Crazy Nights (The Barrington Billionaires Book 3) Read online

  “That guy nearly died,” James barked out accusingly. “You bashed his head in.”

  “I only bash heads that need bashing,” he argued, pointing a finger that Evie thought could suddenly turn to a fist. “But we’re going in circles here. Let me say it again. I’m taking the jet.”

  “Is there any chance you’ll have one-on-one time with Asher?” Mathew asked, folding his arms skeptically over his chest and cutting in before James could throw another barb.

  “Dunno.” Emmitt shrugged again, his muscly shoulders and his arrogant attitude getting a workout this morning. “But I’m more likely to than either of you at this point.” Evie could hear her heart thudding loudly now as the three men continued to throw fuel on the fire among them.

  “We’re plenty capable. There are multiple options for us,” James countered, but there was a falter in his voice. “Mathew and Jessica are working the charity route with Sophie Barrington.”

  “We’re not working any route,” Mathew corrected quickly, waving off the accusation. “The charity is a meaningful endeavor for Jessica. It just happens to possibly help us cross paths with some Barringtons. It’s not an angle. That makes us sound slimy.”

  “Whatever,” James exclaimed, exhausted by the semantics. “All I’m saying is don’t act like you’re some savior because you might be doing work for one of the Barrington brothers. Who knows what the job is? Maybe they’re looking for a guy to clean up after one of their dogs.”

  “You’re an arrogant, mother f—”

  “I should go,” Evie finally chirped out as she tried to make a move for the door. Her hands were covered in sticky cold coffee and her blond pulled-up hair had started to fall into her eyes. Sweat pooled in her red high heels, and she thought if she broke into a full run she’d slip right out of them.

  “You should,” Mathew agreed, his grimace flipping quickly to a curious smile. “You absolutely should go. Go to Boston with Emmitt.” The victorious look on his face was unsettling.

  “What?” Emmitt and Evie asked in unison, both sounding like the idea was insane.

  “Yes,” Mathew said, as he circled the room for a minute. “If there is even a chance you’re going to be a part of anything in the Barrington’s circle you’ll need something to soften your edges. You can’t just expect to be yourself.”

  “Exactly,” James agreed with a chuckle. “That would be a disaster.”

  “Evie would be perfect,” Mathew continued. “If there’s any mingling at all she’d be so endearing I know they’d almost be able to overlook your . . .” Mathew waved his hand at Emmitt without finding the right word to describe his brother’s shortcomings.

  “No,” Emmitt asserted unwaveringly. “I’m not babysitting. I did that already for you and it turned out like shit. I’m going to Boston alone.”

  “Not with my jet,” James challenged.

  “You were my easiest option, not my only option,” Emmitt boasted humorlessly. “I can rent a jet in twenty minutes; I don’t need you.”

  “Then why the fuck are you in here?” James asked, his blood-red face throbbing with anger. Evie was wondering as well. If what she’d heard about the Kalling’s wealth was true, Emmitt could get himself to Boston fairly easy. Why come and cause all this commotion over a job and jet you didn’t need?

  “Because this is fun,” Emmitt smirked as though the answer was completely obvious. The dimple on his cheek grew deeper as his wry smile broadened. “This is what I wake up for in the morning. If I can’t fuck with you, my life feels empty.”

  “Your life is empty,” James snapped, slamming a hand to his desk. “You think everything is a joke, that no one else matters. People matter, you fucking idiot. This company matters to me.”

  “Keep trying to insult me. I’ll remember that when I’m talking to Asher over a glass of Scotch and forget to bring your name up.” Emmitt’s back was arrow straight. He seemed completely unfazed by James and his bolstering.

  “Maybe an association with you wouldn’t help us at all,” James bit back, and Evie could feel the room begin to spiral again. It was suddenly cool, like a horror movie where the ghost finally makes its appearance.

  “I guess we’ll find out,” Emmitt taunted through a tight grin. “I’m taking the job no matter what. You’re better off staying on my good side just in case.”

