NFH 03 Checkmate Read Online Free Page B

his
team. They worked hard, always finished their projects on time, and
their work was unquestionably the best in the area. He'd never
admit any of that of course. Not when he was their main
competition. His boys were good, very good, but they didn't have
that extra edge the James boys brought to each job.
    What he wouldn't give to have even one of
them on his crew, hell, running his crew. Over the past five years
he'd seriously considered risking war with Rory and going after one
of her brothers on more than one occasion. If he could get one,
just one, he could probably lure the rest of them over to his side.
His eyes moved over to the oldest brother, Craig. He was the clear
leader of the group. If he came over the rest would follow.
    How they managed to end up working for their
baby sister, he would never know. Any of those men could easily
have started up his own company and given Connor a run for his
money, but they hadn't. No doubt they worked for Rory out of fear
of old man James. His boys might be grown men, but he still ruled
the family with an iron fist. He probably told the boys to help
their sister and they jumped to do it, afraid the old man would
kick their collective asses. Hell, even Connor didn't turn his back
on the sixty year old man. He wasn't stupid.
    Of course if any of the James brothers
decided after working this particular project that they'd rather
work with him, who was he to argue?
    "Did we get it?" Andrew, one of his oldest
friends and one of his foremen, asked as Connor joined them at the
round tavern table. The four other men stopped talking and sipping
their beers to watch him expectantly.
    "Oh yeah," he said, grinning, looking
towards the James brothers. "Maybe even more."
     
    * * * *
     
    "Did you know Connor was gay?"
    That question had Rory stumbling even though
she'd changed into her work boots, jeans, and customary gray tee
shirt. Before she went head first into the brick wall, Sean reached
out and grabbed her by the arm to steady her, which was actually
impressive since he never took his eyes off the huge plate of food
in front of him.
    "Thanks," she said, taking the empty seat
next to Brian.
    "No problem," Sean said around a huge bite
full of his cheeseburger.
    "Well?" Bryce demanded as he pushed a mug of
steaming hot cocoa towards her while Craig gestured to Luanne,
their waitress.
    "Well, what?" Rory asked before taking a
fortifying sip of cocoa. Not as good as hers, but still doable.
    " Did you know he was gay ?" Sean hissed
as Luanne placed a large cheeseburger platter with extra fries,
onion rings and coleslaw in front of her.
    Connor O'Neil gay? That was actually
laughable. She snorted as she took another sip of cocoa and picked
up her knife. Just as she finished cutting her burger in half,
Brian reached over and took half of it. When she raised the bun of
the remaining half, Johnny took her onions. Sean and Bryce took her
french fries while Craig and Brian split her onion rings. When the
only thing left on her plate was the coleslaw and half a burger,
each man in turn dumped his side salad with extra creamy French
dressing on her plate. It took a few years, but she had them nicely
trained, she thought as she took a bite of her burger.
    "Why do you think he's gay?" she asked,
spearing a delicious looking French dressing covered cucumber slice
onto her fork.
    "He keeps looking over here at us," Brian
said, jerking his head in the direction behind him.
    Sipping her cocoa, Rory leaned to the left
to look between two of her very large brothers. Sometimes she felt
like she had her own entourage of linebackers. Having large
muscular brothers did come in handy when she needed help moving or
someone to open a pickle jar.
    "He's doing it again," Johnny said, moving
to the side so she could get a better look and sure enough he was
looking over at them. Actually, so were his little buddies. They
were talking and gesturing towards them. No doubt the men were
pissed at the news. So was she, but