End Game

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  To my readers:

  Thank you for taking this journey with me and loving Shane and Emily’s story as much as I could have ever hoped!

  Xoxo,

  Lisa

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  Dear Readers,

  It’s that time again. The time I hate and dread but also enjoy so much. You finally get to read the finale to Shane and Emily’s story … for now. I never like to say good-bye to my characters, but I am leaving you with my current version of their happily ever after. That’s not a spoiler! It is a romance, after all. But how they’ll get there … you’ll just have to read to find out! This book packed a much bigger emotional punch than I ever anticipated. Just ask my husband—he walked in on me several times blubbering over these characters who have become so beloved and important to me. I know Bad Deeds left off on a heart-wrenching cliffhanger. And for that, I’m still sorry! But it had to happen. As much as I wield the keystrokes, these characters dictate their own stories.

  BEFORE YOU GO ANY FURTHER! Please be sure you’ve read Hard Rules, Damage Control, and Bad Deeds (in that order) before reading on. I’m about to recap Bad Deeds since a bit of time has passed for some readers who read it when it first came out, and the following paragraphs will have spoilers for the previous books and prepare you for how End Game will begin.

  As a refresher: we picked up in Bad Deeds after Derek’s threat to Emily at the family dinner with him, Shane, Brandon Senior, and Maggie. This is also following Adrian having stabbed Derek in the hand when he learned about his payoff to the FBI agent, and that the FBI was now snooping around Brandon Pharmaceuticals, which Adrian has infiltrated with his drug trade.

  After Derek’s not-so-veiled threat, Emily is visibly shaken, but eventually she shores up her tough attitude to go back in for dinner. Brandon Senior has announced a new trial that could result in remission for his cancer. That comes as a shock to everyone, and he announces that Maggie will be joining him for a two-week stint in Germany for the treatment. In his absence, Shane will be taking over Brandon Enterprises, much to Derek’s outrage.

  Following these major shifts in this dangerous game, Emily and Shane return to their apartment, where they find Adrian Martina waiting for them, unannounced and uninvited. He has a business proposition for Shane: help bring the Martina cartel even further into Brandon Pharmaceuticals operations by allowing the consortium he is part of to invest and get their illegal drug past FDA testing and on the legal market. Of course, Shane is against the proposal, but if he wants to get everyone out of this fight alive, he has to play his cards smart. Which does not sit well with Emily. She wants herself and Shane as far away from the drug cartel as possible. After Adrian’s good-bye, and a tense debate with Emily about the Martina cartel, Shane leaves to game-plan with Seth and Nick. They’ve decided Emily will need a protective detail after the events of Adrian stabbing Derek and as tensions get higher as they are about to make their move to extricate the cartel from BP. They also find out that Ted, one of Nick’s men, is missing and has been since Adrian paid Shane a visit. Of course, they soon realize this is a scare tactic for Shane and his family by Martina, which comes to a head when Ted is delivered in a box during what seems to be an attack on the office building. Making for a very public display and a skittish and more alert group.

  Shane is also still reeling from the information that his mother has been having an affair with Mike Rogers, one of the stockholders in BE and the owner of a national basketball team. He also finds that Mike is trying to conduct a hostile takeover of BE, which just adds insult to injury. Shane can’t let Mike or Adrian take his family’s legacy from him. As their parents jet off to Germany, Derek and Shane visit Mike Rogers, only to be slapped with an impending lawsuit for control of the company now that their father is gone and seemingly unfit to run it. So Derek and Shane, unlikely cohorts, team up in the face of their adversaries, and create the plan to sell off Brandon Pharmaceuticals (the most profitable branch) from Brandon Enterprises to Mike Rogers, whom Adrian will be able to control with no problem, and buy up Mike’s team’s sports center for Adrian’s consortium investors so Adrian has even more leverage over Mike. This will extricate both Mike and Adrian from Brandon Enterprises entirely.

