Naughty or Nice

  Naughty or Nice

  Alexa Riley

  Contents

  HEA on the go

  Naughty or Nice

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Epilogue

  Epilogue

  Snow and Mistletoe

  Chapter 1

  Stalk the Author

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  Naughty or Nice

  by Alexa Riley

  Claudia Chambers has gotten herself into a situation she can’t get out of. Her brother is mixed up in the local mafia and now she’s indebted to the town gangster. One day when the big boss shows up on her doorstep and tells her she’s the incentive for his new client, she knows she has no choice.

  Brian Carter trusts his instincts, and the day he sees Claudia he knows that she’s the one. When he realizes she’s caught up in something too dark for her innocent soul, it’s time for him to come in and protect what’s his.

  Warning: This steamy Christmas treat will have you wondering what side you want more… Naughty or nice? Get festive and heat up your house with this hot little read.

  Copyright © 2018 by Author Alexa Riley LLC. All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, email to riley_alexa@aol.com

  http://alexariley.com/

  Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.

  Edited by Aquila Editing

  Cover Designer: Perfect Pear

  To everyone that read Hungry For More and begged for Brian’s story! We hope you love this one as much as we do!

  Prologue

  Brian

  The day before Thanksgiving…

  I watch Jensen leave my office to go to my apartment. I put my cell down and open up a new file on my computer to work on until my dad gets here. I’m going to meet the builder of one my new projects tonight and my dad needs to bring by the new blueprints. He emailed them to me, but I like hard copies when starting a project. It gives me a place to start from and helps cement plans to the contractors.

  The next time I look down at my watch I curse and call Sage. I told her I was bringing Jensen home, but I should let her know he’s on the way. Just as the phone starts to ring my dad comes in the office with the plans in his hand. The call goes to voicemail, so I hang up and send Jensen a quick text.

  “You sure you don’t mind taking these to the builder? I can do it, son,” my dad says, and I shake my head.

  “Nah, it’s on the way home for me. You and Mom need to make sure tomorrow is ready to go.” I wink at him as I grab the plans and my bag. “I’m already doing my stomach exercises so I can eat at least three times.”

  “I’ll tell your mom,” he says before he’s out the door and I’m following behind him.

  My phone buzzes and it’s a text from Jensen telling me he’s there and so is Sage. I feel better. I wave goodbye to my dad, then tell the cab driver my destination and pull out my phone. I shoot a text to the builder and get one back immediately saying they’re waiting.

  I roll my eyes because these guys are all the same. It’s a hurry-up-and-wait mentality and it’s tiresome. I’m a workaholic and travel all the time to oversee projects I’ve got going on all over the country. I’m not one to take a break, but even I’m surprised the builder is working this late the day before a holiday. I guess it’s a good sign. I’ve never done a development with this company before, but it’s one that Jensen found for me. He’s got a brilliant mind and I can’t begin to understand how it works. I just know he comes across as an asshole, which is why I’m the one that talks to the clients.

  When the cab pulls up to the vacant lot, I get out and glance around at the chain-link fence.

  “Leave the meter running. I’ll be back,” I tell the driver, then close the door and walk towards the gate.

  I see a light in the distance and I think I see someone there, but it’s so dark out.

  “Hello!” I call out as I hold my hand over the light so I can see where I’m going.

  “It’s about time,” I hear someone call out and I’m surprised when it’s a woman’s voice.

  I hear gravel crunching as she comes closer and I put my hand down. I blink a few times at the blinding light, but finally she’s in front of me. I’m shocked silent at the sight of her. I’ve never seen a woman so stunning before. She’s got blonde hair pulled back in a messy bun with a scarf around her neck. She’s wearing a construction jacket that looks too big for her, and baggy jeans with boots. She’s dressed like a much larger man gave her the clothes, but she’s so goddamn beautiful anyway.

  Her bright blue eyes stare at me for a second, then they narrow. “Do you have the plans or not?”

  Her abrupt tone takes me off guard so quickly I actually laugh. “Yeah, I do,” I say, holding them out for her. “Are you Aaron Slate?”

  “No,” she says, taking the plans from me and tucking them under her arms before she shoves her hands in her pockets.

  I wait, but she doesn’t offer anything else. It’s cold enough that I can see her breath in a soft cloud in front of her and I wonder why it makes her look like an angel. Something about this woman has me trying to figure her out, but she’s not giving me an inch.

  She looks so sweet, like the girl next door, but the way she’s glaring at me between her shivers makes me think that there’s a wild streak in her.

  “Okay, so if you’re not him, then who are you?”

