The Garrisons: Parker, Brittany & Stephen: The CEO's Scandalous Affair

She took a deep breath and glanced at the clerk who was slowly unloading the morning mail in front of her desk.

“Morning, Mario,” Parker said, greeting the man who’d worked for the company since the year his father had opened it.

“Mr. Garrison.” He nodded slowly, obviously more interested in the conversation than delivering the mail.

“Please,” Anna said to Parker, starting to close his door. “It’s personal.”

But he put his hand on the wood to keep it open. “How personal?”

She speared him with a look. “Very personal.”

He dipped one inch closer and the color immediately rose to her cheeks. For a spy, she sure had a weak spot. Several of them, in fact. One behind her ear, one just at the rise of her breasts and the weakest of all, the soft inside flesh of her thigh.

His body stirred at the thought. Might be time to exploit those weaknesses. “Then why don’t we discuss it over dinner, Anna?”

Her eyes widened. “Dinner?”

“Yep. I feel like celebrating.”

“You do?”

He cocked his head toward the phone on his desk. “It appears all the problems have been solved,” he said smoothly. “Cassie Sinclair is going to rescind her shares. So, let’s celebrate.”

It wasn’t really a lie. He’d win this and Cassie would rescind her shares, or sell them to him. But it wouldn’t hurt to see if a little misinformation got dripped into the Jefferies organization.

“Oh, that’s wonderful.” She brightened, sounding very sincere. How would it sound when she relayed that information to Jordan and Emilio Jefferies? “Would you like me to get Brandon Washington on the phone for you?”

Damn, she was good. Spy or not, she had a skill for anticipating everything he needed. How would that translate in bed? The thought tightened his gut.

“Yes, please. And call Brittany Beach Restaurant and tell my sister to get us the best table in the house tonight.”

“All right. Then we’ll talk tonight.”

They would. And he would plant a few more decoy targets and then he’d sit back and watch Anna, and Jordan and Emilio, try to hit them. “I’ll look forward to it.”

The only problem was, he would. All day.

Five

Parker left the office early, met off-site with Brandon and made it to Brittany Beach well in advance of his “date.” At seven, the sprawling veranda that overlooked the white sands of Miami Beach was already jammed with the beautiful people ready to blow off summer steam and partake in the edgy atmosphere.

He strode across the whitewashed planks, his sunglasses hiding his observation of a young woman in a bikini top so small a strong wind would loosen it. His sister Brittany had taken a lukewarm restaurant that had little going for it but a primo location and turned it into a fairly sizzling place to dine and be seen. Although Adam’s Estate was the late-night destination for the younger club-going set, Brittany Beach had potential.

However, the potential Parker saw was primarily in the fact that the restaurant was located on one of the last waterfront parcels in SoBe still zoned for condos.

Still, Brittany was squeezing what she could out of the restaurant business. Unless it was pouring, the elegant Haitian cotton sofas under cabana tents were populated with self-absorbed Euro models and the men who liked to buy them drinks and dinner. This evening was no different.

“Hey, Parker. Over here.” He turned at the sound of Stephen’s voice, to see his brother sitting comfortably on one of those sofas, with no model in sight. There would be, eventually.

“‘Sup, Stephen.” Parker ambled over, offered his knuckles in greeting and took the silent invitation to join him. “You having dinner here?”

“Just stopped by to see how Brittany’s doing. Have you seen her?”

“No, but I just walked in. She’ll be around.”

A pretty blond cocktail waitress in a revealing halter top and low-slung sarong sidled up to their table and flashed a smile. “Hi, guys. What’ll it be?”

“I’m having dinner,” Parker said, “but not for a few minutes, so just a bottled water for me.”

Stephen ordered a light beer and asked if Brittany was around.

“She’s in the kitchen,” the waitress said. “You’re her brothers, right? I’ll tell her you’re here.”

When the waitress left, Parker slipped off his shades to look at his brother.

“How was the water this weekend?” he asked, knowing that Stephen, although he was as much of a workaholic as Parker, spent every free minute on his elegant cruising yacht.

“Gorgeous. A great escape from the mess that has become Garrison.”

Parker acknowledged that with a puff of disgust. “You got that right. I talked to our newest sister today.”

Stephen yanked his own sunglasses off. “And?”

“And she’s added Garrison to her last name.”

“Oh, man. What did she say?”

“In a nutshell, she won’t rescind her shares, won’t sell them outright, doesn’t want a family reunion and would like to be left alone to run her property.” Parker crossed his ankles and peered at the blue-on-blue horizon. “Brandon’s filed the legal papers. I’m contesting.”

“I don’t know if you need it legally, but you have my support.”

Parker nodded. “Thanks, bro. God knows if I’ll have the others’.”

“Adam will back you. And Brooke. I think, anyway.”

“What do you mean? What’s up with Brooke?” Parker had a well-known soft spot for his sister. “Is she still upset about the will?”

“About the fact that Dad had another family, oh yeah. I tried to talk to her about it, but you know Brooke. She’s private.”

“I’ll give her a call,” Parker said.

“You know, I think she’s seeing someone, too.”

“Really? Did she mention that at the Sunday dinner I missed?”

“No, in fact, she denied it,” Stephen said. “But I know I saw her at the Grand last Thursday.”

“The day of the will reading?”