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Thank you to the entire St. Martin’s team for working so very hard on Bad Deeds. And thank you, Emily, for all you do!
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Dear Readers,
I am thrilled to finally be able to share Bad Deeds with you. If you haven’t read Hard Rules and Damage Control, you need to before you delve into Bad Deeds, as we are going to be starting our story the moment after Damage Control ends. Also, please don’t read on, as I’m going to not-so-quickly recap Damage Control.
We started Damage Control by finally getting the details on Emily’s identity and her big secret … that she was a witness to her brother, Rick, (who is MIA) killing her stepfather. Both of whom we found were part of an elite and very dangerous hacker group, the Geminis. Shane and Emily both see that their lives are too dangerous and hesitate to bring each other deeper into the twisted webs of deceit, murder, and threats. But when Emily ran, Shane couldn’t let her go. He needed to know she was safe, and he needed her. Needed her warmth and her in his arms where he’s come to know that she belongs.
As Seth (Shane’s right-hand man) and Shane try to discover just how much danger Emily is really in and try to clean up the shoddy mess her brother created of her fake background, more complications arise with the Martina cartel, which Brandon Enterprises has gotten into bed with. As a reminder: Shane’s older brother, Derek, had agreed to let the cartel run cocaine through the Brandon Enterprises trucking division and a new performance-enhancing drug (Sub-Zero) through Brandon Pharmaceuticals, the last of which led to Brody Matthews’s (Major League ball player who was using the drug) wife threatening to out the drug. Adrian, the son of the cartel leader, confronts Shane. He tries to force Shane’s hand into bringing Brandon Pharmaceuticals fully into business with the Martina cartel. Which Shane continues to resist. Enter Nick Snyder, known by Seth from their CIA/FBI days. He’s brought in to help Shane and Seth extricate the Martina cartel from any and all involvement in Brandon Enterprises. Together they set up a fake FBI raid on Brandon Pharmaceuticals to spook Martina and agree that Shane needs to meet with Brody Matthews to find out more about the drugs. However, before Shane can meet with Brody, he dies suspiciously in a car accident followed shortly by his wife’s suicide. Playing dumb about the FBI raid, Shane visits Adrian, and finds Derek with him. When Shane tells Adrian about the feds and shows him a picture of Derek paying off an FBI agent, Adrian stabs a knife through Derek’s hand and tells Shane to either find another route for his drugs or he’s staying infiltrated in BP and won’t be going anywhere.
Meanwhile, Emily has a very uncomfortable yet revealing lunch with Shane’s mother in which she uncovers that Maggie is having an affair with Mike Rogers, a sports team owner and stockholder in Brandon Enterprises, and the worried-about swing vote when it comes to vote either Shane or Derek in to replace Brandon Senior when he can no longer operate the company. Shane and his father conspire to buy the sports center that Mike’s team currently operates out of, which they would then use to control Mike’s vote on the board.
At this point, Shane finally comes clean with Emily about everything. But she doesn’t run like he expects her to. She decides the way out is to build an incorruptible division of Brandon Enterprises, and she comes up with a fashion and makeup line, which Shane thinks is an amazingly brilliant idea, and he wants Emily to head up the division herself.
Shane and Emily later head to dinner at his parents’ house, which leads to the news of an experimental drug trial in Germany for his father’s cancer, leading to more tension between Derek and Shane as one of them will be running the company in his absence. Derek throws out a threat to Emily, at which time Brandon Senior reveals that Emily is protected by his order, causing an even greater rift between Derek and Shane. Emily has overheard yet another threat to her from Derek and can’t see a way out for her and Shane. As they stand outside his parents’ house he promises to lay down his own life to protect her … and that spot is exactly the moment we pick up with.
I hope you enjoy Bad Deeds, and thank you so much for all the love and excitement you’ve shown the Dirty Money series!
Lisa
XOXO
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Emily Stevens (27)—Heroine in the series. She is Brandon Senior’s newly appointed secretary. Learned after landing her new job that the one-night stand she had the night before turns out to be her boss’s son Shane Brandon. Emily has secrets and she’s running. But Shane will not let her run from him. During Hard Rules, the two had a lot of push and pull about their relationship, his family, and her secrets.
Shane Brandon (32)—Hero of the series. Shane Brandon is the only one with a moral compass in his family. The good one. The one willing to risk everything to play this game on the up-and-up and keep his brother from ruining the family empire, Brandon Enterprises, by getting in bed with the Martina family drug cartel. But Shane is treading on thin ice as he brings his legacy back from the brink of corruption. He is also dealing with Emily Stevens. A woman who breaks through his defenses and brings an innocence to his life that he can’t have as a distraction. He wants and needs to protect her, possess her, and be worthy of her. She is already making him a better man and keeping him grounded. But she has secrets, and she could be the one to ultimately send his world crumbling harder than he ever anticipated.
