by Lexi Blake
“I’ll have him back before dinner,” Ava promised.
JT stared back at her before letting his mom lead him away.
It was obvious JT had trouble telling the women in his life what to do. That was likely because he’d been raised by an alpha female and taught to respect feminine authority.
Except in the bedroom. There he had no trouble mastering a woman.
JT was a nice guy. She had no doubt that he could run his business, but they were dealing with her business now, and perhaps it was time to be a good partner to him.
She stepped in front of Michael Malone before he could follow his brother and mother. “A word please, Mr. Malone.”
Michael was wearing slacks and a button-down shirt, his dark hair slicked back. “I need to talk to my brother, Nina.”
“Oh, I think you need to leave your brother alone. If you push him, you’ll upset him, and I need him calm and ready to work. I understand that he’s your family but for now he’s my partner.”
Michael stepped back, his shoulders relaxing as though he understood he wasn’t going anywhere until she was satisfied. “He’s not up to this assignment. You should let me go in with you. I can get you my dossier if you need it.”
“You’re Michael Malone. You grew up wealthy, went to the best schools. You attended the University of Texas Austin and received a degree in management while your brother studied petroleum engineering. Shortly after your graduation, you signed up for the Navy, much to the shock and surprise of your family. You rose quickly through the ranks and became a SEAL within three years of your commission. You served honorably around the world before you were recruited by CIA operative Tennessee Smith to his private elite team. Though you were never formally CIA, you worked exclusively for them for a solid year before Mr. Smith was fired. You chose to leave the Navy and begin employment with McKay-Taggart where you’ve worked the last several years. Did they offer you a position in the Agency?”
A single brow had arched over Michael’s eyes. “They did. They offered me Ten’s job, but I would have been working under a man known as Levi Green. I didn’t like him. I also had seen how they treated their operatives. I knew it would be hard to go back to straight military work.”
“You had a taste for the spy life.”
“I had a taste for using my brain and not having to merely follow orders.”
She suspected there was far more to it, but she wouldn’t press him. “Tell me something. Was it expected that you would come home and run the business side of Malone Oil while JT worked the research and exploration side?”
A slight flush to his cheeks told her what she needed to know before he said the words. “Yes. That was the plan. I couldn’t go through with it.”
“So you left JT to handle the whole thing?”
“JT loved the company. I did not. It wasn’t my thing. I get to have a life of my own.”
“Then have it, Mr. Malone, and stop trying to force your brother into the same mold your parents tried to force you into. He’s perfectly capable of following my orders. He’s competent to do this job. Stop trying to treat him like he needs protection.”
“He does,” Michael insisted.
“That’s what I’m here for. If you need me to, I’ll send you my dossier.”
He frowned. “This is the part where I really wish I could bounce that right back at you, but the truth is I didn’t study you. I trusted Ian and Damon.”
She’d rather thought that was the case. “Tell me why you weren’t worried about your father, but you’re terrified for your brother.”
“Because my father would let you do your job. My father would understand that you’re here to protect him. My brother is a great guy, but he’s got a real thing about protecting women.”
“He assures me he’ll be fine hiding behind me if the bullets start to fly.”
Michael shook his head. “He won’t. He’ll jump right in front of you. He’ll tell you what you want to hear. Hell, he might even believe it, but I know him. You’re sleeping with him, right?”
“I didn’t know who he was when I went up to his room that first night,” she began.
Michael held up his hands as if conceding. “Hey, no judgment here. You’re both adults. But you have to know he…” He stopped himself. “JT isn’t the kind of man who has a lot of one-night stands. I often joke that he’s got a biological clock and it’s ticking hard. He can get in deep really fast. Another reason to take me instead.”
Except it could truly hurt JT if she asked him to do it. And there were other problems with that scenario. “You don’t know the business the way he does. You might be able to pretend to be him in a casual way, but what happens when they get down to numbers?”
“I can work my way through it,” Michael insisted.
“I will take care of him.”
“He might not let you.” Michael took a deep breath and seemed to come to a decision. “Look, we had this friend growing up. Her name was Dana.”
Yes, she’d heard the name before. JT hadn’t mentioned her again. They’d talked about a lot of things over the days they’d spent together, but until earlier this evening neither had mentioned prior relationships. She’d been so curious about Dana since the name had been said with deep sorrow. “He loved her?”
“Not exactly, though I think he always figured they would get married one day. She was our father’s best friend’s daughter. We grew up with her. Our parents always talked about Dana marrying one of us and joining our families. JT thought it would be him. I don’t think he ever loved her. Not in an in-love way, but they were close when they were kids.”
She got a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. There could only be one reason for that aching sorrow she’d heard in JT’s voice. “She’s not around anymore, is she?”
“She was a lot like me. I know I seem hard on my brother, but I know what I did hurt him. Dana rebelled, too. She went a little wild and ended up marrying someone she shouldn’t have. She went missing when we were in college. We’ve never found her, and we’ve had the best in the business look. It was like she disappeared off the face of the earth. It affected JT. It affected me, too, but I accepted long ago that I can’t control the world around me. JT hasn’t learned that lesson. He didn’t have to because he does control his world.”
