Mr. Corbin Read online

  

  Executive Row 3

  Mr. Corbin

  [Siren Publishing: The Lynn Hagen ManLove Collection: Erotic Romance, Contemporary, Alternative, Paranormal, Werewolves, Romantic Suspense, MM, HEA]

  I’ve busted my butt to become a nurse and love my job. When a stranger is transferred to the critical care unit where I work, I’m enamored with him. I know that isn’t professional, but Reese Corbin stirs something inside me that no other has. I also haven’t the faintest clue how dangerous Mr. Corbin truly is.

  He has many enemies, and one of them tries to kill him on my watch. I’m not a hero by any stretch of the imagination, but when I jump into action, taking down the hitman, I’m offered one hundred grand to take care of him until he’s fully healed.

  Now we’re on the run, in hiding until Reese is back on his feet. Taking care of him isn’t the hard part. It’s keeping things on a professional level and not allowing myself to fall for him. Too late. I’m a realist, though. I know I don’t belong in his world. It’s too deadly, but how am I supposed to walk away from the man I’ve fallen in love with while keeping my heart intact?

  Length: 32,000 words

  MR. CORBIN

  Executive Row 3

  Lynn Hagen

  

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  Mr. Corbin

  Copyright © 2020 by Lynn Hagen

  ISBN: 978-1-64637-243-0

  First Publication: September 2020

  Cover design by Emma Nicole

  All art and logo copyright © 2020 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  If you find a Siren-BookStrand e-book or print book being sold or shared illegally, please let us know at [email protected]

  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Lynn Hagen loves writing about the somewhat flawed, but lovable. She also loves a hero who can see past all the rough edges to find the shining diamond of a beautiful heart.

  You can find her on any given day curled up with her laptop and a cup of hot java, letting the next set of characters tell their story.

  For all titles by Lynn Hagen, please visit

  www.bookstrand.com/lynn-hagen

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  MR. CORBIN

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  MR. CORBIN

  Executive Row 3

  LYNN HAGEN

  Copyright © 2020

  Chapter One

  Reese…

  I’m not gonna lie. This was a sticky situation I found myself in. I grew up fighting on the streets, honing my skills, but my best assets were my smooth personality and charming ways. I’ve brokered deals and won court cases because I knew how to work a crowd.

  But not this menacing pack of wolves. They wanted blood for killing their boss, Antonio Malkovich. The stupid son of a bitch shouldn’t have kidnapped Maximus Russo’s boyfriend a few months back. We wouldn’t be in this mess.

  Or I wouldn’t be. I had heard the Malkovich pack had a new leader, and being a council member, I had to check the guy out. I had no idea I had been walking into an ambush.

  “You think I’m gonna let you do me the way you did my boy Antonio?” The guy chuckled, the sound light and deep, and my hairs stood on end. “He was too arrogant to see the threat coming. Too confident the council couldn’t touch him.” Robert Liotta shook his head. “I’m too cautious and paranoid, and you shouldn’t have come, Mr. Corbin.”

  I wasn’t about to threaten him. Robert already knew the score. He hurt me and the council would shed blood. The four of us weren’t just council members, crime bosses, and lawyers. We were best friends since childhood. They’d pulled me out of more scrapes than I could count.

  Or had been by my side to help me take down the enemy.

  Some of the men surrounding me snickered, while others seemed hesitant to participate in whatever Robert had planned. The expression in their eyes said they’d bolt at the first sign of trouble.

  I stood in the middle of the living room of whoever owned this house. There were too many men to fight, too many to get in my way if I wanted to flee.

  I raised my chin and glared at Robert. “Seems we’re at a standstill. I just came to talk, but it’s obvious”—I raised my arms and looked around—“you want to show dominance.”

  Dominant men were nothing to me. I was one myself. But I’d grown up with a guy who loved to beat on my mom, and I had killed him, my friends helping me bury the body. I’d been twelve at the time, and since then, I’d never let another man have that much power over me.

  Besides, I’d told Lucas, Max, and Gabe that I was coming here, had told them I hadn’t needed backup. Lucas had disagreed, and the three were a block over in Gabe’s SUV. I was also wired. It was the only way they’d let me come in here on my own.

  I’d thought I could talk to Robert, see what his plans were, but he was filled with even more malice than Antonio had been.

  More accurately, more than Antonio was considering he was still alive.

  Robert pushed away from the wall and slid his jacket off, tossing it over the back of the couch. He pulled his sleeves up and rolled his shoulders.

  “I’m interested in more power, as are a few of my friends.” Robert moved to the center of the room where I stood. “We think we’d do better than the current council.”

  I blocked the blow that Robert threw and countered with one of my own, hitting him center mass with my fist. Robert was thrown back but remained on his feet. He bared his canines, and I wasn’t impressed.

  But that also meant that he had to now prove his worthiness to lead the Malkovich pack. The men were looking uneasy, and that wasn’t a good sign.