  Who we see much more of in Bad Deeds is Teresa Martina, Adrian’s sister and Derek’s lover. She’s very at odds with what the right thing to do is: she loves Derek, but she doesn’t want to be the cause of his loss of life because of who her brother is either. She also has an infatuated member of Adrian’s team, Ramon, who is obsessed with her and sketchily following Emily as well. Teresa eventually leaves Derek for his own good, which devastates him.

  All this takes place while Emily and Shane have been planning to create an incorruptible branch of Brandon Enterprises—a fashion and makeup line—which will more than make up their profit losses from the sell-offs to Mike. Before any of this can be implemented, though, with Derek drunk and distraught over Teresa, and Emily being caught unaware, they are both kidnapped by Ramon. Ramon has heard Adrian talking about legalizing the cartel business, which he blames Shane and Adrian for; this does not fit his motives at all, and complicates his obsession over Teresa and her love for Derek. He’s incredibly unstable, and when Shane shows up to save Derek and Emily, Ramon and Shane both fire off shots, with Shane killing Ramon. Ramon’s gun is pointed at Emily, but Derek jumps in front of it to try to save her. And those are the last heart-stopping moments of Bad Deeds. Shane’s agonizing cry as he sees his brother, who is finally coming back to him, and the woman he loves immeasurably both falling to the floor, both covered in blood … which is right where we pick up in End Game.…

  Xoxo,

  Lisa

  CAST OF CHARACTERS

  EMILY STEVENS (27)—Heroine in the series. She is Brandon Senior’s newly appointed secretary. After landing her new job, she learns that the one-night stand she had the night before turns out to be her boss’s son Shane Brandon. Emily has secrets and she’s running. But Shane will not let her run from him. During Hard Rules, the two had a lot of push and pull about their relationship, his family, and her secrets.

  SHANE BRANDON (32)—Hero of the series. Shane Brandon is the black sheep of the family. The good one. The one willing to risk everything to play this game on the up-and-up and keep his brother from ruining the family empire, Brandon Enterprises, by getting in bed with the Martina family drug cartel. But Shane is treading on thin ice as he bring his legacy back from the brink of corruption. He is also dealing with Emily Stevens. A woman who breaks through his defenses and brings an innocence to his life that he can’t have as a distraction. He wants and needs to protect her, possess her, and be worthy of her. She is already making him a better man and keeping him grounded. But she has secrets, and could be the one to ultimately send his world crumbling harder than he ever anticipated.

  DEREK BRANDON (37)—The older brother. While he’s brilliant and good-looking, his greed for power drives him
to make rash decisions. He and Shane were close as kids, but once they became adults and Shane joined Brandon Enterprises, that shifted. Everything became about who would control the empire. Derek has gotten the family corporation into bed with the Martina drug cartel, and Shane will do everything in his power to stop his brother.

  MAGGIE BRANDON—Shane and Derek’s mother. Seemingly befriending Emily, yet we are uncertain about her ultimate motives concerning the current struggle between her sons for control over Brandon Enterprises. Married to David Brandon (Brandon Senior).

  DAVID BRANDON—The head of Brandon Enterprises and the Brandon family. Father to Derek and Shane. Husband to Maggie. He is dying of cancer but wants to leave a legacy and hold on to control of Brandon Enterprises as long as possible. He’s a bastard and pushes Shane and Derek in all the wrong ways. He is gruff, cold, and hard at every turn. He enjoys watching his sons battle for power. It entertains him.

  SETH CAGE (35)—Shane’s right-hand man. Ex-CIA. Shane recruited Seth from their firm in New York, and Seth has now become the head of security at Brandon Enterprises.

  JESSICA (29)—Shane’s assistant. Ever the loyal employee, she followed him from New York and becomes friends with Emily as Emily starts to work as Brandon Senior’s assistant. Jessica’s job knows no bounds, as she helps Shane with everything from securing a new apartment to keeping an eye on Brandon Senior and Derek and relaying any curious goings-on when Shane is not in the office.