“That’s not fair. He’s had to because he didn’t have anyone to lean on. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not blaming you for the choices you’ve made, but you left him. I suspect up until that moment you did almost everything together. Did you ever talk to him about the fact that all that responsibility, all that destiny, suffocated you?”
“He wouldn’t have understood,” Michael insisted. “He wanted it. He wanted everything our parents had planned for us. He would have tried to stop me, and I couldn’t let that happen. I had to break free. I had to find out who I was without the Malone name behind me.”
“Then you should understand how he feels. He needs to know he can do this. If you force him out, I think you’ll hurt your relationship with him.”
“But your job would be far easier with me.” His eyes narrowed. “Unless there’s a reason you specifically want JT on this. Are you looking to spend more time with him?”
“I think he’s the best man for the job.” She wasn’t about to let Michael put her in a corner. “I think I can handle him. Now that I know what will worry him, I’ll manage him better. I appreciate that information. If you’re questioning whether or not I’ll let some attraction to your brother mess with this op…”
He shook his head. “No. I know you wouldn’t do that. Again, I trust our bosses. But you like him. You like JT.”
She was about to protest that liking JT Malone didn’t matter when a feminine voice broke her concentration.
“I would hope she likes JT if she’s planning on marrying him.” Deanna stood right behind Michael, eyeing them both like she wasn’t sure what she’d walked up on.
Well, it proved that she wasn’t entirel
y on her game since normally she would never break cover unless she was completely alone. “Michael was making fun of his brother. He seems to do that a lot.”
Michael shrugged and smiled smoothly. “It’s been my hobby since we were kids. I can’t help it. I’m the pretty one and the smart one.”
Nice deflection. He knew what he was doing. “I hardly think you’re prettier than him.”
“He’s definitely not smarter since he walked away from a billion-dollar empire for the military.” Deanna had a glass of red wine in her hand. “And honestly, I can’t tell the difference between the two of them until they open their mouths, and then Michael sounds like he’s a paranoid nut bag.”
Michael frowned her way. “Really?”
“Duh, you’re always going on about spies and stuff. No one is trying to steal our oil rigs. They’re kind of too big to steal,” Deanna said. “But you get JT all riled up and then I have to calm him down.”
Michael sighed, obviously unwilling to start this fight. “I think I’ll go check on my dad. Thank you, Nina. You’ve given me a lot to think about. I think you’re going to be very good for my brother.”
She wasn’t sure what he meant by that, or if he was merely playing his part. She only hoped she’d gotten through to the man. “Hello, Deanna. I would have thought you would take the day off since you’ve been around so very often.”
“Expect to see me a lot,” Deanna replied, a smug smirk on her face. “I’m not some nine to fiver. I’m on a path and I’m not about to let anyone push me off that path, if you know what I mean, Ms. Banks from London. You’ve never been married. That’s surprising, given your age.”
She laughed. The queen bee shite didn’t get to her at all. “I’m in my thirties and I’ve had a career. You’re what? Thirty-three at the very least.”
“Yes, but I’ve been married before,” she replied.
“And now you’re divorced.”
Deanna tipped her glass. “Happily. You’re older than JT.”
“Slightly. Or are you one of those people who view women in dog years? Like we’re only interesting when we’re twenty, and every year after that is accelerated rot? Like I said, you’re not that far behind me, darling.”
“No, I’m not far behind you at all, Nina Banks. You should remember that. If you try to force me out, think about the fact that he can’t get through a day without me. You might amuse him in dressing rooms, but you can’t do what I do. I know you’ve worked for some communications company in Europe, but this is America and this is the oil business. You stay in your lane and I’ll stay in mine.” She turned and strode away.
Nina really hoped it was Deanna. It would be fun to shoot her at the end of all of this.
“Don’t pay any attention to her.” One of the men she’d met that first morning in JT’s suite approached her, two glasses of wine in his hands. He was dressed in a suit, his hair mussed in that way that was supposed to look casual but actually took quite a bit of work. He offered her one of the glasses. “She’s been angling for JT’s attention since he hired her. If you ask me, she got divorced so she would be available for him. Poor thing.”
Jordy Burton. She took the glass, though she wouldn’t drink a sip of it. “I’m not worried about her, Mr.…?”
Nina Blunt, badass operative, knew everything about this man. Badass operative knew that he’d served on the board of Malone Oil for five years, ever since his father had retired and transferred all that stock to his only son. She knew that Jordy Burton spent the majority of his time mountain climbing or surfing or white-water rafting. He was an adrenaline junkie.
But Nina Banks, sweet fiancée to JT Malone, likely wouldn’t even remember his full name.
Jordy had the arrogance to look annoyed. “Jordan Burton. We met earlier this week.”
She gave him what she hoped was a flustered smile. “Sorry. This week has been a whirlwind. That first morning was difficult. Jet lag and all.”
“Must not travel a lot,” Jordy said with a superior smile. “My body is perfectly used to going from time zone to time zone, but that’s because I’ve trained it well. Proper nutrition and excellent DNA. I recently returned from Nepal. I was going to try Everest, but it’s gotten so touristy, you know.”
