Her Alpha Avengers [The Hot Millionaires #7] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (5 page)

“It just keeps getting better and better,” Sabine muttered.

“What do you want to get out of all this, Sabine?” Fin asked.

Her head shot up. “What do you mean?”

“Well, you’ve devoted almost two years to trying to catch the bastard. What do you want to see happen if you catch up with him?”

“I want revenge and justice. I want to see him sent back to England to stand trial.”

“Is that all?”

“I don’t understand what you mean.” She blinked at him. “Isn’t that enough? He’ll be out of the game, and at least no one else will be suckered by him.”

“For how long? Your English justice system is well known for being soft on criminals.”

“That’s not necessarily true.”

“He’ll get maybe five years and will be out in two and a half.”

“And you won’t get your money back,” Gabe said.

Otto nodded. “He’ll have it tucked away offshore somewhere.”

“You want to think of him coming out of prison and sailing off into the sunset to live out the rest of his days on money he’s stolen from vulnerable people like your mother?”

“Of course not, but I don’t see—”

“Well,” Fin said, caressing her with his eyes in a manner that made her breath catch in her throat and moisture seep between her legs. “I don’t know about you, but I think we should catch up with Mr. Pearson and persuade him to give you your mother’s money back.” He paused and sent her a flirtatious smile. “With interest, naturally.”

Gabe watched a whole gambit of emotions flitter across her face as she absorbed Fin’s suggestion. The combination of surprise, ambition, and hunger to achieve retribution told him that she wouldn’t turn Fin down.

“How would that be possible?” she asked. “Like you said, the money’s hidden away, and he’ll just deny all knowledge of it.”

“Oh, the three of us can be pretty persuasive when we put our minds to it.”

Gabe knew he wasn’t referring just to Pearson.

“I’m sure you can be,” she said, blushing but gamely holding Fin’s gaze.

It looked like she knew the conversation had taken a detour, too, and wasn’t entirely sure how she felt about it. Gabe observed her features with his artist’s eye, much as he’d been doing ever since she’d arrived and he fell to sketching her. No artist could have resisted such an expressive face. It was a bit like putting an alcoholic in a bar and telling him not to help himself.

Gabe had helped himself, trying to capture the sadness that lurked in Sabine’s expression, wondering if she knew that her sensuous nature was also evident to someone who made a living from studying faces. Wondering if she even knew she had a sensuous nature. The question was, would she be willing to let the three of them bring it out and fully explore its depths? Gabe suspected that she hadn’t had much time for sex since embarking upon her obsession to track Pearson down. He also knew, just from glancing at his buddies, that they were as intrigued by her as he was. She was an unusual, challenging enigma, and when it came to challenges, all three of them were fiercely competitive. They never backed away from one and had yet to come out on the losing side.

“Here.”

Gabe tore off his sketch and handed it to her. She glanced at it and gasped.

“It’s me.”

“Glad we got that one sorted,” Otto said. “Problem living with these artistic types is that they get all moody if their supposed talent goes unappreciated.”

She frowned. “Do I really look so pensive?”

“It’s how I see you.” Gabe offered her an engaging grin. “Are you disappointed?”

“No, I think you’ve flattered me, that’s all.” She continued to study the drawing. “You’re very good.”

“Why, thank you, ma’am.”

“No, really, you are. You ought to do something like this for a living.”

Fin and Otto burst out laughing. “What?” Her glance flitted between them. “What did I say?”

No one enlightened her, and so she tutted and returned her attention to the drawing. Her gaze obviously rested on his signature,
Gabriel
,
scrawled across the bottom of the page, which is when realization dawned.

“You,” she said, pointing an accusing finger at him. “You’re Gabriel?”

“I did tell you that when we met.”

“Yes, but you didn’t mention that you’re the guy taking the New York art scene by storm.” She glowered at him. “Why did you let me make a fool of myself just then?”

“Don’t get too mad,” Otto said. “You could probably flog that squiggle for a fortune. God knows why.”

“I wouldn’t think of selling it.” She paused. “Unless I have to.”

“Sorry, babe, it’s a habit.” Gabe grinned at her. “I like to be myself when I’m here, not the famous artist that everyone wants a piece of.”

“You don’t live here, then?”

“Yeah, I do, actually. I’m here as much as I can be, but I do have to get my ass in gear occasionally and put myself about a bit.”

“He pretends not to enjoy fame,” Otto said, “but he’d be impossible to live with if he went out of style.”

Gabe shot him the finger.

“The three of us live in this house,” Fin said. “I’m a stockbroker, Otto does all sorts of clever stuff with computer systems, and Gabe…well, you know what he does.” Fin winked at her. “Ask him nicely, and he’ll show you his studio.”

She rolled his eyes. “He’ll be inviting me to view his etchings next.”

“Damn!” Gabe thumped his thigh. “Now I’ll have to think of something more original.”

“
Anything
would be more original than that.”

“I’m an artist, darling, not a wordsmith.”

“How come you got into investigations?” she asked, wisely not continuing to banter with Gabe.

“By accident,” Fin said. “We’ve all got our areas of expertise, and we do very well in our chosen fields.”

“I can see that.” She glanced up at the two galleried landings above her head, probably seeing it with her interior designer’s hat on and mentally revamping it. “Let me guess. You need something else to stimulate your—” Otto turned a choke of laughter into a cough. “Okay, wrong phraseology. You need to explore your potential, find your inner selves, or whatever it is your American shrinks charge a small fortune to put a label on.”

“We’re your quintessential good Samaritans, for want of a better description,” Gabe said. “We dislike injustice and try to put it right. We certainly don’t do it for the money ’cause we don’t always get paid.”

