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“Look at me,” Xander demanded.
She turned glassy eyes his way. Maybe no one could see what Javier was doing to her under the table, but they could probably guess. London wore her pleasure all over her pink cheeks and in the breathless pants of her parted lips. The sight of her this way made the blood rush straight to his cock.
Suddenly, her eyes closed, and she gave him a soft little whimper.
“Javier’s fingers in your pussy feel good?” he whispered.
London nodded.
“Are you going to be a sweet girl and come for him?”
Her eyes flew wide open with panic. “Not in public. ”
Xander raised a brow, then looked over to his brother. “Javier, your thoughts?”
“If she doesn’t want it and she hasn’t earned it . . . ” He shrugged. “I think I’ll just keep playing. ”
She released a shuddering breath. “But I ache. ”
“I’m sure you do,” Javier said. “When you’re ready to let go for me anytime and anywhere, I’ll make it worth your while. Until then . . . ”
The waitress arrived with their food, looking reluctant to approach the table, as if she realized that she was interrupting. Xander smiled benignly at her, and she set the steaming plates of eggs, bacon, and toast in front of them. She fetched Tabasco for him and Javier, then left them in blessed peace.
Except that Javier lifted his hand from London’s pussy and licked his fingers. Xander could smell her soft, musky need, and his cock jerked. He gripped his plate. It was either that, or rip her clothes off and fuck her on the table for everyone to see. The second they hit that office— Xander cut off the thought. What if his brother showed him the exit again? If he allowed London to go alone with Javier, there was no way his brother wouldn’t spend most of the afternoon with his cock in her sweet, tight cunt. And London had no reason to say no.
Xander wondered if that would leave him apart from the two people he cared about most.
Javier dug into his food, but it didn’t take him long to wrap one hand around his fork and the other back up her skirt. London halfheartedly picked at her food, instead squirming in her seat, obviously biting her lip to hold in moans and fighting the urge to beg. Xander doused his eggs with Tabasco. Even so, they were tasteless to him.
He watched London and his brother with his cock hard and his anxiety high until she flushed a deep rosy shade. Perspiration dotted her upper lip. He’d given up trying to eat and merely watched, wondering if his brother would make her come in public.
London’s breathing turned choppier. She gripped the table, eyes closed. A sensual expression of concentration passed over her face, brow furrowed, lips pursed. No doubt, she was seconds away from coming.
Suddenly, Javier withdrew his fingers and licked them again. “Those panties are in my way too much to continue, little one. Next time you’ll follow directions, yes?”
Her eyes fluttered open, and London looked ready to protest. Xander took her hand in his, tracing circles over the back of her palm lightly. “Don’t argue. Just say yes and lose the panties once we get in the car. Then he’ll be far more pleasant. ”
She snapped her gaze around to him, still looking as if she wanted to argue. “You’re both pushy. ”
“That’s not likely to change. Out of bed, we’ll treat you like a princess,” Javier promised. “We will spoil you, but we’re going to get at your pussy without obstruction, without argument, and without waiting. ”
We. So . . . he and Javier were both in this odd relationship with London. He had no idea where it was going or how long it would last, but he couldn’t deny that he was damn sure happier than he’d been in a long while.
Xander nodded. “Well said, brother. ”
He and his brother finished their breakfast. When he looked over, London had eaten half her food. Since she was still squirming in her seat, he figured she was preoccupied and let her lack of eating slide.
They paid the bill and left the restaurant. Javier climbed in the backseat of the car with London. Xander and his brother both turned to look at her expectantly, and his brother held out his hand, fingers gesturing with impatience.
She sighed. “You’re serious?”
Javier merely raised a brow. He had the displeased Dom face down. Xander was almost proud.
“I don’t understand. ”
“It’s about trust,” Xander said. “Will we hurt you? No. Will we touch you? Absolutely. Do you trust us to touch you?”
“Yes. But this seems so . . . unusual. ”
London had been so sheltered, and Xander knew they were asking for a lot very quickly. But having her here between him and his brother seemed to be working some magic on their rapport. Not to mention the fact that Xander was getting damn desperate to get inside her again.
With a huff, London rolled her eyes and tried to reach under her skirt as discreetly as possible. With a lot of grunting, wriggling, and tugging, she managed to lift her skirt enough and lower her panties. Pink silk trimmed in delicate white lace. In the rearview mirror, he watched as, with trembling fingers, she placed them in Javier’s palm. His brother smiled wolfishly, brought her underwear to his nose, and sniffed deeply.
London gasped, looking somewhere between shocked and aroused.
The rest of the drive to the office was almost too short. Not only was he dying to know what Javier would have done with London in the backseat given more time, but dread had taken up residence in his gut again. Now that they’d arrived, would Javier lock him out?
As Xander parked, he shut the car off. In the sweltering Louisiana summer, he knew his brother wouldn’t linger long in his black car without air-conditioning. Javier dove out, then held out his hand to London. Xander followed them out of the car, drawing in a bracing breath.
Before anyone could say a word, Javier’s phone rang. He cursed and looked at the display. “Hi, Doug. ”
Maynard. Xander winced. He hadn’t had a chance to tell Javier about all the decisions he and London had made last night. He presumed London hadn’t either.
The other man kept talking in Javier’s ear while they entered the office building. London dug out her keys, and they rode the elevator in silence.
Not surprisingly, the call dropped inside the little car.
Javier turned to Xander. “What the hell is Maynard talking about? What did you two decide about the log-ins?”
