Page 56 of Bombshell (Whiskey Dolls 1)

“You too,” she returned as I pushed through the doors and headed in the direction I remembered taking the one and only time I’d come here with Tali five years ago, and prayed he hadn’t moved offices.

If I had to, I’d walk through this entire place until I found him. I was a woman on a mission and I wasn’t leaving until I did what I came here to do. Fortunately, I spotted his name plate on the door before I had to go on a search.

“Um, excuse me. Do you have an appointment?” a flustered little woman sitting at the desk just outside Nick’s door asked as I bypassed her and grabbed the handle to Nick’s office. “Hey, wait! You can’t just go in there—”

I showed her how wrong she was by stomping across the threshold allI am woman, hear me roarand stopped in the middle of the room with my hands on my hips, striking a killer Pissed-off Female pose, if I did say so myself.

Nick lifted his eyes from his computer, looking like absolute shit that had been run over a few hundred times. “Marin? What’s going on? What are you doing here?” His eyes went big and filled with fear. “Is it Tali? Is she okay?”

Instead of answering, I skewered the woman standing beside him,behindhis desk, with a look so vicious, I hoped it melted the skin right off her face. FreakingEve.

“No, Nick, she’s not okay,” I started snidely. “You and I need to talk.” I pinned Slutzilla with a withering glare. “Alone.”

“Excuse me, but we’re in the middle of something here,” she started, but I lifted my hand to silence her.

“Do you know who I am?” I didn’t give her a chance to answer. “I’m his sister-in-law. You know what that means? That means my sister is married to the guy you’re currently rubbing all over like you’re hoping for a genie to pop out and grant you three wishes.”

I’d forgotten all about Nick’s assistant, and discovered that she was still standing behind me when I heard her snort. I turned and found her trying her hardest to cover up her laugh, and winked, feeling a sudden kinship to the woman.

“Nicky, do you want me to call security?” Eve asked, placing her hand on his shoulder like she was trying to offer him support when everyone in the room already knew the truth. She was trifling.

“No, Eve. It’s fine. You can go now.” He looked to the woman behind me. “Heather, can you please close the door on your way out?”

“Yeah,Eve,” I sneered. Admittedly, it wasn’t my most mature moment, but I gave myself credit for not plucking the hussy bald. “Get the hell out of here.”

I glared at her the entire time she moved around the desk she had no business being behind and across the office until she reached the door. I caught a glimpse of Heather as she followed after her and returned the little finger wave she gave me. Apparently Nick’s assistant was as big a fan of Eve’s as I was.

I waited for the door to close before turning back to my brother-in-law, the man I’d considered family for the past several years.

He scrubbed at his face anxiously, and it was clear as day that this whole mess with him and Tali was seriously wearing on him. His face was unshaven, his hair was a mess, and his suit was wrinkled, like he hadn’t bothered to iron it after Tali stuffed it in his suitcase.

“Look, Mar, whatever this is, I’m really not in the mood, okay? I’ve had a shitty few days, and I don’t need you coming in here to jump on my ass.”

I stomped to the edge of his desk and snatched up one of the paper clips he kept in a bowl and threw it at his head. “Shut up, you idiot. I’m here to help you.”

He rubbed at his forehead where the clip had just bounced off, looking up at me in bewilderment. “You are?”

I rolled my eyes like I was dealing with the dumbest kid in class. “Yeah, I am, stupid. You’re my family, and as pissed as I am at you right now, I can’t just sit back and watch you screw all this up.” I held up my hand to stop him when he opened his mouth to speak. “First up, we need to address the problem that is your skanky little intern.”

He collapsed back in his chair and pinched the bridge of his nose. “There’s nothing happening there. I already told Tali all of this. I don’t even see Eve that way. It’s just a little harmless flirting.”

“Doessheknow it’s just harmless flirting?” I asked, pointing behind me toward the door. “Because I’m telling you right now, that’s a woman biding her time. I can spot a chick like that from a mile away, and as long as she thinks there’s even the smallest glimmer of a chance, she’s not going anywhere. Which means she is mostdefinitelya threat to your marriage.”

“It isn’t like that,” he insisted. “I love my wife. I’minlove with her. I’d never cheat. When Eve gets like that, I don’t even engage.”

I arched a brow and crossed my arms over my chest. “You don’t stop her either. How do you not see that’s a problem?”

“I don’t—”

“I’ve seen you two together, Nick,” I informed him. “Twice now. I was on a date at a restaurant here in the city when the two of you showed up together. She was all over you. Sure, you didn’t engage, and maybe you pulled away, but you didn’t tell her to stop. Then, the night I was staking you out—”

He held up his hands. “Wait. What? You were staking me out?”

“That’s neither here nor there, and it’s totally beside the point,” I deflected. “As I was saying, you two were standing outside this building, and she was touching you in a way that was completely inappropriate. Whether you believe she’s a threat to your wife or not, you have to at least see that her behavior isbeyondunprofessional.”

“You’re right,” he relented a second later, blowing out a weary sigh.

“Of course I am, dummy. I’m always right.”

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