  “Have the jet fueled up,” Mathew stated frankly as he pushed the intercom button on the phone in front of him. Luckily the river of coffee hadn’t touched it yet. “And send up the cleaning crew for a coffee spill.”

  “Another one?” the nasal voice on the other end of the intercom asked, sounding annoyed. Evie slapped a sticky hand to her forehead and tried to hide behind it.

  “Sorry,” she murmured, knowing full well no one was listening to her.

  “Don’t eat my chocolates,” James ordered as Emmitt walked wordlessly out of the boardroom. “I’m fucking serious. They all better be on the jet when it gets back here. I know how many are there. Those are worth a fortune and impossible to find.”

  Evie stood shell-shocked in the corner of the boardroom waiting for the right moment to escape. Maybe Mathew and James would dive deep into an argument about Emmitt, and she’d find it easy to slide out the door. But the moment didn’t come. Instead they were both fixed on her.

  “How quickly can you pack a bag?” Mathew asked, his soft eyes looking sorry but also desperate for her to comply. He’d spoken it like a question but there was something very final about his words.

  “For what?” she asked, as though this were a twilight zone. Clearly Emmitt had not wanted her to go with him so why was Mathew saying she should?

  “For Boston. You’re going. Just get to the jet and wait.” Mathew was straightening his tie in the reflection the full wall of windows provided.

  “He didn’t want me to go,” she pointed out. She fidgeted with the small locket that hung around her neck and wished it had magic powers to beam her away. “I think it was pretty clear I’m no use to him or anyone else. Look.” She pointed at the table covered in coffee. “There’s some pretty irrefutable evidence.”

  “I don’t care,” Mathew asserted. “The thing about Emmitt is he never knows what’s good for him. He never has. He needs you. Trust me.”

  “What am I supposed to do in Boston? I’m not sure I know what you’re asking,” Evie squeaked out. She spun her hands nervously hoping Mathew would change his mind.

  “You’re going to make that shithead look like less of a shithead,” James explained as he sank back down into his chair at the head of the boardroom table. “And that’s no easy task, but I’m sure you’re up for it.”

  “I’m not sure,” Evie whispered as she looked over helplessly at Mathew. The uncertainty of whether or not she would be good at helping wasn’t as terrible as the absolute certainty that everything she had done for the last couple months at West Oil had been a failure.

  “Just get on the jet. That’s step one,” James stressed. “If you don’t get tossed onto the tarmac and left on the asphalt you’ll be doing okay.”

  “Oh,” Evie said, imagining Emmitt’s giant hands lifting her off her feet and tossing her out the door.

  “He’s kidding,” Mathew interjected, using a hand to wave James off. The look that passed between them was one she couldn’t quite read.

  “I’m not joking,” James replied flatly. “And he knows it.”

  Evie drew in a deep centering breath and considered the alternative. She was no longer an actress. At least for now. And she clearly sucked at delivering coffee, picking up dry cleaning, and making appointments. She needed a way to get her life back on track. Boston, at the very least, would be a change of scenery. A chance at making a new plan. That was all she needed, a new plan.

  “I’ll try,” she offered, closing her lips tightly and nodding her head in an attempt to convince herself. People in her life needed her to be successful and up to this point they still believed she was glamorously working on some
movie set. She didn’t have the heart, or maybe the guts, to make that phone call home.

  “Go,” James shouted, shooing her out of the room. “If you don’t get there before him he’ll never let you on the plane.”

  Her feet practically caught fire as she skittered out of the room. In over her head and completely alone, Evie let a few stray tears escape. She wiped at them feverishly with the back of her hands as she chanted some encouraging words. If nothing was going right in her life it was time to do something drastic. Like her mother used to say, “You can’t change without a challenge.” . . . and Emmitt sure as hell seemed like a challenge.

  Chapter 3

  “No,” was all Emmitt could say through gritted teeth as he boarded West Oil’s private jet. His blood boiled when he saw the silky golden hair cascading down Evie’s back as she turned away from him.