“The three of us,” London volunteered. “I helped Xander and Doug, too. ”
His brother’s expression didn’t change. “Explain. ”
London opened the door as Javier’s phone rang again.
“I’ll call you back. ” Then Javier gestured them both into the office.
Xander swallowed and entered. This shouldn’t mean so much. Even a week ago, he’d had no secret yen to get ass deep in S. I. Industries—or at least not one he was willing to admit aloud. But somehow, after spending more time with his brother, everything had changed. Now he knew just how deep Javier had fallen into guilt and booze. He realized the jeopardy their business was in. And for once, Xander felt how badly being without purpose chafed. London seemed to be the balm soothing all that.
They flipped on lights, and London went immediately to her workstation, turning on her computer. Javier opened his interior office door and stalked through, then turned back with an impatient glare. “Both of you, in here. Now. ”
Xander didn’t love his older brother barking orders at him, but Javier could just as easily have thrown him out, so he shrugged and followed. It helped his mood to know that London wasn’t wearing a damn thing under her skirt.
They sat at the little round conference table inside Javier’s office. Xander figured at this point that the best defense was a good offense.
“I helped London with some of her work last night. I agreed with Maynard’s assessment that it’s likely someone outside the company has been accessing our most proprietary information rega
rding Project Recovery with these log-ins. ”
“So you kept them active?” Javier’s tone suggested he was one hundred percent idiot.
Xander clenched his jaw. “If we take them down, we’ll never know who’s behind the spying. If we keep the log-ins up and provide the spy access to false information, then we might be able to track the culprit. I told Maynard to work with someone trusted in R & D to swap out the current project information visible to those IDs with something bogus and to call it the newest, most exciting shit ever. ” He shrugged. “See who bites. ”
Javier paused, considering. “I don’t hate that idea. ”
From his brother, that was almost glowing praise.
“Maynard picked his son-in-law to doctor the data. We elected not to get Sheppard involved. ” He referenced the head of R & D. “If he was so gung ho to keep those log-ins up, I’m a little suspicious. ”
“That he’s helping someone on the outside obtain our proprietary information?” When Xander nodded, Javier turned pensive. “It’s possible. We should keep him in the dark for a bit. He’s worked for me for the last eight years, and he’s a smart bastard, but a mercenary one. It’s possible he’s selling the company out. ”
“The only thing that keeps bugging me is . . . Sheppard has had opportunities before, right? So why now?” Xander asked.
Javier cocked his head, silently agreeing. “Well, he got remarried. I’m told that wife number three has expensive taste. ”
“They’re leaving for Fiji next week,” London told Javier. “His assistant told me that when she sent me an e-mail asking to get on your calendar for a meeting. ”
“He’s got to keep the new wife happy somehow,” Xander pointed out.
Javier seemed to ponder their next move, then he turned to London. “I’m going to call Maynard back and get a quick status update. While I’m doing that, track down Sheppard and tell him I want to talk to him. ”
“Yes, sir. ” London excused herself and left the room.
Xander watched them both reach for phones, torn between keeping up with his brother and finding out exactly how wet London was without her panties. He didn’t even have time to decide before she dashed back to Javier’s office and tapped his brother’s shoulder.
“Sir, Sheppard is on hold for you. He’s very upset. ”
“Great,” Javier rolled his eyes and muted the call, clutching the phone. “Maynard wants to discuss some suspicious activity that’s occurred with those log-ins in the last few hours. ” His brother looked at London’s expectant face, then the phone in his own hand. He sighed and shoved the phone into Xander’s hand. “Talk to him. Listen to whatever the hell it is he’s trying to say. I need to calm Sheppard before he goes ape shit and makes problems. ”
Xander grabbed the phone and watched with an odd sense of triumph as his brother stormed over to London’s desk. He was in. Finally, he had some purpose—no matter how small—at S. I. Industries. By God, he would make the most of it and prove himself indispensable to Javier.
With a deep breath, he unmuted the call and greeted Maynard.
“Your brother is distracted. I tried to call him all fucking morning. I hope to hell you’re prepared to listen,” the head of security barked. “One of the log-ins has been accessed in the middle of the night from an Internet café in Cancun, Mexico. They downloaded all the new materials. ”
Someone from a vacation mecca working? “Do any of the contract employees or researchers live there?”
“No. ”
“Any of them on vacation?”
“No. I did some discreet probing before I called. No one. ”
As much as Xander hated to think of some ass-wipe stealing from them, if they were logging in and falling for the phony information they’d planted, so much the better. They would prosecute the thieves and roll out Project Recovery as scheduled.
“I’ve heard Sheppard shitting a brick from the third floor because, out of the blue, United Velocity is supposedly making a major announcement soon. ”
The company’s biggest competitor for U. S. military dollars having something press-worthy all of a sudden wasn’t good . . . but it also wasn’t proof positive that United Velocity had anything to do with the theft of S. I. ’s research, even though they had scooped S. I. on its last few projects.
“Keep your ears to the ground and check in with me tomorrow so we can stay on top of this. And get your son-in-law working on more phony information, just in case. ” Xander had a plan. “We might need it later. ”
Maynard agreed, and they ended the call. A quick glance through the little vertical windows between this office and the outer reception revealed that Javier was still on the phone. In fact, he looked tense and red, like his blood pressure had just shot up a hundred points. London stood beside him with a supportive hand on his shoulder. The Javier he knew would have pushed her away. Xander was stunned when his brother paced the floor a few times, then grabbed London close and, with the phone pressed to his ear, buried his face in her neck.