Aidan Lawerence slammed his balled fist down on the table and cursed beneath his breath. Everywhere he looked in the makeshift office a mess stared back at him. He didn't know how he'd let it go so long. He should have been on top of this, on top of Andrew to make sure things were as he said they were. Instead, Aidan had been a fool. He'd trusted loyalty would be enough of a reason for things to run smoothly. What he got instead was years of profits, siphoned away until the coffers were nearly empty.
Piles of papers, incomplete files, and receipts were scattered all around the small space, and Aidan had no idea where to start to put the pieces back together. He didn't have time to go through all of this on his own so he would have to hire someone. He was just trying to get some things in place so that they didn't walk into this hell hole and suspect what he suspected. Once the books were balanced, Aidan was almost certain he would find even more missing. He couldn't believe that he had been so blind. When a few contracts went unpaid, he'd imagined that they were just having a tough time. Roughnecks lived by the code. Hard work and loyalty were all they had out here, and now even that was shaky.
He was up to his eyeballs in frustration and didn't want to deal with any of this shit, but he had too. If he didn't get his books in order soon, Lawrence Oil would sink into oblivion. Aiden thought of his father, and his grandfather. He thought of the years they'd put in out here, making this well profitable and how he'd promised he wouldn't let them down when they turned it over to him. Now, after trusting someone he never would have doubted, he was about to blow it all away. Aidan couldn't afford to stop production. Just one day of not drilling could cost him millions, and he just didn't have that kind of money to throw away. Besides the cost to keep the oil flowing, there were the roughnecks he employed. Most of them were part of the clan with his two younger brothers among them. The others were close enough to family that he didn't want to see any of them flounder because he'd trusted the wrong friend with his books. Friend, he used to believe that he and Andrew James were true partners. Andrew was great with the numbers, and Aiden had been great with the oil. He could make even a dry well pump. If it hadn't been for an unsuspecting contract lapsing, Aiden might not have even noticed that Andrew was keeping up an elaborate rouse. Now, Aidan had to figure out how to put the pieces back together.
"Knock Knock," said Jordan as he stood in the entrance.
Aidan looked up at his little brother and then waved him in. Jordan was only two inches shorter than Aidan's six-feet and four-inches. Aidan had him beat in mass too. They had the same square jaw and chiseled cheeks from their mother. Same blue eyes and blonde hair adorned them all. The Lawrence brothers Aidan, Jordan, and Liam, could have been triplets, but they were separated by two years all the way down. Their features were so closely tied it wasn't a rare thing for a girlfriend or two to confuse them one with another. This was when it paid to know them. Jordan was playful and loved a good joke. Aidan could only be described as brooding. When the two of them were joined by their brother Liam, the playboy, the trio could do anything.
Aidan was larger than both of his brothers, though. His massive chest and shoulders would make him a great wrestler, and he'd even done a little in high school. Aidan could have done more. Colleges had been beating down his door to get to him. Instead, his father had taken sick, and Aidan did what needed to be done. He came out and worked the rig. He'd brought Andrew along, and he was paying for it now. Jordan took a seat in one of the ancient swing chairs opposite the desk. He picked up a loose baseball and started tossing it up and catching it.
"How bad is it?" Jordan asked between tosses.
Aidan took a deep breath. "Bad enough that if I ever see Andrew again, I'm gonna toss him into the Gulf."
"Well, ain't shit we can do now but hope to recover. So who you bringing in?" Asked Jordan.
"I can't bring anyone into this mess, "said Aidan. He rubbed his temple with his thumb and pointer finger.
"Well you can't do it yourself," said Liam as he joined them in the cramped space.
"You got to bring in somebody Aidan. We need you out there. We can't have you holed up in this room trying to make heads or tails of a mess you didn't make," said Jordan.
"I don't have a choice. Until I know what we still got, we don't have the money to throw at an accountant so they can get this done. We don't have any better options out there," said Aidan frustrated.
He appreciated his little brothers coming out to check on him, but he didn't need them in here reminding him of what he had to lose. He just wanted to figure it out and move on to the aspects of rig life that he loved. Being a roughneck was in his blood, but being in this office right now reminded him there were aspects of the work he truly hated.
"I might know someone," said Liam.
The brothers looked at him suspiciously. Whenever Liam said, he might know someone it usually meant some girl he'd been with and had subsequently stopped seeing.
"Listen, it's not someone I'm seeing. Just trust me. I know someone who can do this job and get us back on track. If you want me to I'll give them a call," said Liam. His palms were out defensively as if he knew what his brothers suspected.
Jordan looked at Aidan. Aidan looked at his brothers and took a heavy breath. He looked at Liam sternly. It was always a gamble to trust him with things like this, but he had to give him a shot. Aidan stood to his full height, and both of his brothers looked up with respect and a touch of fear.
"Call them in, but I swear Liam. I don't want no bullshit lovesick broad up in here fucking things around. If they don't get the job done, it will be your ass on the line," he said as he pushed into Liam's chest.
