Dane

As Chris held her gaze, Delilah's skin flushed, which made Dane want to snarl. But when she spoke, her tone said she wasn't falling for it. "That's a lovely thought, Chris, but if we could get back to the unauthorized relationship you had with a client, I'd be really grateful."

​​

Chris looked like he had swallowed his tongue. He glanced at Dane, who let one side of his mouth slide up in a lopsided grin. He was enjoying watching Chris feel awkward.

Chris grumbled under his breath and sat back in the chair. But finally, he fixed his eyes on his own hands and just spit the information out.

"The only thing I was surprised by was that she wanted to video it," he said reluctantly. Dane stopped pacing and cursed. But Chris ignored him. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm all about having a little souvenir of a night, you know? But most women . . . most women either don't want to do that at all, or they have to kind of work up to it. You know? It's not usually something you cook for the first banquet, if you know what I mean?"

"Yes, Chris, I'm sure both Dane and I are quite sure what you mean," Lila replied dryly.

Dane would have laughed, but all he could see was the implications. He knew the thin line of Lila's mouth meant she had seen them too. But she was being too kind, trying to keep his brother talking. Dane wasn't about to let him off this particular hook.

"You're telling me," he muttered, "there's a video out there somewhere of you banging a client?"

Without moving his head, Chris raised his eyes to meet Dane's. "Yes," he snapped. "Though anyone who has the original file will be able to see that it happened before she was a client."

"Because as we know, reporters are always so dedicated to finding out little details like that when they have a sexy video to share online—are you fucking kidding me, Chris?" Dane roared.

"Am I laughing?" Chris snapped back, shoving to his feet.

"No, no, no!" Lila snapped, leaping up so fast her chair fell down behind her. They both looked at her, standing there between them--head and shoulders shorter than both of them--yet she stood with her fists on her hips. "What is it with you two? How can you possibly work together if you can't have a single conversation without deciding you need to punch each other?"

Dane looked at Chris whose face stayed hard as rock.

"It's not always like this," Chris mumbled. "We're all under some stress."

Lila rolled her eyes. "I'm trying to help you both here, and we're finally getting somewhere. So if you want to beat each other up, wait until I've finished my questions and you can kill each other out of my--"

A quick knock sounded and the door opened as all three of them turned and shouted, "What?!"

Grant stood in the small gap between the large door and its frame, gaping at all three of them through his over-large glasses. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt. I just, uh, Lila, that guy from the newspaper is on the line and says it's the only gap he has today?"

Lila closed her eyes for a moment and muttered something under her breath that Dane couldn't make out. Then she opened her eyes, and it was as if her anger had been sealed under a lid made up of professionalism and lipstick. "Thank you, Grant," she said quickly, turning to pick up her computer. "Tell him I'll be there in two minutes." She waited for Grant to nod and leave before speaking again as she gathered her things.

"I assume you're both important to the success of this business," she said without looking at either of them. "My questions aren't done and we need to get through them today, but I need to have this conversation while I can. This man can help us. So I'd appreciate it you two would beat the crap out of each other while I'm not here to witness it, then, Chris, please sit back down here and cut the games. I need you to answer my questions--quickly. And when that's done," she turned, arms full, to face Dane, "you and I will need to discuss which possible theories are the highest priority to examine, and anything else you might have to add to the picture. If we could do that without you yelling at me, I'd appreciate it."

Dane pressed his lips to thin lines to stop himself barking at her, but she just turned on her heel and left. They both watched her go, Dane appreciating the way her hips swayed as she clipped her way across the floor. He watched her struggle with the door with her full hands, but before he could decide to help her, she got it open and slipped through. When she was gone, Chris turned to face him and opened his mouth. But Dane got in first. He stepped up toe-to-toe with his brother and didn't hide his disgust.

"If you keep dodging her questions, or if I find out you've put this company and all the people it supports at risk, I will fire you."

Chris sneered. "We both know you can't get rid of me without taking yourself down too—unless you're planning to follow in Dad's footsteps?"

Dane bared his teeth. "Get. Out."

"Gladly."

Chris stormed for the door, but Dane threw out the last word. "Stay out of my sight, but don't leave the building--your important new employee will need you again when she's done."

Chris paused like he might turn around, but in the end he just hunched his shoulders and left.

Dane waited to make sure he wouldn't burst back through the door, then sat down in his chair with a sigh.

He was so fucking tired. Leaning forward he put his head in his hands and breathed out long a slow. His fucking brother and his fucking threats . . . but there was nothing he could do. Chris was right, Dane wasn't going to fire him. No matter how much he wanted to.

It would be interesting to see if this Delilah Farris could keep him under control. Clearly Dane was failing utterly.