Free NFH 03 Checkmate by R.L. Mathewson Page B

practice more.
It didn't seem to matter what she did, he always found a flaw or
pushed her to do better. Nothing she did made him happy.
    When she started Shadow Construction she
thought that he'd be happy that she was following in his footsteps,
but instead of being proud of her, he sighed heavily and suggested
that perhaps she should go work for one of her brothers instead.
Her brothers, who had been proud of her, had all gone deathly
silent at their father's announcement. Then, one by one they each
told her that they'd be working for her and that she damn well
better not try bossing them around or they'd kick her ass.
    It was one of the sweetest things her
brothers had ever done for her.
    "I have it under control, Dad," she said,
forcing herself to sound casual when all she wanted to do was
scream at the man.
    "This is a big project, Rory," he mused as
his eyes shifted to follow the life ruining bastard as he walked
away. "Maybe you should let Connor take the lead," he said,
shocking the ever loving hell out of her.
    She couldn't believe how much it hurt to
hear her father say that. It was one thing to constantly have him
second guess her, but quite another for him to suggest the one
person on earth that he knew that she couldn't stand, to take over.
In that moment she realized something, in her father's eyes she
might not be good enough, but Connor was.
    "He's got a great reputation and as much as
I hate to say this, his work is some of the best that I've ever
seen. The boy has talent, Rory and maybe it would be for the best
if you let him take the lead on this one," her father said,
stunning her into silence, because really there was nothing to say
to that.
    "Where are you going? I thought you were
going to give me a tour?" her father asked as she walked away. She
knew that she was being rude, but she couldn't help it. If she
didn't get away from him now she knew that she'd do something
stupid like cry and that wasn't happening. Her father might think
that she was weaker than the boys, but that didn't mean that she
had to go and prove him right.
     
    * * * *
     
    "Where's your sister?" Connor asked as he
stepped into the once impressive kitchen, which was sadly nothing
more than a room full of broken tile, rust and debris.
    None of the James brothers looked at him,
never mind paused in demolishing the room and the connecting
pantries. That really didn't surprise him since the whole family
seemed to hate him. Not that he could really blame them. He did
seem to go out of his way to make Rory's life a living hell. He was
actually surprised that none of them had tried to kill him yet.
    "She's checking the attic," said the deep
voice that used to give him nightmares as a kid. It was a little
unnerving that the man still had the power to make him want to run
and hide.
    He forced himself to relax as he turned
around and once again forced himself to stay where he was when blue
eyes very much like Rory's, but colder, so much colder, locked on
him.
    "She shouldn't be up there by herself," he
said, ignoring the disbelieving snorts from her brothers.
    "Oh? And why's that?" Mr. James asked in a
bored tone as he crossed his still impressively large arms over his
chest.
    "Because she could get hurt," he said with
an annoyed sigh as the James boys once again snorted and chuckled.
"She's also getting in the way and holding back this project," he
said firmly, never taking his eyes off the man in front of him. He
wasn't an idiot after all.
    "Oh puhlease," Brian said, chuckling.
"You're acting like she's some chick."
    Connor blinked. "Because she is," he said
slowly, wondering what the hell was wrong with these men. Of course
her brothers laughed while Mr. James considered him with a hard
glint in his eyes.
    What in the hell was wrong with them? They
overprotected her everywhere else in life except for this when they
should be dragging the damn woman away from the tools and dangerous
conditions. Hell, it was taking everything he had not to