Lucky 7 Bad Boys Contemporary Romance Boxed Set (66 page)

“Buddy, I don’t have to. Nobody is gonna believe otherwise. I’m the big shark in this here pond, and as sweet as she is, your girlfriend just doesn’t have the power behind her to make ugly accusations.”

Ruf made a show of looking at his watch. Natasha could only stare, numb. Was anything here salvageable?

“Hey, it’s almost time for me to meet some friends of mine. I’m gonna head out, give you all a chance to think this over. Tomorrow morning, we can sign the contract and celebrate. Or we can call it a wash and I’ll go with another designer. Either way, this has been a good time.”

“Of course,” Natasha said numbly.

Ruf winked at Natasha before giving Drew a cool stare. “You thank that sister of yours for me, okay? She definitely made this a week to remember.”

Natasha barely saw Drew move before he’d grabbed the other man by the ascot and yanked him off his feet.

A part of her was thrilled. There he was, her bad boy, ready to defend his women. A part of her wanted to see Ruf’s obnoxious face covered in blood.

But the bigger part of her cringed in horror at the idea of making a scene.

“Drew, no,” she pleaded, grabbing a hold of his arm before he could plant his fist in Ruf’s not-so-smug-now face. “Beating him up won’t make anything better.”

“It’ll make me feel better,” he snarled, glaring at the now sweating lingerie tycoon.

“Drew,” she said quietly. “Please.”

She held her breath, waiting.

Slowly, with obvious reluctance, Drew let go of the other man, taking a second to clench and unclench his fingers in the guy’s face.

“You’ll regret this,” Rufus hissed, his face purple. He gave them both a dark glare, then realizing how many people were staring, turned heel and left.

Natasha watched him saunter away. Her head rang and the room seemed a little dim around the edges. How the hell had he created the same design, the same support system as hers? He couldn’t have. Any photographs would just show a pretty bra. Without the actual garment itself, he wouldn’t have been able to analyze the structure, the engineering that made it so special.

And the bra had only been stolen today. How fast was his manufacturing process that he could copy it before tomorrow morning?

“He couldn’t have come up with the same design, Drew. He just couldn’t.”

Drew grimaced and shook his head, his eyes watching Ruf’s quick exit.

“Nope. I’m sure he didn’t. He stole your bra.”

Chapter Ten

Natasha looked like she was going to be sick.

“Babe, let’s get you out of here.” He wrapped his arm around her shaking shoulders, leading her to the exit. If they didn’t move quickly, he didn’t think he’d be able to stop himself from beating the hell out of that thieving pervert.

“That creep stole my design,” she murmured as if saying it enough would help her believe it.

Drew had no belief issues. Fury churned inside him as he considered something the guy had said.

“C’mon,” he said, taking Tasha’s hand.

“Where?”

“We’re going to talk to Audra.”

Fifteen minutes later, Drew found himself pounding on the same door he’d been at earlier that afternoon. Only this time, there was a different reason for his visit.

“What?” Audra snapped when she yanked the door open. “Come to gloat? I have other things to do, so put it on hold for a while, okay?”

“I want to talk to you.” Drew shouldered her aside and stormed into the room, kicking piles of clothes and shoes out of his way.

“Audra, are you okay?” Natasha asked softly.

Drew shot a glance at his sister. But other than the streaky black thing she had going on with her eye makeup, she looked normal to him.

“The person who isn’t fine here is Natasha. Maybe you can help us out with that, Audra.”

Looking confused at first, Audra gave a moody shrug. “What? She didn’t like her contract? Not enough bennies to keep her dressed in Ann Taylor?”

“I’m more a Michael Kors gal, and that’s not the point,” Natasha said, her face tight.

“What’s the problem then?” Audra plopped onto her bed and pulled her legs under her. “You got the contract. I didn’t. Other than Ruf offering up a whole lot of promises he didn’t keep to me, I don’t see an issue.”

Audra paused, then gave an evil grin. “Well, he might be a mess when I’m through with him. But what’s that got to do with you guys?”
“Audra, do you know anything about a special launch Ruf is planning tomorrow?” Natasha asked.

Audra pressed her lips tight, the black smudges under her eyes standing out in strong relief.

Drew’s heart sank. Damn. Ruf had hinted, but Drew had been sure the guy was just trying to blow smoke in a different direction. But if the look on her face was anything to go by, his sister had something to do with destroying Natasha’s business.

“He won’t be going through with the launch,” Audra growled.

“What do you mean? He told me he would be.” Natasha sounded confused.

“He screwed me over, so the launch is kaput.”

“What are you talking about?” Drew asked. “He told us that he’s going ahead with it, that he’s going to present a new bra design. A very special bra.”

“Huh? I have no clue about that.”

Yeah, right
.

“What do you think he’s launching then?” Natasha asked. Where the hell did she find her calm? Then Drew got a good look at her, and saw the mix of anger and worry in her eyes. “A new line?”

“Nothing,” Audra said in a sullen tone. She didn’t meet their gaze, but instead focused on a string hanging from her ratty jeans.

“Audra?”

“What? It’s not a biggie. He’d promised me the account, and said he’d be introducing me as his new assistant tomorrow. Since he lied about the account, I have to figure he lied about the job, too.”

“Oh, my God. What a total sleaze,” Natasha breathed. All the pain was gone from her face. Now she looked ready to kill someone—especially someone with a stupid little moustache.

“That dirtball promised you the contract and a job if you stole Tasha’s design?” God help him, Drew was going to beat the living crap out of the old guy.

“What are you talking about? He promised me the account and the job, sure. But what design?”

Drew and Natasha exchanged glances. The pain in her gaze made him want to pound something. Or someone.

