Rule Changer

by Deena Patel

  “I already contacted them. They said they will start monitoring Christof’s movements.”

  “But?” Arya probed.

  I looked at Arya. “I didn’t tell them about the money. No one’s going to believe me. All the evidence about the foundation funds points to me. No one else heard the conversation between Christof and me, so as of now, it is just circumstantial. I have to figure out a way to fix this before it gets out.”

  “You know better than to have such little faith in us. As soon as I discovered the discrepancies in the financial statements, I had supernerd over here.” Milla pointed to Arya. “Place trackers on all foundation accounts and the banks involved. I’ll know something as soon as the next transfer is scheduled.”

  “Um, Ari, isn’t that illegal?” I asked her.

  I loved her for wanting to come to my rescue, but I wasn’t going to get her name dragged down along with mine.

  “Well, you see…” Arya fidgeted.

  Milla answered for her. “It isn’t exactly legal, but because of our ties to security, we sold the program as a way to prevent international account fraud. And since they’ve been plagued by those types of crimes recently, they agreed.”

  “In other words, you used all your technical talk and big words to make them think it was in their best interests.”

  Arya shrugged. “Hey, it worked.”

  “Thank you.” My lips trembled for a second, but then I bit them.

  Arya and Milla believed in me without question. I knew what Max said, but hearing for myself filled part of the loneliness I felt.

  “I love you girls. You know that?”

  “Of course we do.” Milla squeezed me close. “You like making everyone think you don’t feel, but you’re the most sensitive of all of us. Your heart breaks the easiest.”

  I didn’t agree or disagree. Admitting my insecurities would release a flood of emotions that I wasn’t ready to unleash.

  “Now that we’ve had our hallmark moment,” Arya joked and then grew serious, “are you ready to talk to a few more people about this? A few INTERPOL agents owe me some favors. They’ll add an extra layer of protection, but soon—meaning in the next few days—you’ll need to get Thomas involved.”

  “It’s already on the agenda. I scheduled a meeting with him for Monday to discuss custody. After last night’s events, he’s the best person to provide protection for the boys.”

  “And you,” Milla added. She stood and reached out her hand. “Let’s go make our calls, then you can tell us what happened with him while getting rip-roaring drunk.”

  I lifted a brow as I grasped her fingers to pull me up. “And what about all our kids?”

  “Nat’s got them,” Arya chimed in. “If she has her way, we won’t see those kids until it’s time to go home tomorrow.”

  “Come on. The sooner we contact the big bad international agents, the sooner you can tell us all about the superhot boxer you took as your slave last night.”

  I shook my head at Milla and followed her out of the sunroom.

  * * *

  “It’s time to spill it.” Arya walked into Milla’s crazy-big library overlooking the water of the sound. She nudged my feet off the coffee table, snatched the book I was reading out of my hand, and then all but sat on me to make space for herself on the chaise I was lying on.

  “Hey, I was relaxing.”

  “No, you were hiding.” Milla walked in and took the seat opposite us. “Ari, there are other places to sit besides on top of Carmen.”

  Arya shot Milla the bird. “Whatever, she’s in my favorite seat.”

  “Carm, you can’t ignore the topic forever. Remember we’re very persistent when we want information. All through lunch, you’ve been lost in thought. And don’t tell me it has to do with talking to Ari’s contacts at INTERPOL.”

  There is no getting out of this; might as well give it to them.

  “Fine. I went to the club, picked a gorgeous submissive, and cropped him to orgasm. End of story.”

  “If it were that simple, you wouldn’t have said to wait to call Thomas until after we spoke to the agents.”

  “Look, I can’t handle being second best anymore. First my father, then Andrew, and now Thomas. I’m done with men who view me as lacking and disposable. I won’t keep putting myself in the same situation.”

  “But from what Caitlin said, it looked like Thomas was about to blow his top when he saw you in that room with your submissive. That isn’t the reaction of a man who thinks you’re disposable.”

  “Cait talks too much.” I glared at Ari. “Thomas made his choice when he picked his grandfather over me. I have my pride after all…” My voice trailed off as I held back the emotions resurfacing again.

  Shit.

  I bit the inside of my cheek to keep the tears at bay.

  Arya placed her hand over mine. “What do you mean Andrew? From what Max said he suspected you two were having problems before his death, but he didn’t know the details. He knows you were holding back the truth about what was going on because of your pregnancy.”

  That is an understatement. “There are things he never knew about; no one did.” I released a deep exhale. “Andrew was cheating on me, and he’d found another woman who satisfied him.”

  “What?” Milla exclaimed. “From what I remember, you two were the perfect couple in the lifestyle.”

  “I believed the same thing. That is until I found pictures on his phone of him with another woman the week before his death.”

  “Who was she?”

  “I don’t know. Her face was covered with a mask, but the look in her eyes told me it wasn’t the first time they’d been together, and there was…” I closed my eyes as the pain of betrayal I thought I’d buried began to reemerge. “Was love.”

  “Did you confront Andrew?” Milla asked.

  “I did. He tried to make me believe it was my fault. That I wasn’t the Domme he needed. He told me I wasn’t strong enough to tame his dominant side.”

