Bound To Protect. Anya Summers

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СКАЧАТЬ held up his hands in a defensive manner. “Nor is Becca. So it’s agreed by all here that Sadie, Phoebe, and Becca are in the clear?”

      “We’re all on the same page there,” Dante conceded with a slight nod.

      “Good. We should create a detailed plan. Michael, I will need to thoroughly vet whomever you select for the role of fiancée. It really does not make me happy that we’ll have an unknown individual brought in at a time like this,” Quinten stated.

      Michael rubbed a frustrated hand over his face. “I know, but I never thought in a million years that my lifestyle would be called into question. That someone would go after the company my family built by attacking me in this fashion. I built Club Underworld—we built it—so that we had a place to go away from prying eyes.”

      “That’s why we’re here tonight. You put out the bat signal, and we came,” Luc said.

      They spent the next two hours debating, organizing, and delegating before they had a rock-solid plan to ferret out the spy and save Michael from being ousted from his company.

      Dante was the only left after everyone else went on home.

      “What the fuck was I thinking, tossing out a non-existent fake fiancée?” Michael asked him.

      Dante sat on one of the couch arms, leaned on his elbows, and said, “Listen to me, Michael. You were blindsided. You did the best you could with the situation—better than I would have done, that’s for damn sure. I would have fired every one of them.”

      “Boards of major public companies don’t work that way.” Michael sighed, more tired than he could ever remember being.

      “Be that as it may, we will figure this out. We’ll find the spy and take a strip out of them. They will be sued and barred from entry.”

      “True, but the damage might have already been done. I can’t lose my father’s company.” Michael’s mom and sister were firmly behind him on this, trusting his judgement to see it through to its conclusion and preserve the company. He knew Ram’s side of the family would be, as well. But it rubbed him raw that he never saw it coming.

      “You won’t, you’re still the majority shareholder. Both your mom and sister have large controlling shares as well. If it comes down to it, the three of you might be forced to oust the current board. With your majority shares, it could legally be done,” Dante offered.

      “There’s a thought. But they could still wrest control away before I did something that drastic, make it so that I don’t have any say in the direction of the company. Whoever did this, I worry that they won’t stop with just the board dismissing me, or removing me as CEO. There’s a huge possibility our lifestyle will go public. And I’ve put all of you at risk of exposure.”

      “We’ll deal. We all knew the risks.”

      “True, but I’m the one who put us in danger,” Michael said, reaching for the bottle of scotch and pouring a dram.

      “Look, I need to head to Bayou Sin. There’s a coverage issue tonight. I just need to fill in for an hour until the replacement gets there. Will you be all right, or do I need to find someone else to cover it?” Dante asked.

      Michael waved him off. “I’ve got a call to make. I’ll be fine.”

      “Who are you calling at this hour?”

      “Jared. He needs to look after his own with this,” Michael explained, swishing the scotch in his glass at the thought of the fucking mess of things he had to deal with.

      Dante hissed. “Fuck, I didn’t think of that. Give him my best. Be back in a bit. And try not to drink your way through the bottle. We need you to keep a level head.”

      Michael nodded as Dante sauntered out of the penthouse. With his scotch in hand, he trod back to the bank of windows—the night now full dark, with the bright lights of the Quarter illuminating the waterfront—and made the call.

      “What the hell could be so important that you’re calling me at this hour, Michael?” Jared’s Scottish brogue filtered through the receiver of his cell.

      “I wanted to give you a heads up about a debacle I’m facing with a spy in our midst. Just in case they have infiltrated your neck of the woods to expose us all.”

      “Bloody hell, man. Go back to sleep, lass,” Jared said.

      “Sorry, didn’t mean to wake your wife up.”

      “It normally wouldn’t be an issue, except Shannon has been keeping her mum up, and we’re expecting another this autumn,” Jared explained, sounding tired.

      “I didn’t know you two were expecting again. Congrats on that front.”

      “Thanks. Shannon will have a little brother come September. But moving on, what’s this about a spy?”

      “I’ll explain. You might want to pass it onto Declan and the rest of your group, as well,” Michael said, and proceeded to give Jared McTavish as much information as possible. Jared owned Pleasure Island in the Bahamas. The lifestyle resort was the premiere destination for billionaires, rock stars, and movies stars in the lifestyle who wanted to vacation with their submissive, or to meet submissives during their stay. Jared had met his wife, Naomi, there. Michael and Dante had entertained a plethora of submissives during their stays on the island.

      The thing was, if one person in the scene was being attacked, they circled the wagons and protected others in the lifestyle. It was the only way they survived.

      And by the time Michael ended the call, the only thing he had left on his mind was wondering where the hell he was going to find a woman to pose as his fiancée.

      Chapter 3

      Sabrina’s fingers trembled as she adjusted the itty-bitty outfit and gave herself a once over in the mirror. The sailor’s outfit covered the naughty parts for the time being. Tonight would be fine. She could do this, go out on that darkened stage under the spotlight and dance to the catcalls. She had a body most men lusted after already anyhow, not that she had ever experienced sex—or lust, for that matter, with everything else on her plate. All she had to do was pretend it was a fashion show, and not that she was taking her clothes off for money.

      Her stomach rolled at the thought.

      Besides, it wasn’t money for herself, but for her brother, Alex. He needed her to go out there and give it her best shot. They had until the end of the month for Sabrina to make good on their rent before they were evicted. And only a week left of funds to pay for her brother’s much-needed at home care.

      She couldn’t remember a time when she wasn’t tired or strapped for cash.

      It wasn’t her brother’s fault. His medical conditions required constant medical care, as well as medicine that was outrageously expensive even with his insurance—which, if she didn’t earn more money, she wouldn’t be able to pay for either.

      The trust her parents had left them had been whittled away under the burden of his expenses until it went bone dry six months prior.

      That was why she СКАЧАТЬ