about?" Mark leaned against the counter behind them.
"I'm going to file a lawsuit against Gina and Nicholas for theft and fraudulent activity." Alex pulled the eggs from the pan and carefully worked them onto a plate.
Jamie picked it up and nodded to the fridge. "Mark, grab the butter and jelly. Alex made toast, too."
"I like this 'Alex cooking' thing. We should do this more often," Mark chuckled and got the stuff before coming back to the table.
“I like it too,” Kristen piped up from beside Mark. “Mark told me what happened during the night. Sorry we didn’t hear anything.” She blushed a furious shade of red.
“Don’t worry,” Jamie reached for her hand and squeezed it. “It’s all sorted. Alex stepped up to be the hero.”
“He has a habit of doing that,” Kristen said, and beamed with respect for Alex.
"Don't get used to it, guys. I’m not a hero, trust me." Alex joined them at the table and let out a soft sigh. "I’ll be filing a lawsuit against my secretary and one of my investors. I’ll look like the bad guy, but wrong is wrong. Theft is theft. It's no different than us pressing charges against these robbers. Just sucks that we know who we’re going after and care about one of them."
"Did the guys steal anything from here?" Mark looked around as he pulled a napkin into his lap.
"No. Thank goodness." Jamie reached out and snagged a piece of bacon from the big pile that sat in the center of the table.
"So what happens from here?" Mark asked as he filled up his plate.
Alex shrugged. "We file the suit and go from there. It's just going to be a long month, but there’ll be some highlights to it."
"Like what?" Jamie took a few more pieces of bacon and filled up the rest of her plate with eggs and toast. "This looks great, baby."
"Thanks." Alex took a big bite of his buttery toast and chewed a minute before answering. "It's Valentine’s Day in two days. We're going out for dinner, remember?"
"Oh, yeah. That’ll be fun." She gave him a smile. He was trying to bring the mood up by making breakfast and remaining upbeat, but she knew he was hurting. How could he not be?
“Valentine’s? Ugghh!” Mark made a face.
“Tell me about it,” Kristen added. “Stupid money-making holiday. It’s just so retailers line their pockets with more money.”
Mark gave her a breakfast sausage. “I believe I just fell in like with you.” He wagged his eyebrows as he flirted with Kristen. “Let’s say we meet up for Valentine’s and do nothing. Refuse to buy anything or go out for dinner. We do nothing.”
Jamie kicked his shin hard under the table.
“Ow! What was that for?” Mark glared at Jamie while Alex burst out laughing.
“Mark, my brother, why don’t you just offer to give Kristen a shout in two days?”
Mark stared at Alex before shrugging, clearing confused as to why he was the bad guy. "Are you guys going into the office today, or you want me to take care of things?" Mark lifted his eyebrow playfully, and Jamie chuckled as he smoothly changed the subject.
"I'm going in after breakfast. I have to make a few calls first, but then I'll head in." Alex glanced at Jamie. "You can stay here to meet the security guys and the glass guys. Is that okay?"
"You're the boss." She shrugged and picked up her coffee mug. "I'll clean up a little and take that nap that I told you I needed so badly."
"Sleeping on the job. Someone needs to reprimand this one." Mark rolled his eyes and shoved another piece of bacon into his mouth.
“I hate to be a pain but my taxi’s going to be here in a moment.” Kristen carried her plate to the sink. “I left my watch downstairs. I just need to grab it.” She slipped out of the kitchen and outside before anyone could stop her.
"So I want to hear more about you and Kristen." Jamie swung around and leaned on the table. "Any chance of something starting between you guys?"
Mark shrugged. "No clue. I like her, but it's different. I know her from when we were kids and she was gaga over Alex."
"That's because I whupped that guy’s ass for bragging about raping her." Alex shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair.
"You didn't just whup his ass. You almost killed him. Why didn't you just tell Dad that? Let him know you were upholding a woman's honor? He would have accepted that." Mark tapped the table as his expression turned serious.