A Taste of Peace - J. J. Sorel Page 0,2

asked.

I took a deep breath. We had a history that was short, not so sweet, and something I deeply regretted.

Around a year ago while in Aspen at a business convention, after one shot too many, my right-hand woman ended up with her right hand on my dick.

The next day, we laughed it off as a reckless drunken incident. But a hopeful twinkle entered her lingering gaze and had remained.

After a few drinks, my CFO had a tendency to pounce. She had a real Jekyll and Hyde nature. Sober, she was cool, efficient, and sharp. But given a bottle, she’d get all touchy-feely, babbling on and on about what a great couple we’d make.

Had it been a mistake? You bet. But a blow job will do that to a man. It was a poor excuse. But when it came to my dick, it had ruled my brain for far too long. That was why I’d decided to stay away. Not just from Britney but from women in general.

Now that the board of directors had taken flight after some questionable investment scheme had gone belly-up, it was up to me to keep Peace Holdings going.

Britney was crucial for the running of the business. She’d been loyal to my dad for over a decade. While in college, she’d worked by his side, learning all the tricks of running a company that mainly dealt in knocking down buildings and replacing them with cheap but highly sought-after apartments.

Until recently, I’d never taken an interest in the family business. I was the black sheep. The disappointment, as my father would often imply whenever talking about his sons.

My twin passions of surfing and drumming absorbed my time, and assuming that Brent would eventually take the reins of the family business, I just rolled with it.

“The media will have a field day. They’ll make us out to be the next power couple,” I argued.

She shrugged. “So? All publicity is good publicity.”

“If we were in show biz, I suppose. But we’re hardly that interesting.”

“Speak for yourself,” she said.

I grinned. “You’ll be there with me. Just not as my date. You’re a part of this company after all.” I’d lost count of how often we’d had this conversation. “Anyway, find me a girl. Someone plain and smart.”

She took a phone call, giving me a free moment to check the surf report.

“Send her in,” she said, ending the call. She looked at me. “That’s the new admin assistant. She’s starting today.”

“Oh, of course. I forgot about that. What’s her name?”

“She’s here now. I’ll introduce you.”

Our new employee stepped into the room. Wearing dark-rimmed glasses, she offered me a jittery smile and held out her hand. “Good morning, I’m Miranda Flowers.”

Britney acknowledged her with a nod. “This is Lachlan Peace, the head of the company.”

“Welcome,” I said, taking her cool, slightly shaky hand and gave her my sunniest smile in an attempt to calm the poor girl’s nerves.

Britney was hardly the type of person to make someone feel at ease; she was so demanding and such a perfectionist that at times she even made me jumpy. I almost felt sorry for Miranda.

“Well then, I’ll leave you to it. Good luck. I’m sure you’ll fit right in, and feel free to have a look around the estate,” I said.

She looked up at me with a soft smile. “Thank you for this opportunity. I’m really looking forward to working here. It’s a beautiful place.”

I smiled back and then shifted my attention to Britney. “Come and see me in an hour so we can solve that little problem.”

I left them alone, making a mental note to ask Britney to be gentle. We’d already lost three admin assistants in a year. Although Britney blamed it on ineptitude, I knew she was a difficult taskmaster.

I plunked myself down and stared at the expansive view of the sea. For a moment, I allowed my mind to wander before returning my attention to Benson Gray, an investor who kept making demands about his promised returns. As much as I’d tried, I couldn’t find anything about him or the luxury resort he’d sunk his cash into, something he’d referred to as “Bird of Paradise.”

When it came to understanding the convoluted pathways my father’s projects took, I was way out of my depth. Straight up and down property acquisition and development, I could do in my sleep. But these strange little schemes, which Britney had helped devise, were a labyrinth of complexity.

And now I had this investor virtually stalking me. It