by Lexi Blake
Ian put a hand on his stomach as though something was going to come back up. “No, she doesn’t. The only thing my baby girl is crushing on is life itself. She’s killing it at karate. All she was doing was warning the world that Coop had the nits.”
“Carys told me Coop had been talking to another little girl when Kala made her announcement.” Eve McKay rounded out the foursome, all of them dressed for the cocktail party. It was a bit intimidating to be around Eve McKay. Charlotte Taggart tended to view the world as one big soap opera being played out for her pleasure, but Eve took everything seriously and through a psychologist’s eye.
She hadn’t been at McKay-Taggart and Knight for very long. Was Eve here to ensure she wouldn’t screw things up?
Charlotte nodded as though she’d thought that was what had happened. “Alice Diaz. She’s adorable, and I couldn’t figure out why Kala hates her until now. And she’s definitely crushing on Cooper no matter what Ian says.”
Ian had his fingers in his ears. “Lies. Lies, I tell you.”
Alex stood near Ian. “No one wants that to be true less than I do.” He glanced Nina’s way. “Sorry. The kiddos are starting to show signs of pairing off, and it’s freaking the rest of us out.”
“I thought it was funny when it happened to Sean,” Ian said with a frown. “He’s going to end up with Jake and Adam and Liam for in-laws if he doesn’t shut that shit down. As for my baby girl, Kala will be too busy saving the world ninja style to date. I’m afraid I’ve given up on Kenz. She’s too much like her momma. All I’ve asked is that she bring home an American.” He shuddered. “I couldn’t handle it if she brought home some stuffy Brit or worse.”
“What’s worse than a stuffy Brit?” Alex asked.
“Canadian,” Ian retorted. “With their politeness and weird bacon. I fear the Canadian more than any other.”
Charlotte was the one rolling her eyes now. “Can we cut the kid talk and focus on the actual Brit in our midst?”
Big Tag grinned. “Nina’s not stuffy. I heard she took her last bullet like a champ. Avoided the roofie the bad guy slipped into her tea but took one to the chest.”
“Well if I’d known he was going to shoot me, I would have had the tea,” she admitted and held up the wine she’d taken from one of their suspects. “Speaking of drinks, I’m not about to drink this. It’s probably fine, but once roofied, twice shy and all that.”
Charlotte took the glass from her. “I can find something for you. This house has a bar in almost every room. I’ve always liked the Malones. How is it going between you and JT?”
“We get along quite well,” she replied.
“How was the shopping?” Charlotte asked, expectation in her tone.
“It was fine. We’ve been three times this week. Apparently, I need a lot of clothes.” It had been paradise. Everywhere they’d gone the world had opened up and invited her in. Or rather JT. Back in London, she could barely get the bloke who ran the register at Tesco to look up from his phone. “We got everything we need for the retreat. Well, everything we need that we can get at a shopping mall. I assume Sandra and Hutch have all of our equipment, including my gun. I don’t want to take it with me in case security decides I look sketchy.”
Charlotte studied her for a moment and then sighed. “I hate it when Ian’s right.”
Ian smirked. “I told you she was into him.”
“I’m not into him.” She wasn’t about to tell the man she’d slept with the client all week.
Charlotte shook her head. “If you weren’t into him, you would have been more excited about the shopping. Unlike Alex and Eve, Ian and I have spent time with you. You flipped out when you got to escort that pop star around Harrods, and you didn’t even get to buy anything.”
It had been such fun to watch the young woman shop. She’d been bright and peppy and kind. She really should have enjoyed the shopping more, but every time they went to a store her mind had been on JT. “I’m not into him.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if you were,” Eve said from her place next to her husband. “JT is one of the nicest men I’ve ever met. Knowing what I know about him and what I know about you, I would say you’re a decent match on paper.”
“I’m still confused about how we went from Nina going in as an assistant to fiancée. I get that she couldn’t go in as JT’s assistant, but fiancée is a big leap,” Alex said.
Ian waved that off. “I can tell you what happened. JT saw her and decided he wanted in her pants. Excuse me. Knickers. He got all flusterpated, and next thing you know they’re engaged. Is everyone buying it?”
“They seem to be,” Charlotte replied. “Ava is selling it, though you should know they’re talking about you being a gold digger.”
She shrugged. “That was inevitable. It’s good because at least they’re not talking about me being a former Interpol officer. Is my Nina Banks ID holding up?”
Big Tag seemed to get serious, and he crossed to the bar where he opened the bottle of Scotch. “So far it’s solid, but Adam is worried because someone used that name on the Deep Web. He’s got some contacts he keeps up, and someone is looking to break your cover. They don’t have anything yet, but it definitely goes beyond what the PI did. From what I can tell he ran a skip trace on you and spent that first afternoon tailing you. Has he followed you since?”
“I haven’t seen him again,” she promised. She didn’t like the idea that someone was going deeper. “It could ruin the whole op if they connect me to Interpol.”
“Yeah, well I have no one else to send in,” Tag said, offering her a glass. She took it. This one she would drink. “Everyone knows Charlie and Eve, and Erin was willing to go but Theo was a whiny manbaby.”