  ERIC KNIGHT—A friend of Shane’s from college who is a brilliant surgeon and has squeaky-clean morals. Eric is the doctor of the patient who was running her mouth about Brandon Pharmaceuticals (BP, and part of Brandon Enterprises) being the distributor for an undetectable performance-enhancing drug that her Major League Baseball player husband is taking. Eric brings this news to Shane, causing Shane to take action.

  ADRIAN MARTINA—The son of the Mexican cartel leader, Roberto Martinez. Runs the US side of the cartel’s operations. He has some relationship with Derek Brandon, the extent of which is not fully known yet. Brother to Teresa Martina, who is sleeping with Derek.

  TERESA MARTINA—Sister to Adrian. Sleeping with Derek. Bartender at Martina’s Casa.

  RANDY—Security guard of the building where Brandon Enterprises offices are located. Emily and Shane have a conversation with him over her missing cell phone. Keeps Shane updated on his father’s activities.

  MIKE ROGERS—Sits on the board of Brandon Enterprises. Holds 20 percent of its stock and owns a professional basketball team. Key player in the hedge fund as well. Has a lot to lose if Brandon Enterprises were to shut down its investment division. His company, Rogers Athletics, is one of the proposed investments for the hedge fund. When Seth and Shane are trying to dig up dirt on the board members so they will swing their way in a vote for power of the company, Seth cannot find anything substantial on Mike.

  RICK STEVENS—Emily’s brother. Is aware of her secrets and why she is hiding. He’s very hard for Emily to get in touch with, and his silence and evasiveness make Emily nervous.

  LANA SMITH—A brilliant scientist and busines sperson at Brandon Pharmaceuticals. She wants Shane and has caused him trouble in the past. She hid weed in his car and almost cost him his attendance at Harvard. She caused a slight rift between him and Emily in Hard Rules and is still trying to get close to him now.

  NICK SNYDER—Knows Seth from their CIA/FBI days. Saved Seth’s life, and now Seth has brought him to Shane so Nick can help get to the bottom of the true involvement of the Martina cartel in Brandon Enterprises. Confirms that the Brandon Enterprises trucking division is already distributing cocaine. Is going to help Shane and Seth figure out how to maneuver a takedown and extricate the company out of the hold of the Martina cartel.

  CODY RODRIGUEZ—Part of Nick’s team. Appointed as Emily’s bodyguard/detail. In Bad Deeds he and Jessica were given food poisoning in order to distract them while Emily was kidnapped and held hostage along with Derek.

  ROY GIVENS—Potential investor in the sports center. Someone who Shane will have to contend with.

  FREDDY “MAVERICK” WOODS—Shane’s old boss and the lead partner at his old firm. Has been trying desperately to bring Shane back into the firm since he left for Denver.

  PART ONE

  THE GRIM REAPER

  SHANE

  CHAPTER ONE

  “I will live to hurt you. I will live to torture you. You will die a slow, painful death for this.”

  Adrian Martina, drug lord and monster that he is, doesn’t react to my guttural vow, nor does he react to my brother and the woman I love lying on the floor next to me, blood all over them and me. But I react. I jolt out of my shock at finding them like this, and shout up at him, “Get me a damn ambulance!” even as my fingers search Derek’s and Emily’s necks for pulses. The momentary joy I find in discovering Emily has one is doused by how pale and still she is, and how weak, nearly nonexistent, the heartbeat I finally find in Derek proves to be.

  It’s then that a shiver of foreboding rips through me, and my gaze rockets to Adrian just in time to find him pulling a gun. But I don’t have time to call him the chicken-shit bastard he clearly is before he’s lifted the barrel over my head and fired, the sound jolting me. One time. Two. Ironically, considering Martina’s very existence is why we are here now, I feel relief and find clarity of mind by the third shot. Martina needs me for financial gain, and I turn my attention back to those who need me and actually matter: Derek and Emily. The stickiness under my hand where it rests on Derek’s chest tells me he’s in real trouble. From that moment everything goes in slow motion, like I’m in a tunnel, despite how fast I feel like I’m moving. I confirm that Emily isn’t bleeding, but she still isn’t moving, while Derek’s pulse remains faint and he has two bullet holes in his chest, draining like faucets.

