She’d planned on playing Root this week, but it was so much better with a full four players. With three players, whoever was near the empty sector was at a distinct advantage. They wouldn’t have to fight the way the other two would. “We could see if Jamal wants to come.”
Hutch shook his head. “He’s on vacation. He’s heading to Houston to see his dad. Come on. Don’t you want to check out the new guy?”
Something told her the new guy wasn’t going to want to play. “I’ll find a three-player game. I’ve got a couple of days. I think Harry said he’s off next Thursday. We can play Root then.”
Hutch’s eyes narrowed, and he studied her for a moment. “You are the nicest person I know. You invite everyone. Once I caught you trying to invite an assassin to board game night.”
“I didn’t know he was an assassin.” Since starting here at MT, she’d met many colorful people including a guy who’d accompanied Charlotte’s cousin, Dusan, on a visit. Apparently Dusan was the head of a Russian syndicate, and he liked to travel with a crew. The man named Leon had seemed super normal. It was only later she’d found out he was an assassin. “I thought he was from out of town and probably needed some friends.”
Hutch chuckled. “Oh, I’m sure he was interested in being friends with you. So why is the sweetest woman I know not holding open the door for the new guy? You brought the last one a welcome basket.”
She’d felt bad for the dude. Tag could be hard on accountants. Something about Phoebe Murdoch and how she’d run the place. “And Gary is still here. I think it was definitely the earplugs I slipped in along with chamomile tea and tequila. And the card of a good therapist.”
“Evasion. The mystery deepens,” Hutch mused.
There was zero mystery here, and the last thing she needed was the whisper of a rumor to get back to Charlotte. If Charlotte got it in her head that she and the new guy might be a good match, she would be in for weeks of “running in to” a man she knew damn well wasn’t going to work. He was conventionally handsome and likely upright and all-American, and she was sure most women would be panting after him, but she wasn’t most women.
She needed some nerd in her guy, and that Hawthorne dude screamed sports guy.
“I’m not evading,” she said. “I’m just not at all interested in him, and I don’t think he would be a good fit for our table.”
“Okay.” Hutch backed off. “We can play Tapestry. I’ll bring beer if you’ll make tacos.”
She liked to cook and rarely had anyone but herself to enjoy the fruits of her labor. “Will do.”
“You want to hang out with me and Deke this weekend? We’re going to see a movie before we head to Sanctum for the night.”
Sanctum was the coolest place in the world. One of the perks of employment at McKay-Taggart was membership at Sanctum. She’d never imagined she would find such joy and acceptance in the kink community, but Sanctum had quickly become her safe haven. She played most Saturday nights, always with someone outside of her work family. There were plenty of tops there she didn’t work with who liked to scene without expectations of a sexual encounter.
She hadn’t had sex with any of the men or women who topped her. Yet.
Would the new guy be there? Would he be at Sanctum this Saturday? Normally she would say no because she happened to know he wasn’t in the current training class, but he was a Taggart and that meant he could have taken that class long ago.
What would she say if he asked her to scene with him?
“That sounds like fun, but I’m supposed to go to my dad’s birthday party.” She’d been shocked to receive the invite. Her stepmom usually made sure she only found out about family functions long after they were over. She’d learned early on not to even try to show up for Christmas or Easter.
Hutch’s brows rose. “Your dad’s birthday?”
“I know. I was surprised, too.” She sat back. “I thought about not going, but it’s been a long time since I saw him so I’m going to put on a regular, normal-person dress, tone down the makeup, and pretend to fit in for a night.”
Her stepmom was very concerned with appearances.
“Good for you. I hope it goes okay, and let me know when you’re on the road.” Hutch patted the top of the cubicle.
Hutch walked back into his office, and MaeBe turned to her screen. Well, one of them. She had three, each set to a different bit of work. One showed a file she was completing to end a job. Another was a set of documents she was going through, and the third showed a perfectly quiet office building in Seattle where Boomer was on a job. He’d sent her the security tapes to go through. He was hunting a corporate spy and thought they were pulling some hacking on the security cams to hide their activity.
She was pretty sure he was right. She just had to prove it.
Her cell phone trilled, and she glanced down at it. Speak of the devil. Well, not the devil, but he was married to her. She swiped a finger across the screen and put the phone to her ear. “Hey, Dad. How are you?”
“Oh, hey, sweetie. I’m good. Real good.” Her father had a soft tone. She’d never seen the man get angry even once. Her mother had been the disciplinarian of the family. “Hey, I needed to talk to you about something.”
She could guess. “I promise I’ve got a perfectly respectable dress to wear on Saturday, and I will leave the combat boots at home.”
“About that, honey,” her dad began.
MaeBe’s heart sank because she knew exactly where this was going to lead.
* * * *
Julia Ennis stared out over the Los Angeles skyline and wondered where Kyle was. It wasn’t like she could ask the man on the other end of the line.
“Are you listening to me, Julia?”
She sighed and forced herself to reply. “Yes, Dad. I understand. I’m getting better every day. The group doesn’t have to murder me thinking I’m going to make some kind of deathbed confession.”
“Do you want to explain what really happened? Because your brother seems to know something.”
“He doesn’t know a thing about you.” She’d fucked up in an unimaginable way, but at least she’d hidden her stepfather’s involvement from her brother and Kyle.
Just the thought of Kyle Hawthorne put her gut in a knot. Her hand strayed to the place where the bullet had gone in, barely missing her heart. If it hadn’t been for John, she would have been dead.
“I told you that getting involved with that boy would be nothing but trouble,” her stepfather said. “He’s too much like your brother. You know there’s a reason I never recruited Drake, and it’s the same reason I would have stayed far away from Hawthorne. He’s practically a fucking Taggart. How did you think that was going to work?”
“I thought it would work like all things do. I was putting him in a position where he couldn’t exactly refuse. I just didn’t have enough time with him.” She had to admit that she’d been losing her hold on Kyle for the last few months of their relationship. He’d been talking to his brother a lot.
She’d intended to end that relationship on a permanent basis, but she hadn’t gotten around to it. She hadn’t been able to decide on how to off David Hawthorne. Then there was the fact that Kyle’s stepfather was a public figure and related to one of the most highly thought-of security experts in the business. The Taggart family might investigate any accident she could plan for David.