  “Don’t throw me off,” Evie croaked as she spun around quickly and sat down in the closest seat, like a child trying to win a game of musical chairs. He watched as she clutched the arm rests tightly, her long slim fingers were punctuated with red nail polish.

  “You aren’t coming to Boston. I don’t care what James told you. Just go.” He turned his back as he tossed his bag down. Intentionally ignoring her presence, he poured himself a drink from the most expensive bottle he could find and grabbed a handful of the chocolates James had explicitly said not to touch. Whatever protest Evie would come up with, he knew she’d be more convincing if he had to watch it head on. There was something so penetratingly sweet about that girl, and he didn’t need those long lashes batting up at him when he told her to go.

  “It’s not about James.” Evie forced assertiveness and but it came out as frantic. She sounded more desperate than brave, and he could knock down some arrogance, but a woman on the verge of tears was not as easy to shut down. “That’s not why I’m here. I need to go to Boston.”

  “What a strange coincidence.” Emmitt laughed as he finally sat on one of the plush chairs that faced her. She’d managed to get him to turn around, to care how she’d spin this story. “This morning you were busy throwing coffee around, and now you have important business in Boston? Does someone up there need a latté poured on them?”

  “I didn’t say I had business up there,” Evie corrected, her face turning crimson, which had him turning half hard. There was something about the full pink lips and her crystal blue eyes that kept him staring. “I can’t stay in Texas. I have to leave. Getting on this plane is something I have to do.”

  “Just go back to your farm, I’m sure the cows need milking. No one said you had to stay in Texas. If it’s about money, Mathew would pay your way home.” Emmitt had recalled that prior to her big break in the movies Evie was just a small-town country girl who grew up the farmer’s daughter. The vision of her in cutoff jeans and cowboy boots had his mind running wild. He’d been with a lot of women, but a farmer’s daughter was still on his bucket list.

  “I can’t go back there either,” she declared with a quiver she tried to mask with a cough. “I need to go to Boston.”

  “You have friends there or something?” Emmitt asked, trying to ignore the intoxicating aroma of her perfume and the glassy tears coating her eyes. For a man who’d served multiple tours in combat zones he was reluctant to admit he was a sucker for tears. That’s what having a little sister did to a guy. There were only a few things that could get to him but a woman in pain always did.

  “I’ve never been there,” she croaked out. “No friends in Boston. But I’m not really working for West Oil. There’s no future there for me. I haven’t been able to do a single thing right. They’re just being nice to me because I stood up for Jessica with the Pierre drama. Otherwise, with all the mistakes I’ve made, I know they’d have sent me packing back to Nebraska. I need to find something else. Something better, more permanent. I need to have something stable and maybe I’ll find it in Boston.”

  “So why don’t you just keep being an actress? The guy, Pierre or whoever, he can’t stop you from doing what you love even if it’s not on the same scale. So he’s talked some shit about you and some people won’t hire you, it’s a great big world sweetheart.” Emmitt leaned back in his chair and stuffed another chocolate in his mouth. His eyes rolled back as the silky smooth coco flavor lit up his senses.

  “It’s not what I love,” she admitted, the words spilling out as though she too was surprised by them. Her thoughts in the last two months hadn’t been about her tarnished name in the acting world. It had been about her family. Their disappointment and need. She didn’t really miss the acting itself, just the promise of a future it held. “Everyone always told me it’s what I should do, it would be my fastest way out. And I wanted out. Smile, Evie. Wear a tighter shirt, Evie. Run another mile, Evie. More makeup. Less talking. More touching.”

  Her words weren’t for him anymore, she was talking to herself, off in a world of her own. He could cut in. Tell her none of this mattered and plant her skinny butt out the side of the plane. But it did matter. Emmitt had fucked over plenty of people. He’d left a lot of women wondering why he was such an asshole. But Evie wasn’t just a toy to play with and discard. He could tell she was at a breaking point, and one small flick of his finger could snap her in two. Emmitt didn’t need that on his conscience, even if it was a tiny and often ignored conscience.

