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for his phone call to go through. He caught his own reflection staring back at him and winced. Even in the hazy mirror of the screen, he looked like death. That would teach himto drink brandy with an old man who probably had the stuff flowing through his veins.
    But Stanford had wanted to toast their bargain. Since this was supposed to be real, Sean hadn’t been able to think of a reason not to. Hours later, after listening to stories of island life and Melinda’s childhood, all washed down with glass after glass of expensive brandy, Sean had staggered to his room.
    He’d lain awake, waiting for the room to stop spinning before finally falling asleep. Then he’d been chased in his dreams by a wildly laughing Stanford waving a giant brandy bottle at him while Melinda threw bouquet after bouquet at his head.
    â€œDon’t even want that dream analyzed,” he murmured.
    All he really wanted at the moment was to quiet the jackhammers behind his eyes. He coughed and his head almost exploded. Moaning softly, he was reaching for a bottle of aspirin when his brother Rafe’s face came up on the screen.
    â€œSean—” He paused and frowned. “Damn. You look like hell.”
    Thanks to videophone conferencing, there was no disguising his hangover. For the first time in his life, Sean cursed technology. “Yeah, thanks Rafe. Nice to see you, too.”
    His brother’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “Are you hung over?”
    â€œBrilliant observation,” Sean said tightly as he struggled with the cap on the aspirin bottle. Childproof, okay. But did they have to seal the damn thing as if it contained the nuclear codes for Armageddon?
    â€œHard to miss, what with the dark circles under your eyes and the way you’re cringing in the sunlight like a vampire away from his crypt.”
    God, why hadn’t he waited to call until later? Or at least closed the drapes? Well, he knew why he hadn’t done that. It had just seemed too taxing at the time.
    â€œWhat’s going on?” Rafe asked. “Did you get the deal?”
    â€œThe deal. About that…”
    â€œDamn it, Sean,” Rafe shouted.
    â€œCan you dial it down a notch or two?” Sean rubbed at the spot between his eyes even though he knew it wouldn’t do any good. He finally managed to get the aspirin bottle open and tapped two tablets onto his palm. Then he tapped out two more. Desperate times.
    He washed them all down with a long gulp of water from the bottle on his desk and prayed they were miracle aspirins, about to kick in and restore him to health in the next thirty seconds.
    No luck.
    Rafe grumbled, took a breath and said, “Fine. I’m calm. Now tell me what’s going on?”
    â€œIt’s a long story,” Sean said, rubbing his eyes. “And I’d rather tell it only once. Is Lucas in the office?”
    â€œThat doesn’t sound good,” Rafe muttered, “but yeah. He’s here.” Reaching to one side of his desk, he hit a button and said, “Marie, get Lucas in here, will you? Thanks.”
    â€œMarie? New assistant?” Sean asked.
    â€œYeah,” Rafe admitted. “Katie insisted I hire somebody to help me so I can get home in time for dinner every night.”
    His brother might sound like he was complaining, but Sean knew how nuts about his wife Rafe really was. And who could blame him? Rafe could be a pain in the ass at times, but his wife was a peach. Not to mention, she made the best cookies in the known universe.
    â€œHow’s Katie?” Sean managed to ask.
    â€œShe’s great,” Rafe said and a soft smile curved hismouth. Amazing the changes Katie had made to the formerly surly Rafe King. “She says I should tell you she’s saving a batch of her pistachio chocolate mint cookies for you.”
    Sean swallowed hard. Ordinarily, that would have been a nice surprise. At the moment though, it felt like live