Bad Guys Don't Win (Janet Maple Series Book 4) (21 page)
Read Bad Guys Don't Win (Janet Maple Series Book 4) Online
Authors: Marie Astor
Author
Marie Astor is New York Times and USA
Today Bestselling author. Marie is a die-hard romantic, which is why she loves writing
romantic suspense and contemporary romance. In her spare time, Marie enjoys
being adventurous out-of-doors. She often gets new story ideas while she is
hiking up a mountain or trying to avoid bumping into a tree while skiing.
Marie loves receiving emails from
readers and always answers all of her emails personally. Visit Marie at
www.marieastor.com
.
Janet Maple Series
Bad Guys Don’t Win
Sinful Business Series
Standalone Contemporary Romance Titles
A Dress in a
Window
(a
short story collection)
More books by Marie:
Over the
Mountain and Back
(a
young adult fantasy adventure novel)
Please read on for an excerpt from
Thirsty
for Payback
, book 1 of Sinful Business Series
Thirsty for
Payback
,
book 1 of Sinful Business Series
In a blink of an eye Allyson Roberts
loses her fiancé, her employment, and her fortune. Just when she seems to have
hit the bottom, Ally is recruited by an undercover agency that is interested in
her skills. She takes the job with only one goal in mind: payback. Getting even
is the only thought on her mind as she convinces herself that her heart has no
room for love–or does it?
A former top agent in his field, Jake
Morrissey has inner demons he can’t put to rest. Now he bides his time as a
training instructor. He’s sworn off women, but try as he might he can’t keep
his eyes off Allyson Roberts. When he’s asked to partner up with Ally on a new
assignment, Jake is tempted to end his retirement. Will he keep running from
his fears or will he find the strength to become the man he once was?
Thirsty for Payback
(Book 1 of
Sinful Business Series)
By
Marie Astor
Allyson Roberts ran her hand over the
silky dress fabric. It was a beautiful dress, the color of sky blue, its smooth
material cascading in intricate ruffles that must have taken forever to sew.
The question was whether the gown was right for the occasion that Allyson was
shopping for. She eyed the sparkling diamond solitaire on her ring
finger. A wave of giddiness surged through her. To think that she was now
engaged was almost too good to be true. She and Ronald Graystone had been
together for two years, ever since their junior year at Duke, and last night he
had proposed. The timing was simply perfect: graduation was coming up and Ron’s
parents would be there for the festivities. After the ceremony they were all
supposed to go to this super expensive restaurant to celebrate the happy news,
which was why Allyson needed a dress. Mr. and Mrs. Graystone were very formal,
so Ally knew she had to get it right.
Not that Ally was a stranger to grand
affairs. With her father being who he is, she’d grown up with her share of
opulence. Their house in Westchester was a ten-bedroom mansion with a ballroom
that had a twenty-foot ceiling. As a child, Ally had taken this splendor for
granted, but when she went away to boarding school at fourteen, she became
aware of the fact that not everyone’s reality was like hers. Granted, the girls
at Miss Porter’s didn’t exactly come from poor homes, but the name Victor
Roberts elicited genuine awe from the majority of her classmates. It was then
that Ally first became fully aware of her social standing.
Victor Roberts came from humble
lower-middle-class beginnings, born to an electrician father and a kindergarten
teacher mother. With a degree from MIT, which he had obtained on a full
scholarship, he built his industrial empire from the proverbial scratch. The
story of his success inspired a mixture of admiration and jealousy from myriads
of people. At least once a month there would be an article about him somewhere,
the subject ranging from the latest venture he was embarking on to speculations
about his personal life. Not that Ally knew much about either. Her father spent
the majority of his time at work, and even when he was home he was usually
locked up in his study, which served as his command center. When she was
younger, Ally’s care was relegated to her governess; when she grew older, to
the boarding school mistress, and later to college professors. Her mother had
passed away from a heart condition when Ally was only five, and Ally had never
been aware of another woman by her father’s side. As she grew older and began
to understand these matters, she questioned her father about it, to which he
replied that he had never met a woman who could replace Ally’s mother. Still,
Ally was not naïve and realized that her father was not a monk, but whatever
women had briefly entered Victor Roberts’ life had remained secluded from the
press and Ally’s eyes.
“Oh, I just love that one!” Madison
exclaimed, snatching the hanger from Allyson’s hands. Madison ran her dark
purple-colored fingernails over the dress’s fabric. “Love the spaghetti straps
and the delicate ruffles—sexy and sweet! Ronnie will love it.”
Allyson shot Madison a dubious glace.
“Don’t you think it’s a bit much? I was thinking of something more formal. Oh,
and by the way, I hope you’re going to get another manicure before graduation.”
