Revenge for Hire (The Get Even Agency)

REVENGE FOR HIRE

Janice
Lynn

Rules for The Get Even Agency

1.
     
Protect
your identity at all costs.

2.
     
Never
meet any client face-to-face that they know you’re TGEA.

3.
     
Never
give a client or target your real name or any personal information.

4.
     
Always
achieve desired level of revenge

5.
     
Never
get emotionally involved with any target.

6.
     
Never
allow a target to undermine your efforts.

7.
     
Never
allow guilt to enter the picture.

The
golden rule: Never fall in love.

All the characters in this book have no existence outside the
imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing
the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual
known or unknown to the author, and all the incidents are pure invention.

All Rights Reserved including the right of reproduction in
whole or in part in any form. The text of this publication or any part thereof
may not be reproduced or transmitted in by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording, storage in any information retrieval system,
or otherwise, without the written permission of the author.

REVENGE FOR HIRE copyright 2012
 
Janice Lynn

This book is dedicated to every woman who
has ever been cheated on, lied to, or done dirty. Hope you enjoy my foray into
naughty girl revenge.

Revenge
for Hire

Jude Layman grinned at his buddy and motioned to the two women
who’d just entered the downtown Manhattan pub. Both were bleached blond and
stacked. “That looks like you and me, bro.”

Marcus, Jude’s best friend since they’d roomed together their
freshman year at Princeton, barely raised his gloomy head from the longneck he
slumped over. “Nah. Not interested. You go ahead, though.”

“Both?” Jude’s dark blond brow rose, trying to get a reaction
from his friend.

A slight smile lifted his friend’s mouth. “Wouldn’t be the
first time, now would it?”

Jude quasi-shrugged. “That was years ago.”

“Years? What about those high-
falootin
twins you dated a while back?”

Glad Marcus’ shoulders no longer sagged, Jude grinned. “Who am
I to kiss and tell?”

“Nah, you never have been one to tell.” Marcus took another sip
of his longneck, stared at a speck on the bar, and got lost in thought again.

Jude hated seeing his friend so down in the dumps. Marcus’ wife
had taken off for greener pastures and left her husband to pick up the broken
pieces of their shared life. Credit cards had been maxed out, bills had gone
unpaid, and his friend discovered Joy had slept with more than one of his
coworkers.

The real doozey was that Marcus would take the witch back in a
heartbeat. Take her back and somehow find a way to blame himself for all the
crappy things she’d done.

Love
. Jude didn’t understand the insane
emotion and was grateful he didn’t.

He liked women. Their company, their scent, their soft bodies,
but when it came down to it, there wasn’t one alive who held his interest for
more than a month. He remained friends with the majority of the women he’d dated,
all except the ones who tried to tie a gold-banded noose around his neck.

Jude planned to never marry. He once-
overed
his best friend with disgust. Just look at what matrimony got a man. Depressed as
all hell and sitting in a bar drinking lukewarm beer and not giving a damn about
life.

Marriage was not in the cards for this self-proclaimed
permanent bachelor.

Besides, being single rocked. Why would any man ever willingly
give that up?

“She’s not coming back, is she?” Marcus sounded so dejected
that Jude was tempted to track his friend’s cheating ex-wife down and choke her
with his bare hands.

“Joy?” Hell, he hoped she wasn’t coming back. The woman hadn’t
deserved Marcus. Eventually, his friend would realize that. “You should move on.
You’re a great guy. Loyal.”
Too loyal
. “Hardworking.”
Although Joy’s betrayal
was affecting his work
. “Talented.”
Hadn’t they brought their fraternity
to its first ever intra-mural sports championship?
“Good-looking, smart.”
Except
for when it came to his ex-wife
. “Any woman in this bar would be glad to
have you.”

A hot redhead walked in. Immediately, she caught Jude’s eye
because she was alone. It wasn’t often a woman who looked like her entered a
bar without a man or a group of friends. Which meant one of two things: she was
on the prowl or was meeting someone.

