Finn (Blue-Collar Billionaires #2) (2 page)

If only my half-sibling was as welcoming.

Just as I take a huge bite, Luke drops down into the opposite side of the booth and pins me with a glare. “Why do you keep showing up here? I already told you I’m not interested.”

I shrug and then shovel another warm, gooey bite in my mouth. “Interested in what? Knowing me? That’s okay. I’m not here to make you realize what you’re missing out on by not getting to know your brothers. That’s your loss. I’m just here because your mom makes this fucking crackberry pie and I can’t stay away.”

He scowls. “You can get pie anywhere.”

“But I can’t get
this pie
, anywhere. You were raised eating like this so it’s no big deal to you but let me tell you, this is amazing.”

Luke pulls out his phone and starts texting, making a big show of ignoring me. I take the opportunity to study him. He’s tall like I am but built stockier, like my brother Tank. He’s cut his hair since the last time I saw him but I know from memory that his dark hair is thick and curly. But it’s the eyes that seal the deal. He looks like us. For me, that’s enough. Even though he has no interest in getting to know me, I want to know him.
 

I’ve never been very good at backing off when I want something.

Finally my enjoyment of my pie seems to cross a threshold and Luke can’t keep his annoyance in silence anymore. He slams the phone down on the Formica table so hard that I’m not sure it’ll even work after this. He pins me with a glare.

“I’m not just being difficult, okay? There’s a lot more going on here than an old man who feels guilty. I already told Max Marshall that I don’t want anything from him and I meant it. And you’d do well to stay away from him, too.”

His conviction is compelling. It hadn’t occurred to me that Luke was resisting for any reason other than petulance. He looks so young that it’s hard to remember that he’s an adult and furthermore, some kind of intellectual prodigy. He probably knows a hell of a lot more about what’s going on than I do.

“My mom has cancer. Saying no wasn’t an option.”

His face falls. “Sorry. I didn’t know that.”

I shrug even though a part of me feels like my skin has shrunk down a size. It’s an impossible thing, thinking about my mom in that hospital bed, so I usually don’t think about it. I’ve gotten pretty good at compartmentalizing my thoughts. I focus on the task at hand and don’t think about the whys of it all.
 

“There’s no way you could have known that. I wasn’t saying it to make you feel bad. Just stating the facts. I had to take the money but I guess you don’t?”

“I have money,” he concedes grudgingly.
 

“I know. I already know a lot about you since I had you investigated.” As soon as he found out about our brothers, Tank ordered comprehensive reports on all of them. Luke was the hardest to find anything on. The kid is talented enough to hide almost everything about himself. Finding any trace of him online was a struggle.
 

His eyes flash and then he laughs. “You really don’t give a fuck, do you?”

I swallow the last of my pie. “Usually I don’t. But in this case, I was pretty happy to learn I had some little brothers. Imagine my surprise to find out the youngest one is some kind of genius. Can you blame me for being just a little bit proud?”

He sits back in his chair, seemingly stunned into silence. This is the first time I’ve noticed a chink in his armor and I realize that despite all his denials, maybe he wants to know his brothers, too.

“I grew up with my older brother, Tank. He’s built like a monster and hits like one, too but loyal as they come. He’s the one you call if you have a body you need buried and he’ll show up with duct tape and trash bags. No questions asked.”

Luke chuckles a little at that, so I forge on.
 

“Now, the two I just met are Gabe and Zack. Gabe looks a lot like us except he’s something of a pretty boy. Looks like the type who was captain of the lacrosse team or some yuppie bullshit like that. Somehow, Zack is the exact opposite even though they grew up together. He’s the tatted up, Mohawked, silent type. But word is, he’s a genius with anything on wheels. He fixed a car for Tank’s girlfriend and the thing runs so smoothly that she won’t let Tank buy her a new one. Drives him crazy.”

I glance over at Luke. “Then there’s you. The child prodigy. We have a file on you that reads like fiction. I barely made it through high school and probably wouldn’t have if I hadn’t charmed the panties off some of the smartest girls in school who did my homework for me. And here you are, writing software that saves people’s lives. So yeah, I’m just a little bit proud.”

