“Guys?” I mouthed to Isadora.

But she didn’t notice. She had her face buried in her hands and was shaking her head, though I couldn't tell if she was upset or trying not to laugh.

A shadow appeared in the doorway and I instinctively stood. She caught my hand and looked up at me with a pleading expression on her face.

“Please don’t let him scare you off.”

Scare me off? I snorted. As if. I squeezed Isadora’s hand.

“I’m fine,” I assured her.

Then I turned towards the door and met the hard green eyes of a man who was seriously, seriously beautiful. His hair was the sort of black that would almost look blue in some light, and he had the sort of features that made heads turn.

He was also staring at me as though I was something he’d found on the bottom of his shoe. No amount of good looks could make up for that.

“Who the fuck are you?” he demanded.

I almost snapped back at him, but, instead, I decided to go a different route and make him feel like the asshole he appeared to be.

“Hi.” I gave him a winning, but fake, smile. “I'm Toni. And you are?”

Chapter 3

Ash

I’m not a patient man.

I wasn't one by nature, and my life didn't allow for the time or luxury of patience. It didn't allow for time for much of anything.

So when I demanded to know who in the fuck Tony was, I wanted a damn answer right then.

I got one, too.

Granted, it wasn’t the answer I was expecting.

I’m Toni. And you are?

Bemused, I looked down at the small hand held out to me, and then lifted my eyes to stare into a pair of smoky blue eyes so gorgeous that I imagined I could lose myself in them. I let myself entertain that fanciful thought for maybe ten seconds, and then I cut it off. No point in going there.

“Again.” Crossing my arms over my chest, I narrowed my eyes at her. “Who the fuck are you?”

Nobody was supposed to be allowed inside, especially allowed inside with my little sister, unless I cleared it. Everyone on my staff knew that.

Some people were going to find themselves without a job today.

“I’m Toni,” she repeated.

She blinked at me, somehow managing to look completely innocent and confused, but I had the damnedest feeling she was laughing at me and that pissed me off even more.

“Toni Gallagher.” She offered with another smile that I was sure was fake. “Exclusive sent me. Isadora wanted an assistant, and I was the one best suited to her and the position.”

“I'm the one who decides who is best suited to work for my sister,” I said, walking towards her until we were only inches apart.

I waited.

I had a good fifteen inches on her, and I knew how to use my height – hell, my everything – to intimidate anyone.

She just peered up at me, raised an eyebrow and came back with the last thing I'd expected. “Do you really think you’re the best person to decide who should work for your sister? She is an adult.”

I gaped.

And Toni Gallagher just stared at me, head cocked to the side as she tapped a finger against lips slicked the color of merlot. I hated that shit, but I found myself craving a taste just then. And I didn't want it from a glass.

She continued, “I mean, do you even know what’s going on in her life?”

“I…what?”

Thrown off track, and still thinking about that damn intriguing mouth, I planted my hands on my hips and glared down at her. She shifted her weight, and braced her own hand on her hip.

“She needs somebody who knows what’s going on in her life now. What foundations and organizations does she belong to? What she's interested in. Do you know any of that?”

“Again,” I said, biting the word off as I glared at the tiny, irritating woman in front of me. She looked like the kind of person who'd break in a stiff wind, but I was quickly seeing that her appearance was deceiving. “I'm the one who decides who gets hired in this household.”

That tone of voice usually had only one of two responses – abject terror or abject humility. Often it was both. I was the heir to two of the oldest families in the country, and one of the richest bastards in said country. And I was a bastard in the figurative sense. I made no bones about it. I pushed until I got my way, but more often than not, I didn’t have to push, because people gave me what I wanted.

I was a Lang.

So it shocked the hell out of me when Toni pursed her lips and gave me a slow, thorough study, her eyes going from my head to my feet and back again. It took more self-control than I liked to keep from fidgeting under that intense gaze.

“Does this…” She waved her hand at me. “…really work?”

The question was so unexpected, I answered honestly, “Yes.”

“I thought so.” She shrugged. “It won’t work on me. I grew up with four older brothers who always thought I should do what they told me. It doesn't work with them and it won’t work with you.”

I had the strange and sudden thought that this had to be some sort of joke. People didn't talk to me like that. Certainly not people who wanted to be employed.

Then, without so much as a dismissive glance, she turned to Isadora. “I was thinking about how we can get all the information up at the top of your newsletter. Half the time, people only skim...”

I shot a look at Isadora.

My sister was grinning at me. “Before we go any further,” she deftly cut into what Toni was saying. “I should make formal introductions. Ash, this is my amazing new assistant, Toni Gallagher. Who, as you can see, is not a man. Toni, I'd like you to meet my big brother, Ashford Lang. You can call him Ash.”

I scowled. No, she most certainly could not. “Employees address me as Mr. Lang.”

Isadora ignored my comment and continued, her smile tightening the way it did when she was upset. “She’s right, by the way. You can’t possibly decide who'd be best for me to work with because you're more interested in having people hover over me than talk to me.”

There was a hint of displeasure, maybe even hurt, in her voice, but she looked away before I could figure out just what I’d seen. Scowling, I went to jam my hands into my pockets before I stopped myself. I wasn’t in the jeans I preferred to wear when I wasn’t working. I was still in the suit I’d put on that morning, and tailored suits weren’t exactly designed for men to shove their hands into the pockets. Ruined the lines.

Focusing back on what Isadora said, I slid Toni a look.

No, she definitely wasn't a man.

I gave myself a mental shake. I didn’t think she was amazing either. People around my sister needed to be scared of me, not dismiss me like I didn't matter.

“We’ve talked about this,” I told Isadora as she turned her attention back to Toni.

Neither of them said anything to me as Toni went back to explaining whatever idea it was that she'd had. I waited a few more moments, expecting them to draw me into their conversation. People did that. People wanted my involvement. They wanted my input. They wanted my approval, and more often than not, my money.

Isadora didn’t need the money, but she usually sought my approval. I'd raised her since our parents died and we had an odd combination of a brother-sister, father-daughter relationship. In some ways, I was the only parent she'd ever know. But she didn't even look my way.

After a few more moments of being ignored, I turned on my heel and stalked out of the room. I was going to have to dig into this woman’s background. Since I hadn’t hired her, I had no idea what kind of person she was or what kind of skeletons she was hiding.

As I came out of the parlor, I caught Doug’s eyes and indicated with a jerk of my head that he was to follow me. He gave me a differential bob of his head, but it didn’t do shit to cool my temper. Once we were inside the large office that took up much of the southeast corner of the family home, I turned on him, needing to take my frustration out on someone.