by Lexi Blake
Still, they’d welcomed him and often asked him to join them for takeout at their place. He and Chelsea had bonded over their love of computers and their obsession with future tech. Their closest friends were Simon’s partner, Jesse Murdoch and his wife, Phoebe, who also knew a thing or two about computers. When they all got together, he would find himself sitting with the women talking about tech while the guys grabbed a beer and discussed the best techniques for shooting the bad guys.
There were weeks when they were the only people he would spend any real time with.
He’d kind of hoped the next time he was invited, he could bring Amy with him so he wouldn’t be the fifth wheel.
“If I thought an ultrasound would help me figure out what the hell happened this morning, I would call in a damn OB-GYN,” Flynn admitted.
Weston sobered a bit, sitting back in the chair he’d taken and regarding Flynn seriously. “Why don’t you tell me what happened?”
How to explain this without giving away too much? He trusted his friends, but he wasn’t sure how close they were to Amy’s side of the family. But this was one of the things Weston excelled at. He and Murdoch had worked plenty of corporate cases. “I told you how I’ve been dealing with some corporate espionage.”
“You mentioned it.”
Moment of truth. He was either going to find out how close he’d gotten to this couple or he would learn his place in the pecking order. It was a little sad that he was nervous about this. At one point in time he had plenty of friends. Now he was worried about losing the only ones he had. “My training partner is the CEO of the company that’s been bombarding mine for years.”
There was a feminine gasp from the office section of the room. “No way. Dude. That is the single most interesting thing I’ve heard in a very long time. Satan fucked up.”
Weston frowned his wife’s way. “Don’t even start.”
“Satan?” He had to ask.
Simon sighed. “Now she’ll start. That is my sweet love’s affectionate nickname for her brother-in-law. I do have to say I’m rather surprised that this didn’t come up in the vetting process. They’re usually quite thorough. Do you think it’s Rycroft? Is he cutting corners?”
The last thing he wanted to do was get Wade in trouble. He was new and Flynn liked the big cowboy. “I can’t imagine that he did.”
“Kai and Wade don’t run the background checks,” Chelsea said, looking more animated than he’d ever seen her before. “That’s a McKay-Taggart job. Ian makes the ultimate decision. He’s the one who’s cutting corners.”
Weston stared at his wife. “Don’t even think about it, love.”
Chelsea flushed slightly, as though the deep voice had done something to her, but she soldiered on. “Can’t you see that this is how we figure out what the hell he’s doing? He’s sending Li to parts of the world where we don’t have ongoing jobs. He’s been secretive and that crap he pulled letting the feds run a job in Sanctum a few months ago…that’s not like Ian. This is how we get him to tell us what’s happening.”
Weston shook his head. “In the first place, we don’t have ongoing jobs, love. You don’t work for McKay-Taggart. You made that decision a very long time ago. Secondly, we’re both going to stay out of it. When Ian needs us, he’ll let us know.”
“Even the Agency is blocking me,” Chelsea said, her frustration evident in the tight line of her mouth.
Weston’s eyes flared. “Excuse me? Are you forgetting we’re not alone?”
Chelsea rolled her eyes. “He’s a smart man, Si. He figured it out a long time ago.”
He had to admit that he was fascinated by the argument between the two of them. He didn’t understand all of it, but it was definitely intriguing. Big Tag seemed so very calm, collected even in the face of losing his brother the year before. What was really happening underneath that placid surface?
And he had figured out who Chelsea worked for. “If Langley doesn’t want people to know there’s an employee working here, they shouldn’t send out all the suits.”
Weston sighed. “That’s the business side of the Agency. They’re a pain in the arse and they never seem to leave her alone.”
“Yeah, well, my new handler is quite the pain in the ass, too. I thought Ten was bad,” Chelsea admitted.
“He’s going to find his job very short lived if he doesn’t stop flirting with you,” Weston admitted before turning to Flynn. “Mr. White doesn’t wear a suit and you’ll never see him coming. He’s the truly dangerous one.”
“And he’s shutting me out,” Chelsea complained. “I swear Satan made some kind of deal with him and I’m going to figure it out.”
“You will leave it alone and we’re going to have a talk about it later. Are you going to help our friend or should we begin that discussion now?” Weston’s tone had gone arctic.
The man had the Dom voice down. It sounded particularly good with a British accent.
Should he have turned that voice on Amy earlier today? Should he have sat her down and explained that he wouldn’t accept another second of her company’s interferences?
Chelsea seemed to calm down and got back to the job at hand. “Do you suspect she manipulated the system to get into your house?”
He didn’t simply suspect it. It was a pain in his gut. “Yes. It would be easy. There were only three other Doms going into training. She’s got some very close connections at Sanctum.”
Weston shook his head. “I don’t know. Kai can be remarkably difficult to manipulate. He’s a stubborn chap, and despite what my wife will tell you, Kai has the final say when it comes to the training program. Wade might run it, but Kai sets up the couples. Ian merely signs off. If Kai put you together with her, it’s because he thinks you’ll work well together.”