  “Quit while you can still walk,” I warned. “I don’t want to mess up that pretty face. I’m just here for a meet-and-greet. Why have a pissing contest?”

  That seemed to stoke Robert’s anger. He came at me again, this time faking left at the last second, catching me off guard. I took a blow to the kidneys, and damn if that didn’t hurt, but I growled instead of whimpering.

  “That all you got?” I winked and blew him a kiss. I had a charming personality, but I could also be a dick, antagonizing people when I shouldn’t.

  When Robert came at me again, he brought his A game. Not just one swing but several, forcing me to give as good as I was getting. I slammed my fist into his face, his jaw, his gut, and swung around, planting my foot in his chest, knocking the air from his lungs.

  But Robert wasn’t one to give up. He kept fighting, knocking me into furniture, against the wall, and finally kicked me over the back of the couch. I leapt back over and threw all my weight into him, crashing into a bookshelf.

  I drove my fist into him repeatedly until he didn’t move, then I backed away, out of breath, pissed that I’d
ruined my favorite suit. I hoped he would get back up so I could finish taking my anger out on him.

  Robert stayed down, glaring at me through the bruises I’d given him. I wasn’t going to talk trash. I wasn’t a bully and wouldn’t embarrass him any further.

  I’d shown him who deserved the council seat and walked away, heading out the front door. Robert had to go. There was no two ways about it. We needed a business guy running the Malkovich pack, not a wannabe gangster. There was no money in that.

  I didn’t have to worry about him being the alpha in that pack. I’d just cleaned the floor with him, and the wolves would walk away from him. They only recognized power, and Robert had none.

  That ambush also showed me that some of the Malkovich pack were unaware that Antonio was still alive. If that was the case, then why had Antonio showed himself to Gabe? Why had Antonio taunted Gabe’s boyfriend?

  We’d thought Antonio would show himself at the Romanos rally last weekend. We’d thought he would make a grand appearance. But Antonio hadn’t been anywhere around. The rally had gone off without a hitch.

  None of it made any sense. I knew damn well that Antonio wasn’t about to give up his place as their leader, so why did some of his pack know the bastard was still alive while others didn’t?

  I had been curious about the meeting, so I’d gone and confirmed my suspicions. Robert and his men had no idea that Antonio wasn’t dead.

  Gabe looked me over when I reached the SUV. “Did you get your ass spanked? Just from sound alone I couldn’t determine who was winning.”

  I flipped Gabe off. “You know damn well who won.” I got into the backseat with Lucas. “The pack will be looking for a new leader, and I think we should be the ones who pick him.”

  “You know that’s not how it works,” Max said. “They’ll reject anyone we send in.”

  “But that’s a good way to get Antonio out in the open,” Lucas mused from beside me. “There’s no way he’ll stay in hiding if he thinks we’re trying to take over.”

  Pain pulsed in my gut, but I didn’t let on that I was actually hurt. I might’ve put Robert down, but I hadn’t come out of there unscathed. I was going to have a shit-ton of bruising on my torso by the time the day was over, if I didn’t already have them.

  “The Malkoviches already thinks they’re leaderless, and we should take that seriously,” Max said from the passenger seat. He looked pensively out the window as Gabe drove. “They’re already in chaos. I’ve been getting reports of escalating violence. Someone with leadership skill and common sense needs to step up soon, since it seems Antonio isn’t going to do it.”

  I agreed. I’d also heard about the uptick in beatings, robberies, and other crimes that looked bad for our city. The increase in crime made it look as though the council didn’t have complete control.

  That was one reason I’d wanted to meet with Robert, to find out if he would rein in his men. I’d gotten my answer. He was more concerned with his own agenda, not with business and keeping his pack under control.

  Anarchy would not be permitted in Ridgeview. Not if we had anything to say about it.

  “Drop me off at my place,” I said. “I need to shower and change before heading back to the office.”

  What I needed to do was check my body. I ached all over, and my torso was really hurting now.

  Gabe dropped me off at the front door of the building I owned. Corbin Towers. It held twenty-two floors, had a doorman, and was shiny and sleek, with gold and chrome trim, carpeting inside the hallways and outside the front door.

  There was even a garden to the left with a pond and benches and plenty of trees for shading.

  “Good afternoon, Mr. Corbin.” Nigel nodded as he opened the door for me. “Have a good rest of your day, sir.”

  “Thanks, Nigel.” I passed the man at the front desk and headed toward my private elevator, forcing myself not to grimace at the pain that was sweeping through me.

  As soon as I reached the penthouse, I unbuttoned my shirt and looked at myself in the full-length mirror. My right side was covered in ugly purple bruises that hurt to the touch. Robert had one powerful kick. I even saw the pattern of the boot in the bruising.

