace?”
“What do you want, Eve?”
“I need money.”
Jace leaned back in his chair. “And your point in calling me?”
“For a loan, and I promise to pay you back.”
He chuckled. He knew any money he gave her wouldn’t be paid back. “And what happens if I don’t give you a loan? You’ll have to get a job, right?”
“Surely you don’t expect me to do that. I’m a Granger.”
“In name only, and I wish you’d ditch it. We’ve been divorced three years now. You’re free to marry again.”
“But I won’t remarry. You have my true heart.”
“Whatever.” Because he’d had such a fantastic night and the aftereffects still had him in a good mood, he asked, “How much do you need?”
There was a pause. She was probably picking her jaw up off the floor. “You’re going to loan it to me?”
“How much, Eve?” He could visualize dollar signs clanking like slot machines in her head.
“Ten thousand.”
She was pushing it now. Taking advantage of his kindness. “I’ll give you five.”
“Give? I don’t have to pay it back?”
He rolled his eyes. “Can you?”
“No.”
“Then why did you ask for a loan?”
She didn’t say anything, and he preferred that she didn’t anyway. She needed to stop while she was ahead. “You’ll have the money in forty-eight hours. What’s your bank?”
He jotted down the information as quickly as she rattled it off. He figured she wanted to hurry up and get him off the phone before he changed his mind.
“Why?”
He raised a brow. “Why what?”
“Why are you being so nice?”
He thought that was an odd question. He wasn’t being nice, just tolerant.
“The reason I’m tolerating your call is because you’ve caught me in a good mood.”
“And why are you in a good mood?”
He turned to glance over at the solid door that separated him from Shana. “I have my reasons.”
“I owe you.”
“No, you don’t, and make it last, because you’ll never get another penny out of me. No matter how good a mood I’m in. Goodbye, Eve.” He then hung up the phone.
* * *
Bruce Townsend flipped his briefcase closed and glanced over at Shana. “You did the right thing to call me when you did. You were right. Someone tried hacking into this computer system.”
Shana frowned. “Did they succeed?”
A slow, sinister smile curved the corners of Bruce’s lips. “Not on my watch. I built this baby to last and to keep your secrets.”
She figured as much. Bruce worked for both her and Jules. The man was a computer genius and the mastermind behind Greta. Whenever she worked from inside any corporation, she would install her own network for security purposes. In all her five years, this was the first time anyone had tried hacking into the system.
“Can you identify the hackers?”
“Not yet, but I can tell you it was someone from within this building.”
Shana gave him a nod. She’d figured as much.
“They’re probably in a quandary as to why they couldn’t succeed and have figured out you’re not on the same server. Chances are, they’ll be more determined than ever to discover what you’re trying to hide.”
She hoped so and looked forward to the person or persons being exposed. She needed to call Kent. He was doing a thorough investigation of a number of employees of interest, and she needed to see how he was coming along.
“So what did you do?” she asked. Bruce was known to have a briefcase of toys, both software and hardware specifically created to combat computer espionage.
“Installed an additional security device. And just so you know, I ran an open scan of this room and found a bug.”
Shana leaned forward in her chair and was convinced her face lost some of its color. Had someone been spying on her? But most important, had the bug been in place Friday evening during her meeting with Jace and Dalton? Then another question slammed into her mind, an alarming possibility. What about during her sexual romp in this office with Jace later?
“I need to know when—and I mean exactly when—the bug was activated, Bruce.”
He glanced over at her, apparently hearing the panic in her voice. “When I get back to the office, I can—”
“No. If there’s a way you can find that out now, I want to know.”
He gave her a curious stare, longer than she liked, before nodding. “All right. It won’t take me but a second.” He reopened his briefcase and took out some handheld device that resembled a transistor radio.
She nervously began clicking her pen and would not have realized she was doing so if Bruce hadn’t stopped what he was doing and glanced over at her.
“What?”
He smiled. “Don’t you want to take a break or something?”
Shana stopped clicking her pen. “Sorry.” Moving away from her desk, she walked over to the window to appreciate the view, trying to stand in place instead of pacing. What if there was a video of what she and Jace had been doing in here? She’d never found herself in such a situation. But then, she’d never encountered a man quite like Jace before.
Goose bumps ran up and down her arms when she thought about everything they’d done last night. Fervent passion. And he had stirred it relentlessly in his kisses and the way he had stroked her body into orgasm after orgasm. Sending pleasurable contractions all through her womb and in every cell in her body. She had gasped, begged, and when he’d delivered, she had screamed countless times.