“You know I am; I have one every week.
My usual is OPI Go Goth. They’ve got my name on the nail polish bottle at the
salon.”
Allyson shook her head. “I’m sure they
do. But I was hoping you’d change your color to something more—”
“Boring?”
“No, feminine. Like lavender or pink.”
Madison grimaced. “Those are the colors
my mother wears. I’m not going near them.”
Allyson resisted the urge to contradict.
Sometimes she wondered just how genuine Madison’s eccentricity was. Ally’s
secret guess was that most of it came from Madison’s desire to irk her parents,
and Ally had to give Maddie her due: she had certainly more than accomplished
this goal. But then Allyson wouldn’t want to be in Maddie’s shoes, or Ron’s for
that matter. At first glance, siblings Madison and Ronald Graystone led a
charmed life. Twin offspring of Viola and Richard Graystone, they stood to
inherit a fortune, but with that came responsibilities and obligations that
were almost as great if not greater. Viola Graystone was one of the most
venerable society ladies in existence: there wasn’t a charity ball that she
hadn’t contributed to in some shape or form, or a charity committee she wasn’t
a part of. Madison was expected to follow her mother’s example. Yes, a college
degree was beneficial, but Mrs. Graystone saw its purpose as more for achieving
well-roundedness and putting it to good use when contributing to social causes,
and it went without saying that Duke University was the perfect place for
meeting a suitable match.
The fact that Maddie chose to major in
graphic design did not bode well with her parents, but the other shoe was yet
to drop: unbeknownst to her parents, Maddie had secured a job offer from a
leading advertising agency in New York. She planned to make the announcement on
graduation day. Allyson cringed at the thought: coupled with the news of her
engagement to Ron, it just might be too much for the Graystones. Maddie had
urged Ally to join her on her adventure in New York, but Ally declined. New
York wasn’t all that exotic to her. It was less than an hour train ride from
her father’s house in Westchester, and she’d made plenty of forays into the
city with her friends during school breaks. While her girlfriends went gaga
over the hip lounges and night clubs, Ally remained unimpressed. The big city
pace didn’t appeal to her; it seemed overly noisy and confusing. Her dislike of
big city life made her decision to move to Boston that much easier.
With a coveted double major in
engineering and physics, she had her pick from a slew of job offers. Her father
always made it clear that he would never impose his legacy on her. “You can do
whatever it is you put your mind to, Ally,” he used to say. “If you want to
continue with the business, I’ll be more than happy to show you the ropes, but
if your heart lies elsewhere, I don’t want you to feel tied down.” He needn’t
have worried. From an early age, Ally was acing math and science classes at
school. She was on a math team and participated in every science fair
imaginable, with her projects nearly always snagging first place. She spent her
winter and summer vacations on the campus of Roberts Enterprises, cooped up in
the offices of esteemed scientists whose reservations at having to babysit the
boss’s daughter dissolved the instant Ally showed her acumen, quickly getting
the hang of the complicated sequences on their computer screens. As much as she
had loved spending time at her father’s company when she was younger, Ally
wanted to make a name for herself as an adult. When she received an offer from
Lorman & Matherson, a leading defense contractor headquartered in Boston,
Ally’s heart was set. “You have no idea what you’ll be missing!” Maddie had
wailed with her usual drama, but Ally knew the answer: absolutely nothing. She
was the happiest woman alive: not only would she be working in Boston close to
Ron, but she’d have a great job to boot. Lorman & Matherson had made her a
verbal offer a few days ago, and she was yet to receive a paper copy of the
contract, but that was merely a formality and Ally had already found an
apartment. It just so happened that one of Ron’s friends had an uncle in real
estate and the perfect one-bedroom had just come on the market in the area of
town that was very close to Ally’s new employer.
Allyson eyed a black chiffon sheath from
an adjacent stand. “Yes, I think this is the one,” Allyson confirmed,
lifting up the hanger. “It’s classy, but sexy in an understated kind of way.
It’s perfect for meeting your parents.”
Madison rolled her eyes. “It’s perfect
for a funeral. Besides, you’ve already met my parents.”
“Yes, but not as their future
daughter-in-law.”
“I’m so glad we’re going to be sisters,
Ally!” Madison squealed. Madison was extremely close with her brother. In the
beginning Ally had been worried about potential rivalry between her and
Madison, but Madison had liked Ally right off the bat. They were already like
sisters.
“Me too, Maddie. But back to the topic
of the dress. Since your parents are going to be there, I think I should go for
a more conservative look.”
“Are you scared of my parents?”
Ally shook her head. “Nope.” The truth
of the matter was that she was scared to death. The fact that she had already
met Ron’s parents didn’t make the occasion any less terrifying; instead it made
it more so since she knew what to expect. Ally still remembered how Mrs.