“What design are you guys talking about,” Audra asked again.

“Apparently, Ruf is planning to present his latest design. It’s so amazingly similar to mine, according to him, that he’s not only uninterested in my proposal, but he’s strongly suggested I not try to market my design, since it could be considered bootlegging on my part.”

Audra’s jaw dropped in shock.

“That son of a bitch!”

“To say the least,” Natasha agreed, the tears she’d been holding back spilling over.

Drew wanted to run from the room, but manfully held his ground.

“Aw, damn,” Audra said, seeming just as uncomfortable. She got up and scooted into the bathroom to grab tissues, then shoved them toward Natasha.

“We’ll fix it,” Drew promised.

“How? How can this be fixed?” The tears cleared and a manic look lit Natasha’s eyes. “I know. We’ll haul Ruf off to a strip club, Audra can accuse him of accosting her and we’ll get the bouncers to beat him up. He’ll be hospitalized for so long, my patent will probably come through.”

Whoa. Drew blinked a couple of times to make sure that was still his sweet Natasha standing there. Who knew she could think that way.

“That’s one option,” he said slowly, shooting his sister a dirty look when she applauded. “Or Audra can admit she stole the bra for him so we can nail him for this whole mess.”

“What?” Audra yelped. “You think I stole that bra? Are you crazy?”

“You said you’d made a deal with Randall to make sure you got the contract, didn’t you?”

“And what? That means I stole from Natasha?”

“I think it’s a strong possibility.” He hated to believe it, but it made sense.

“What about the fact that I didn’t get the contract, huh? Doesn’t that tell you anything?”

“It tells me there’s no honor among thieves. Obviously he has no issue with lying to anyone about anything.”

“You’re such a jerk, Drew. You think you’ve got it all figured out? Fine. Go ahead and pass judgment. I don’t need this crap from you.”

“Too bad,” he snapped, finally having enough. “You’ve run wild long enough, Audra. Sure, it’s fun. Yes, you deserve a good time. I never wanted to hold you back the way I was. But I’ll be damned if I’m going to let your actions hurt Natasha.”

“Oh, poor you, having to give up running wild. As if,” she snorted. “You didn’t have to give up a damned thing, Drew. You chose to quit riding your Harley, to quit playing pool. Nobody made you. Just like you chose to let me go. You lost custody and you walked away.”

“Oh, sure, I walked. I carried a debt the equivalent of the state deficit to cover your support payments, Dad’s medical bills, and the damned business you wanted bad enough to steal for. So if you want to call that walking, you go right ahead.”

“What the hell are you talking about? What debt?”

The red-tinged edge of fury fading, Drew sucked in a deep breath and shrugged. He shouldn’t have brought it up. The debt, the responsibility, it was his.

“It doesn’t matter. It’s not like there is anything you could do about it. All I asked was that you get your shit together. But that was obviously too much, wasn’t it?” Drew shook his head and gave an ironic laugh. “I’m through. You screw Natasha over and we’re done.”

“Just like that? It’s all or nothing with you. You don’t even look for other options. If you don’t get your way, you bail. And that sucks.” Audra clenched her jaw, glaring at him through their father’s eyes. It was that same expression Drew had seen so often—a combination of disappointment, resignation and angry helplessness. She shot a quick look at Natasha, who sat silent in the corner as their family drama spewed around the room.

Then Audra gave Drew her patented sneer and
screw you
shrug.

“Whatever. I’m outta here. You have fun up in that ivory tower, Drew.” She headed for the door, then stopped and turned to look at Natasha again. “I’m sorry for this mess and that your design was stolen.”

Then, just like that, she left.

Drew dropped into the chair and covered his face with his hands. With a deep breath, he tried to gather his thoughts, but it was useless.

“We’ll figure out a way to fix this,” he said softly, finally looking up at Natasha. “Somehow I’ll make it up to you.”

“There’s nothing to make up,” she said in a tight voice.

“Sure there is. If nothing else, I can try to corral a few contacts who might be interested in your aunt’s business.”

Natasha’s eyes narrowed.

What? He was making solid suggestions here.

“You sound as if you don’t think I should buy
Sensual Supports
any longer.”

“Why would you? That dream went belly up. Without that design, or a contract with Randall, what do you have? Not enough to keep you afloat and take care of your aunt, too.”

“And just like that, I walk away from it? The dream was more than this convention, Drew. More than a few contracts. It was a lifestyle. A freedom.”

“There isn’t much freedom in starving to pay off debts.”

She silently considered his words. Frown lines furrowed her forehead and she finally heaved a deep sigh.

“Drew, why don’t you have dreams anymore? When I asked you about it, you brushed me off.”

“Who the hell has time for chasing dreams? I’m too busy cleaning up messes.”

“I think you’re so used to cleaning up messes, you see them where they don’t actually exist.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“I’m sorry. But I agree with Audra. You really do have an all or nothing attitude sometimes. How did she put it? It sucks?”

“Again, what the hell are you talking about? I don’t expect Audra to make sense, but you’re smarter than that.”

“I’m talking about your habit of leaving if things aren’t exactly the way you want them.” She swiped a hand down her tear-streaked face, managing to look cool despite the ravages of her earlier meltdown. “From what I understand, when you didn’t get custody of Audra like you wanted, you just walked away.”

How damned easy did they think it was to juggle all the expenses he’d been stuck with? How much more was he supposed to have done? Sure, there had been times when he’d felt that he’d taken the easy way out. He knew his father would have expected him to spend time with Audra, even if she wasn’t living with him. But he was working three hundred and sixty plus days a year. When was he supposed to have hung out with a teenager?

“You’re overreacting,” he muttered.