  “Fuck,” I breathe out, adrenaline jolting me, my hands pressing to the wounds. “Get me a damn ambulance!” I shout again, climbing over Derek to keep Emily in my view, my gaze swinging left to find Ramon lying at Derek’s feet. “Get me a goddamn ambulance now!”

  Adrian’s voice carries as a loud shout in the air before he is kneeling on the opposite side of Derek. “Help’s on the way,” he announces, adding, “and this was Ramon’s doing, not mine.”

  Ignoring his claim of innocence, I eye his neck and then him. “Take off your tie,” I order, my blood-soaked jeans and T-shirt of little to no use to prepare the tourniquet Derek needs. I hope. I really have no fucking clue what I’m doing right now.

  “You keep the pressure on the wounds,” he says, removing the tie. “I’ll pull this underneath him.”

  “Do it,” I say, with no misconception about his willingness to help. This is about his concern that Derek’s and Emily’s safety, or rather lack thereof, might impact my willingness to get him the money I vowed to give him to get him the hell out of my company. The problem for him is that it’s too late for a business deal to end our relationship with any ray of light. I’m going to kill him and succeed in doing so where others have failed, but first: we save the ones I love.

  He shouts out to his men, and in a matter of seconds, it seems, we have towels, which he’s tearing and knotting together. We wrap those around Derek’s chest, and the process is bloody and brutal to me, but to Derek, there is nothing. He doesn’t move. He doesn’t react. Not to the towels or the tie and belts we use to cut the blood flow. We’ve just finished doing about everything I believe we can do when I hear, “Shane. What the hell is going—Holy hell.”

  At the sound of Eric’s voice, my gaze jerks to the doorway to find him standing just inside the room, one of Adrian’s goons on either side of him, each holding an arm. Eric is dressed in pajamas, no doubt already in bed to prep for his early morning surgeries, when he was grabbed and brought here. “This is your version of help?” I demand, my gaze swinging to Adrian’s, my lips thinning. “He doesn’t belong in this.”

  “He can help,” Adrian says. “And we need help.”


  “Help is called ‘an ambulance,’” I bite out. “The one you didn’t call, did you?”

  “Let go of me,” Eric demands, jerking away from the two men holding him to quickly rush to Emily’s side, kneeling beside her to check her pulse and scalp. “Stable, but with a head injury,” he announces, already moving toward me. “What do we have?” he asks, motioning to have me inch toward Derek’s legs to allow him to position himself next to my brother’s chest.

  “Two obvious bullet wounds,” I say, watching as Eric presses his fingers to Derek’s neck. “There was a lot of blood,” I add. “I can’t be sure there wasn’t another entry point.”

  “No point of exit for the bullets,” Adrian adds. “He needs surgery. Good thing you’re a surgeon.”

  Eric’s gaze rockets to Adrian. “He won’t survive it without blood. And even if he could, I’m not that kind of surgeon. I’ll kill him.”

  “Buy him some time,” Adrian orders.

  “He needs blood and an ambulance,” Eric insists. “Lots of blood that I don’t carry around in my pocket. An ambulance should have beaten me here.”

  “Did you or did you not call an ambulance?” I demand.

  “It’ll be here,” Adrian assures me. “And when it arrives, we need our facts straight. Stick to the truth. Ramon was jealous of Derek and Teresa. You had words with him over Derek, and we all assume he targeted Emily to pay you back.” He snaps his fingers and a man steps forward. “Martin here killed him to save us.”

  “You killed him,” I say.

  “I killed him,” the other man assures me.

  Sirens sound in the not-so-distant distance. “Your ambulance,” Adrian says. “As promised.”

  I narrow my stare at him. “If you knew that ambulance was coming, why is Eric here? Why suggest he do surgery?”