Playing With Secrets (The Lucky Rivals #3)

Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

HUNTER

There’s a bullseye I’m aiming for directly in front of me, and his name is Jamison Stone. I’ve been at war with him for some time now.

It seems he doesn’t understand how serious I am about him staying away from the love of my life. It’s time I make it perfectly clear.

Dorothy’s tear-filled voice carries through the crack of her open door. “Jami, don’t. You know it wrecked me once. I have too much on my plate. Please don’t do this.”

I should stay out here and listen, but I really hate the thought of them alone in her tiny loft. It doesn’t matter that they seem to be fighting. I still want him gone.

The door creaks as I push it open. They come into view, standing in her living room, staring wildly into each other’s eyes—his big muscular body toe-to-toe with her much smaller frame. Before they notice me, Jamison shakes his head and marches to her window.

“What don’t you want Jamison to do?” The door slams behind me. I need the privacy if I’m going to tear him apart.

Jamison spins toward me with surprise covering his face as Dorothy slowly slides down to sit on the sofa. Her eyes are bloodshot from crying, which tells me they’ve been fighting for a while. They share a glance full of panic, and the hair on the back of my neck rises.

He folds his arms over his chest. “I was just telling her we needed some time before she can expect you and me to be friends.”

I tilt my head and study them. They seem to communicate silently at times. I’ve missed it before, but I’m not that stupid anymore.

My eyes slide from him to her. “That doesn’t answer my question. What doesn’t she want you to do?”

Her head is down, and she’s wiping away tears. She’s sick and weak, which upsets me even more that he’s here pestering her.

He keeps his eyes on me. “She’s under a lot of pressure and doesn’t want me to distance myself from you anymore. She believes if you and I are going to get to the point we can be friends, I need to actively work on it.”

“She’s not wrong, Jamison, but I don’t see the point in you coming here and upsetting her when she’s been sick. So tell me why this couldn’t wait?” I move toward her sofa where she’s sitting. She needs to know she can lean on me like she did all weekend.

She pushes a pillow off her lap, shoving it to the side of the couch. “Melanie forgot a file I needed, and Jami brought it over. We started arguing. I don’t even know what caused it.”

“We weren’t arguing. We were trying to see eye to eye. This wish of hers about us being friends again is difficult. I made a snide comment about it. I wasn’t trying to upset her, especially since she’s sick.” Jamison seems to gravitate to Dorothy, his shoulders—even broader than mine—blocking my view of her for a moment.

It's like he thinks he can simply eclipse what she and I have together, but I won't let that happen.

She stands and faces me. He places himself in front of her as if she needs his protection. This is the exact thing that sent me down the path of investigating him in the first place.

He thinks he has ownership of her in some way. It makes my blood boil.

She steps around him, tightening the cream-colored robe she’s in, and comes over to me. “What are you doing here, Hunter? I thought your plane was taking off soon.”

“It is, but they’re addressing a mechanical issue, so I have some extra time. I came back to see if there was anything else you needed.” This next statement is for both Jamison and her to hear. “I love how you leaned on me all weekend. I wanted more of it, so I came back.”

Jamison flexes his chest as I stare into my beauty’s emerald eyes. He’s in my peripheral, so I know I’m aggravating him. And that makes me smile inside.

Her posture softens. “Thank you. You’ve been more than generous. I can’t tell you how much it means.”

“You seem to be getting tired, so Jamison and I will leave you to rest. Don’t worry about work. Just take care of yourself.” I press my lips against her forehead. “Even sick, you smell wonderful. The scent of the lotion from the massage I gave you remains on your skin.”

Yes, I’m staking my claim and I couldn't care less how Jamison feels about it. I’ve warned him about being with her, and it’s clear I need to do something about it.

She blushes. “Like I said, thank you. You two should get going. I need to rest. And despite what you say, I have to get some work done.”

She shuffles away from me and gives him a sidelong glance. He shakes his head and starts toward the door.

I follow him. “Jamison, I’d like to have a word with you. Let’s walk out together.”

“I need to get back to work. Let’s chat another time.” He places his hand on the doorknob.

I laugh to myself because I must have gotten under his skin. It’s a good thing because it gives me the upper hand in our war for Dorothy’s love. Too bad for him I have a ton of leverage to keep him away from her.

“It’ll be brief. We can talk as we go to the lobby.” I sidestep to leave, half facing the door and her. “I’ll have Hailey check on you later. She can bring you anything you need from work. If it’s something personal you need, text my assistant. I’ll send you her contact information as soon as I get in my car.”

“That’s unnecessary. I can take care of myself.” Dorothy stands in her living room, not joining us near the front door.

“Nonsense. I have people I pay good money to for this exact thing.” I flash her a goodbye smile and rush to Jamison.

He’s already on his way out. It seems he doesn’t want to wait for me.

When will he ever learn?

He’s almost to the stairwell when I close her door. “Jamison, I highly suggest you wait. We have something to discuss.”