  “The person you’ve been texting about getting these plans. I’m taking them to Aaron now.” She turns to leave and I grab her arm.

  “Wait a second.” I panic because I don’t really have anything else to say to her but I’m not ready for her to leave. “I was supposed to go over this with him.”

  “He said he’ll call you,” she says as she jerks out of my grasp.

  “So that’s it?” I say, desperate for some reaction from her.

  “I’ve been out here freezing my butt off for the last half an hour waiting on you. Yeah, that’s it. I plan on getting some hot chocolate and then taking a bath so hot I get third degree burns,” she says and then digs her hands deeper into her jacket. “Sorry to be snappy, but I’m in a hurry.”

  “Wait,” I say when she begins to leave again. She stops, but this time she doesn’t turn around. “What’s your name?”

  She peeks back slightly and her bright blue eyes look me up and down. “Claudia,” she says before she’s gone back into the dark. The cab driver honks somewhere behind me and I wait until I can no longer hear her footsteps in the gravel.

  There’s a throb in my chest and for a moment it f
eels like something just happened; something big. Who was that woman and what has she done to me?

  Chapter 1

  Claudia

  After Thanksgiving…

  I stare at the boxes along the basement wall that are filled with Christmas decorations. I’ve been sitting here for almost an hour now trying to make myself get up and do it. Every year Grams and I would put them out together, but this is the first time I’ve faced them since she died and even though I told myself I would keep the tradition I can’t. I made it halfway down the stairs before I parked my ass on the steps and now I’m unable to go any further.

  I wipe away a tear and take comfort in knowing she’s where she wanted to be—she and Grandpa are together again. I wish I’d known him because the way she talked about their love sounded too good to be true. Yet I could see it in her eyes when she talked about him that they were soulmates. Even after he died, she never loved anyone else and said that she would always belong to him.

  I stand up, knowing I’m not going to be able to do it today. Maybe tomorrow I’ll find the will to bring the boxes upstairs. Thanksgiving was hard enough and I don't want to start thinking about anything beyond that.

  I shut the basement door and I glance over to the cell phone lying on the small kitchen table. I wish I could throw the thing away. I hate when it goes off because I feel a mixture of anxiety and excitement. I don’t know if it’s going be my brother wanting something from me or the man who’s taken over every other part of my mind.

  When my brother gave me the old cell phone, I never imagined it would see this much action. I pick it up and see I have an inbox full of text messages and missed calls from Brian Carter. Why does he keep trying to talk to me? I did what I was supposed to and I’m done until my brother asks me to do something else. I don’t engage with people my brother works with, no matter how tempting this one is.

  I clear out all the messages and turn it on silent before I lay it back down. By now Brian might have figured out I wasn't the one that was supposed to meet him with the building plans. Why my brother didn’t do it himself, I don’t know. I don’t ask because the less I know the better. He always has me running the weirdest of errands, but I just agree. The job seemed simple enough, but I wasn’t expecting Brian Carter to spark something inside me. It pissed me off and I let him know it by being cold and dismissive to him. I wanted him away from me so that maybe the feelings he invoked in me would leave with him. So far that hasn’t worked out.

  I’m sick of running his errands, but what choice do I have? My brother has done a good job of making sure that I’ve got nowhere else to go and no other choice.

  I look around Grams’ old house and think about all the memories stored here. The house isn’t in the best neighborhood, but I’ve been given protection because of my brother. Everyone around here is afraid of the man he works for. Mark is the muscle, but he’d probably call himself his right-hand man.

  I want out, but Mark won’t let me and there’s no way I could sell this place. It’s in both our names and he wouldn’t agree to it. He likes having control over me, and it doesn’t take much for him to get me to do what he wants. I can see through his charm, no matter how hard he tries. There’s danger all around him and I’m no longer blind to it.

  Grams died thinking he was an angel and thought I’d be okay because Mark would take care of me. I’m thankful she left this earth in peace not knowing who he really was. It took me growing up to see because of the fifteen-year age gap between us. Now that Grams is gone, he doesn’t try and hide it. It’s only when I get the sweet side of him do I think maybe he actually loves me in his own messed-up way.

  Mark grew up with our parents who were drug addicts, living in the worst places until my mom handed him over to Grams the same day I was born. I don’t know my mother, but I’m thankful to her for at least giving me some sort of life she never gave Mark. I didn’t have to go through what he did and I’m sure I only know a little of what his life was like before. Sometimes I wonder if his anger towards me is because I didn’t have to go through what he did. He’s like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, only Mr. Hyde is around more and more since Grams passed, and I was actually thankful when he didn’t show up for Thanksgiving.