“She just gave birth, Ian,” Charlotte pointed out.
Big Tag’s lips quirked up. “Two weeks ago. She’s already bugging me to send her on assignment. You can’t keep that chick caged, but she’s got a problem. Unfortunately, despite his maternal nature, Theo can’t actually produce breast milk, though he’s got some solid B-cups after all that sympathetic eating.”
The women all frowned Tag’s way, but Alex had a solid laugh.
“Sorry,” Alex said in a not-sorry way. “Theo was insufferable. It makes me almost glad he was dead the first time around.”
Eve rounded on her husband. “Too soon, Alex. It will always be too soon to joke about that.”
Alex held his hands up like he was warding off an attack. “I said almost. Come on, angel. Theo’s been obnoxious. He was a walking, talking encyclopedia of pregnancy, and he lorded it over everyone. Like the rest of us haven’t been around pregnant women. I had to deal with your surprise pregnancy and we had an infant. There’s barely nine months between Hunter and Vivian.”
Eve’s lips curled up as she turned Nina’s way. “I didn’t think I could get pregnant so we adopted two boys, Cooper and Hunter. A couple of days after we brought Hunter home, I found out that miracles happen, and that’s how we ended up with three kiddos when we were pretty sure we wouldn’t have any.” She shifted back to her husband. “And Erin was in the same situation. Give them a break. It’s perfectly reasonable he would be a little obsessed.”
Alex waved her off. “Well, he’s still obsessed. You watch it. He’s going to be the ultimate helicopter parent to that little girl. But seriously, Erin would have been wrong for this particular job. She would have threatened the suspects until they all confessed and we wouldn’t be any closer to figuring it out. Also, she would have driven JT insane. Don’t worry about the Deep Web inquiries. They won’t have time to figure out who you really are. Adam worked with Hutch on the construct. It’ll hold.”
She hoped it would. “Everyone’s in place at the resort?”
“Hutch and Sandra are already down there, and apparently Drake flies in tonight,” Tag replied. “Watch him. I don’t trust anyone in the Agency after what happened with Solo. Try to remember who Drake’s working for.”
No one she trusted. “I w
ill.”
“And don’t forget about fake pregnancies,” Tag continued.
She groaned and thanked fate Tag wasn’t coming along.
* * * *
“She’s lovely,” Ava Malone said as they walked toward his father’s study. “According to Michael she’s very competent. He says she’s former Interpol.”
JT sent his mother a frustrated glare. “We don’t exactly want anyone to know that.”
She waved him off. “No one can hear us in this hall. Trust me. I know every inch of this house and how sound reverberates. Your teenage years taught me that.”
He had the grace to wince. He and his brother had been good at sneaking out. Not so great at sneaking back in. “How is Dad?”
She stopped in front of the big portrait of his great granddad. She put a hand on his shoulder. “He’s fine. He’s quite healthy. I’m not worried about him except for the fight we’ll have the next time he orders chicken fried steak. I’m worried about you. My darling, have you thought about this?”
His heart sank a bit, though he should have known this was coming. “I’m not going to let someone get away with stealing from us.”
His mother’s jaw tightened. “It’s more than that and you know it. Someone killed William Murphy. Mr. Taggart is certain of it.”
He wasn’t going to have this conversation twice. He pushed through the door that led to where his father was sitting in his big comfy chair, his massive German shepherd at his side. The poor dog had whined and cried when his master had been in pain, and he’d been miserable to be apart from him.
Maybe he should get a dog. The dog would love him and not question his every move. The dog might have faith that he could handle himself.
Nina seemed to think he could.
“JT, you need to tell your mother I’m not some old man who can’t do for himself,” his father said.
“Mother, he’s not some old man who had surgery a few days ago and needs someone who loves him to take care of him. Let him die.” His father responded best to tough love. Lord knew the old man could dish it out.
“That is not what I said,” his father insisted.
He needed to make a few things plain, and very quickly. “Dad, you let your health get away from you. Your doctor has been telling you for years this would happen. You were lucky it was your gall bladder and not your heart. We thought we were going to lose you, and not a one of us has gotten over that yet. You sit in that chair and you do everything the docs and Mom tell you to do because we love you. Because you love us, and you know we need you to be safe.”
His father’s expression softened. “All right.”
He turned to his mother. “You take care of Dad and stop worrying about me. I’m not Michael, but I’m not some wilting flower either, and I’m sick of being treated like the delicate one in this family. You trust me to run this business?”
“You know I do,” his mother replied.
“Then you let me run it, and that includes protecting it from spies. I do not want anyone to try to talk me out of a fight I need to have.”
His mother’s manicured hands came up in apology. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I can only use the same excuse I use on your father. I love you. I’m worried about you.”
“Were you worried about me when I was on a rig in the middle of the Arabian Sea?”
“Absolutely. Every single day,” she assured him.
“She was a mess the entire time you were gone,” his dad agreed. “She doesn’t think you’re incapable, son. She’s your mom. She’s always worried about you.”
It was worse than he’d thought. “She’s not worried about Mike.”
His dad snorted. “Are you kidding? You do know your mom has your brother’s partner’s phone number, right? She gets updates when they’re on assignment. It isn’t hard. When he’s working with that Bear fellow, she intimidates him.”