Derek Brandon (37)—The older brother. While he’s brilliant and good-looking, his greed for power drives him to make rash decisions. He and Shane were close as kids, but once they became adults and Shane joined Brandon Enterprises, that shifted. Everything became about who would control the empire. Derek has gotten the family corporation into bed with the Martina drug cartel, and Shane will do everything in his power to stop his brother.
Maggie Brandon—Shane and Derek’s mother. Seemingly befriending Emily, yet we are uncertain about her ultimate motives concerning the current struggle between her sons for control over Brandon Enterprises. Married to David Brandon (Brandon Senior). Maggie is having an affair with Mike Rogers, a shareholder in Brandon Enterprises.
David Brandon—The head of Brandon Enterprises and the Brandon family. Father to Derek and Shane. Husband to Maggie. He is dying of cancer but wants to leave a legacy and hold on to control of Brandon Enterprises as long as possible. He’s a bastard and pushes Shane and Derek in all the wrong ways. He is gruff, cold, and hard at every turn. He enjoys watching his sons battle for power. It entertains him.
Seth Cage (35)—Shane’s right-hand man. Ex-CIA. Shane hired Seth, away from their firm in New York to help clean up a mess for his family, and from there Seth remained on Shane’s personal payroll, as well as taking up the role of head of security at Brandon Enterprises.
Jessica (29)—Shane’s assistant. Ever the loyal employee, she followed him from New York and becomes friends with Emily as Emily starts to work as Brandon Senior’s assistant. Jessica’s job knows no bounds, she helps Shane with everything from securing a new apartment to keeping an eye
on Brandon Senior and Derek when Shane is not in the office to relaying any curious goings-on.
Eric Knight—A friend of Shane’s from college who is a brilliant surgeon and has squeaky-clean morals. Eric is the doctor of the patient who was running her mouth about Brandon Pharmaceuticals (BP, part of Brandon Enterprises) being the distributor for an undetectable performance-enhancing drug that her Major League Baseball–player husband is taking. Eric brings this news to Shane, causing Shane to take action.
Adrian Martina—The son of the Mexican cartel leader Roberto Martina. Runs the US side of the operations. He has some sort of relationship with Derek Brandon, the extent of which is not fully known yet. Brother to Teresa Martina, who is sleeping with Derek.
Teresa Martina—Sister to Adrian. Sleeping with Derek. Bartender at Martina’s Casa.
Randy—Security guard of the building where the Brandon Enterprises offices are located. Emily and Shane have a conversation with him over her missing cell phone. Keeps Shane updated on his father’s activities.
Mike Rogers—Sits on the board of Brandon Enterprises. Holds 20 percent of its stock and owns a professional basketball team. Key player in the hedge fund as well. Has a lot to lose if Brandon Enterprises were to shut down their investment division. His company, Rogers Athletics, is one of the proposed investments for the hedge fund. When Seth and Shane try to pull dirt on the board members so they will swing their way in a vote for power of the company, Seth cannot find anything substantial on Mike. Mike is having an affair with Maggie Brandon.
Rick Morgan—Emily’s brother. Is aware of her secrets and why she is hiding. He’s very hard to get in touch with, and his silence and evasiveness make Emily nervous.
Lana Smith—A brilliant scientist and businessperson at Brandon Pharmaceuticals. She wants Shane and has caused him trouble in the past. She hid weed in his car and almost cost him his attendance at Harvard. She is still trying to get close to him now, and caused a slight rift between him and Emily in Hard Rules.
Nick Snyder—Knows Seth from their CIA/FBI days. Saved Seth’s life, and now Seth has brought him to Shane so Nick can help get to the bottom of the true involvement of the Martina cartel in Brandon Enterprises. Confirms that Brandon Enterprises’ trucking division is already distributing cocaine. Is going to help Shane and Seth figure out how to maneuver a takedown and extricate the company out of the hold of the Martina cartel.
CHAPTER ONE
EMILY
You could always sacrifice your queen and let her die a royal death. Would it—would she—be worth it to win?
Those words, a threat against my life spoken by Derek only minutes before, seem to whisper in the Colorado wind around us, taunting Shane and me where we stand under a tree in his parents’ yard, our foreheads joined, mocking our desire to dismiss them as nothing but words and my desire to believe Shane’s promises that everything will be okay. He means it, I know he does, and I’d wanted him to say those words, but now I am coming to my senses, remembering what my family taught me all too well—my brother, most especially. Promises, even well-intended ones, are like water in a cracked glass. One wrong lift or squeeze and it shatters, and in this case, with potentially bloody consequences.
I shut my eyes, and for a moment or two, or maybe even three, I let myself revel in Shane’s words again:
We’re okay.…
Everything is okay.…
But as surely as I soak in my desire for those things to be true, I flash back to the moment inside the house, when Derek had looked up from the chess game he’d been playing with Shane, and right at me. To those moments when he’d captured my stare, held it, and then issued that threat, and I’d seen the deep malicious intent and evil in his eyes.
We are not okay.
I shiver in a chilly gust of April evening wind blowing across the Rocky Mountains, and Shane’s strong hands come down on my upper arms, the heat of his touch seeping through my navy silk blouse. “You need your wrap,” he says, rubbing up and down my arms. “And I don’t even have a jacket on to be gallant and warm you up.”
