Payback Affairs. Emilie Rose

      “Mitch, I resigned from a job I enjoyed and put my condo on the market. I’m not going to quit. I’m here for the full three-hundred and sixty-five. If we lose KCL, it won’t be because I failed to do my part.”

      Mitch’s disbelief was plain on his face. “Why come back now?”

      “Because this time he isn’t going to win.”

      His brother didn’t look convinced.

      Rand shoved a hand into his pants pocket, withdrew his pocket-knife key chain and flicked it open. The blade flashed silver in the light as he pressed it to his fingertip. With the emotions churning through him he barely felt the prick.

      “What in the hell are you doing?” Mitch demanded.

      Red oozed from the cut. “You want me to sign in blood?”

      “We’re not kids anymore, Rand. Blood vows don’t cut it. This is business. A multibillion-dollar business in case you’ve forgotten.”

      Clearly he wasn’t going to erase five years of silence with their old childhood ritual. “I haven’t forgotten.”

      Rand looked around for a tissue and saw nothing usable in his father’s Spartan corner office. He dropped his knife with a clatter on the desk and put pressure on the tiny wound with his thumb.

      Movement drew his attention to the doorway. Tara, in a pale yellow dress with her gleaming hair scraped back tightly against her skull, stood in the opening. The severe style wasn’t unattractive, not with her bone structure, but he missed her golden curls. He shut down that port of thought. Her hair was no concern of his.

      Tara’s blue gaze traveled from his open knife to the small amount of blood on his fingers, then met his. “I’ll find the first-aid kit.”

      Mitch’s gaze tracked her retreat before returning to Rand. “Is she the reason you left?”

      “I’m sure Dad spewed his own version of why I quit.”

      “He said nothing. That’s why I’m asking you.”

      Rand tried to mask his surprise. His father had loved to gloat. “I left because he took our competition too far.”

      “How so?”

      He stonewalled his brother with a look. Sleeping with KCL employees had always been frowned upon. Rand had known better, and to this day he didn’t know why he hadn’t been able to resist Tara’s alluring trap. Since he hadn’t been her supervisor, and therefore wouldn’t technically be breaking any rules, he’d chosen to ignore company policy.

      “What exactly do you want, Mitch? Guarantees? Fine. I guarantee you I’ll see this through to the end.”

      “Why should I believe you? You walked away five years ago without a word. One day you were here. The next you were gone and completely incommunicado. Hell, I didn’t even know if you were alive until your name surfaced on the letterhead of our competition.” Mitch’s eyes narrowed. “Rumor had it you’d run away with Tara.”

      Apparently the rumor mill hadn’t known Tara was two-timing him with his father. “You should know better than to listen to rumors.”

      “C’mon, Rand. You and Tara disappeared on the same day.”

      Tara’s gasp drew Rand’s attention to the door. Her wide-eyed expression indicated she’d overheard. She searched his face as if seeking confirmation of Mitch’s statement.

      So she hadn’t been lying. About that. She really hadn’t known he’d left KCL.

      “I—I have the first-aid kit. Let me see your cut,” Tara said when he neither confirmed nor denied Mitch’s statement. Her heels tapped out a brisk beat as she crossed the marble floor. She set a small plastic box on the desk, opened it and extracted the necessary items, then held out her hand.

      Rand cursed himself for being a fool. Why had he thought he could walk back in here and have things be the same—specifically his formerly close relationship with his brother? He regretted that casualty more than any other, but he’d sowed those bitter seeds with his silence, and now he’d have to harvest the crop of resentment.

      He laid the back of his hand in Tara’s palm and discovered that some things hadn’t changed. Even knowing she was a liar didn’t stop that same old zing from ripping through his veins. Her familiar sultry, spicy fragrance filled his lungs as she bent over her task. He welcomed the distracting sting of disinfectant as she gently cleaned the nick.

      “Should I have the staff prepare your old suite of rooms at the house?” Mitch asked.

      Rand’s living arrangements were only going to add fuel to the rumors. Was that Tara’s plan? Did she think she could use gossip to force him into a commitment? If so, she’d be disappointed.

      Rand met Tara’s gaze then his brother’s. “I have a place lined up. Besides, you already have company.”

      Mitch’s part of the will required him to play daddy to a child from one of their father’s affairs, a one-year-old half brother Rand hadn’t known existed until Richards handed out inheritance assignments. The boy and his guardian had moved into Kincaid Manor. Rand had yet to meet the kid. But in his opinion, the boy was better off not having Everett Kincaid in his life.

      Tara quickly and efficiently bandaged Rand’s finger, then released his hand and packed away her first-aid supplies without mentioning their cohabitation. If she planned to use it as leverage, then why hadn’t she informed Mitch?

      “Human resources has the first candidate for the director of shared services position downstairs. Which one of you is conducting the final interviews?” she asked.

      “Show him or her to the conference room,” Rand directed and looked at Mitch. “Meet me there in five. You know Nadia’s current duties better than I do, and you’ll be better able to gauge which applicant can handle them. But I’m sitting in. The COO should join us, too.”

      “There is no chief operating officer. Dad eliminated the position when you left.”

      Rand banked the information to deal with later. No doubt that action had launched its own series of rumors. “Then we’ll handle the interviews together. As a team.”

      Mitch remained motionless for a full ten seconds, his gaze direct and hard. Rand held his brother’s challenging stare and once again cursed his father for putting Rand in what should have been Mitch’s job. As chief financial officer, his brother was the logical choice if the COO position had been eliminated—even if Rand had been raised to be CEO of KCL and had the experience of the top job with the competition. Mitch nodded and left Rand’s office. Tara turned to follow him.

      “Tara.” She paused then looked at Rand. He lifted his hand to indicate the bandage. “Thanks.”

      “You’re welcome.” She bit her lip and shifted on her sandaled feet. “Did you leave because of me?”

      The pain in her voice slipped between his ribs quicker than his pen knife had pricked his finger. He hardened himself to the wounded shadows in her eyes.

      She was a damned good actress. Too bad her talent was wasted on him.

      “You were merely the straw that broke this camel’s back. You and my father deserved each other.”

      She flinched. “But I—”

      “What, Tara?” he barked when she didn’t continue.

      Her chin and gaze fell. “Nothing.”

      “Good. Because the subject of the past is closed. Clear?”

      Her shoulders snapped straight. “Yes, sir. Anything else?”

      Rand scanned his father’s—and now his—domain. He’d always hated this office. With its architectural glass-and-chrome desk, the bare, cold marble floors and the glass walls overlooking Biscayne Bay, the