His hard thrusts would make her body fragment into an endless flow of climaxes whenever she was skin-to-skin with him. Sheathing his engorged penis within her, so ecstatically deep, had made her feel incredibly womanly. Then there was the way her body would expand for him, the feel of her inner muscles tightening around him, clenching him possessively, while she was slung into a whirlwind of red-hot heat and embraced another orgasm. Then another. And another.
And if that hadn’t been enough, she had awakened this morning with his hands between her legs, caressing her clitoris into an aroused state and compelling her to want him all over again. His every thrust had promised her everything, and more than once she was certain she would die of pleasure.
“Got it!”
She turned quickly as Bruce moved away from the computer. “Well?”
He glanced at her and smiled. “Well what?”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Now is not the time to play with me.”
“I gather that and can’t help wondering why, Shana? What has you so uptight? Why is it so important to know when the cameras began rolling?”
Only Bruce, who was not only an associate but a close friend to her and Jules, could push the issue by asking her that. “Because it does. So tell me.”
He studied her features for a while longer before picking up the ink pen she had been clicking furiously just moments ago. “This here is the culprit.”
She stared at the pen. “You’re kidding, right?” she asked, moving back to her desk.
“No. In fact it’s rather a sophisticated piece of spyware with the way it operates. See this part here that makes the pen light up?”
She moved closer to see what he was pointing out to her. “Yes.”
“This is the major cell. When activated, it emits airwaves that cover an area one hundred feet in diameter. Then at a certain specified time, the airwaves are imprisoned and transported to be viewed later. It’s capable of capturing both video and sound.”
The thought of a specialized ink pen being able to do all that was amazing. She swallowed and then nervously gnawed on her bottom lip. “So when was it activated?”
“At exactly eight this morning, Eastern Standard Time.”
“And not before?” she asked, needing to make certain.
“And not before,” Bruce confirmed.
“You’re sure?” She recalled having that same pen from day one, as part of the supplies provided to her when she’d moved into this office. She had liked the bronze color and the sleek design and had begun using it exclusively.
“Yes, I’m positive that’s the date and time,” Bruce responded, eyeing her speculatively.
Relief rushed through her, and she drew in a thankful breath. “I’ve had that pen since my first day here and enjoy writing with it. Why wasn’t it activated before today?”
Bruce shrugged. “Probably because the individual didn’t feel there was anything to spy on before this morning. It wasn’t by accident this pen was given to you, Shana. Who stocked your office?”
Shana recalled a number of people had but mostly Jace’s administrative assistant, Melissa. And Jace mentioned he’d done a few things in here, as well. She didn’t say anything for a minute and then she said, “I still don’t understand how the person knew this is the pen I would use.”
“It didn’t have to be the pen you would use all the time. It could have been the one that sat on your desk in this pen and pencil holder with a number of others,” Bruce said. “The only thing that would have stopped it from working was if you’d stuck the pen in your drawer. Otherwise, when activated, it had free rein to video this entire office twenty-four hours a day. That meant the person who put this in here would have overheard any and all conversations as well as been privy to any private meetings held in here.”
She thought about what he said for a minute. “I don’t understand. I read the reports. Granger Aeronautics has a state-of-the-art security system that is able to detect any foreign software brought into this building. It detected the one you installed in here and asked Jace about it. Why wasn’t it able to pick up on this piece of spyware?”
“Because this cell is highly advanced, designed to be used for remote electronic surveillance. It’s something similar to what is now being tested in police investigations, namely by the FBI, CIA and Homeland Security. It’s a new kind of wiretap that not only transmits sound but provides a pretty clear video to go along with it.”
He paused a moment and then said, “This concerns me, Shana. Whoever put this in here is in the big boys’ league, because acquiring this kind of spyware isn’t cheap. It’s advanced and costly. That tells me the person is interested in what you’re doing and what you’re finding out. They are spending money to keep tabs on you, and it makes me wonder why. But then, when it comes to industrial espionage, this sort of thing doesn’t surprise me.”
Shana nodded. It shouldn’t surprise her, either, but this only added to the puzzle. And it was a puzzle she was determined to solve. “I’m calling Jace in here,” she said, picking up the phone, feeling irritated as well as anxious while dialing the direct number to his office. “He needs to be advised as to what’s going on.”