“I don’t have my wrap because I rushed out here in a reactive mode I should never have let anyone see,” I say as more of the typical Denver evening winds lift my hair into my face. I shove it away, reminded that it is now brown but should be blond, the brunette color as fake as my name and identity. Another reality I think of in this moment, because this is my new life, by Shane’s side, and I don’t want it to be as a liability, but rather as an asset. “And you don’t need to be gallant or make promises I shouldn’t have asked you to make,” I add. “We need to go back inside. The longer we’re out here, the more it seems like I’m some scared fool.”
He arches a brow. “Scared fool?” He laughs, one of those deep, sexy rumbles that proves he’s not as starched as his white shirt, while also telling me that he’s not taking my concerns seriously.
“This isn’t funny,” I say, my hand closing around the navy tie I’d chosen for him out of some romantic notion that we’d match for his family dinner, which doesn’t feel romantic anymore.
His hands return to my arms. “No one thinks you’re scared. If anything, they think you’re angry.”
“I am angry. And not at your father for inviting me to stir up trouble, or your brother for making sure he got it. That’s just who they are. I know this, and I still gave them both a reaction. And then you reacted. I made myself your weakness.” I grab his wrists, urgency growing inside me. “We need to go back inside,” I say again. I try to move away from him.
He holds on to me. “Don’t go in there thinking you have something to prove. You don’t.”
“I let them think I was scared.”
“The human—and normal—reaction to someone threatening your life is fear, sweetheart, and I’m going to get you the hell out of here.”
“No,” I say. “No. I have to go in there and correct this. And later I’m going to apologize properly for asking you to make unfair promises.”
“I repeat. The normal—”
“Don’t say that again, Shane. ‘Normal’ doesn’t apply to my life or yours, and we both know that. I’m human, yes, but I should have waited to freak out until we were alone. I’m pissed at myself, and you should be pissed at me. Why aren’t you pissed at me?”
He cups my face. “I don’t want you to become cold and callous like my mother. Ever. I want you to have feelings. I want you to be human.”
“But being strong in front of your family doesn’t make me cold like her. I won’t ever become your mother, Shane. Because not only are you not your father, I’d leave if you were.”
He inhales and lets the breath out, putting his hands on my waist. “I won’t ever be my father.”
“I know that,” I say. “Or I wouldn’t be here, but Derek—”
“Is wearing a wounded ego right along with that bandaged hand, courtesy of Adrian’s knife. He’s puffing up his chest to try to seem unaffected by me making him look bad to the cartel. And now my father threw down the gauntlet by threatening his inheritance.”
“Was that real or just part of the games he plays with you two? I mean, why would he do that when he’s been enjoying this game of pitting you and Derek against each other?”
“Because to exact revenge on Mike for sleeping with my mother, he intends to buy the sports center where Mike’s pro-ball team plays and then recruit in, or buy, another team. And because of my contractual agreement when I joined the company, he needs my signature to sign any contract. In other words, he needs me happy, which means he needs you safe.”
I’ve already blanched and recovered at this point. “I’m nearly speechless. This is huge. Monumental, even. And expensive.” Realization hits me. “That’s why he was meeting with investors.”
“That’s right. It’s also legal and highly profitable, which puts me and my father on the same side of the fence for the first time in most of my adult life.” His fingers flex at my waist. “I’ve got this under control. Everything
is okay.”
“No,” I say, rejecting that idea. “It’s not that simple, and you know it. Mike won’t take this lying down, and he’s the largest stockholder in the company outside of the family. He’s going to attack you because you’re attacking him.”
“For all we know, he’s already attacking us and planning a hostile takeover.”
“Then that only drives home my point. He’s going to attack, and who knows where that will make your mother step? Even with those things aside, there’s your brother, and hate is positively radiating off Derek tonight. He isn’t done fighting. He’ll do whatever it takes to steal the company from you.”
“He can’t take what’s not mine, sweetheart. My father is still king.”
It hits me then that I’m so wrapped up in how Derek affected me that I’ve forgotten about Brandon Senior. My hand goes to Shane’s chest. “How are you feeling about your father’s news?”
“You don’t have to analyze me over this, sweetheart,” he says, obviously reading where I’m going with this, confirming as much when he adds, “I openly admit that my feelings about my father are a mixed bag of emotions that resemble a swampland. One I don’t intend to open until I find out if that was real or another one of his mind-fucks.”
Mind-fucks. That’s all he ever feels he gets from his family, and I aided them in that effort tonight. “You think he’s lying?” I ask, certain Shane’s in denial, protecting himself from that swampland. “Why in the world would he do that?”
“I can think of several strategic reasons related to the company and to Mike, that I’ll explain after we get home and after we fuck this night out of our systems a good three times.”
The grit in his voice tells me his desire to leave is bigger than just me. “All the more reason we should get back inside, where you can find out the truth that Derek and your mother probably already know.”