Aidan left the office still as pissed as he'd been when he got there. It was back to the sleeping quarters. Hopefully, he could get some rest and look at all of this with a fresh head tomorrow.
***
Juliette Chandler pushed her glasses up over the bridge of her nose. She took slow, steadying breaths. She didn't know what she was thinking taking this job. When Liam emailed her out of the blue, she'd almost ignored it completely, but prospects were slim back home. If she were going to get any mileage out of her accounting degree, she had to start somewhere. It may as well be here, in the middle of the vast watery isolation. She couldn't even look out at the stretch of blue without feeling seasick. She had a little under eight weeks to get things squared away. She would hurry it up and get this place as far behind her as possible. Her deep breaths caused her melon sized breast to rise and fall heavily. Her curvy frame, barely fit in this little seat, and the straps didn't seem nearly strong enough to hold her if something happened, but now was not the time to think about her fear of flying. She squeezed her amethyst eyes shut behind her glasses. A strand of her jet black hair caught in the wind, and she thought pleasant thoughts. It wouldn't be much longer before they would land. She just hoped she could make it that far without losing the little lunch she'd had.
As if it were a lighthouse rising out of the ocean, she spotted the Lawerence Oils Rig. Her eyes widened as she looked it. It was almost majestic in a see-the-art-in-everything kind of way. She took another deep breath and concentrated on making it there. The pilot skillfully navigated them closer as Juliette caught sight of the tiny landing pad her fear caught up to her. She let out a jagged sigh. There was no way he could land this bird on that thing. Juliette just didn't believe, but there was no escape, and she had to believe in him. She closed her eyes tightly and clung to her body straps. She tried to steady her breaths, think of her happy places. Nothing seemed to be working, and she could feel her nerves threatening to turn this situation into something dire.
The helicopter let out a sputter, then seemed to be hovering. She didn't know for sure and with her eyes still closed it was no way to tell truthfully what was happening. All she knew was that her stomach was churning like mad, and if they didn't land soon, the pilot would have remnants of a chicken burrito to clean out of his hair. She just hoped everything was for the best. There was a wobble and then harsh silence.
Slowly, Juliette opened one eye and then the other. Her breath hitched as she stared into the clearest blue eyes she'd ever seen. He looked like Liam, but he wasn't. There was something different. The drifting depths of his eyes drew her in. His lips moved, but she didn't hear what he'd said. He looked at her annoyed and Juliette tried to pull it together.
"I'm sorry, what?" she asked.
"You can let go of your belts now," said the Titan in front of her.
Juliette looked down at her things. Her knuckles were white from gripping the belts so tightly. She slowly released them, but then the bottom burst out of her stomach. She struggled to unbuckle the belts but didn't think she would make it in time. She looked at him pleadingly and wordlessly his large hands slipped inside and popped the belts free. Juliette hopped out and raced to the edge of the rig, anywhere out of the way so she could hurl. She made it just in time to toss her lunch over the edge of the rig and into the ocean. Luckily she'd had the sense to hold her glasses in place, but her long, wavy jet black hair wasn't so lucky. She could hear laughter behind her. Her eyes are closed as she cringed. Something about being bent over a metal bar hurling didn't read as competent. This wasn't the first impression she'd wanted to give, but there was nothing she could do about it now.
Juliette heard laughter behind her. Her eyes narrowed as she noticed, Liam's boyish chuckled.
"Looks like we got a live one here," he yelled at her back.
"Shut your fucking face, asshole and bring me a towel," said Juliette.
"All that schooling and they couldn't clean that potty mouth," said Liam as he handed her a dirty rag.
Juliette took the rag but stopped short of putting it on her face. It was oil smudged and reeked of sweat. She looked at Liam.
"It's all we got on short notice. Don't worry. Their cleanish water here. You can use that to rinse your mouth if you prefer," said Liam.
"No room for princess here. That towels good enough for anyone else on this rig, it'll be good for you too," said Aidan as he stalked off the landing and disappeared down a corridor.
Juliette watched his back as he walked away. She could tell by how everyone cleared a path for him, that he was the one in charge. She could still feel his blue eyes peering into her, and she didn't know what she'd done to piss him off already.
"That's Aidan. He's the one you got to prove you can do this too. Don't let him get under your skin or you'll never survive," said Jordan.
"And you are?" Juliette asked after wiping her mouth with the dirty towel.
Jordan looked at Liam impressed.
"I'm Jordan. I'm Liam's older brother, and Aidan is the eldest of us. He's also the one in charge," said Jordan as they shook hands.
"Got it," said Juliette.
She made a mental note of the hierarchy. If Aidan were the one she would have to impress, then so be it. She hated being called a princess. She'd worked hard all of her life, and she didn't have plans of waiting for a prince to get what she wanted. She would change his mind about her if it were the last thing she did.
"So what you think, You're gonna make it out here?" asked Liam with a grin.
"Well, I guess there's only one way to find out," said Juliette with a determined set to her eyes.