She met his eyes and winked.
On the prowl
.

Jude grinned. She was a looker in her low cut blue sweater and
jeans. There was a sexy confidence about her that appealed. She’d take as good
as she got.

“For instance,” Jude nudged his friend’s arm, “that chick heading
toward us with a sassy shake of her hips. My bet is some guy did her wrong and
she’s here looking to settle the score.”

Marcus barely glanced her way, proving marriage had made him go
blind.

“I also bet that you’re just the guy who could help her.” Determined
to get his best friend back on track, Jude waggled his brows. “Maybe she could
help you, too.”

Red sidled up to the bar and plopped her tight jeans-covered
bottom onto a stool. Lucky stool.

“I’ll have a Jack and Coke,” she said, then slowly spun her
seat to face Marcus and Jude. Her eyes shined with invitation. Definitely on
the prowl.

If Jude were interested in getting laid, he’d take her home. No
doubt about it. Tonight getting laid wasn’t on the agenda. Helping his best
friend was. He’d do just about anything to get Marcus out of this funk.

“I think she’s looking at you.”

Marcus glanced up. “Not me. You.”

Jude glimpsed her way again. Sure enough, her rich brown eyes
met his and she smiled. Not a happy smile. A come-and-get-me one.

Damn.

If anyone other than Marcus sat here he would take her up on
the invitation in her eyes. But it was Marcus, and Jude had never met a woman
he couldn’t resist.

“Not interested,” Jude denied, pretending not to be impressed. “You
go for it.”

This caught Marcus’ attention fast. “What?”

“I’m not interested.” Jude motioned to the bartender. “My buddy
here wants to pay for the lady’s Jack and Coke. Put her drink on my tab, and he
and I will settle up later.”

He didn’t want to run up more bills for Marcus. Joy had already
done a fine job of that. Actually, he’d been trying to convince Marcus to do
some consulting for Playhouse Magazine. Marcus was legal brilliance.

Playhouse was growing by leaps and bounds. Had ever since Jude
had taken over and turned the trashy, floundering publication into an upscale
magazine for men. Yes, it still contained nudity, but it also had great
articles about sports, money, politics, health, even religion.

Jude wanted to ensure that growing trend continued.

“I’m not interested in other women.” Marcus’ sad state attested
to this. “I love my wife.”

“As of yesterday afternoon, you don’t have a wife,” Jude
reminded. “She screwed you over, screwed half your office, left, filed for
divorce, and you didn’t contest it. You’re a free man, and Red is definitely
your color.”

“Joy didn’t want me to contest the divorce,” Marcus
half-mumbled as if talking to himself. “She wanted it over without a lot of
mess.”

Jude bet she had. The witch had left Marcus with all their debt
and nothing more.

“At least be polite,” he encouraged. “Turn around and talk to her.”

Marcus expression grew panicked. “What do I say?”

Was this really the same guy he’d roomed with in college? What
had Joy done with Marcus’ balls? His adventurous spirit?

“Man,” Jude scowled. “It’s time for you to suck it up and grow
a new set of family jewels. The best way to do that is with a pretty lady.”

Marcus sighed. “Fine, but I think she’s more interested in
you.”

“Only because you insist upon looking like the world is about
to crash upon your head.” Jude picked up his longneck and drained it. “Try
smiling when you talk to her.”

Jude pretended to watch a Knicks game while he listened to
Marcus strike up a conversation with Red. He grimaced. Was there a
Reintroduction to the Dating Scene 101 course somewhere he could enroll his pal
in?

This was pathetic.

No doubt about it. His buddy needed laid. Unless Joy had put
out after leaving, Marcus hadn’t had sex in six months. Too long without a
woman could make a man go cross-eyed. Maybe that explained why his buddy wasn’t
seeing straight these days.

Getting Marcus laid was going to be Jude’s top priority. Hell,
he’d commit to it to the point he wouldn’t have a woman himself until he got
his friend hooked up.

Nothing like a little motivation to speed things along.