  This was going to take forever to heal. Until then I needed to be careful and not show any pain. I’d become a master at hiding my pain as a child, when my mom’s boyfriend constantly beat on her and then, sometimes, turned that rage onto me.

  But that had been a lifetime ago. It wasn’t often I thought of the man I had killed, of the man who my friends had helped me bury. He’d been the devil incarnate, and I had put him down.

  Not even my mother knew what had happened. She’d thought the jerk had run off. I’d never told her the truth, not even on her deathbed.

  Some secrets were meant to stay secret.

  After removing the rest of my clothes, I stepped into the shower and let the pounding sprays and the heat of the water soothe my wounds. The heat didn’t help as much as I’d hoped, but it was the best I could do until I healed.

  With a towel curled around my waist, I was headed to my bedroom when the doorbell rang. I hadn’t been expecting any company. I went to the bar on the right side of the room and removed my Glock from under the counter.

  Every guest had to check in at the front desk, but whoever this was could’ve lied, falsifying his way to the penthouse. I had many enemies in my line of work. I was not only a lawyer but a crime boss and a wolf shifter. Right now Antonio’s pack was out of control, and I wouldn’t put it past them to try some bullshit to take me out.

  There were four members of the council, and each one of us was despised because we ruled over the other packs, kept order, and approved or disapproved any important moves a certain pack wanted to make.

  It was our way of keeping order over Ridgeview, of stopping the general human public of knowing about our existence.

  When I looked out the peephole, I didn’t see anyone, even when the doorbell rang again.

  A scowl in place, I tucked the gun behind me and swung the door open. I had to look down to see the guy standing there.

  “Hi. I’m Jersey. Are you ready to get started?”

  He had blond hair and blue eyes, was short and slim, and had a gym bag slung over his shoulder. He looked up at me with a smile, though I could tell he was fighting not to lower his gaze to my towel.

  “What’re you talking about, and how did you get up here?”

  Jersey pulled out his phone and used his thumb to swipe upward, as if reading something. “You’re Mr. Corbin, correct?”

  “I am.”

  “Mr. Rothe called my office. I was sent here right away.” He looked up at me. “You have no idea about a massage?”

  I was going to kill Gabe. The son of a bitch played too much. There was no way he knew how much pain I was in. I’d hidden it too well.

  “Well, the appointment is already paid for.” Jersey shrugged. “You might as well let me in. And by the look of that large bruise on your side, you could use me.”

  Those were loaded words considering the human looked sexy in his uniform. Sue me. I had a thing for twinks in a uniform. A sort of fantasy, and this guy was right up my alley.

  “Look, mister.” Jersey gazed down the hallway then turned his attention back to me. “I need this job. I can’t go back to work and tell them you turned me down. This is my first day, and that would look bad.”

  I was a sucker for hard cases. I knew what having a job meant back before I’d gone to law school and become the success I was today. I’d struggled to pay rent and keep food in my fridge.

  “Come on in.” I walked away from the door. I was still kicking Gabe’s ass for this.

  “Thank you.”

  I heard the door close. “So where do you want me?”

  I walked toward the bar, keeping the gun out of sight. There was no use scaring the crap out of the poor shmuck. When I turned, I was shocked to see the bag on the floor and a gun in Jersey’s hands.

  “
This is from Antonio.”

  The short shit had played me. I dove toward the bar as shots were fired. My shoulder burned, and wetness covered my chest. I’d been hit.

  Instead of sticking my head up and returning fire, I eased around the bottom of the bar and got off a few rounds.

  Jersey dropped to the floor, unmoving. Now that I’d gotten a closer look, I cursed, remembering the guy from the house I’d just left. How could I have forgotten his face so quickly?

  Then again, I’d been focused on Robert.

  I kicked Jersey’s gun away from him then went for my phone as lightheadedness took over. I swayed as I dialed Gabe.

  “How are your boo-boos?” Gabe teased.

  “Antonio sent someone to kill me.”

  “Are you hurt?”

  “Got shot, and the delivery man is dead. I need a cleanup and to get to the hospital. I’m losing too much blood.”

  “Hang on. We’re still in the SUV. We’re on our way.” Gabe hung up, no doubt calling the men we had on retainer to clean up these kinds of messes.

  I stumbled to the couch and dropped onto the cushions, uncaring that I was bleeding on the fabric.

  Antonio had tried to have me assassinated. And I’d fallen for that hard luck story, hook, line, and sinker. What a fucking fool I was.

  Chapter Two

  Danni…

  “But I already have a job,” I argued inside Mr. Reese Corbin’s hospital room.

  “I’ll pay you twice what you make here.” The guy was persuasive, and I was still struggling to pay off my student loans from nursing school. The money was a huge temptation.

  “Why can’t you hire a visiting nurse?” I asked. This seemed a bit shady to me. I’d already suspected something when Mr. Corbin’s visitors showed up in fancy business suits. It wasn’t so much the suits as the looks on their faces.