She nodded, her brain churning because maybe his dossier didn’t tell the whole truth. Any real climber would know Everest’s summit was only accessible in April and May, depending on the weather. If he recently returned from Nepal, he hadn’t been attempting to summit Everest.
“I prefer K2,” Jordy continued. “It’s actually tougher. Says more about the climber, you know.”
“Have you traveled extensively through Asia? It’s a part of the world I’ve always wanted to see.” As long as she was here, she might as well start asking some subtle questions. If she could find a way to narrow down their suspects, they could focus in. Keeping eyes on one or two suspects would be far easier than three. She was already starting to discount Deanna. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe the woman capable of murder. She seemed cold enough, but she also had shown loyalty to her employer. Maybe it was about wanting JT on a personal level, but women didn’t tend to stab the men they wanted in the back. At least not until they’d been rejected. If Deanna still had hopes of her goal, she doubted the woman would risk blowing it all up.
But the man in front of her was a different animal altogether.
“I’ve been everywhere,” Jordy bragged. “I could show you all the best places in Asia. They’ve got casinos there that make Vegas look like a church preschool.”
“I bet,” she replied with a smile. “Like I said, I’ve always wanted to visit. I have a friend who lives in Busan. She transferred there a few months ago, but I haven’t had the chance to see her new place.”
“Ah, yes, Korea. I’ve been several times. I’ve got friends in all the right places, if you know what I mean.”
“I don’t.”
He lowered his voice and leaned in. “I know people in the consulate, if you want to go. They can get you into any place you want. You and JT should think about it for your honeymoon.”
Well, she would certainly think about it. If he had contacts with the South Korean embassy, she wanted to connect those dots and see who else they connected to. “Why don’t you tell me about your friends? I’ve got a couple of friends at the British consulate.”
“Oh, I’m in good with all the politicos. If there was one thing my dad taught me, it was to be cool with both sides of the spectrum,” Jordy replied. “I donate to everyone so they’re all in my pocket. It’s why I keep up all these board positions. I don’t need to work at all, but it’s important to keep friends in high places.”
She would be surprised if this man could keep a secret long enough to be an effective spy. “Yes, I can see where that would be helpful.”
She glanced up and saw a familiar face walking her way. Charlotte Taggart did not look like a woman who had recently had a baby. She wore a killer sheath that clung to her every curve, her strawberry blonde hair in curls around her shoulders.
“Ms. Banks,” she said with a smile on her face. “It’s good to see you again.”
Jordy took a step back, as though he wouldn’t get too close to the gorgeous redhead. “Mrs. Taggart, I wasn’t aware you knew JT’s fiancée. That’s surprising since none of the rest of us did.”
“It’s not surprising at all,” Charlotte replied smoothly. “Who do you think vetted her when she started dating JT? Do you honestly believe JT wouldn’t run a check on someone he’s getting serious about? My husband was in England a few months ago. He was there to ensure that Ms. Banks is exactly who she says she is. A man in JT’s position can never be too careful. Haven’t you learned that?”
Jordy huffed and turned away, walking toward a small group of men in suits with tumblers of Scotch in their hands.
Charlotte leaned in. “He got taken by a con artist a couple of years back. Wiped out his trust fund. Lucky for him his dad had more money
than god and bailed him out. In the last few years his father has had a couple of cancer treatments, and Jordy has taken over the board seats. I fear what happens when the dad dies and he gets control of that cash.”
She started walking the way Charlotte led, glancing back to ensure no one was listening. “He claims to have connections in South Korea.”
“Maybe, but you should know he lies a lot. They all do.” Charlotte led her across the grand hallway and back toward a smaller room. “The board members are a lot like a nest of snakes, but most of them have held their seats forever, so the Malones know how to handle them. Tell me something. Has Deanna shown her claws yet?”
“She’s taken a swipe,” Nina replied. “I’m fairly certain she set the PI on us, though apparently she tracks JT’s phone.”
“They are a little on the codependent side. JT lets her run a lot of his day-to-day life, but he is super private when it comes to anything outside of business.” Charlotte opened the door. “It’s why this can actually work. JT dated a woman from Sanctum up until a few months ago and Deanna never even knew her name.”
He'd had a sub? She wasn’t sure why the thought surprised her. She knew he was a Dom and he had been for a while. Why wouldn’t he have had a sub or two?
She’d never had a Dom. She’d played and had sessions with some of the Doms at The Garden, but she’d never worn a collar.
“That’s good to know.”
Charlotte opened the door and there was already a conversation going on.
“You need to talk to your monster, Ian,” Alex McKay was saying. “She doesn’t have to be mean to Cooper.”
Tag rolled his baby blues. “Seriously? What did she do now?”
“She told their whole class that Coop has cooties,” Alex complained. “He doesn’t anymore. We got rid of the lice, that might I point out, Kala gave him. She was ground zero in that particular outbreak.”
Charlotte leaned over. “Kala might have found a cap in the trash outside of the club. She decided to wear it. Then she took it to Alex and Eve’s and put it on Cooper. It was not a fun time.” She walked fully into the room and addressed Alex. “I’ll talk to her about that. You know I think it’s because she’s got a little crush on Cooper.”
