Jorja rubbedher eyes with the heel of her hand and glanced at the clock. After calling her contact at Nature’s Eye and putting them in contact with Nemesis’s man, Caleb, in Cairo, she’d gone back to working on finding where the list had been moved to. “I wish these a-holes weren’t so damn cautious. Makes it hard for a girl to earn a little cash at times.”
“Right?” Remi replied. “Or if they could give us signposts or some shit, it would be helpful.”
It was awesome to work with someone who didn’t think she was off her freaking rocker for baby talking to her computers. In fact, she was sure Remi had done the exact same thing a couple of times too. The only difference was he did it in a language she didn’t understand. Still, the computers didn’t care what language they heard, they just wanted to be loved on and offered peak performance in return. Without looking away from the screen, she put her mug to her lips and promptly spilled the coffee all down her front. “Shit.” She scooted her chair back, saving the keyboard, but ended up with a lapful of coffee.
“Huh?” Remi glanced over his shoulder, then swore softly. “Shit, don’t move. I’ll get something to clean you up.” He stood up, got her a towel, and dabbed at the coffee in her lap. When she stiffened, he handed the towel to her and stepped back, giving her some space. “You should probably go change. I know it’s hot out and all, but that coffee will get sticky with the amount of sugar and milk you have in it.”
She agreed with his assessment. If there was one thing which was a killer on connections with keyboards, it was spilled drinks with a high sugar content. “I can’t get into Gunnar’s house as the door is locked. You’re gonna need to call him and ask him to open the door for me.”
Remi shook his head and held up one thumb. “We don’t need Gunnar. I can let you in, the locks are set up for all of us.”
Thank God, the last thing she wanted to do was sit around in wet clothes for the rest of the afternoon or fuck up his computers. “Maybe we can grab a sandwich or something when I’ve changed.” The two cereal bars she’d munched on at her desk earlier weren’t enough to fuel her brain. Spilling coffee was always a sign that she needed to eat. “I can grab my laptop too, although I don’t have everything on it. But I do have the option to sign into the same accounts, that might make everything easier.”
Remi nodded. “Yeah, I hate that everything is connected to everything, but for this stuff, it does help.” He grinned at her. “Never tell anyone I said that, or they’ll bitch that I make them keep everything separated.”
Jorja made a zipping motion across her lips and mimicked throwing away the key. “My lips are sealed.”
“Thanks. I’ll make food while you change,” Remi replied. “Do you want ham, chicken, or both?”
Her stomach growled in anticipation. “Both, please. Mayo and mustard if you’ve got them?”
“No probs.” Remi waved her out the door ahead of him. “G-man will be all proud of me for eating on time.” He smiled at her ruefully. “I tend to get lost in what I’m doing and forget. It drives the big brother in him nutso.”
“I can see that happening. I usually munch on crackers and dipping cheese. But I forgot to take the cooler bag out of the fridge before I left home.” Speaking of Gunnar, she could see him in the courtyard near the fountain. From how he was sitting ramrod straight on the bench, Jorja was going to guess the conversation he was having on the phone wasn’t of the fun variety. She thought he kinda looked like a little boy who was getting reamed out of it by the principal. As they got closer, she and Remi exchanged glances when they could hear a voice screaming from the phone.
"You won’t get away with this, you bastard.” The woman’s voice was shrill enough that Jorja winced from about ten steps away.
“His ex-wife,” Remi mouthed to her. “She’s still pissed that family money was protected so all she was entitled to in the divorce was a share of what he earned in the Navy.”
Gunnar glanced up and spotted them. He straightened on the bench. “Gillian…”
But Gillian cut him off by shrieking, “It’s my money! I earned it!”
It made no sense to her. Why would it be her money if it wasn’t even Gunnar’s? Why didn’t he just tell her to eat a bag of dicks and hang up on her? Nobody deserved to be spoken to like that. He didn’t need to take that shit from anyone, even his ex-wife. The abuse continued and Jorja’s eyes widened, her fingers clenching into fists as she learned some new names to call someone who pissed her off. She should stay out of it. She had no business getting involved, but when the woman called him a spineless coward, something snapped inside her, and she couldn’t stand the berating hewas just taking anymore. Before she knew what she was doing, she yelled, “Sexy McKinley, you didn’t think you could hide from me all day, did you? How dare you just walk out of our bed this morning without kissing me good morning?” She shook off Remi’s hand as he attempted to shush her. Why the hell wasn’t he stepping in? Just because Gunnar was the oldest brother didn’t mean the rest of them shouldn’t protect him when he needed it too. But she’d deal with him later.
