Second Chance Temptation

Carrick looked up at the knock and his smile broadened as he waved her in. Standing up, he kissed her cheek and shook his head, bemused.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Tanna asked him, dropping her bag onto one of the chairs on the opposite side of his desk.

“Just happy that I’ve finally gotten you to come into Murphy’s. I’m also thinking about how much you look like Mom,” Carrick replied, his voice gruff. Tanna appreciated the observation but she knew she couldn’t hold a candle to her obscenely beautiful mother.

“I know I don’t talk about her often, Tan, but I still miss her. I miss them both.”

Tanna’s eyes misted over. “I do too. But I don’t remember them as well as you do.”

Carrick gestured to his messy desk. “I could do with Dad’s help today,” he admitted, slapping his hands on his hips.

Tanna dropped into the other chair and crossed her long legs. “Problems?” She couldn’t help asking the question. She might be completely devoted to her career but Murphy’s was, and would always be, a huge part of her.

Carrick walked around his enormous desk and rested his butt against the edge. “When are there ever not?”

“Tell me.”

Because, just for a minute or two, she wanted to pretend she was still part of this business, still a Murphy. Tanna never got the chance to talk art with her colleagues. For the most part, art didn’t interest them and they were also too damn busy saving lives.

But she wasn’t at work now and she could spend time talking about Murphy clients and collections with her elder brother.

It didn’t mean anything...

“For someone who professes to have no interest in the family company, you still ask pertinent questions and make sensible suggestions,” Carrick said later, sending her a sly grin.

“I could still use you here at Murphy’s, in public or client relations. You enjoy people, love art and you’re naturally warm and charming, just like Mom. Do you still enjoy being an EMT?” Carrick asked her before she could think of a suitable response.

Tanna crossed her legs and stared at the tip of her leather boot. “It’s an important job, Carrick. I make a difference.”

“You didn’t answer my question,” Carrick persisted. “Do you enjoy it?”

She didn’t hate it.

She looked at the painting sitting on the easel in the corner of his office and lifted her chin. She wasn’t going to spoil her trip to Murphy’s by fighting with her brother over her return, something she couldn’t consider. So she changed the subject. “Is that a Homer?”

Carrick, thank God, didn’t push.

“We’re not sure,” Carrick said, looking at the painting of two children and their African American mother.

“It’s an intensely powerful painting and if it isn’t a Homer, then it’s a superb fake.”

“I have an appointment shortly with an art detective we are hiring to chase down provenance and run tests.”

“I thought you employed art detectives. Isn’t that what Finn does?”

“Finn is checking and double-checking the provenance of all the paintings we are putting up for sale at the Mounton-Matthews auction. It’ll be the biggest sale of the decade and we’ve been working on it for months. Finn is slammed. We also need to use an art detective Tamlyn trusts because she’ll be the one who will eventually decide whether it’s a genuine Homer or not,” Carrick continued.

Tanna’s eyes cooled at the mention of his ex. She and Tamlyn had never jelled and neither made any bones about the fact. “You’re dealing with that witch?”

It was Carrick’s turn to change the subject and he did it by tapping the face of his watch with his index finger. Tanna couldn’t complain; what was good for the goose and all that.

“I have an appointment in five and I need to leave for the airport in an hour so was there a reason for this visit or did you just drop in to say hi?”

Tanna scratched her forehead and wrinkled her nose. “Talking of revisiting the past...”

“Yeah?”

“So, as I said, I’m in Boston for about six weeks...” Tanna nibbled at the corner of her mouth. Get it out, Murphy. Her words rolled out in a rush of syllables. “I went to see Levi this morning. I wanted to apologize to him, see if I could make things right.”

Carrick winced and Tanna didn’t blame him. They both knew a couple of words wouldn’t make it right. “How did he respond?”

“It didn’t go well,” Tanna admitted. “I apologized. He was dismissive.”

Tanna looked past her brother’s shoulder to his incredible view of the Downtown Crossing neighborhood and Boston Common.

Carrick folded his arms, tipped his head and waited for more. Because, somehow, he knew there were at least ten thousand things she wasn’t saying. “He’s still angry at me.”

“Uh-huh?”

“He says I owe him and there’s something I can do to repay him.”

When Tanna didn’t speak again Carrick frowned.

“You going to tell me what Brogan wants, Tan?” Carrick demanded, not bothering to hide his curiosity.

“He wants me to move in with him. He needs someone to run errands for him, cook and clean.” Tanna pulled a face. “He says he can be rude to me and not care.”

“Uh-huh,” Carrick said and Tanna didn’t appreciate his lack of effort to hide his amusement. “And you believed him?”

“He was pretty damn rude,” Tanna muttered.

She couldn’t see anything funny in what she’d said. What was wrong with her oldest brother?

“So, are you going to agree to his demands, clear your debt?” Carrick asked.

“You think I should?”

“I think you should help him out, Tan.”

Tanna narrowed her eyes. “You’re just saying that in the hopes something will spark between us again, so there might be a chance of me moving back to Boston.”

“I’ve never made a secret of the fact that I want you back in Boston and that I want you to be part of the family business again, part of this family. We’ve missed you intensely and you’ve barely spent any time with Ronan’s kids. London is a hella long way away. Levi sat by your bedside for months. The least you can do is help him out when he’s in a jam.”

Yep, Carrick wasn’t above playing the guilt card. Tanna muttered a curse. “Ugh.”

“Is that a yes?” Carrick asked.

“Actually, I’d pretty much made up my mind to help Levi before I got here.” Tanna glared at him. “But I’m not happy about it.”