Graystone had given her a once-over the first time Allyson had been
invited to the Graystone’s townhouse in Beacon Hill, Boston. “It is a pleasure
to meet you, Allyson,” Mrs. Graystone had said, holding Ally’s hand in a cool,
dry grip. “It’s Allyson Roberts, isn’t it?” Mr. Graystone had clarified. “Yes,”
Allyson nodded, blushing for no reason. It wasn’t as though she was embarrassed
by her father and everything he stood for; on the contrary, she was proud of
it, but she wanted to be judged on her own merit, not that of her father’s.
“Welcome, dear,” Mrs. Graystone smiled magnanimously. “Please, come on in.”
“Ally! Wake up!” Madison snapped her
fingers. “Are you going to try on this dress or what?”
“I’m awake,” Ally countered. She hung
the blue dress back on the rack; she could just imagine the expression on Mrs.
Graystone’s face if she were to wear it. Ally firmly gripped the black
chiffon she’d settled on. If she was going to succeed at being Mrs. Ronald
Graystone, she had to start holding her ground. “I’m going to try on this
dress. I’m sure Ron would agree with my choice.”
Maddie rolled her eyes. “Of course Ron
would agree. Ron always agrees, but someone has to be the voice of style.”
Allyson raised an eyebrow—the voice of
chaos was more like it. Still, she knew exactly what Maddie meant. Unlike his
sister, Ron was an exemplary son. His fate had been sealed since he had been a
pea in his mother’s womb. The only male heir, he was to follow in his father’s
footsteps and carry the venerable legacy of Graystone & Runell, the
multimillion-dollar law firm in Boston, Massachusetts his great-grandfather had
begun. Unlike Madison, Ron wore his legacy with reverence and quiet pride. He
had aced his LSATs and looked forward to three years at Harvard Law. Despite
their differences the two twins were extremely close, but Madison never tired
of daring Ron to break free from the yoke of the Graystone name. In fact,
Madison was the reason why Ron and Ally got together in the first place.
Madison made friends easily, and she and Ally had become very close after
rooming together during their first year of college. At the time, Ron was
dating a different girl; Annette Beale went to Wellesley, and the two of them
only saw each other on random weekends and breaks. Every now and then Ally
would catch a glimpse of Ron, but it never went any further between them than a
few friendly words. Ally had liked Ron instantly. His handsome face and lean,
muscular body had made her breath catch, but what sealed the deal was his
seriousness, a studiousness that she never saw in the boys her own age, at
least not the ones who were as good-looking as Ron. Still, Ron’s heart belonged
to someone else, and Ally had abandoned hope until an unexpected opportunity
presented itself. Madison was practically spurting with excitement when she
told Ally that Ron and Annette had broken up. Apparently, Annette had found her
long-distance relationship with Ron trying and had been indiscreet with one of
the boys from Boston College. Ron never would have been the wiser had it not
been for one of Annette’s friends who had speedily relayed the news to him,
probably in hopes of redirecting Ron’s affections to herself, or just out of
plain spite. In any case, Ron was very hurt, but he remained stoic throughout
the whole ordeal, growing even more serious and studious. To cheer Ron up, Maddie
had arranged for the three of them to go to the movies, but then bailed at the
last minute, claiming a headache. Left standing together in the front of the
movie theatre, Ally and Ron had no choice but to go inside, and the rest was
history.
Allyson never revealed it to Maddie, but
part of the reason why she fell in love with Ron was the aura of dependability
about him. Of course it also helped that he was six feet two and
broad-shouldered, had a smile that could melt your heart in a second, and a twinkle
in his baby-blue eyes that could send goose bumps down your skin, but these
were not the main reasons. There were plenty of handsome guys at Duke, but none
of them were like Ron, and Allyson only hoped that she could do him justice as
his wife. She knew that it wouldn’t be easy: it wasn’t just Ron she was
marrying but the Graystone legacy. And even though she herself was far from a
penniless bride, she understood the differences between their families. Victor
Roberts might have more in his bank accounts than the Graystones, but his name
didn’t carry the pedigree of the Graystones, who could trace their lineage all
the way back to the Mayflower. In the world of the Graystones, Ally was an
outsider, but because she loved Ron she was willing to work hard to be
accepted. Allyson worried that their engagement might interfere with Ron’s
studies, but he had assured her otherwise, adding that the only way he could
make it through law school was with the knowledge that, upon his graduation,
Ally was going to be his wife. It went without saying that their wedding would
have to wait until Ron finished law school. Ally didn’t have any qualms about
that. As much as she loved Ron, she was secretly glad that she still had three
years of freedom. It was like having the best of both worlds.