Going Down Hard (Billionaire Bad Boys 3)

If he held a staff meeting, she’d be in the room, taking notes on how he handled his employees, but always aware of him. Of the authority he emanated, even if he was wearing jeans and a long-sleeve tee shirt. He didn’t need a power suit to make his point. Because he was an easygoing and fair boss, his staff was loyal and appreciated him.

As for his daily routine, whether business ran smoothly or there was stress, Derek was calm under pressure. While Kade tended to blow up first and ease off later, Lucas and Derek were more mild-mannered. But all three men got the job done. They worked like a well-oiled team, and Cassie was impressed.

The day after her first night in her new apartment, she had lunch with Amanda, who she hadn’t seen in a while, and then spent the afternoon at her office to catch up on what was going on and check in with her staff in person. Her second-in-command had been handling things while she was out on assignment, and he was happy to do it. She met with each of her writers, talked to the editors, and got a general feel for what had been happening in her absence, more than she’d been able to glean from phone calls.

When she’d decided to take over Take a Byte, the reporters and staff had embraced her because prior to her arrival, nobody cared what kind of magazine they put out. Morale had been low, rumblings of firings rampant. Cassie had insisted to her father that she wanted this project, and he’d agreed.

She realized now that he hadn’t seen the inherent value in Take a Byte or how it could help rejuvenate the rest of the company. If he had, she’d be sitting in his old chair now, not her brother. She tried not to focus on what she’d lost; instead she promised herself she’d line up an impressive list of people after Derek and make her magazine one that the tech world turned to for information.

She was about to wrap up for the day when a knock sounded on her door. “Come in,” she said without looking up from notes she’d been studying.

“So this is where you work.”

She paused at the sound of Derek’s voice, her stomach flipping happily at the sight of him.

“Hi! This is a nice surprise.” She rose from her seat.

“I had a meeting nearby, and since you said you’d be in your office, I decided to stop by and say hello.” He stepped inside, a sexy grin on his face. “Actually I just missed you.”

The flipping became outright cartwheels in her belly. “Well, welcome.” She waved an arm around the comfortable-sized office.

He took it all in with one glance. It wasn’t nearly as large as his, nor did it have the spectacular view, but she did have a window, and she had put homey touches around the room. A plant her mother

had sent over, photographs of her family, pictures of herself and Amanda both when they were younger and abroad and more current ones.

He strode around the desk and pulled her into his arms, giving her a thorough kiss hello. His tongue swept over her lips before he delved deeper, sweeping inside and tasting her. She wrapped her arms around his waist. His jacket was cold from the outdoors, but she didn’t care, pressing her body against his, the scent of his aftershave arousing her as always. It was a scent she’d forever associate with Derek.

He broke the kiss, then smiled, brushing her hair off her shoulder. “I was wondering if I could steal you for dinner after my meeting.”

“You can.” And maybe they could engage in some catch-up sex, she thought, excited at the prospect.

He hadn’t released her, his arms bracketing her body, and she rose to her tiptoes, about to kiss him again when someone cleared their throat.

She turned to see who’d entered without knocking, dismayed to see Spencer in the doorway.

“I thought this was a place of business,” he said in that pompous-ass way he had of putting people down as he spoke.

Derek stiffened, and though she stepped back to deal with her brother, she slid her hand in his. A show of solidarity.

“Really? I thought it was my office.”

A smirk edged his lips. One she recognized from when they were kids. He wasn’t in a good mood, and they were about to do battle.

“I don’t know why I’m surprised you’re fooling around at work. It’s not like you’ve been in the office the last week.”

“Keeping tabs on me?”

“Cass, come on. I’m just aware of my employees’ comings and goings.”

She rolled her eyes, silently calling bullshit. Even away from the office, she knew more about what was going on than he did.

“What do you want?” she asked, losing patience.

Beside her, Derek rocked on the balls of his feet, clearly ready for anything.

“I just thought I’d say hello. Aren’t you going to introduce me to your … friend?”

Oh, he knew exactly who Derek was, but she played along anyway. “Spencer, meet Derek West. Derek, this is my brother.” She figured Derek needed no further explanation of who he was.