Luke doesn’t say anything but his eyes stay on mine for a long time, like he’s trying to read the truth of my words in my face. For a moment, he looks almost wistful, like he’d give anything to take me at my word. Then just like that, the look is gone and his face shuts down again.
 

“I’ve gotta go.” He shoves back from the table and I watch his back until he disappears behind the counter again. Anita looks over from across the room where she’s helping a boisterous family of five. She gives me a sympathetic smile.
 

With a sigh, I pull out my wallet and leave a twenty-dollar bill on the table. I won’t be getting through to him today. But that’s okay.

There’s always tomorrow.
 

RISSA

We’re saved.
 

I look down at the contract on top of my desk. I’m not sure what angel heard my prayers, pleas and the wild sobbing into my pillow last night but it worked! This one contract to clean a pricy high-rise in Norfolk will be enough to keep my cleaning business, Maid-4-U, afloat.
 

“We got it?” Daphne, one of my partners, sits on the arm of my chair and peers over my shoulder. Her blue eyes widen and she lets out a shriek.

“Is that how much they’re paying us? Shut the front door!”

I burst into laughter at her exuberance and for once don’t even bother to try to get her to curse like a grownup. In the past six months, I’ve dropped enough curse words for the both of us. Like the time our electricity was shut off and Tara had to take the laptop down to the local coffee shop that has free Wi-Fi to do payroll. With the amount of money we’ll pull in from this one deal, we won’t have to worry about that again for a long time.

“Tara, get over here! You have to see this.”

Although I shake my head, I don’t say anything when my other partner, Tara Petersen, shoves me to the side.
 

 
We’re not too formal around here. The three of us have been working together for a few years now, just three broke girls who managed to turn cleaning houses into a thriving business.

Tara picks up the contract and her lips move slightly as she reads it. She’s the stickler for details so I know her analytical mind is searching for potential errors or pitfalls. Her brown hair is sticking up all over the place as usual and with the blue streaks she recently added she looks like a high school kid. It’s funny that she’s the smart one of all three of us since people usually assume that I’m in charge. If Tara wasn’t so abrasive she’d be the one who negotiated with the clients instead of me.
 

She turns to me and then places a hand on her hip. “I can’t believe you actually pulled this off. You said you’d been bidding on bigger jobs but I had no idea it was this big. How did you convince them to pay so much?”

“I wish I could say it was superior negotiation skills but I really have no idea. This company found us. They were searching for a new cleaning service and asked for a quote. I got a call a few days ago that they’d reviewed my presentation and decided to go with us.”

“This is what we’ve been waiting for,” Daphne declares. “Our luck is finally changing!”

Tara looks up from the contract. “I wouldn’t get too excited just yet. Did you actually read this, Ris? They made some changes.”

I snatch it back. “I read it. I mean, I sort of read it.” Her pointed look makes me feel like a kid in the principal’s office. “I read the original and that lawyer guy told me what changes he was making. So, that’s good enough. I’m sorry. I just couldn’t read through all that boring blah, blah, blah again. I fell asleep reading it the first time.”

“Well, there’s some weird stuff in here.” Tara picks up the contract, waving it around as she makes her point. “It’s super specific about what time the cleaning has to happen and it's early. It says by eight am everyday. Also, the cleaning for the owner’s penthouse has to happen with him present and here’s the weird part; it has to be the same maid every time. If we send a different maid, that’s considered a material breach of contract. I mean, who the hell is this guy? Is it someone famous?”

I stand up, coffee cup in hand. I’ve always been an early bird but since I’m now required to work such late hours, coffee is a main staple in my diet. There’s no way I could stay awake so long without it.
 

“I have no idea but I doubt it’s anything that exciting. The name on the contract is some kind of company. I got the impression that most of the units are vacant.”

“Maybe they just need it to be the same person so they can do a background check and be sure the person entering the owner’s place is trustworthy.” Even as she says it Tara doesn't look completely convinced. "Well, either way this is a huge contract for us. I'm not sure how we're going to handle this. We do have a couple of people who have asked for more overtime but we still need someone for the owner's suite."

