Sophie Oak: Back in Bliss

He didn’t want her. He would end up with someone sophisticated and smart and very, very beautiful.

And she would spend the rest of her life pining away over men she couldn’t have. Maybe she should go back to California.

“Georgia!” Gus, Seth’s driver, called out. He was standing backstage with the rest of Seth’s staff. He always invited staff to these things since one of the ways he paid them was in stock. His staff members were also his stockholders, and they tended to love him for that. Gus’s daughter was in college thanks to what Georgia had come to think of as the “Seth Stark college fund.” “He’s trying to get you onstage.”

Seth’s voice came over the loudspeaker. “Come on, Georgia. Don’t leave me hanging out here. I swear, people. She’s the best assistant in the world, and she’s also gorgeous.”

“Just boss and employee, huh?” Win said with a frown.

How did she make him understand? She probably couldn’t. Win believed what he wanted to believe. “He’s like this with all his employees. In some ways, we’re his family. I have to go. Dinner tonight? You’re paying or it’s fast food, and even then, you’re probably paying.”

He ruffled her hair like he had when she’d been a kid and he’d been the only father figure she could count on. “Of course. And I should warn you, we’re all in town.”

She felt her eyes widen. “All? Like Ben and Chase and Mark and Drew?”

A ridiculously predatory smile lit her big brother’s face. “All of us.”

Shit . That didn’t bode well for someone. But hey, she would likely get some really good meals out of it. And hopefully Nat was around and they could do a little shopping with Ben’s MasterCard. Yeah, she would take that. She could use some shoes. And clothes. And a new handbag. Visions of Chanel danced through her head.

Sometimes she missed being wealthy.

“Georgia? They are starting to believe you’re a figment of my imagination. Stock is going down as we speak,” Seth said over his mike.

“I have to go. See you later.” She gave her brother what she hoped was a saucy smile, but all she could think was that once again her big brother thought she needed rescuing, and this time he’d brought in the big guns if he’d managed to get Mark and Drew and Ben and Chase all in the same room at the same time. She’d fucked up in their eyes, but then that seemed all she was really capable of. She rushed to get to the corner of the stage. She couldn’t leave Seth out there alone. He liked to call out his employees for recognition. He was the best boss ever.

He was watching for her, his face frowning in consternation. He smiled as she came into view, his hand coming out to pull her onstage. She let him drag her forth and turned her head toward the bright lights. She’d been onstage enough to know how to handle them. She didn’t blink, just gave the unseen crowd a brilliant smile.

“See, I told you I have the most amazing assistant. Couldn’t do it without her.” He brought her hand to his lips, kissing it gently. She didn’t take it personally. He was an affectionate man. She winked his way and waved to the crowd.

This, at least, she knew how to do. Smile and try to look pretty.

It was all she was really good for.

Seth Stark took a long breath before he pushed through the conference room door. Georgia was taken care of. She was off to Bergdorf Goodman and Tiffany with Nat Dawson, and then the two women would have an early dinner at Cipriani where the maître d’ was waiting to treat them like queens. It would keep both women out of the way for hours. The men he was meeting had made sure of it. Of course, they had their reasons. None of the five Dawson brothers wanted their baby sister around for this takedown. Seth was sure they thought they didn’t want her around because she would object to their interference in her life. They would be happy they had made arrangements for her to shop with her sister-in-law for different reasons—so baby sister didn’t watch as they were all taken down a peg or two.

Seth Stark didn’t play games and he didn’t allow anyone to push him around, least of all the men who would one day be his brothers-in-law.

Begin as you mean to go. If he showed one ounce of softness, they would be all over him like a pack of wolves.

He was going to show them who the fucking alpha was.

They all turned in their chairs and he was faced with five Dawson wolves. Winter, the oldest, ran his own communications firm. DawComm had, at one time, belonged to Win’s father. Win had won it over in a slick hostile takeover that had left his father blindsided and his business gutted. Ben and Chase Dawson. Trust fund private detectives, former SEALs. Ben was frowning, but Chase had an air of amused expectation about him as though he was looking forward to the upcoming drama. And then there were Mark and Drew. Mark was the older of the two but only by ten months. They were currently on a Delta Force team, and Seth had insider information that they were being recruited by the CIA. They were the easiest ones to take down, but in the end, he’d managed to find something that would force every one of them to back the fuck off.

Of course, he could be wrong and this could be a friendly “get to know you” meeting. He gave them his best “geeks are harmless” smile. He’d learned that being underestimated was sometimes his best maneuver. “Gentlemen. It’s nice to meet you all.”

Maybe they were really just here to check him out and they wouldn’t give him hell. He would wait and see. He never played cards he didn’t have to.

Win Dawson leaned forward, a menacing smile on his face as Seth sat down. “Thank you for agreeing to meet with us. Now, this is going to go one way and only one way. You are going to fire Georgia, and I’m taking her back to California with me.”

Excellent. They were really good cards. He really wanted to play them. He frowned, hoping he looked worried and a little scared. “I don’t want to fire Georgia. She’s actually quite good as an assistant.”

A low huff came from Win’s chest. “I’m sure she’s perfectly atrocious. Georgia doesn’t take anything seriously. Look, I’m not stupid. None of us are.”

“I don’t know that I’d say that, Win,” Ben Dawson said with a frown.

Ah, a crack in the brotherhood. Ben hadn’t wanted to play it this way. He would have made a bet that Ben Dawson would be the softest of the five. It was good to know his instincts were perfect.

Win ignored his younger brother and plowed straight ahead with the surety of a man who always knew what he was doing and always got what he wanted. “Georgia has never been organized a day in her life. She rarely looks up from doing her nails long enough to do more than text her friends.”

“You haven’t been around her lately, Win,” Chase said with a shrug.

“Yeah, because Georgie got serious all of the sudden,” Mark broke in. He was all shoulders and bulky arms. “I don’t buy it. She goes from acting to being some tech guru’s secretary? Not in this lifetime. She’s fucking him. She’s his mistress, and no man is going to fuck my sister over.”

Ah, the military contingent. A sense of peace came over Seth. A lot of men got a rush of adrenaline before they went into battle, but for Seth there was always a sweet contentment that came with knowing he was about to dismantle someone’s life.

“Win is right. She needs to be home,” Drew said. “She’s not that smart when it comes to men.”

“She’s Georgie, Drew, she’s not all that smart about anything,” Mark said with a shake of his head.

And he was done playing around. Seth smacked a fist on the table and let go of his affable-geek persona because no one, not even her brothers, was going to insult his girl. “If I hear you insult Georgia’s intelligence one more time, Mr. Dawson, we’re going to fight, and you won’t like how I fight.”