“And if she’d studied him and had a working knowledge of psychology, she could say all the right things,” Chelsea said. She was working on her own laptop, her fingers moving. “Her degree is from Wharton, but Wharton is inside the University of Penn system. Ah, there it is. She took a lot of psych courses. Huh, she probably has enough classes for a dual degree. I wonder why she didn’t get it?”
Psych was necessary for a truly rounded business degree. Many HR reps had backgrounds in psych. He’d taken a few classes himself, almost all based in business. It taught the student how to read body language, how to negotiate with a variety of people.
She would know how to manipulate him.
“Darling, why don’t you do that magic you do and check into her Sanctum application.” Weston’s voice became soothing as he turned to Flynn. “What did you say to Wade and Kai about your work situation?”
“I didn’t exactly go into the feud between our companies and I don’t advertise it. We keep these kinds of things very quiet. I don’t like talking about the fact that I’m technically the head of my father’s company. I prefer to focus on the code I write. When they asked me what my job was I gave them my real work. I’m in programming and R and D. And she’s not using her real name. Now that was an oversight. She used a fake name.”
Chelsea’s fingers were flying across her laptop keys. She’d brought her own system in, plugging it into his. Her eyes were on the screen as she spoke. “I’ve got her application pulled up here. And her divorce papers. God, I love lower level government systems. I can sneeze on them and get in. Nope. She started the process before her divorce.”
He wasn’t buying that. “She knew she was getting a divorce and she knew she was changing her name. Did she or did she not legally change her name?”
Chelsea frowned. “She did, but she changed it back right after the divorce.”
She’d married Frankie Lyndon for mysterious reasons. Why would she change her name if she’d known it wasn’t forever? One more mystery.
“According to the paperwork she filed recently, she requested that the name on her Sanctum membership be changed legally to Slaten,” Chelsea continued.
Yet she’d introduced herself as Lyndon
.
He’d woken up only hours ago and for a moment he’d panicked that she was gone. He’d checked the bathroom and then gone looking for her. He’d been prepared to find a damn note saying she’d taken a cab. The whole time he’d planned how he would smack that pretty ass of hers for disobeying direct orders. They had still been playing. He’d been specific.
Then he’d found her staring at his computer screen.
He didn’t buy her story for a second. She’d known exactly which one to use. She’d gone right past the laptop with its Internet connection and straight for his work system.
“I do find it odd that she didn’t have a reaction to your name,” Weston mused. “One would think if the atmosphere between your two companies is as bad as you say it is, she would have protested. You have to think she’s hiding something.”
“I might not have told her my full name.”
Weston’s brow arched.
The Brit knew how to make a man feel bad. “I have never gone by my legal name. Since I was a kid and wanted to get out of the path set for me, I’ve gone by Flynn and not John. That was my father’s name. I loved the man, but it was sometimes hard to be his son. There were a ton of expectations that went with being John Adler, Jr.”
Taking over Glendale, being the boss. He’d never wanted to run the company. He hadn’t been particularly good at it the few months he’d tried. He wasn’t a big picture guy. He liked to focus on the little things. One thing at a time. It was what he was good at.
Unfortunately, it appeared Chase had taken after him and not their father. Chase was all about history right now. He was obsessed with the subject and showed no signs of wanting to go to business school.
“So you introduced yourself as Flynn and nothing more?” There was a hint of accusation in Weston’s tone.
He practically winced. “John Flynn. It’s most of my name.”
“So you’re a dumbass,” Chelsea said with a grin. “I love watching a really good dumbass fuck up. I’m hitting your system right now, but who wants to bet me that this baby is pure as the driven snow?”
It wouldn’t prove anything except that she hadn’t had time to try to crack it. She’d known where to go and how to get there.
“Did she give you an excuse for being on your system?” Weston asked.
“She told me she was trying to e-mail work to tell them she’d be late.” And he had a defense he hadn’t used yet. “Also, she claims that she’s just a worker bee. When I asked her what she does for a living she said she was a corporate drone and it was too boring to talk about. She didn’t want me to know she heads Slaten.”
“Or she’s a female CEO who has to protect her reputation and you’re an unknown quantity,” Chelsea snapped back. “Do you have any idea how hard it is to crack that glass ceiling? Let me tell you the only thing that’s harder. Having to live and work there after you’ve cracked it.”
He could still remember how she’d shuddered in his arms—not from orgasm but from crying. He’d been able to feel the relief rolling off her as she’d cried the night before. What would it be like for a woman as sensitive as Amy appeared to be to always have to have a mask in place? Would a woman like that come to a place like Sanctum seeking relief? Would she seek out a Dom who she could shed her mask for? Would she enjoy submitting because she was in control all of the rest of the time?
Chelsea frowned.
“What is it, darling?” Weston seemed to know when his wife switched from lecture back to work.
“Flynn’s password is damn near impossible to crack. I should know. I helped him with it. He’s using a system Adam and I designed. It’s a full-operations security system that we’re about to patent the process for. But I wonder.” She pushed the chair back and got down on the ground. “We’re so connected to the cyber world that we often forget about the physical.”
A chill went through his system.
“Damn,” she said. “You should see this.”
