Page 1 of Nothing to Win

ONE

HER BEST FRIEND was nervous.

Understandable.Anyone would be.

And her?

She wasn’t nervous.

Nu-uh, no way, Gianna Sear couldn’t be nervous.

The black glass and steel of the slick modern skyscraper wasn’t at all intimidating.Nooo… Her family had one just like it, and she’d been there… sporadically… ish.Maybe ten times her whole life.What a sad tribute was that?

Shanna’s upper arm rested on hers.“Are you scared?”her friend whispered.“You must be used to all this stuff, Gia, huh?”

A quiver in Shanna’s voice.Unusual.Unsettling.Please dig deep, Shanna.They needed to dig deep or both of them would crumble.

Don’t lose it.Stick with it.Her friend needed faith.In light of the emergency, Gia pulled on what was left of her own reserves.Bright.Happy.Determined.This would work.It would work.

Just getting in had been near impossible.Their presence in that building, on that floor, was an accomplishment.Not that it would get them anywhere if Spurn said no.

He wouldn’t.Where was her optimism?They’d got somewhere.Made progress.Which was more than they’d achieved elsewhere.Face it, the situation was desperate and neither of them would be there if another option existed.This had to work.Welcome to The Last Chance Saloon.

Goddamn Brogan Spurn.How did a Sear end up appealing to a Spurn?The Spurn?

This wasn’t going to go well.

To be honest, it already wasn’t going well.They’d been sitting in an executive waiting area for more than two hours.Appointment time meant nothing.Waiting and waiting didn’t quell nerves yet wait was all they could do.If Spurn’s aim was to test their resolve in hopes they’d get bored and leave, he’d be waiting a long time.

Waiting.

Nothing happened.

A minute ticked by.

Another minute.

Time trudged on.

How many seconds had passed since she’d last checked the clock?That was her life now, measured second by excruciating second.

“Let me go talk to that woman again,” Gia said, surging, positively, to her feet.

Positive.Always positive.

The impeccable blonde at the head of the room was clearly in charge.The broad oak desk was her domain.A squad of five sat there with her pacing behind, issuing orders and answering calls on her headset.

Apparently, the full-height doors behind that desk needed guarding.She didn’t see why.Right now, the behemoth’s office was empty.Maybe it was the image; keeping up appearances.Even empty it remained the pinnacle of Spurn Global.The office meant more than the man?No, that couldn’t be it.He was the man.The only Spurn man.

The blonde stopped to focus on the elevator.The unexpected move froze Gia on the spot.Soundless, the doors glided open, releasing half a dozen men.

No introduction was necessary, not to the tallest man in the center of the gang.

Brogan Spurn.

Exactly the man they needed; exactly the one instinct—and her father—demand she shun.

Yet there they were.Petty office politics didn’t matter.Shanna mattered.Their cause was just.