Heroic Measures (Blackbridge Security 6)

My eyes dart to the woman standing behind the concierge desk, but she seems more interested in something on her phone than concerned that the man in front of me is as likely to pull out a gun and shoot as anything else.

“Wh-what?” I snap, trying my best to be brave and failing miserably.

“Nice housing for a whore,” he says, jumping right into the same vileness he has shown twice at the bar. He swings his arms over his head, indicating the nice lobby. “Get this on your back as well?”

“I’m not a whore,” I spit, even though Jude made me feel like one less than an hour ago.

“Oh no?” He gasps in mock surprise. “If you’re not a whore then how else are you getting a monthly stipend from Weston Lewis?”

I freeze at my father’s name, disgust mixing with the fear and anger in my stomach.

“You’re disgusting,” I spit.

“And that reaction tells me you’re no more innocent than the ten other whores he’s been supporting.”

“I’m only going to say this once, and I never want to see your face again. My name isn’t Charlotte. I’m not a whore. I’m not fucking Weston Lewis.” I walk away from him, my hands shaking even more than they were in the car.

At this rate, my entire world is going to implode. I’ve lost my best friend. I’ve lost my lover. My mother’s secret was just tossed at my feet. Although this man seems to be mistaking me for her, which is insane because she’s been dead for years, that information isn’t mine to speak about.

It hits me like a wrecking ball when I look over my shoulder and take a long look at the man still standing in the middle of the room. We’re siblings. He looks too much like Weston Lewis, not to be his son.

My emotions are a tangled mess by the time I reach the door to my apartment, so convoluted that I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to unravel them.

Chapter 23

Jude

“The what?” Ignacio’s nose scrunches up like I’ve said something disgusting.

“The corpus cavernosum. It’s the tissue that runs along the sides.” He doesn’t look any more educated. “It’s the part that fills with blood to get an erection. It’s literally part of your anatomy, man. How do you not know this?”

Brooks snorts. “We know anatomy. Head, shaft, balls. Plain and simple.”

Ignacio chuckles at Brooks’ statement.

“You know—”

“We don’t,” Ignacio interrupts. “But I bet we’re about to.”

“There’s a clinical trial happening at the University of Miami. They’re using an LISW device to help with erectile dysfunction. It’s pretty interes—”

“A what?”

“A linear shock wave device,” I explain.

“Men are getting their dicks zapped to get an erection?” Brooks asks as he shifts in his spot on the couch.

“I mean, it’s a little more medical than that, but yeah.”

“How did we even get on this subject?” Ignacio mutters, looking just as uncomfortable with the mention of the study in Florida.

“Brooks called his dick a love muscle,” I remind them. “And I was explaining that the penis isn’t muscle. It’s actually made of spongy—”

“Enough,” Brooks snaps but he’s got a smile on his face and no real malice in his tone. “Don’t ruin erections for us with your medical, scientific talk.”

I shrug. “I found it interesting.”

This is exactly what I needed after Parker left my condo this morning. I needed to be around people I trust, people who wouldn’t betray me. People who didn’t look at me and see a mark. People who don’t use me for their own benefit. Also, people without breasts because those damn things are nothing but trouble.

“What I want to know is why—” Ignacio begins.

“Don’t any of you assholes actually work around here?”

We all look toward the entrance to the room to watch as Quinten and Hayden walk in.

“Everyone, this is Hayden Prescott. Hayden,” Quinten says indicating us sitting on the couches, “this is everyone.”

Brooks is the first to pop up. He’s got more pep right now than he should, going by the not so good-natured snarl beginning to form on my best friend’s lips as Brooks approaches Hayden.

“What this idiot means is I’m Brooks Morgan.” Brooks offers her his hand, smiling when Hayden pulls it back before he can kiss it.

“Would you stop?” I snap, popping Brooks on the back of the head as I smile at Hayden. I go a little further and wrap my arms around her for a hug. Is it weird? Of course it is, and were she not spoken for, I’d never risk it, but I can’t turn down the chance to give my best friend shit. “How are you doing?”

Yesterday was rough for her with what went down at her office.

She gives me a quick pat on the back as if I’m the weird aunt at the family reunion and she’s placating my affections.