Page 1 of Sinful Negotiations

Prologue

Uneasy.

Edgy.

A tingle of awareness passed through his body, and he paused in the darkness of his cabin. It had been such a long time since he experienced it, he almost didn’t recognize it. His sixth sense prickled, alerting him something wasn’t right with his brother. He reached for his phone at the exact moment the screen lit with a text message.

Text: I think I’m in trouble. Are you in the country?

Reply: Arrived at the cabin today. What’s going on?

Text: Extortion, threats, false documents on a merger.

Reply: Go home and stay there. Call the police now.

For his brother to ask for help spoke volumes about whatever situation he was involved in. His unpacked bag remained by the front door, so after grabbing a jacket he left in a rush.

Two hours later he pulled onto the driveway of his brother’s home. Secure and private, the house seemed quiet except for the rumbling of his motorcycle when he parked in the driveway. No lights illuminated the windows, and there was no indication of movement.

Trees swayed in the light breeze, lightning flashed in the dark sky, and thunder rumbled low and deep. A late Spring thunderstorm slowly approached promising heavy rain. Alex Cross tilted his face, his instincts on high alert.

His gaze darted to every corner, searching for some sign that his brother was okay when he saw a body on the ground close to the front door.

“Fuck,” he snarled before rushing to his brother’s aide. He knelt on the ground, turned him over, and gasped in horror at the obvious beating he’d received. Blood smeared his flesh, andhis face was already swollen with numerous purple bruises and lacerations.

“I’m here,” he whispered when his brother squeezed his hand. “I’m calling an ambulance.”

His brother opened one eye and moved his head from side to side. “No police. Find out who did this to me,” he managed to speak.

“My team then.”

His brother nodded once. “Become me. You’re the only one who can.”

“I’ll make them pay.”

“Chandler James. Remember the name.” A weak smile spread on his brother’s blood-coated lips before his body went slack.

“Whoever did this is a dead man walking.” With a frown, he withdrew his cellphone, and scrolled to his partner’s name. His brother needed medical care, but not in this city. “Arrange a medevac at my brother’s residence, Lexxa. Prepare the team and alert Lucas. This one is personal.”

Chapter 1

“Be there at six.”

Tessa James stared at the text message on the screen of her cellphone. A sliver of excitement slid along her spine, and her sex throbbed against her silk thong. She needed to end this, today, but couldn’t force herself to do it.

Dark, naughty, and delicious, Aidan Cross embodied the definition of temptation in a fantastic smelling, attractively packaged man. Light blue eyes, a head full of thick, dark hair, and muscles in all the right places teased her beyond rational thought.

He was a sly devil, extremely intelligent, cunning, and she’d slept with him so many times she’d lost count. He was also her uncle’s rival in the advertising industry, and soon to be her uncle’s business partner.

She couldn’t have predicted the merger when she accepted the position in finance, nor the attraction to her boss. Fresh out of college, and eager to jumpstart her career, it seemed like the right move, although her uncle pitched a nasty, dramatic fit. In the end, he’d accepted her decision, and now she understood the reason.

The merger was already in the works. Her uncle went through the motions because he assumed she’d be under his thumb and thought he'd gain inside information. Her uncle asked too much.

She wasn’t like him and wouldn’t undermine anyone for personal gain...family or not. Her uncle rode the seedier side, always meddling in disastrous affairs and dealing with people she never wished to meet.

Aidan was professional, legal, and talented. He knew what he wanted and worked hard to obtain it. He was the total package as far as she was concerned. She’d studied him, the way he approached business, his decisions, and understood hisreasons. Contracts were competitive, and he entered the arena as the underdog, snarling and fighting his way to the top against impossible odds.

The evening he finally answered her at the gym was her undoing, but she had relentlessly, shamelessly pursued him. An invitation for drinks led to more than she thought imaginable.