“I thought Fin said something about people who could pay—”

“Yeah, he
said
that,” Otto agreed, “but when it comes right down to it, we’re all too soft for our own good. I guess we just enjoy the challenge of pitting our wits against the bad guys. We can do things that the police can’t because we’re not governed by any rules except our own.”

“So, how do you feel about staying here with us until we’ve got this business with Pearson sorted?” Fin asked.

“You want me to live here?” She paused. “With the three of you?”

“Why not?” Fin shrugged. “We’re all trying to achieve the same thing, so it makes sense to pool our resources. You can’t go back to your condo, and we have plenty of space.”

“You don’t need to share with any of us,” Otto added, waggling his brows. “Unless you want to.”

“Well, I guess I could make myself comfortable,” she said, ignoring Otto’s lascivious expression. “Oh, but what about Mulligan?”

“Looks like he’s already made himself comfortable,” Fin said, nudging the big mutt with his foot.

“Where do we start trying to find Pearson, then?”

Sabine leaned toward Fin and Gabe as she posed the question. She was wearing shorts and a thin vest. Bending forward like that gave them a decent view of her breasts, encased in a pink lacy bra. Gabe thoroughly approved of the view, as did his prick, which jerked in anticipation.
Down, boy!
He didn’t think she’d offered them this view deliberately. In fact, she wasn’t making any particular effort to impress them, which was unique in Gabe’s experience. Wherever he went, on his own or in company with the guys, women came on to him—to them all—in droves. That was an immediate turn-off. Gabe liked to do the chasing, not be forced to run away.

“You might wanna let Otto share whatever information you have on your computer,” Fin said, nodding toward her satchel. “Before you do that, Otto can check up on Spencer or whatever his name was, see where that leads.” Fin delved into his pocket and threw a wallet at Otto. “I took this off him.”

“That’s what you were doing,” Sabine said. “Going through his pockets to see if you could find an identity?” Fin nodded. “He didn’t know he was going to die, he just thought he was going to meet me, so he had no reason not to carry with him what all men carry.”

“Never go anywhere without mine,” Gabe said, grinning.

“Precisely.” Sabine offered him a sweet smile. “A man can never be parted from his most important possession.”

“Don’t let that stop you from trying to part me from mine,” Otto said, winking at her.

* * * *

Sabine looked away, unsure what she’d gotten herself into with these three when Otto’s sexy smile made her gut clench with a sudden bout of lust. He was no longer looking at her but flipping through the wallet Fin had just tossed to him.

“The guy’s name was Harold Arthur Spalding. Driver’s licence gives an address in Bradenton.” He stood up. “Okay, I’m on it.”

“I’ve got some calls to make.” Fin stood up as well. “Let’s reconvene for brunch in an hour. Give Sabine the guided tour in the meantime, Gabe, and show her to the guest room.”

“Will do.”

He stretched out a hand and helped Sabine to her feet. His smile hit her square below the belt, too, making her wonder what she’d just committed herself to. They were being kind, offering to let her stay with them, even though she’d probably be in their way. They’d already dismissed her—well, two of them had—and scuttled off to do whatever it was that they did, which kind of proved her point. And yet, all she could think about was getting naked with one of them—or more. God, but she was a hopeless screwball. The chances of just one of them being attracted to her were remote. All three of them wanting a piece of her—sharing her enjoyment of the life she’d once briefly dabbled with—was unthinkable.

All the same, she didn’t seem to be able to stop thinking about it.

Ever since her mother had been so cruelly treated by Pearson, Sabine had sworn off men for good. Several had tried to change her mind, but she hadn’t even been tempted. She was a woman on a mission and didn’t have the time or inclination for romantic distractions. The only explanation she could come up with for her out-of-character reaction this morning was gratitude. She’d felt so alone since coming to America, getting nowhere with her search. No matter how inconvenient her staying here might be, no matter how much she cramped their style, she instinctively knew that the guys would take good care of her.

Besides, they
were
three of the most indecently attractive men she’d ever met. All of them together under the same roof, albeit a very expansive one, were doing things to her head. All that lean, hard muscle, predatory male tendencies, and excess testosterone was to blame. She might be practising abstinence, but she wasn’t blind. Hell, now her pussy was leaking, and her nipples had hardened. This was not an auspicious start.

They must be gay, she thought, otherwise why would three men in their thirties live together, no woman in sight?

Yeah, right!

“This way, ma’am.”

Gabe’s knowing smile caused Sabine to wonder if he numbered mind reading amongst his obviously considerable talents. She tossed her head and followed him as he showed her round the rooms on the first floor. There was tons of space, but few rooms—the one they were in, offices for Otto and Fin, the kitchen and family room, and a half bath. The covered terrace overlooking the pool and then the Intracoastal Waterway held Sabine’s attention longer than the interior. Mulligan stirred himself, had a good shake, and followed them out there.

“A great way to pass the time, I would imagine, sitting out here and doing absolutely nothing.” She smiled at Gabe. “I should think it’s a constant source of inspiration. All those changing colours in the water must give you a ton of ideas.”

“You’re not wrong,” he said, but the deep intensity of his gaze was settled on her profile rather than the view. “Come on, there’s a lot more.”

On the next level were their bedrooms and the guest room. He opened the door and ushered her in ahead of him. Mulligan followed, his claws clacking against the wooden floor. He took a look round, had another shake, and settled down on a rug, appearing to like his new accommodation. They both laughed.

“He’s rather spoiled, I’m afraid.”

“That’s okay. I like a guy who goes for what he wants.”

She turned to face him. “Are you flirting with me?”

“Absolutely.”

Sabine laughed. “Glad we got that one sorted out.” Her gaze fell upon her bags from the condo standing against the wall. “You obviously assumed I’d be staying.”