“No, we don’t. I already know what you’re going to say.” He trudges through the hallway and disappears down the stairs.

I increase my stride in order to reach him. “Test me and you’ll get a lesson you don’t want.”

He stops on the stairs as I enter and twists my way, pointing his finger. “Your threats have me for now, but they won’t have me for long. I plan on destroying you.”

I roll my eyes and continue to descend. “You know, I was reconsidering our agreement over the weekend. I thought maybe we could do this amicably. But you have a different agenda. You texted her all weekend, demanding to meet with her.

“And now that I found you in her loft, I’ve taken that idiotic thought and thrown it out the window. You have no intentions of respecting me, so I’ll have to put something into motion. ”

He clenches his teeth and advances on me, taking two stairs at a time until he’s one below me. “You already spread the rumor about Melanie and me, so I’m not surprised you’re ready to do it again.

“But you can trust me on this. I’m not giving up on my relationship with Dori. She still loves me and I still love her, so take that and be on your way.”

Dorothy loving him is news to me. I knew he loved her, but I didn’t know she felt that way about him. I’ve had my suspicions, but she’s never come out and said those words.

“Live in your fantasy all you want, Jamison. At the end of the day, we both know she doesn’t feel that way for you. If she did, she wouldn’t keep coming back to me and trying to work it out.”

He glares my way but says nothing.

“Let that sink in because it’s not your bed she slept in all weekend.” I tip my head in glory.

He huffs away from me, but I have one more thing since he doesn’t seem to care about the consequences. “It would be a shame if the beta launch for our app went poorly. Cut ties with her or else it’ll be in jeopardy.”

He stops when he reaches the lobby but doesn’t face me. “You need the launch to go well just as much as I do.”

“I do, but I’m willing to cut my losses. I don’t need you as much as you need me. There are a million developers, and I have enough information about your software. I could easily have someone else come up with something similar.” I stride by him and wave goodbye.

He hesitates for a moment and then relents. “I’ll back off, but she’s a smart woman. You may think you’re winning, but she’ll eventually leave you. It could be a month from now or five years. Either way, you won’t win in the end.”

I shrug and open the front door to her building. My driver jumps out and opens the car door for me.

It wasn’t the interaction I was hoping for with Dorothy, but at least I made sure they weren’t together. I slide into the back seat and watch Jamison stomp away until I can no longer see him.

I think he got the point. If he goes near her place again, I’ll sabotage our launch even if it is bad for my business.

He’s already had one failed marker. If he has more, the terms of our contract state we can seek other options. We won’t get the money back we’ve paid him, but he won’t get the billion dollars he wants so much.

After that, I’ll make sure his company gets smeared in the media. I have the connections to do it and it would ruin him. The problem with that is Dorothy would never forgive me.

This party is the last place I want to be, but Ava demanded it, so here I am. I knock on the door to her suite and glance at my watch while I wait.

Spending five hours on a plane was bad enough. Now I have to endure a night out with her.

Only two hours of this bullshit and I can get back to my real interest, Dorothy. I pull my phone out of my pocket right as Ava answers the door.

“Hunter, you’re right on time.” She pulls the door wide open. “Please come in.”

“We don’t have time, Ava. Let’s get downstairs and get your media fix over with. I’ve got a lot to do tonight.”

“Very well. Just let me get my purse.” She turns away, so I hold the door open.

She takes her sweet time getting her belongings. It’s her way of trying to get me to step inside her suite.

She doesn’t get it. A relationship with her won’t happen ever again. She may be beautiful on the outside, but she is ugly to the bone inside.

We’ve had moments when we’ve gotten along, but that changed when I told her all aspects of our relationship were over. That only caused her to dig her heels in.

She still has too much hanging over my head. She uses it to her advantage and runs me around like a puppet.

Her blue eyes shine as she strolls out of her room. “You look incredibly handsome tonight.”

“Thank you. As usual, you’re stunning. There’s no doubt the media will eat you up.” I place my hand on the small of her back and let the facade begin.

We join the event holding hands and laughing as if we’re the strongest couple here. My hand burns because Ava’s isn’t the one I want to be holding.

It reminds me that Dorothy and I can’t do this in public. If we could, I have a feeling Jamison would be a moot point.

Douglas Aldridge approaches me and his daughter. “Hunter, how are you doing this evening?”

He holds out his hand, so I shake it. “Very well, thank you. Any night Ava and I are able to share time makes for a wonderful mood.”

“Hi, darling. You look beautiful.” He leans to her and kisses her cheek, admiring her red formfitting dress.

“Thanks, Daddy.”

They share a few pleasantries while I search for an opening to leave them alone. Colton Monroe comes into view and a surge of jealousy races through me. The last time I saw him he was hitting on Dorothy. Ava steals my attention with a gasp.

“Oh, there’s Melinda Jost. Excuse me while I go say hi. She and I have been playing phone tag.” Ava flits away without waiting for a response.

“You and Ava seem to be frequenting these events more often. I’m curious what your intentions are with my daughter.” Douglas shifts so we’re face-to-face.

