Or she was simply embarrassed to be sitting here talking to him about something that was often viewed as sexual. “Okay, so you told Nolan Byrne you were reading up on the lifestyle so you could get some time with the boss? Has he hit on you?”
“What? No. Nothing like that.” She pushed her glasses up.
“Really? Because I’ve been in the lifestyle for a very long time, and I would be surprised if a single Dom didn’t hit on a cute little sub.”
She grimaced. “He might think I’m more in the lifestyle than I really am.”
His stomach dropped. “So you told a man you’re suspicious of, a man who has a mega shit ton of money and power, a lie about your lifestyle in order to get close to him so you can prove he’s doing something wrong?”
She shrugged and yawned again. “Maybe.”
He groaned in frustration. “Maddie, what did you tell him?”
“I got antsy when we talked about it. Look, I’ve been around this guy for five years. I stayed out of his direct orbit because he can be hard on his people. But I needed to get close to him. I need access to his private system. So when I got the chance to move to his inner circle, I took it. I told him I’ve been in the lifestyle for years and that I have a Dom.” She looked him in the eyes, a grimace on her face. “In particular I told him my Dom is you.”
Deke had two reactions to her words. His dick practically jumped for joy. His heart did a little flip, too, because damn she was bringing back all his emotions. He’d loved her, like soul-deep teenaged loved her.
His brain was trying hard to tap those brakes. There was something going on with Maddie and he needed to be professional. She seemed to have a real problem if the expensive fake ID was any indication.
“Okay, you need someone—me in particular—to pretend to be your Dom so you can get your boss into The Reef to build enough trust with him that you can get close to his private system?” He wanted to make sure he fully understood the situation she was bringing him into.
She sighed with seeming relief. “Yes. I’m so glad you understand. I’ve got six weeks before launch, and I probably really only need you to come out maybe once or twice. I’ll pay all your expenses, and I’ve got a guest room you’ll be perfectly comfortable in. We can talk about compensation, too. I would prefer to pay for this as a project rather than by the hour, but I can be incredibly generous. I’ll need you to broker a deal with whoever owns The Reef. He seems to not like Nolan at all, and we’ll probably need to do a small scene or something. I’ve studied up on everything, so you don’t have to educate me.”
Oh, he was going to educate her. Did she think she could treat him like some kind of prop? Did she actually believe he would sit back and look pretty and be quiet? “If you want my help, we’ll bring it to the group. I’m not for hire by the hour, Maddie.”
She seemed to have trouble keeping her eyes open. “Good. Like I said I would rather make it a project. So I need to talk to the group in order to hire you? I don’t know how your company works. Do you have a pamphlet or something with costs?”
Should he explain that he would be taking over everything? And she would be hiring way more than him. In his brain he was already putting together his team. He would need backup, and this was a tech job, so MaeBe would be getting out of the office. Of course if he took MaeBe he would have to take Kyle. “Don’t worry about the costs. We’ll work something out, but I need you to understand that I’m not going to be a prop. I know you’re incredibly smart and independent, but you came to me for a reason.”
“Because Angie told me you were a Dom, and I thought it would be easier to work with someone who knew about the lifestyle,” she admitted.
A few things went through his head. First, he was having a long talk with his youngest sister because she needed to keep her mouth shut, but the second was all about timing. “I take it this came out when she was in LA right before Christmas?”
He’d heard all about Angie’s trip to the big city when he’d gone home for the holidays. He’d also heard about how amazing Maddie was and how successful she was.
“We had lunch. Don’t be mad at her. She just thought it was weird.”
“And when did you start to suspect something was going on with Byrne?” He was about to prove he could put pieces of puzzles together too.
“A few months ago,” she replied. “That was when I realized we have two employees who’ve gone missing, and they all touched the satellite project.”
“But you didn’t know about Byrne’s obsession with BDSM at that point.”
“No. I found that out when I got caught reading that book.”
“And you were reading that book because someone you’re friends with is in the lifestyle. Who might that be?” He waited, and sure enough she flushed.
“Uhm, her name is Joanna.”
Now he did lower his tone. “That’s a lie, Maddie. We’re going to start now. If you want to play the part of my sub, then we’re going to set a few boundaries, and lying is one of them. Why were you reading that book? Shortly after you found out I was in the lifestyle.”
“I was curious.” She bit her bottom lip. “I don’t know. After Angie told me you were in the lifestyle, I was curious, and when the chance to get close to Byrne came up, I sort of told him this whole crazy story about my Dom and how we were trying to get into The Reef too. For a while we just talked, but now he wants to meet you, and I can’t put him off anymore.”
“All right. I believe that.” Actually, when he thought about it, there was no one in the world who’d needed a good top more than the Maddie he’d known in high school. She’d needed a partner who could remind her she was more than her big brain, that she was worthy of care and rest, that she didn’t owe the world everything she had.
She frowned at him. “And I know what you were doing. That was your Dom voice, and we don’t need rules because we’re not really going to be a D/s couple.”
She would find that working with him on an op would be a whole lot like being a D/s couple. Oh, not with someone like MaeBe or Charlotte or any of the other highly trained women he worked with. But this was dangerous and outside Maddie’s area of expertise. “I’ve done this job for more than a decade, and then there’s all my military training. Did my sister happen to mention I was on a CIA special ops team for a couple of years?”
“No.”
At least Angie had some discretion. “I was. I assure you I’ve worked more corporate security cases than I can remember. You were worried enough about your safety that you spent thousands of dollars trying to cover up where you were going. How much more dangerous is it going to be when you get into Byrne’s private system? I’m going to be honest with you, Maddie. I’m going to take over now. I know you’re smart and I’ll follow your every order when it comes to launching a satellite, but you’re going to follow mine when it comes to this.”
“Or?” She got that stubborn look on her face. “I assume there’s an or.”
He hated the fact that he wasn’t going to be able to ease her into this, but he knew her. At least he’d known her, and Maddie required firm boundaries or she ran over everything and everyone in her way. “Or I’ll call in the authorities and probably blow it all to hell.”