“Trust me,” I said. “It’s all business.”

He grinned wide and knowing. Smug bastard. “Interesting.”

“Whatever.” I grabbed my cup and poured the cold remnants of coffee into the sink.

At my back, Dean snickered. When I turned around, he still wore the smirk.

“So,” he said expansively, “while you’re Parker’s neutered pet…” He just loved rubbing it in. “I’ll take a nice, office job, just as you wanted.”

“Well, okay, then,” I said, pleased to hear him finally making sense.

“Thought you’d like that.” He was far too happy. “So you won’t object to taking your things out of the office. Because I’m going to need the space.”

Wait. “What?”

Dean looked at me as though I was two years old. “As the one with the big math-type brain, I’m going to sit my ass down and manage the accounts of Lights Out.”

When I simply stared, he tutted and shook his head slightly.

“You’ve been saying you’re crap at account managing. Well, move over, bro. Because I’m the new office manager.”

Shit. He’d go through the accounts. He’d find out about the second mortgage, and just how deep in the red we were. He’d find out about everything.

“Now, wait a minute,” I began. But he cut me off by turning his back to leave.

“Forget it, Rhys,” he said as he walked toward the door. “You got your way with Parker. I’m doing this and you can’t stop me.” He paused and grinned. But his eyes were cold and angry. “As you keep telling me, I own half the gym. It’s time I start taking care of my end.”

He was going to do his damnedest to make my life hell. The promise was right there in his expression. He let me see it, made sure I understood. Then the door slammed, and I let out a bark of incredulous laughter. Damn if I wasn’t proud. The other half of me was filled with dread because we’d eventually have some hard conversations, and I wasn’t exactly good at communicating.

Didn’t matter, though. I’d overslept and it was getting late. Parker would be coming by soon and frankly, I needed to prepare myself for dealing with her, let her know who was in charge here.

Dream on, Morgan. She’ll have you by the balls before you know it.

Why did I look forward to that?

Five

Parker