Steamed (Steamed #1) (6 page)

I headed over to Jared's restaurant - there was no point in
calling first. He was usually there, as he was very dedicated to his business.
When I walked inside it was empty. They didn't usually open up until lunch so I
had some time to talk to him before things got crazy there. Once the lunch rush
came in I wouldn't have a chance to talk to him at all. It was now or never and
I couldn't wait another day to find out what was really going on, especially if
I planned on seeing Link again. Things were already complicated enough and I
wanted to know who was really telling the truth.

I didn't see Jared in the dining room at all so I headed
back to the kitchen. His chef Marcus was there but there was no sign of Jared.
I walked to his office and peeked inside but it was empty as well. I went back
out to talk to Marcus; he was a chef that had been with Jared for years. They
were close and he was the head chef of the kitchen. I had eaten tons of food
that Marcus had cooked and it was all very delectable.

“Hey Marcus, has Jared come in yet?” I headed over to the
prep table and snagged a cucumber. I crunched down on it, enjoying the sweet
taste that filled my mouth.

“Yes, but he's not here right now. He went out.” Marcus was
prepping things for the day, making sure that everything was fresh and ready to
go when the orders started pouring in. I snatched up another cucumber.

“Where is he? He's usually here for the lunch rush, isn't
he? He likes to be a part of the cooking station.”

“He usually is, just not today. He had an appointment. It
was more important.”

“For what?”

I didn't care if I appeared to be too nosey. It was my
brother and I could feel something was up. My brother was always at the
restaurant, and if he had appointments he always scheduled around his
restaurant time. So what was it that had pulled him away? Why was I being kept
in the dark so much. It was becoming increasingly annoying for me.

“Well you know he's been upset lately. So he went to a lawyer’s
office today to talk about it.”

“You're kidding me?” My heart felt like a lump in my chest.
What the hell was Jared thinking? If he was lying about the recipe then what were
his intentions when it came to getting a lawyer? Nervousness quelled in my
stomach and I worried about Link. Hell, I was worried about everyone. I didn't
want my brother getting in over his head either. Sometimes he just didn't think
things through. I felt like he should have talked to me first before going to a
lawyer, especially since last time we talked I was still his lawyer.

“I'm afraid not Gemma, and really he has every right to get
a lawyer.”

“What do you mean?”

“That Link there is a shady guy. It's
all
true
what Jared told you. He stole the recipe right from under Jared's
nose and made a killing off of it. He wouldn't have that fancy restaurant
without it.”

I couldn't believe what I was hearing and my head was
starting to spin. What the hell was going on? I didn't know who or what to
believe anymore. Even Marcus thought that Link was a crook. How could that be?
Link had seemed so genuine when I talked to him. I believed every word he had
said to me about the recipe. Was that a mistake?

 
I looked down at
my hands confused. “What sort of recipe was it Marcus?”

“Oh it was one of Jared's secret sauce recipes.”

I stood there stunned, unsure of what to say or do. I had
never felt so awful in my life. I knew that one of the men in my life was lying
to me but I didn't know which one it was. Could Link have really spent such a
wonderful and crazy night
with me and lied to me
the
entire time? He had seemed so genuine when he had talked about the feud with
Jared. I had believed him despite the fact that I didn't want to believe that
Jared was lying to me.
 

“Okay Marcus, thanks. Let Jared know that I stopped by.”

“Will do Gemma.”

I turned and left the kitchen, my thoughts all jumbled
together. I headed home feeling more awful than I had in a very long time. I
had no idea what to do or how I was going to handle the situation. How was I going
to find out the truth if I couldn't trust the men in my life? When I thought
about Link I couldn't imagine that he was lying to me but if he wasn't that
meant that my own brother was doing it and that was just as bad. Plus he was at
a lawyer’s office. What was he planning?

Would Link have fucked me on a table in the club just to get
me on his side when it came to a stolen recipe? Would he have tricked me to get
his own way? Terror struck through me as I realized I didn't really know Link
all that well at all.

Steamed #2 will be released June
20th

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This
book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are
products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not
to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual
events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

Copyright
© 2015 Nella Tyler