Her eyes teared up. She was going to have to take action and soon. She felt alone now that her three men were gone. It was a long time until her lunch with Dex and Slade. The office seemed big and empty. She wanted so much to call them back and tell them her trouble.
But why tell the busy men she loved—who couldn’t possibly love her in return—that someone was trying to kill her?
Chapter Two
Slade’s blood pressure rose as he looked down at the photographs in front of him. From listening to Dex and Gavin on the phone, he’d figured out that someone was stalking Hannah, but seeing the sick evidence in front of him was staggering.
Gavin walked around his desk and sank into the huge wingback chair their father had sat in for forty years. Slade would have burned the big reminder of the son of a bitch, but Gavin had kept it, even after he’d completely redecorated the office.
“They were addressed directly to Hannah,” Gavin said, his voice clipped. “No return address.
No postage.”
“So this ass**le brought the envelope into the building? It has to be an employee. No one can get past reception without a keycard.”
Gavin went pale. Then he flushed with fury. “Goddamn it.”
“Have you looked through the security tapes?” Slade picked up a photo of Hannah lying on her stomach across her bed, a book in her hand. He couldn’t make out the cover, but he’d bet it was a romance. She always had one in her bag. And every copy was battered and dog-eared as though it had been through many a hand before hers. For her birthday, he and Dex had bought her a new eBook reader and loaded it with credit. The look of delight in her eyes had done strange things to his heart.
Now, someone was watching her. Stalking her. And from the messages on the back of several photos, the creep knew how he and Dex felt about her. And, Slade suspected, Gavin too.
This threat seemed so surreal, but the proof was staring him in the face. Someone wanted to hurt Hannah.
Gavin frowned. “I don’t have cameras outside my office doors. Maybe I should have listened to Dex about that. I’m sure he’s is in the mailroom now, interrogating the employees.” He sighed. “I think I should call in an outside firm.”
“What happened between you two? He put his fist through a wall.” Slade’s stomach was turning at the idea of some ass**le harassing Hannah, but he had to deal with his brothers’
problems, too. Gavin would only be talking about calling in an outside security firm if things had gone terribly wrong between them.
“It’s complicated.” Gavin looked down, a sure sign that he was ashamed of something.
“How about I uncomplicate it for you? You took one look at these photographs and blamed Dex. Because he wants her badly, you leapt to the stupid conclusion that he was desperate or impulsive enough to become a peeping Tom. And his only choice was to call bullshit and walk out. Simple enough?”
Gavin’s gun metal gray eyes flashed back up, but there was a weariness to them that had Slade backing off. “Almost spot on. I thought Dex was using the photos to tempt me into joining the two of you in seducing Hannah. I know you want that, Slade. I can’t do it. I just can’t. Dex took offense to my mistake, and now he says he’s quitting as soon as she’s out of danger.”
“And Dex leaving is all right with you?” Slade wasn’t sure he wanted the answer to that question, but he had to ask.
Gavin clenched his fists. “No, it’s not. Damn it, Slade, he’s my brother, too. I have no intention of letting him walk out because of a misunderstanding.”
“I was listening in, Gavin. Dex didn’t misunderstand. You flat out blamed him.” Gavin sat back, raking his hand through his thick, chocolate-brown hair. “Okay, I’ll rephrase.
I have no intention of losing my brother because I was an ass**le. Nor do I intend to allow someone to stalk my admin.”
Slade bit back a smile. Despite the horrors of the morning, he sensed a little progress. Gavin had admitted that he didn’t want to lose Dex. He was still calling Hannah his admin, but that would change, if Slade had his way. “Have you talked to Hannah yet?” Slade wasn’t looking forward to the conversation. Hannah was going to be terrified when she found out about these pictures. He stacked them, pulling out the least salacious one. They would have to show her so she grasped how serious this was, but he didn’t want to embarrass her.
“Not yet. I wanted to talk to you first. We’ll do our due diligence and call the police to report the threat, but there’s not much they can do unless this bastard has actually committed a crime.
They’ll tell her to lock her doors and buy a dog.”
Slade shook his head. “She’s a cat person. I’m sure Mr. Snuggles will be hell on intruders.
She’ll purr them to death.”
Gavin frowned. “Mr. Snuggles is a she?”
“Hannah was fifteen when she got her,” Slade couldn’t help but smile. “Apparently, she didn’t think to look for boy or girl parts. The name stuck.” Gavin threw his head back and laughed. The rich, deep sound filled the room and made Slade realize just how much he’d missed his older brother’s laughter. It had been so damn long since he’d heard it.
Gavin had tears of mirth in his eyes when he came up for air. “She has a transvestite cat.”