Free Salem Charm: Book 3 of Colson Brothers Series by Reese Madison, Lynne Foster

“Then it’s settled. We’ll go down at sixteen-hundred, talk to Paulie, and go from there. If Miss Whitmore refuses to meet with Paulie, or he loses his shit, we’re out of here immediately.” He looked at me, “Put anything you can’t live without in your pockets, not a purse. I want you free of baggage if this blows up.”
    “Okay.” I’m feeling a little dizzy so I sat on the big red couch.
    “Are you okay honey? You look a little pale.” Lou sat next to me taking my hands in his.
    I looked into his eyes and felt an instant wash of relief. He’s still here. Whew. Everything will be fine. Lou is here, and Myles is here. My protectors. My big strong strapping men. The one holding my hand with the concerned blue eyes is the one I want to lean into right now.
    I nodded, “Maybe I should try to eat. Can we go downstairs? I think the chaos will be a good distraction while we wait for six o’clock.”
    “No.” Myles started sweeping the room for bugs. He taught me this years ago one night when we got bored. Myles knows a lot about security, he’s taught me a good few things over the years. “You stay in this suite until I give the word. I’ll have something brought up if you want.”
    “Do you think the room is bugged?” I asked. Oh well, so much for a distraction.
    “Not by Paulie. The guy who owns this suite on the other hand, would.” Myles informed me.
    “Someone would bug Bret’s room?” I asked.
    “Not likely, but he’d bug it to spy on us.” Myles replied.
    “How do you know my brother?” Lou asked obviously surprised.
    “When I got out of the Corps I came here to do some gambling, and other things.” He’s avoiding telling Lou he was here to have sex with escorts. I already knew this, but maybe he doesn’t want Lou to know.
    “We met over a poker table down at The Tropicana when it was still a big deal here. Hell, when it was still here. Anyway, I took a shit load of his money, so he put up a company. A security company. It was small, but effective. I won that round too.” He plucked a little black thing from a flower pot and examined it. “Dumb-ass, the least you could do is use something that’s not in our inventory.” He said into the device then dropped it in the ice bucket.
    Lou laughed, “Figures Bret would bug his own room, and make sure we knew it was him. I don’t know why he cares what we’re doing anyway.” Lou complained.
    Myles kept hunting, “It’s just to amuse himself. Bret has a problem, it’s called too much money and a whole lot of boredom. If he feels slighted in any way he’ll fuck with you just to amuse himself.” He looked up at me, “Sorry Miss Whitmore.”
    I waved it off, “Cuss all you want. At this point I just want this over with.” I looked at Lou, “Even if everything is safe, do I still have to meet this Paulie? I don’t know if I really want to.”
    “We’ll see. I think you should find out why he’s going through all this trouble, and why he killed Mr. Whitmore. Otherwise you’ll be left wondering and looking over your shoulder the rest of your life.” He explained.
    I sighed, “Alright. I’ll meet him, if I have to.” I know I sound like a whiney little girl, but I can’t seem to help it.
    Lou ordered a late lunch for the three of us, the extra security guards upstairs, and for the guards downstairs. I thought that was very sweet, until he charged it to the room. Hopefully he’ll pay Bret back when this is over.
    The guys talked about various scenarios and how they should be handled. I tuned them out to try and organize my own thoughts.
    What do I do when this is over? Go home and sit behind that desk again? I’ll probably have one hell of a mess to clean up if my father was into making dirty business deals.
    My thoughts shifted to what Lou had asked me before Myl es got here. Do I want the picket fence? That’s a good question. I guess part of me always thought some nice looking young man would cross my path and we’d