He could guess what she used on the other guy Michael routinely worked with. “She sends Boomer food.”
“Mr. Boomer is a very reasonable lad.” His mother fussed over his dad, straightening his blanket and making sure his feet were covered. “I send him a few treats and he gives me updates.”
It was good to know he wasn’t the only one his mother treated like a child.
Maybe it was time to accept that the worry came with the love.
He would worry about sending Nina to deal with the spy. Yes, she was competent and capable, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t worry. “All right. Know that I promise to be careful. Dad, you’ve had time to think about this. Do you have any ideas who this could be? I know the list of suspects, but I have trouble believing any of them would steal this way.”
“You’re too trusting,” his father replied. “Honestly, it could be any one of them. I would hate to find out it’s Deanna, but she lied about being in Houston.”
“There could be reasons for that,” he countered.
“I don’t understand the appeal.” His mother shook her head and walked over to the small bar. She poured two glasses. “She’s a harpy.”
“Yes, so JT doesn’t have to be.” His dad frowned as his mom passed one glass to JT and kept the other for herself. “If Michael had taken his place in the company, he could have been the bad guy. Someone has to be.”
“Good god, are we on this again?” Michael walked into the room, straight past JT to the booze.
“Hey, son,” his dad began.
“Nope.” Michael poured out a single glass. “I’m way more scared of Mom than you, and has anyone considered the fact that I didn’t go into the family business because I was tired of always being the bad guy? Also, I never considered myself the bad guy. I was the rational, logical guy. When you think about it, it all worked out because Deanna loves to be the bad guy. She’s good at it. As for her being our spy, I doubt it. I know my initial instinct is that I don’t like her so it’s probably her, but she’s been loyal to the company.”
“She didn’t have a reason to be in Houston,” his mother pointed out.
But he could think of a few. “Have we checked to see if she interviewed with any of our competitors?” It was something he’d been pondering since the moment he’d realized her name was on that list. Houston was the headquarters of many an oil and natural gas company. “She’s getting impatient. When she started with me, she told me her five-year plan was to move into management. It’s been seven years and I haven’t moved her where she should be for the simple fact that I need her. She does exactly what you said she does. She’s a brick wall between me and the hard decisions.”
“Well, I never said she wasn’t smart.” His father frowned at him. “You need to find a place for her. She’s valuable and she knows the business every bit as well as you do.”
“I can’t stand that woman.” His mother took a long swallow, proving she’d learned how to drink like a true Texan.
“You don’t have to like her to admit she’s effective.” He couldn’t see this being Deanna, though she had set a PI on him. “She hired a PI to follow me.”
Michael huffed a laugh. “She doesn’t need a PI to track you. No one does. Deanna was tracking Nina. She’s trying to prove she’s not who she says she is. And she isn’t, so that’s a problem. Tag is probably talking to Nina right now about the fact that we’ve got a real pro looking into her cover.”
His gut tightened. “Another investigator?”
Michael shook his head. “Another spy. Likely the one we’re dealing with, the man who’s planning on turning over your prototype to North Korea.”
The one who had probably killed Bill. He was looking into Nina.
Michael pointed his way. “This. That right there. That’s why I think you should back out of this op. You think it’s because I’m worried you’ll fuck it up, and you’re right. But you’re wrong about the why. I don’t think you’re incapable. I think you’re in too deep with Nina and that will put you both in danger.”
“In too deep?” His mother had perked u
p considerably. “With that lovely British girl?”
“She’s hardly a girl, and this is none of Mike’s business.” The last thing he needed was his mom to start getting visions of grandbabies in her head. He was trying not to scare Nina off.
“It is exactly my business since she’s my team member,” Michael insisted.
“I thought you never met her.”
“That doesn’t mean she’s not on my team. I know this business, brother. It can be hard to have a partner in danger, much less someone you have a romantic attachment to.”
“Romantic attachment?” His mother had forgotten about the Scotch. “I thought you only met her recently.”
“A man knows when it’s right,” his father declared, reaching for her hand. “I knew the minute I met your momma that I would marry her. Where’s my future daughter-in-law? I want to see her.”
JT sent his brother a stare that he hoped properly expressed how much he wanted to murder him. “I wasn’t planning on telling them Nina and I are seeing each other.”
“Are you? Does she know?” his father asked.
“How can she not know?” His mother had taken his father’s hand, as though awaiting some tragedy. “JT, you have to tell women you like them. You can’t expect them to read your mind. Flowers work.”
“I think she can probably read his dick,” Michael said under his breath.
“Nina knows I’m interested in her.” He needed to throw his parents off the scent or they would have his baby pictures out before dinner this evening. “We’re taking it slow.”
“You’ve known her for a week. We’re at your engagement party, brother. You’re not taking it slow. This is a bullet train,” Michael replied. “And I’m worried it’s going to derail if you’re not careful. Mom, can I steal JT for a moment? I heard the housekeeper say dinner was almost ready.”
His mother sighed. “Well, then I should go and make sure the dining room is properly set. Come along, love. I’ll get you settled and we can…talk to some of our guests.”