Flynn moved in, followed by Weston, both looking down at the computer he wrote code on. It was a custom-made PC encased in a big silver tower. Unlike a solid-state drive, this system could switch out different parts and drives. He liked the ease of functionality.
Someone else looked like they’d tried to check out the inside of his system, too. There were distinct scratch marks on the side closest to the desk.
“I would bet that was either a knife or a screwdriver,” Weston said with a sigh.
He kept a small screwdriver on his desk. It hadn’t been missing this morning but then he hadn’t been silent. He’d walked through the condo looking for her. She’d seemed startled, but perhaps she’d had time to get back up into the chair and play out her ruse.
“Do you know if these marks were here before?” Chelsea asked. “When was the last time you changed out drives or worked on the system?”
“It was over a month ago and that was when I switched out the tower casing. It was pristine. I haven’t touched it since.” His stomach turned.
Weston stood and suddenly there was a small notepad in his hand. He’d pulled it and a pen from his suit pocket. “How many people have been in this condo in the last month? That you know of? I’ll contact building management and see if anyone’s entered for any reason. We had a structural check on the windows of our place after the last hailstorm hit.”
He’d had the same check done. “But I was here for that. I have a maid service, but I’m usually here.” His head was reeling. Someone had tried to steal his hard drive. “My brothers have been in here. You and Chelsea, but I can’t think of anyone else. No. I had some people from Glendale in about three weeks ago. Three members of the board and my CEO were out this way for a conference and I had them up for dinner and to show them the progress on the code. But those are the last people who would want anything to go wrong with that code. They stand to make a lot of money if we can get it to market.”
“Or they could make more money if they sold it to a rival company.” Chelsea got back into her seat. “I’ll check the dark web and see if there’s any buzz about the code you’re writing. If someone’s going to sell it, that’s where the buyers will be. If there’s nothing…well, I’m sure someone would rather keep it then.”
He glanced at the clock. He was supposed to pick Amy up in less than an hour. He was going to pick her up, take her back to her place, and then bring her here.
Did he dare?
“Chelsea, could you set up a camera around the desk that wouldn’t be noticeable?”
Chelsea never looked up from her screen. “Of course. I am the queen. I can do anything.”
“Do it. I’ll pay your consultation fee.”
Chelsea simply grinned. “Oh, I catch assholes for free. Also, you bought the pizza last time. I owe you, buddy. Jesse eats a lot. I should have warned you about that before you offered.”
“No, you should have warned me that I would get involved in an hour-long debate about the miracles of Harry Potter with Phoebe.” Now that he thought about it, Chelsea did owe him.
“Can I talk to you for a moment, Flynn?” Weston asked, gesturing back toward the front of the condo.
Chelsea didn’t look up from her work, so Flynn followed Weston.
“Are you sure this is her?” Weston asked, his face grave. “I need you to be fairly certain before you make any kinds of accusations or before you do something foolish like begin a sexual relationship with her.”
He must have flushed because the big Brit cursed under his breath.
Flynn sighed. “She’s my training sub. We’re all going at it from what I can tell. Most of us. You know how it is. It’s a very intimate relationship.”
“Yes, which is precisely why you should have dropped out of the program the minute you understood what was going on. The minute you figured out a mistake had been made, you should have brought it to Wade’s attention.”
“I tried.” Though not very hard.
“He didn’t listen.”
“No. I wa
s going to tell him and then…”
Weston sighed. “You saw her. They were right, weren’t they? She’s a good match for you.”
In every way. She matched him intellectually and their needs seemed to dovetail. He needed her affection and she needed someone to take care of her. He needed her warmth and she desperately needed an outlet for all that love she had. He could soak it up like a fucking sponge.
But he couldn’t simply allow her to use him.
“Yes,” he admitted. “She’s practically perfect for me. I can’t think of a woman I’ve wanted more than her. Maybe it’s just the training program.”
“It could be. Your first sub is always special. There’s a shared intimacy that tends to bond you, but you have to think about the fact that she’s got deep connections to the club. If you screw her over, you piss off a lot of people.”
Including his brother’s best friend.
“I’m not going to accuse her of anything without proof. And I’ll be the happiest man on the planet if it’s not her. I told you. I want to be serious about this woman. I can’t, though, if she’s spying on me. I can’t walk away either.”
“I’ll very quietly investigate,” Weston offered. “And Chelsea can place cameras and security devices in a way no one will recognize. If the person who tried to get inside the tower comes back, we’ll catch them, but have you thought about the fact that eventually she’s going to have to know your real name?”
He wasn’t even thinking about that now. There was too much else to worry about. “I’ll deal with it when I have to.”
“And what happens if someone mentions who you work for at Sanctum?”
“I don’t know why they would. Most people have no idea I’m connected to Glendale because I’m not actively working for corporate.” He didn’t like the implication that he was hiding something. He wasn’t. “I do write code for a living.”
Weston huffed slightly, an oddly elegant sound. “Yes, and I can afford this place because of the riches I made from MI6.”
“He totally got all his cash from my former criminal ventures.” Chelsea proved that they could move away, but she could still hear.
