Page 88 of Ice Devil

“I just got here an hour ago. Give a guy a break.”

“I thought you were a super whiz with software. At least according to Daddy anyway.”

When I lifted my head, I smacked it into the bottom of the desk. “Fuck.”

“No cursing in the office. Mother’s rules.”

As I clawed my way to my feet, still rubbing my head, I offered my baby sister a hard glare. She’d earned it. She’d done nothing but give me a hard time since I’d returned. Only a few days and it felt like a lifetime.

But I adored her for it.

While everyone else was tiptoeing around me, she’d given me what for as soon as I’d walked into the door. I could still hear her words.

“Why did you allow two has-been sportscasters whose never played a single sport in their entire miserable lives to best you? Why didn’t you fight back?”

“Why in the world didn’t you tell those assholes the truth?”

“Why didn’t you answer some of those awful people on Instagram? Their accusations were ridiculous.”

Why. Why. Why.

The why was easy for me. My spirit was crushed. I’d never experienced such pain in my life.

All because I’d let my guard down with a woman.

At least she’d been kind enough to shove a beer into one hand, a shot of tequila in the other just before raking me over the coals.

Only later she had tried to hand me Guinness and a Sambuca, which I’d refused. Damn it. There I went again thinking about the traitor.

“I think I’ve won the right to curse, thank you very much. And our mother isn’t here.”

Samantha grinned. “She’s here in spirit. That’s enough and you know how excellent her hearing is.”

That was true. And she wasn’t even a shifter. “I’m headed to the back room to check on the server.”

“And I’m going to grab some lunch. Just remember I need my computer up and running to process the boys coming in with a load later.”

The flash of lightning was close enough to light up the bank of windows on the side of the office.

My sister’s screech was deafening.

“You should call off the timber cut. They don’t need to be out there in this shit.”

I could tell my suggestion hadn’t gone over well. While Cole had done a damn good job of keeping the crews running while playing for Seattle, Samantha had really stepped up to the plate in handling the day-to-day operations given our father’s condition.

At least I could ease the load for a while. Or maybe forever. I’d heard shit about me being released from the Hellions. It was too early to tell at this point and nothing I needed to worry about.

If I did, there’d be violence.

“Yeah, you’re right. I was just hoping to get everything to the suppliers by the end of the week.”

The software issue had been a problem.

The money issues were worse, which I’d hoped to help with given the dollars associated with my contract. A contract that was now in jeopardy.

“I’ll get back to work. You get lunch.”

“Do you want anything when I’m out? I’m going to Arby’s.” She winked as she asked the question.