“What?” Maddie asked, horrified. “Why would anyone think that?”
Deke simply shook his head. “Happens more often than you think.”
“Oh, and there’s already a betting pool going, and I’m supposed to offer you these.” Yasmin pulled out a box of…
“Are those condoms?” She felt her whole body flush with embarrassment.
Deke held them up. “They are indeed, and you need to get used to weird sex talk because it flies around here constantly. Sarcasm is the language of this particular land.” He looked down at the box and nodded. “Hey, the old guy must be in a good mood. He gave me extra larges. If he’s pissy, I’d get smalls.”
“Those wouldn’t…” Yep, she blushed again.
Deke snorted and slid the box into his laptop bag.
“Well, it’s not like it probably changed,” she said under her breath. “I don’t think they get smaller as you age.”
“They do not,” he agreed.
“So it’s the first one?” Yasmin asked. “Because I could use some insider info. Summer camp is not cheap.”
Deke leaned over and asked her a question Maddie couldn’t hear. Yasmin whispered something back and Deke nodded. “I would definitely bet on that.”
He straightened up and glanced down at his watch. “We should hurry. He’ll give us hell if we’re late. Are you ready?”
She wasn’t. She wasn’t ready at all. “Sure.”
She could absolutely present her case. That wasn’t what worried her. It was what came after. It was turning everything over to Deke and what that would mean. It would mean that Deke could do the security heavy lifting. It would also mean being vulnerable to the man who’d broken her heart before.
“Murphy,” a deep voice said as they entered the main offices. There were rows of offices down one side and roomy cubicles in the middle. A big man with blond hair leaned against one of the cubicle walls, a mug of coffee in his hand.
A stunning woman with strawberry blonde hair joined him. “Deke, it’s good to see you this morning. And your friend.”
Maddie stepped forward, holding out a hand. “Madeline Hill.”
“I’m Charlotte Taggart. This is my husband, Ian.” The woman shook her hand. “And are you planning on twisting Deke’s soul for your own terrible purposes?”
“Not at all.” She did not get the humor in that statement, but it was obviously amusing to everyone else. “I have a problem with the company I work for. I suspect my boss might be doing something he shouldn’t. I need some help proving it, though.”
“Let’s move into the conference room.” Ian Taggart had a couple of inches on Deke. “I’ve assembled your chosen Avengers, Deke. Do you really think you’re going to need all three of them? Sending Boomer out into the field can get expensive. It’s way cheaper to feed him here at home.”
She followed when Deke walked into a big conference room. There were already people inside, some of the people from the night before. MaeBe Vaughn was seated with her laptop in front of her and the guy named Kyle at her side. She also recognized the man named Boomer.
Ian Taggart moved through the conference room, taking the place at the head of the table. His wife sank down to the seat at his side.
Deke held a chair out for her. It was the chair directly across from Ian Taggart. Luckily the table was long enough that there was plenty of space between them. The head of the company reminded her of a lion. It was probably the color of his hair. Or maybe the hard look in his eyes as he stared at her like he could see deep in her soul.
“So the going rate for four employees twenty-four seven isn’t cheap,” Taggart began.
“Ian.” Deke sat beside her.
“I was hoping we could negotiate a project rate.” She wasn’t some shrinking violet. She’d worked in big tech for years, and she’d had to stare down bigger assholes than the one in front of her. Getting a good deal was an artform.
“Has anyone mentioned who she’s investigating?” Deke’s question held an air of expectation.
MaeBe’s eyes had gone wide. “I thought for sure you would have told him. I was wondering why he was so calm.”
Charlotte Taggart sat up straight, her hand going to the landline phone that sat on the conference table. It likely linked to an inhouse communication system. They used something similar at Byrne Corp to conference in people in different buildings on campus. Charlotte’s hand hovered close to the system. “Who does she work for, Deke? I wish I could guess, but the truth is my husband has a whole lot of triggers.”
The boss’s blue eyes rolled. “I do not have triggers. I have a couple of people I don’t like.”
“Yeah, it’s called the phone book,” Kyle said under his breath.
“Uh, I think you really hate this one, boss,” Boomer added. “But I also forgot who it was. I was hungry when she first showed up. Did you try the srirancha?”
“I don’t know what that is.” They were all weird. “I work for Nolan Byrne.”
Ian went still. Like preternaturally still. Like he was being so still because he was about to murder someone still.
“Shit,” Charlotte said and picked up the phone. “Yasmin, we have a meltdown. Yeah, bring the good stuff. Everything you have.”
The conference room walls were made of glass, and no one had closed the shades, so Maddie was able to see the receptionist fly past, sprinting on her way to wherever she was going.
Maddie leaned toward Deke but did not take her eyes off Ian. He hadn’t moved, but his face was going red, like he was a tea kettle rapidly heating up. “Is he okay?”
“Nah. He’s working his way through something. Don’t worry. When he explodes, it’s usually pretty funny.” Deke sounded amused, but then she was starting to remember that the world had always amused this man. He’d gotten through some tough times by never taking anything too seriously. “What is your tolerance level when it comes to curse words? He’s big on the frankenswears.”
“Oh, I’ve heard them all. What did Nolan do to him?” Nolan Byrne was known for his perky nature when it came to reporters and for being utterly ruthless in all other regards.
Charlotte winced. “We try not to say that name.”
“He stiffed Big Tag on a bill,” Kyle said with a shrug. “My uncle holds grudges over tiny things.”
MaeBe gasped. “You are so bad.”
“It was a hundred and twenty-five thousand fucking dollars and fifty-nine cents.” Ian finally exploded. “This company built the security system for one of that cockwaffle’s companies. Built it. Installed it. Trained his security team on how to use it, and do you know what he did when the bill came due?”
Oh, she could bet. “He had his lawyers tear apart the contract and bilked you out of everything he still owed you?”
“He called me incompetent,” Ian said, his voice low. “Fucker. I should have shoved my fist up his asshole and then smashed his face with my fist so he could taste his own shit.”
Boomer’s eyes lit with recognition. “Oh, that guy. Yeah, we hate that guy. I almost sniped him but Charlotte said no.”