“We enjoy spending time together. She’s a beautiful woman.”

“That she is. Are you two getting serious?”

This is a tricky question. Her dad is one of my father’s best friends and the strict ethics advisor on our board. If I make one mistake, it could end poorly for me. Something Ava keeps reminding me about.

“Ava and I are taking our time. Since she moved, the distance between us makes it difficult to take our relationship to the next level.”

He studies me and nods. “Understood, but if you want to grow your relationship, consider asking her to move back. You two have dated on and off for years.”

“I’m not so sure Ava would take that kind of suggestion well.”

“Who knows? It might be worth it to try. Maybe it’s time to make your relationship last. She’s hinted that she wouldn’t mind something more permanent with you. If that’s what you want, you have my blessing.”

“That’s nice to hear, Douglas. If we get to that point, I’ll let you know.” The thought has my skin crawling. “Are there any board rules I should know about if I choose to get serious with her?”

It sounds as if I’m making a joke, but there’s a reason for my question. I fake a laugh and let the games begin.

He chuckles and pats my shoulder. “Oh, Hunter, at least you’re staying true to yourself and calculating all your risks.”

“That I am. I thought I should ask, considering the clause of dating within Efron Worldwide is in place for the executives.” I shrug. “It’s best to make sure.”

“True, but as far as that goes, there are no rules about dating relatives of the board members. ”

My brows narrow. “Just how did the rule of the executives not being able to date make it into the executive's contracts?”

“When we got sued by one of our past employees for sexual harassment. You should know that, but you were new to the game when that took place.” He smiles at a passerby.

“I vaguely remember it. Wasn’t there extortion and blackmail associated with that entire ordeal?”

“You remember correctly. It could’ve destroyed us, but we came to an agreement and settled out of court. It could’ve been ugly. We decided then we needed the clause.” He glances at his empty glass.

Reading his cue that he’s about to go get another drink, I get straight to the point.

“It seems to be an extreme stipulation. If two people wanted to date within our organization and were open about it, I would like to believe we would support it.”’

“What are you getting at?”

“Having the clause could cause our employees to break the rules, which is worse. We’re more at risk of a lawsuit if they hide it because we won’t know it’s happening.”

He nods. “I see your point, but it doesn’t seem to be an issue. Not one executive has questioned that part of their employment agreements. HR has them sign off on it so they’re aware it’s there.”

I sidestep to let an older gentleman in a tux pass by. “If one of our executives had an issue with it, what would happen?”

“We’d have to review it and see who was involved. We'd probably remove the clause as long as everybody was on board and we created proper forms that showed consent and an agreement not to make any claims against the company.”

“Hmm, that’s interesting.”

Removing Dorothy’s clause may be easier than I thought. I was trying to get around the board through legal channels.

I’m disappointed in myself that I didn’t think to approach the clause issue head-on. Going straight to the board seems too simple, but sometimes the most obvious things are the hardest to see.

Douglas excuses himself as I frantically devise a plan to address this as soon as I get home. One less thing that separates me from Dorothy is the ticket to us getting back together.

That thought has me ready to lick the drool from the corner of my mouth and taste my win for her love. It’ll be nothing less than delicious.

The issue of me wanting kids is still a hurdle. But with help from my new therapist, I am warming up to the idea.

My stomach twists in protest. The thought of taking care of a child freaks me the fuck out. Okay, maybe not warming, but I’m trying to get closer.

Then there’s the Ava issue, but I’m going to get out of our agreement one way or another. Everyone has their price.

“Hunter Efron. Good to see you, man.” Colton Monroe slaps me on my back. The night he hit on Dorothy comes to mind.

I turn to him, holding back the urge to roll my eyes. “Colton, I see Mateo invited you to be his wingman again. You’re beginning to appear desperate.”

I scan the crowd for Mateo. I’d like to get more information about Jamison, and Mateo’s just the guy to give it to me. He knows Jamison better than most.

“Not desperate, Hunter. These events always have the most beautiful women in attendance. I’ll never pass up an opportunity such as this.”

Colton winks at a cute staff member as she struts by. “That reminds me. When is Dori going to show up to one of these again?”

“You mean Dorothy?” His interest in her grates on me, so I hold his stare.

“No, I mean Dori. She told me her name was Dorothy, but asked if I would call her Dori. I make it a point to call a gorgeous lady like herself by the name she prefers. It goes a long way.” He flashes a smile, telling me all the things he’d like to do to her.

I want to throw him to the ground and pound in his face. “I suggest you quit thinking of her in that way. She’s off-limits.”

“Why is Dori off-limits to him, Hunter?” Ava’s dad comes up from behind me.

Ava steps up to us with anguish dripping from her eyes. “Are you seeing her behind my back?”

Dammit!

I’ve screwed up terribly because I just put Dorothy in Ava's and her dad's sights. Ava wants something from me, and with Dorothy in the way, Ava’s out of luck. And that’s never a good thing.