“Hey, Jude,” Marcus cut into his thoughts. “Patrice would like
to meet you.”

Jude glanced toward his friend. Marcus didn’t look one bit attracted
to the redhead. Damn it. This moping around was getting old.

“Why would she want to do that when she’s talking to the
hottest lawyer in Manhattan?”

The redhead didn’t even glance at Marcus, just kept her gaze on
Jude. Which pissed him off. He didn’t want her to be interested in him. Tonight
was about Marcus. Marcus was the man.

She stuck her hand out. “Patrice Miller.”

He scowled and ignored her. “Did Marcus tell you that he once
scored the winning touchdown in our college intramural football game?”

Her forehead scrunched in confusion. “No, he failed to mention
that.”

She still didn’t spare his friend another glance. Nor did she
sound impressed.

“Did he tell you that he works for one of the fastest growing law
firms in Manhattan, it’s mostly to do with his ingenious courtroom techniques?”

She swirled the remaining liquid in her glass and shot him a
sultry smile. “He failed to mention that, too.”

“Just what did he tell you?”

“That if I were looking for a good time, you were the man for
me.” She lifted the glass to her lips and took a sip. “Hello, Good Time.”

Under normal circumstances, Jude would have been impressed by
how her lips caressed the glass rim, how she made taking the drink look like an
erotic act, how she didn’t play games about what she wanted. These weren’t
normal circumstances. He’d just vowed to not have sex until Marcus got laid.

These were desperate times.

“He lied. I’m a total bore.”

Her gaze raked over him. Slow and suggestive. “
Uhm
, guess I’ll have to do a thorough search to find
whatever it is that’s boring because I’m not seeing it.”

“Take my word, I’d bore you to tears, but Marcus knows how to
show a lady a good time.”

An odd look crossed her face, as if she couldn’t believe he was
dissing her. Hell, he couldn’t believe it. A gorgeous woman wanting him to show
her a good time, but at the moment, he didn’t want sex. He wanted his best
friend to get his act together and start acting like a man again.

Marcus looked back and forth, then he shook his head before
sliding off his stool. “I’m outta here. You two have fun.”

“No!” Jude stood.

The redhead’s eyes widened.

“Look, I’m just not into this.” Marcus put his hand up when
Jude started to argue. “You stay, have a great time, and I’ll talk to you
tomorrow.”

“Damn it.” Jude pulled out his wallet and threw a couple of
twenties onto the bar to generously cover his
tab
and
tip. “You’re not leaving.”

Marcus frowned. “Yes, Jude, I am. I appreciate what you’re
trying to do, but I’m not interested, and neither is she. Not in me. Go have
fun.”

“Maybe you didn’t hear, I said I wasn’t interested. However,
you should be because it’s damn time you got laid.”

“Who says I want laid?” Marcus countered.

The woman squirmed on her bar stool.

“I do. Every man wants laid. It’s part of our natural chemical
make-up. Our DNA is programmed for us to want to go out and spread our seed. Okay,
not to some woman you pick up in a bar, and not without a condom, but come on,
Marcus. It’s time you started dating or at least show some interest in the
opposite sex.”

“Well, be my guest, oh great seed sower, but I’m not interested
in anyone except my wife, and I’m going home.”

* * *

Downing her drink and enjoying the burn, Randi stared at the
two arguing men and couldn’t believe they both ignored that she was sitting
right there. Even more, she couldn’t believe she’d just been dissed. Not just
once, but twice. First by the mark, Jude Layman, and second by his melancholy
friend.

Randi didn’t get dissed by men. Not ever.

Unfortunately, her mark and his friend were halfway across the bar,
still arguing with each other, and she was totally forgotten. Dissed.

It would be useless to go after them. The one guy was caught up
in his ex and the mark, although having shown an initial attraction, it hadn’t
been enough to hold his attention.
 

Randi motioned for the bartender, ordered herself another drink,
and felt nausea rising from the pit of her stomach.

She’d struck out.