Crazy Thing (The Brighton Family #5)

Chapter 24

24

DARIUS

“ S he found him?” My private investigator, whom I only know as Rivers, turns toward Ziggy. His eyes graze across her body a little too slowly. I don’t like it. “You found him?”

“Wow. I must say that I’m quite impressed,” Frank adds, his head nodding in approval. “We’ve both been searching for the owner of this property for weeks, and yet we’ve come up short. Nice work, young lady.”

“Why, thank you.” Ziggy does a little curtsey.

“If you ever want to work in a law office, let me know,” Frank goes on.

“She’s got a job,” I snap, growing annoyed by this pointless meeting.

The whole time, my lawyer and private investigator have been gushing and praising Ziggy for managing to find the waterfall property owner on her own.

Yeah, I’m impressed by her, too. But that doesn’t give them the right to keep gawking at her like a bacon-wrapped filet mignon at an upscale steakhouse.

Rivers continues to stare at Ziggy, a grin stretching across his face. “You can’t blame Frank for trying. Brighton, your assistant has both beauty and brains.”

“And a killer intuition, too!” Ziggy adds, quirking a shoulder and goddamn winking at Rivers.

Is she flirting back with him? Oh, hell no .

My annoyance skyrockets.

This meeting hasn’t lasted more than ten minutes, and I’m already done with it. I need to put an end to this nonsense immediately before I break a man’s neck.

“Okay, you two. Enough chitchat. She found the owner. You didn’t,” I bite out, staring Rivers down. “So unless you’re going to start kissing her feet now, how about we all get back to work, huh?”

Ziggy pins me with her eyes, the blue of them looking more like hot flames than the calm sky right now. What the hell is your problem? That’s what I imagine her glare is telling me.

Yeah, yeah. I deserve it. I just don’t care.

Every man who sees her, wants her. But they can’t have her. I won’t allow it.

Because she’s mine.

Thankfully, my grumpy lawyer and my flirty private investigator leave the office shortly after that. They take the files Ziggy prepared with them, voicing promises to do their due diligence on the property owner. Though at this point, I’m kind of uncertain about their skills, especially Rivers. Now that they’ve been shown up by a woman who only relied on her intuition.

Not that anything’s wrong with that. It’s just that, these so-called experts studied to do what they do, and they still came up short.

When they leave, it’s just me and Ziggy alone in my office once again. She looks even more annoyed than I am.She shakes her head at me, leveling me with one of those glares that just screams disappointment. It screams judgment.

“What’s your problem now?” I grate. I can’t even tie my shoes without her having something to say about it.

“Just because you don’t find me attractive, it doesn’t mean you have to verbally manhandle any guy who looks in my direction.”

I rear back, thrown off guard by her accusations. “He was on the clock, on my dime. He was acting unprofessionally. And inappropriately, too, in my opinion.”

Her arms fold tightly across her chest, inadvertently propping up those perky tits. “Oh, give me a break, Darius.”

Is she really going to fight me for saving her from that creep? “He doesn’t even know you,” I say. “And he’s certainly not your type.”

“How do you know he's not my type?” she challenges.

“For one, he’s shorter than you are.”

“I happen to love a short king,” she informs me matter of factly, chin tipped upward in defiance.

Rolling my eyes, I go on. “And that grotesque beard? It probably has yesterday’s cheeseburger crumbs still in it.”

At that, she just stomps her foot and glowers.

I’m on a roll so what’s the point in shutting up now? “And let’s just back up for a minute. Once and for all, would you get it out of your head that I don’t find you attractive?”

“Well, it’s the truth!”

“The truth?” I grind my teeth. “Did your memory completely wipe clean after what happened on that rooftop? Of course I find you attractive. Why else do you think I’m having such a painful time trying to keep my distance from you? The truth is, I think you’re breathtaking, Ziggy.” You’re also a pain in my ass. But I don’t say so out loud .

Ziggy’s expression just collapses with confusion.

Ah, great. Here I am trying to make her feel better, but then I go and cross a line. I can’t be saying that kind of stuff to my employee, as she has so aptly reminded me in the past.

But before she can question me about it, I change the subject, speaking quickly. “I checked your HR file. I don’t have a home address on file for you.”

Ziggy raises a brow. “I didn’t give you one.”

“Well, it’s necessary for me to have your address.” I stare up at her from where I’m sitting behind my expansive desk.

“I don’t see why,” she clips, her thousand and one bracelets jangling when she folds her arms across her chest.

I let out an exaggerated sigh. “Ziggy. Give me your address.”

She angles her shoulders in defiance, only emphasizing the curve of her tits. I’m sure it’s not intentional. “Why?”

This time I groan. “For starters, my accounting department back in New York is going to need it for tax purposes.”

She glares at me. She knows I don’t need it for tax purposes. She already gave me a mailing address, so that her letters would be picked up from a postal box.

I just want to know where she lives. For personal reasons.

There. I said it. I’m curious about her.

Now I sound like a creep. Maybe she was right about her intuition.

“Also, I need to know where I’ll be picking you up for the gala,” I add.

She clears her throat. “That’s easy. We can just leave together from the office after work and ride together.”

Then it hits me. Why Ziggy is being so evasive about this subject in particular. “You don’t have an official address, do you?”

Now it’s her turn to let out an exasperated sound. Her gaze flits past the glass panes of the industrial windows to where her hideous school bus sits in the parking lot. “I told you—my accommodations are…mobile.”

My head hurts. I rub my temples.

“For christ’s sake,” I mutter.

This woman is going to be the death of me, and not in the way I’d prefer.

The only thing I know for sure is that Ziggy is downright infuriating. And why does she have to be so damn stubborn? I swear, she’s not like this with anyone else. Just me. Does she hate me that much?

“Look, you’ll have to meet me at my house. We’ll leave from there,” I suggest, surprised by my own willingness to compromise. “Six o’clock tomorrow evening. Don’t be late.”

“Fine,” she snaps. Then she marches right out my office door.

Well now, I’m feeling the pull of a full blown migraine coming on.

Fucking fantastic.