Dillon suspected that Virginia had taken charge because no one else could. Cliff certainly wouldn’t have had the smarts to keep things together. And Kelsey had been a mere teenager. Gritting his teeth, Dillon snarled, “If Virginia means so little to him, then why does he worry so much about who she sees?”
Wade shrugged. “I should think he’d be glad to be rid of her. Most men would be. I suppose Cliff worries about someone marrying Virginia for her money—and her shares in the company. From what I’ve heard, a few men have tried that tactic, but Cliff doesn’t want to take any chances on losing the little control he has.”
Dillon surged to his feet. This night wasn’t improving with conversation and he needed time alone to put things in perspective. He couldn’t allow himself to feel protective of Virginia; he needed the ruthlessness his father had taught him. He needed to be able to do the job, without emotional involvement. “Go home, Wade. I want to get some sleep, and it isn’t safe for you to hang around here for long. If anyone finds out we’re related, the whole plan is ruined.”
“I know. And I’m sorry. But I just couldn’t wait.”
“You’re going to have to wait from now on.” He spoke sternly in the way he knew commanded attention. “Don’t come here again. Do you understand?” He waited until Wade nodded, then he added, “I’ll get in touch with you when I find out something.”
Reluctantly, Wade turned away. “All right.” He walked to the door and then paused. “You know how much I appreciate all this, don’t you, Dillon? I didn’t have anyone else to turn to. The one lawyer I spoke with was useless. He said the company probably wouldn’t press charges because they’d most likely want to avoid the scandal and the possibility of being discredited in front of their shareholders. If it was anyone but Cliff, I’d agree. But he won’t be happy just firing me. He wants to ruin me completely. Kelsey and I didn’t know what to do. Against Cliff’s money, I didn’t stand a chance. He’ll be sure to have the best lawyers around and they’ll make mincemeat out of me. I’d already be in jail and Kelsey would have to raise our baby alone. Cliff would have given her a hard time over the scandal—”
“Enough already, Wade.” Damn, but the rambling melodramatics were enough to make him sick. Wade had missed his calling. Instead of becoming an accountant, he should have joined the theater. Still, Wade was his brother, so Dillon forgave him his shortcomings, just as he hoped to be forgiven for his own. “I told you I’d take care of things and I will.”
Wade nodded once more, sent his brother a shaky, endearingly familial smile, then left.
Dillon locked up the apartment and turned out the lights.
When he was finally alone with his thoughts, he wondered if he was doing the right thing. Maybe he should have tried to raise enough money to get good legal representation for Wade. Not the low-rate lawyer Wade had spoken with, but a sharpshooter who could match Cliff’s. Dillon had property in Mexico he could have sold. That would have meant starting over, but then, he’d started over many times. He liked his home, but there were higher priorities to consider; he had to think about his father, too.
His dad lived with him now, and Dillon didn’t want to uproot him. His father wasn’t a young man anymore, and he had a few health problems thanks to the hard life he’d led.
Besides, if Virginia had been a typical female, this whole thing would have been simple. But no, she had to be difficult and unique and a pain in the backside. He’d never known a woman like her.
Naked, he slid between the sheets and stacked his hands behind his head. It was dark and cold and snowflakes patterned his window, making the moonlight look like lace against the far wall. He wondered how Virginia would react when she realized his sole interest in her was her personal files. He wondered how she’d react to the news that her twenty-two-year-old pampered baby sister was pregnant and wanted to marry Wade, a man accused of embezzlement, a man with a less than sterling background. A man related to him.
Most of all, he wondered how Virginia would react when she found out he wasn’t the wimp she assumed him to be. Would she cry with hurt? He closed his eyes at the vision and shuddered with reaction.
Whatever she did, it wouldn’t be the expected. There wasn’t another woman like her anywhere, and she had the knack of keeping him on his toes. She wouldn’t make his job easy.
But he’d bet his last breath she’d make it interesting.
chapter 3
DILLON WAS IN Cliff’s office when Virginia rushed in two days later. Lounged back on his spine in a casual sprawl, his legs wide, he made her forget why she’d wanted to see Cliff in the first place. Virginia noticed how the soft, worn material of his dark jeans cupped his heavy sex. His hands rested over a taut flat belly and his shoulders stretched the pressed material of his dress shirt. His hair hung to his shoulders, his collar was unbuttoned and his sleeves were rolled up. Her gaze traveled over him until she met his eyes. She shivered.
He looked totally relaxed, but his brown eyes were alert. She loved it when he acted so defiantly arrogant for her brother’s sake. It made him look sexy and sinful and her heart immediately picked up rhythm.
She forced her gaze to where her brother sat behind a massive desk. One concern was replaced with another.
“What’s he doing here, Cliff? Has there been some kind of trouble?” In the normal course of his job, Dillon didn’t have much call to hang around Cliff’s office.
Cliff glared at her—a look to which she was well accustomed to. “He’s my head of security. Why shouldn’t he be here?”
She strolled across the floor, trying not to react to the almost tactile sensation of Dillon’s eyes on her as he tracked her every step. Propping her hip on the edge of Cliff’s desk, she asked, “Are we considering making some kind of adjustment or improvement? Is that why he’s here?”
Cliff slammed down the pen he’d been doodling with. “Damn it, Virginia, don’t you have a diet class or something to go to?”
That hurt. Her weight had always been a problem, but it wasn’t something she wanted to discuss in front of Dillon. Usually the clothes she wore were loose enough so as not to accent the more obvious trouble spots. Today, her simple wool tunic over matching slacks worked wonders—or so she’d thought. Now she was uncomfortably aware of the width of her hips, the weight of her breasts, the roundness of her belly and thighs. She wanted to escape both men’s scrutiny.
She lifted her chin. Low blows were a specialty of Cliff’s. She should have become immune to them by now.
She didn’t dare glance at Dillon. She didn’t want to know what he thought of her brother’s comment or, at the moment, what he thought of her. “I’m a busy woman, Brother, but I think I can spare some time to see what you’re screwing up now.”
Cliff snarled, almost ready to explode. At the last second he pulled himself together and sent Dillon an exasperated look of shared male insight, as if to say, Women. Virginia stiffened. Fighting Cliff had become a way of life, both in business and in her personal pride. “You do remember, don’t you, Cliff, that any decisions have to go through me first?”
“How could I forget with you forever shoving it in my face?”
“So?” She waited, and finally he turned a sheath of papers toward her.
She studied the new property sheets for a moment before commenting. “The Eastland project.” She ignored Cliff’s surprise. He should know by now that there was no facet of the business she wasn’t fully aware of. The company was her life, the only thing she was truly good at. She wouldn’t let anything slip by her.
She approved the idea of expansion by purchasing the retail property in Eastland. Once the new expressway was built, the mall would flourish. Time and invested money were all they needed, and Johnson’s Sporting Goods had both. Their expansion would add new life to the