  “You didn’t believe him, did you? You’re the best Domme I’ve ever met.”

  Of course I did.

  “No. I didn’t. I knew everything he enjoyed inside and out. Plus he was more than happy to vocalize his needs. He may have been dominant in the public world, but he was a true submissive in private.”

  “You’re such a liar. What he said tore you apart. If it hadn’t, you wouldn’t have kept other men from coming into your life. Well, until Thomas.”

  I snorted. “And look how great that turned out. He left me the first time things got complicated.”

  “Stop it!” Arya shouted.

  I jumped.

  “Stop it. What is wrong with you? Stop letting these men affect you like this. Where did the freeze-them-out, take-no-one’s-shit Carmen go? Not so long ago you had Christof’s brother on his knees, peeing on himself for fear of disappointing you. That Carmen was no weakling.”

  I remained quiet. I had no answer.

  I never expected to play Domme to anyone when the CIA asked us to help them after Christof’s men had hijacked one of Milla’s cargo ships. What I’d done last year was to protect Milla and me.

  Our plan was to find the building Christof used as his Boston headquarters, attach a tracer to it, and then be on our merry way. But as with anything that had to do with Christof, things hadn’t gone the way we wanted.

  Why did Thomas have to be with the team who’d rescued us? I cringed inside remembering the look of devastation on his face when he’d found Abram, head bowed and kneeling at my feet with his hands tied behind his back. If Milla hadn’t passed out, I’m not sure what he’d have done to Abram.

  I tried not to analyze Thomas’s reaction too much because it would leave me confused. He was the one who had left me.

  “Ari,” Milla called, snapping me out of my thoughts. She touched Arya’s feet and spoke again. “Ari, calm down.”

  “No.” Arya pushed her hand away. “She needs to hear this. I won’t watch anoth
er of my sisters hide from the world or herself. We all had shitty hands dealt to us by our pasts. Falling apart isn’t an option.”

  “Hey,” Milla admonished.

  “Shut up. This isn’t about you. At least you got your fucking act together.”

  “Well, thanks for that,” Milla muttered.

  “Bite me, Duncan.”

  Milla stuck her tongue out and then turned to me. “Carm, you’re the best Domme I’ve seen, trained by a legend. It’s time you acted like it. Stop letting the past dictate your life.”

  I nodded. There was no denying anything she’d said. But I wasn’t ready for a relationship. I might never be. I was never going to let another man trample on my heart.

  Giving Thomas a second chance would only open me up for a second heartbreak.

  “I’m done with men,” I announced.

  “Are you switching sides, then?” Arya responded.

  “Shut it, Dane,” I growled. “What I meant was that I’ll play with the male subs at the club, get my pleasure, and then return to my life with my boys.”

  However, if last night was any indication, I wouldn’t be getting any pleasure from scenes for a long time.

  “That wasn’t what Arya was trying to accomplish with this conversation,” Milla said.

  I inhaled, closing my eyes for a moment. “I’m tired of not being enough. At the club, as a Domme, I’m the best and in control. This is the only way to prevent more headaches in my life. Besides, I have Leo and Simon, and there’s no room for any extra testosterone in my life.”

  If only I believed the crap I just said.

  “Something tells me that their father will beg to differ.”

  “I know,” I whispered. “I want us to get along for the boys and will do my best to give them a great relationship with Thomas. But what we had is history, and I’m not repeating it.”

  Arya snorted and mumbled bullshit under her breath.

  We had to move away from this subject. I didn’t want this weekend to end up going in circles, centered on the same conversation.

  There was too much happening in my life to focus solely on the dynamics of my personal life.

  “I love you girls, and I know you mean well, but I promise I’m not going to fall apart. Thomas and I’ll figure it out, one way or the other.”

  Arya and Milla glanced at each other, nodded their heads, and then Milla answered. “Okay. We’ll drop this subject. Promise no more serious talk for the remainder of the weekend. The husbands are away, the kids are taken care of, and we have some catching up to accomplish.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Time to get cracking before my meeting with Thomas,” I muttered to myself as I scanned the custody agreement my attorney had drafted. Due to Thomas’s business obligations, our original meeting to discuss the boys had been rescheduled three times, giving me a short reprieve.

  Two weeks had passed since my weekend with the girls, and I still couldn’t believe Arya coaxed me into admitting something I never wanted to admit even to myself.

  “Just tell us the truth, and we promise to leave you alone.”

  “Fine, I admit it. I still love the asshole and wish I didn’t want him so much, because I know only hurt will follow.”

  “Are you sure there’s no hope?” Arya asked.

  “There’s always hope,” Milla added. “Lex and I are the perfect examples of that. Our love was stronger than everything thrown our way.”

  “What if I’m wrong again? There is only so much rejection a girl can take.”

  I shook the conversation from my mind and refocused on the documents. At that moment, my computer beeped telling me I received an e-mail.

  I opened the message, and a shiver immediately ran down my spine. It was a letter and pictures of Leo and Simon playing with me in Central Park two days ago.