  “Acting isn’t my passion. That’s the point. I don’t have anything that makes me feel like I’m doing exactly what I’m meant to. I probably could get another part in some movie somewhere and work my way back into the industry. But I don’t want to. I need something faster than that and more reliable.” She shook her head, seeming disgusted with herself, and Emmitt understood that feeling well as she continued.

  “I have no idea what I want. Or who I am. Or where I’m supposed to be. I just know I need a plan, and it better come together quickly because I have people who depend on me. People who thought I’d be a movie star by now.” She caught her breath and put a hand over her heart. “So I want to go to Boston. Because Boston isn’t Texas, and no one in Boston is going to look at me the way everyone here is looking at me when I accidently hit ‘reply all’ to an email. No one in Boston is even going to give me a second look. And maybe I can figure shit out.”

  That wasn’t true. She’d get a second look everywhere she went. Every chance Emmitt had he was tracing the hemline of her skirt, trying to mentally will one of her blouse buttons to pop off. He’d be looking at her plenty.

  The engine of the jet roared to life before Emmitt could speak. When the noise leveled out he leaned in. “We’ll be taking off soon.” He tossed a few chocolates over toward her. “Better buckle up.”

  “I thought James said not to eat his chocolates. They are like imported or something. Maybe you would get along with him better if you respected his space and didn’t do things just to make him mad.” She held one chocolate in her delicate fingers, and he waited anxiously for her to put it to her lips. He liked the way she chose her words, saying things like mad rather than pissed.

  “Whatever you have in your head about saving me, you better forget it now. There’s a line of women before you that thought they could help me, fix me, or stop me. They want to get me to walk the straight line. To not eat the chocolates. And if they’re all cautionary tales then you should know, I’m much more likely to break you than you are to fix me. Now eat the damn chocolate.”

  Chapter 4

  Evie stood quietly by Emmitt’s side as they checked into the hotel. She didn’t have money, or at least not enough to stay in a hotel as extravagant as this one for very long. Anything she had saved in her account was something she’d need. In the rush of it all James and Mathew hadn’t really told her how to handle her expenses. So the burden fell on Emmitt. She truly did feel like a burden as she followed him around the noisy city, trying to avoid speeding cars and elbowing crowds. He was one of those men that just knew what he was doing. He knew where to go and how to get there. “Don’t yo
u live in Boston? Don’t you have a house or an apartment?”

  “I don’t live anywhere. I don’t need to, and since I got back from my last deployment I’ve preferred no roots, they just tie you to the ground. I’m billing them for this,” he explained as he handed her the room key. “I think you’re on the fifth floor.”

  “We’re on different floors?” Evie asked, the nagging loneliness she’d been feeling lately made even worse by the new city. Texas wasn’t home for her but she’d been welcomed by Libby and Jessica, and things were finally feeling familiar. Now in another loud bustling place her nerves were starting to wear thin again. It hadn’t taken very long to start questioning her choice. How could she do any better here if she was going to be alone?

  “I’m on the twenty-sixth, why?”

  “I don’t know,” she sighed, nibbling nervously at her lower lip. “I just figured we’d at least have rooms next to each other.” When his face twisted up in annoyed confusion she flushed. “Never mind. I appreciate you getting me a room.” The last thing she wanted to do was need more from Emmitt than he was already giving her.

  “Did you want to hook up? Is that what this is about?” The grin on his face grew devilishly large, flashing a deep dimple on his left cheek. “Because one short elevator ride could have you taking a very long ride the rest of the night.” He closed the gap between them to about six inches and his towering body cast a shadow over her head.

  “No,” she rebuffed indignantly. “I don’t want to hook up.” She’d always been pegged terrible at lying, but she hoped for her sake it wasn’t spotted now. Since she’d met Emmitt in Jessica’s makeup trailer a few months earlier, fantasies of him had filled her mind. But she’d never admit that to him. “I just don’t know where I am here. I told you I’ve never been before. I thought we’d at least be on the same floor.”

  “Are you scared or something?” he asked with a laugh that fell flat when she didn’t answer right away. After a moment’s hesitation she worked to right herself.