Gunnar spluttered and stared at her in shock. Clearly he hadn’t expected her to do anything. Well, tough shit. It annoyed the hell out of her that he had to take that crap. Why? Just because he was male? Hell no.
Clearly the woman, Gillian, had heard her voice as the vitriol being spewed down the phone was silenced for a heartbeat, but then started again, this time demanding to know who she was and why she was in Gunnar’s house.
Jorja ignored the woman’s voice for a few seconds as she made what she thought was a universal gimme signal with her fingers, but seeing as Gunnar just stared at her and didn’t do anything, maybe she’d messed it up or something. She sighed and plucked the phone straight out of his hand and put it to her ear. She waited for longer than she thought possible for the other woman to take a breath before speaking. “Listen, lady, you are his ex for a reason. Do us all a favor, lose this number and leave him alone. He’s mine now. You have no claim on him anymore.”
Gunnar got to his feet, advancing toward her with his eyes wide. Clearly he didn’t understand what she was doing, but Jorja didn’t have time to worry about how badly she might be screwing up, because Gillian was trying her best to make Gunnar look like an asshole.
This right here was a reason to avoid relationships. They soured, and the screaming abuse down the phone like hermomma used to get started. Hell no. It drove her insane. “Hell, girl, I know he’s an asshole; most men are. That just makes him sexier in my opinion. Your loss is my gain. Lose this number, because like I just told you, he’s mine, not yours, and I don’t share. Period. Go find the man you cheated on him with and ask that poor dumbass for money, because my Gunnar doesn’t have a dime to give you.” Her mom had said Gillian had cheated, and it was the only reason she could think of for him breaking a marriage vow. Call her stupid for listening to her instincts if you wanted, but it made sense in her head. She’d second-guess and rehash every decision later and obsess about if she was right or wrong then. “And,” she just talked right over Gillian when she screamed at her, “even if he did, you still wouldn’t get it, because he’s not yours anymore. End. Of. Discussion. Do not call this number again, ever!”
By the time she was done, all the brothers were in the courtyard, staring at her. She had no clue where they’d all appeared from. But considering how fast it happened, she was starting to think they’d been watching from the shadows all along. She rolled her eyes when Gillian just didn’t give up. What she wouldn’t give to be on an old-style phone and not a mobile so she’d have the satisfaction of slamming it down. Instead, she had to make do with growling out, “Don’t call back, because we are blocking your calls from now on, and next time you speak to my man like that, I’ll slap you with a restraining order so fast your head will spin, and you’ll be persona non grata from Monaco to LA. Understood?” She jabbed end on the call and peered up at the sky, striving for patience she didn’t feel.
She pointed to his brothers. “Why the hell didn’t you step in and put a stop to that shit before now? Lurking in the shadows may be necessary for the jobs you do, but those fucking gloves better be off when it’s family who needs help.”When Colt stepped toward her, she held up her palm. “There is no excuse, even ‘he wouldn’t let us.’ He,” she pointed to Gunnar, “would have helped every single one of you.”
She spun around and marched the couple of steps to where Gunnar was staring at her in confusion. She grabbed his hand and smacked the phone into it. “That’s how you deal with an entitled bitch. Never let her speak to you like that again. Period.” She turned on her heel and left him standing there. When she reached the door, she growled low in her throat as she’d forgotten she needed someone to unlock it for her. “Remi, open this door for me before I lose my shit and slap you and your brothers stupid for putting up with that crap.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Gunnar staredafter Jorja in shock. “What the hell just happened?”
“Your ex just got her ass handed to her, bro, and it’s about fucking time.” Talon, with Zombie at his heels, came to stand next to him. He glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. “She has a point, you know. You taught us to stand up for ourselves and each other. We failed you, and I’m sorry.”
“You didn’t know.”