  Ms. Dane,

  It was a great pleasure speaking with you at the gala. My plan was to contact you at a later date, but as always, your friends continue to snoop in my affairs. It would be in your best interest to advise them to stop. What happens between you and me has nothing to do with them.

  As I told you the other night, my politeness only goes so far. I can only imagine the worry and pain you would feel if anything happened to your loved ones. I am sure your family comes first, as does mine. We will soon discuss how you can make amends for the incident with my brother.

  Then you’ll need to decide what you value more, your family or your reputation.

  VC

  PS I’ll be in touch.

  My stomach turned in somersaults as a headache formed behind my eyes.

  How Christof obtained my e-mail after everything Arya had done to keep our personal accounts secure scared me.

  I had to call her now.

  Picking up the phone, I dialed Arya’s personal line.

  “Hey there, mera behna.”

  “Ari, I need your help,” I said as I rubbed my forehead.

  “What’s going on?”

  I stared at my screen for a moment longer and then spoke. “Can you access my e-mail account? There’s something you need to see.”

  “Shit. Christof contacted you, didn’t he? Scaring the shit out of you at the gala wasn’t enough. Big bad international psychopath had to drive it home with an e-mail. Okay, hold on. I’m going to remote access your computer. When the request pops up, click yes.”

  She typed in the background, and within seconds, a dialog box appeared on my computer. I approved access, and Arya immediately started working on my PC.

  “Fuck, this is bad.” She continued to open screens. “Son of a bitch.”

  “Ari, I need you to stop cussing and tell me what the hell you see. I don’t understand a single thing you’re doing. All I see is about a million windows open on my monitor.”

  “When you opened his e-mail, he bugged your laptop. Motherfucker.”

  This was bad, really bad. Thank God our security protocols required us to use a token that generated a new password to access the company network every few minutes. But my personal files on the computer were another story. Dread crept in.

  “Give it to me in English, Ari. How much shit am I in? How many of my private files did he breach?”

  “Fortunately it’s not as bad as I initially thought. Whomever Christof has working for him is good. When I say good, I mean supergood. But you know what?”

  My headache intensified. “What?”

  “I’m better. And I didn’t tell you this, but after what happened with Milla last year and before you two decided to play CIA operatives, I installed extra security protocols on all MCD and ArMil equipment.”

  “But my laptop was with me in Italy and never got upgraded.”

  “I created an integration program for any employee working remotely. When you did the company software update, it installed in the background.”

  “Arya, I have no idea what all of this means. Did he access my private files or not?”

  “Keep your panties on. He accessed the files in the folder labeled ‘Twins’ but nothing else. I’m blocking any outgoing traffic from your computer. Oh hell, someone is trying to open the files for the foundation. I’m going to block them. In a few seconds, I’m going to corrupt your computer.”

  “What! No, don’t do that,” I shouted. I needed those files for my projects.

  “Calm down.”

  “Calm down, my ass. Have you lost your mind? Please tell me you backed up my computer while you were tinkering, or I think I might fly my ass up to Boston and kill you.”

  “Duh.”

  Relief washed over me. I didn’t need this kind of stress right before I met with Thomas.

  I glanced at my watch. “Ari, I need you to hurry up. Thomas is going to be here any minute.”

  At that moment, my computer screen went blue and then shut down.

  “Happy? You now have an officially dead computer.”

  I leaned my elbows on the desk and covered my face with my hands. “All my work. W
hat am I going to do? I have a presentation to work on. Fuck. The documents for Thomas were on the stupid machine.”

  “It’ll be okay, Carmen. At least the crazy terrorist doesn’t have access to anything other than Leo and Simon’s growth charts and your pregnancy records.”

  The thought of anyone having my private information left a burning sensation in the pit my stomach. What if Christof found a way to use the information against the boys or me? I’d die before I let anything happen to my babies.

  “Stop worrying. You can’t do anything about it now.”

  “Arya, a crazy Russian mobster who hates us just hacked my computer. How am I supposed to stay calm?”

  “Because your best friend reverse bugged their computers,” Arya said with giddy glee.

  I shook my head. “I should have expected you to do something like that.”

  “I’m also having one of my techs at the ArMil New York offices bring over a new laptop for you. Once you get it, give me a call and I’ll copy your files onto it for you.”

  God. I loved this girl. Give her a computer and she could solve all my tech woes.

  “Thank you, my ever faithful and wise tech-nerd sister.” I sighed. “Wish me luck with my meeting with Thomas.”

  “Um…about that. I think it’s time to get him involved in this. I thought you were going to tell him about the incident with Christof.”

  “He’s been on assignment and rescheduled our meeting, and I was hoping the agencies would have found something.”

  “Until a few minutes ago, all was quiet on that front. Now it’s time to get your big-girl panties on and bring Thomas in.”

  “I know this.”

  “For the record, I’m not saying you bump uglies with him. It’s about getting his security company involved in protecting you and your children. It’s the program he designed that I used to reverse Christof’s hack. He’s going to know sooner or later that I’m using his software.”

  I cringed. Thomas knew everything that went on with his company, especially anyone using his intellectual property.