  I glance over at the clock thinking maybe I’ll go over to the animal shelter and see if they need any extra hands tonight. It’s better than sitting here waiting for something to happen. That's how it’s been for the past few months. I dread tomorrow, knowing my long weekend will be over and I’ll have to go back to work. Seeing my brother is inevitable and I know the break is too good to last.

  I decide to go get changed but scream when the front door comes flying open. It hits the wall so hard I can feel it shake and I clutch my chest as my heart nearly jumps out.

  “What’s the fucking point of a phone if you don’t answer the damn thing?” my brother asks as he steps inside.

  My eyes dart to the guy who follows him inside. Aaron Slate looks so out of place here with his suit that costs more than I want to know. Mark is in jeans with a simple black shirt and muddy work boots. Men like Slate need people like Mark to do his dirty work so that he can keep his hands clean. I know because I’m slowly being pulled into their world.

  “The ringer must be off.” I tuck a piece of my hair behind my ear. “I was going to go over to the animal shelter. Did you need something?” It’s the nicest way I can ask them to leave.

  “You and that place.” My brother shakes his head in annoyance.

  He thinks I spend too much time there, and maybe I do, but I love the shelter. Grams and I spent every Sunday volunteering and I don’t understand how cute little puppies and kittens could annoy anyone. I picked up hours for them anytime they asked, and there was talk about them hiring me, but I don’t see that going over so well with Mark. With him I get paid in cash and I never know what he’ll ask me to do. When I was younger, I loved the extra money, but I’m not sure everything he has me do is legal. Some of the pick-ups and drop-offs are sketchy with mystery envelopes and boxes.

  “I asked you to do one thing.” My brother folds his arms over his chest, making himself look even bigger than he already is. He should really lay off the gym. “One fucking thing and somehow you manage to mess that up. I don’t know why I even keep you around.” His words shouldn’t hurt because I know he’s a jerk, yet I still feel their sting.

  Looks like we have Mr. Hyde today. It’s no surprise because he’s worse when Aaron Slate is around and he’s trying to show off. I want to ask what he’s talking about because he asks me to do all kinds of crap for him. It’s a struggle to not roll my eyes, but it wouldn’t be good if I disrespected him in front of Aaron. My brother has never touched me before, but I have a fear that if he was angry enough there isn’t anything he wouldn’t do.

  “I wouldn’t say she fucked things up,” Slate chimes in and comes to my defense. I’m surprised, but it’s short lived. “Though she might get herself fucked.” He smiles at me and all the air leaves my lungs as his eyes roam over my body. He’s assessing me like I’m one of the girls that work in his club.

  Mark doesn’t say anything and it’s unlike when I’m on his job site. He would threaten to kick the guys’ asses if they talked like that in front of him, but now I wonder if that’s for show. You can’t be beneath my brother in command and disrespect something he feels belongs to him.

  My stomach tightens when Slate stares at me, and I remember that I’m wearing old sleep shorts I should have thrown out years ago and a thin shirt. Grams’ house is always hot because the furnace doesn’t kick off when it should.

  “A little thick for my taste, but I can see the appeal. Normally she’s wearing baggy clothes, but you really have grown up, haven’t you, Claudia?” His words are laced with desire and my stomach rolls.

  I do wear baggy clothes most of the time because I never knew where my brother might send me. Sometimes it’s to get his lunch, but occasionally I get orders to visit some not-so-great places. He
tells me not to worry because I’m under his protection and no one would ever hurt me.

  I glance at Mark, who is looking anywhere but at me. Everyone knows who Slate is, and each year his power and money grow. I avoid him not only because he terrifies me but because my brother told me to. I took the warning and made sure I was invisible if he was close.

  “You met with Brian Carter a few days ago.”

  I look at Slate and know Mark isn't coming to my rescue. How did I know that Brian was going to flip my world upside down when I saw him? I nod because I have no idea what he expects me to say. Anything could be used against me right now and it’s best to keep quiet.

  “That was something I specifically told Mark to handle,” Slate snaps, and I fight not to flinch at the tone of his voice.

  My chest tightens and I wonder where this is going. Maybe I shouldn't have been so rude when I met Brian or avoided his messages and calls. I’m about to pay the price for that. He must have snitched on me to Aaron Slate. For some reason it really hurts that he would betray me, even though I’m nothing to him.

  I don’t understand the big deal—he was only picking up building plans. Out of all the places my brother sends me, that was nothing. It must have been too easy because this is about to get dirty. Why else would Slate be standing in my home? He might have grown up around here, but he doesn’t come to this part of town anymore.