“I guess I could do it.” Daphne offered. “I usually work that time of day anyway.”

Tara and I must have been wearing identical expressions of skepticism because Daphne crossed her arms and pouted. “What?”

I walk over to the counter and then sigh when I see the coffee pot is empty. “It’s nothing Daphne. It’s just, what if the client is there and he’s a jerk?” Daphne is an absolute sweetheart but she can’t handle conflict. At all. If the client is difficult, Daphne would end up in tears within ten minutes.

Tara doesn’t have any problem laying it all out there. “You don’t handle jerks well, Daph. He’d hurt your feelings and then I’d have to go kick some ass. So that won’t work. I guess I should do it.”

This time, it’s Daphne and I who exchange looks. Finally I speak. “Um, Tara. If he’s a jerk that means you’d have to be nice and hold your tongue every time you see him. I don’t think that’ll work either. I’ll do it.”

Tara shakes her head. “You’re already handing the Johnsons in the afternoon and the Mercer account in the evenings. You’ll be dead on your feet working that many hours.”

“We can switch some things around. The Johnsons don’t care if it’s me cleaning their house or someone else. A couple of the part-time girls have been asking to go full-time anyway and now with this contract, we can finally afford to hire more help.”

Tara narrows her eyes at me. “Okay but I've got my eye on you. You already look dead on your feet. I’m going to tell Gloria if you don't behave.”

That makes me smile. My mom has been there since we started the business and she even worked shifts for us in the beginning. Once the business started to pick up, I made her cut her hours to only part-time. It’s been the greatest gift in my life to be able to help my mother, to take some of the weight off her shoulders. She’s always worked double-shifts to take care of us and for the first time in her life, she’s able to take it easy. Go out with friends and not have to stress over bills. I’ll do anything to keep it that way.

“Gloria is having a ball dating some gentleman she met in line at the grocery store.”

Tara laughs. “Only your mom would find a date while running errands. She can make sweatpants the new sexy.”

“I know. I wish I’d inherited that from her.”

“Uh, you did Miss Double Ds. Duh,” Tara makes a face. “You inherited her body and her work ethic. But that doesn’t mean she’d want you to run yourself into the ground.”

“I’ll be fine. I can handle it.” I stress the last word, hoping Tara gets the hint.
 

She knows that I’ve been going through some things lately but hopefully she won’t say anything in front of Daphne. I don’t need them both worrying about me. Working more hours won’t hurt me, if anything it’ll help me because I’ll have less time to think. That’s what I need the most right now, oblivion from thinking about the mess I’ve made of my life with my crappy choices.

I pick up a pen and sign the bottom of the contract with a flourish. Daphne signs next and then hands the pen to Tara. She stares at me for a long moment, then finally sighs.

"I guess we have to take a chance."

"It'll be fine, Tara. Don't worry so much."

“I don’t know what you two are yapping on about. We should be celebrating.
This is a sign
. Things are finally looking up for us girls. Woo hoo!” Daphne does a little booty dance next to the desk and we all burst into laughter.
 

Their laughter and silliness is exactly what I need when my phone in my pocket suddenly feels as heavy as a brick. I should have never told Tara that Andrew was calling again, trying to establish contact. It was a point of shame that I’d never pressed charges against him but all I want to do is forget that time in my life. Now she’s worried about me and she doesn’t need to be. I’m not that person anymore.
 

I finally have it together and I won’t let anything take this away from me.

*
 
*
 
*
 
*
 
*

The next day I arrive at the address listed on the contract and stand outside just staring up at the imposing building. On the outskirts of downtown Norfolk, it’s obviously been recently renovated.
 

My fingers curl around the tight band of my pencil skirt. Usually I'm wearing the same basic uniform as the rest of the maids, casual clothing covered by a green and yellow Maid-4-U apron that Daphne designed for us last year. But today, I'm here to bring the signed contract to the client and see the area we'll be working in. I have to look professional. Put together.