“Yes, there is. We can talk,” Deke insisted.
She pulled away from him. Luckily she’d learned his language. “I’m afraid I need to make that a hard limit. I think you’ll find you can talk me into trying a lot of things I shy away from initially. I’m incredibly curious, but not about this. It’s ancient history.”
“It doesn’t feel like ancient history. It still feels like it’s between us.”
“Hard limit, Deke.” She wasn’t going to listen to him rationalize leaving her behind. Or rather forcing her to leave him. He’d had the comfort of home and family, and she’d been shipped out into the big bad world without even being able to call him. He’d made that happen, and all anyone would talk about is how lucky she was to have a boy willing to sacrifice for her.
He’d sacrifice her, and he wasn’t capable of being honest about why he’d really done it.
He held his hands up. “All right. We won’t talk about it. But I’m serious about the rest. I’m going to get you comfortable with me. You’re going to tell me everything you’ve ever said to Byrne about me. We have two days before we fly back to California. I’ll take you to work on Monday and you’ll introduce me. So we should get started.”
She followed him out but wished she hadn’t put that grim look in his eyes. She let the regret go. He was right. They had work to do.
Chapter Five
The lights from the hamster wheel cast neon shadows all through the lounge. Sometimes Deke was absolutely certain Big Tag had placed the human-sized wheel perfectly so part of the big lounge acted as an audience space to watch whatever dumbass was running that night. Sometimes it was subs who pissed off their Doms. Sometimes it was Doms who made a bad bet. Of course, sometimes it was members who preferred Sanctum to a gym and they legit were just working out.
He wasn’t sure why Jesse Murdoch was running like there was no tomorrow, but his best friend, Simon Weston, was laughing his ass off as the lights changed from yellow to green to blue. Probably some kind of bet. He couldn’t be sure because he was trying to avoid Chelsea Weston. He did not need her backing up Adam’s previous arguments. Chelsea could be…intimidating, to say the least.
He glanced over to where Maddie sat at a table, laughing with MaeBe and Kori Ferguson. They’d spent all afternoon training with the Dean-Miles trio, so when the lights had gone down and Sanctum turned into a serious club, he’d given her a little time off. She was sitting at a table twenty feet away having a glass of wine and sharing a charcuterie board. They’d had dinner brought in earlier, but she hadn’t eaten much.
She was nervous. He could feel her anxiety all through the training sessions. She’d been stiff and precise when she should be loose and flowing. He needed to find a way to break through her walls and get her to relax around him or they would look exactly like what they were—an awkward couple of used-to-be lovers.
He fucking wished Michael Malone was here. Mike had been one of his closest friends for over a decade, but no he had to go and find a girlfriend and be all happy and shit. It was the theme of his life lately. He’d watched Hutch settle down, and then Tessa Santiago had found her professor, and the man he’d thought would die a bachelor had hooked up with a Hollywood star and they’d taken off for Miami after David and Tessa’s wedding for a long romantic weekend.
Big Tag wasn’t even available for advice this evening. He’d started only coming to Sanctum once a week, and tonight wasn’t his play night.
He’d seen Boomer around, but he wasn’t sure Boomer was the right guy to give him advice when it came to this. Boomer’s longest relationship was with the staff at Top who fed him a couple of times a week.
If only Maddie was a taco, then Boomer would be his man. Other than that, he had a whole crew of happy couples and that one threesome. Not a one would want to sit around and bemoan fate with him.
“All right, we have the plane for Sunday night.” Kyle sank down onto the chair beside him, a bottle of beer in his hand. “Once we get to the client’s place, I’ll check her security system and do a walk-through to make sure she’s not bugged.”
At least he could depend on one person to not be happy. Unfortunately, Kyle wasn’t exactly his close friend. He wasn’t sure Kyle was close to anyone with the exception of MaeBe. “I thought you didn’t come to Sanctum. Shouldn’t you be at The Club?”
Kyle and his brother, David, played at Sanctum’s rival club, The Club. Yes, someone should have thought out that name, but most people didn’t question the Dom who ran that particular dungeon.
“My mom’s in New York with Sean. They’re meeting with investors or something. I’m not sure. The upshot is I can be here and not have to worry about running into my mom’s boobs.” He took a quick drink as though he’d seen a few things he couldn’t unsee. “Your girl has done well for herself. I got the blueprints for the house she owns and damn, she’s got some room, if you know what I mean.”
He turned Kyle’s way. “You did what?”
“Who do you want on logistics? Me or Boomer?” Kyle asked.
If he let Boomer handle logistics, they would all have food and weapons and maybe nothing else. “I kind of thought I would handle it.”
“When were you going to make a bunch of reservations? I kind of think you need to spend every second you have trying to make sure you look like a functional D/s couple,” Kyle replied. “You know I have done this before.”
Kyle was an enigma. Technically he was a bodyguard. Technically he’d been Special Forces in the Army. He called himself nothing but a grunt, but the word around the office was Kyle had worked for the Agency, and not the way Deke had. Kyle had been on the path to become a full-on operative, but he wouldn’t admit it. Not even to his family. If he could take someone else, he would, but Kyle was Ian’s brother’s stepson, and he tended to get his way when it came to assignments. “All right. Does Maddie know you have her floor plan?”
“Where did she expect us to stay?” Kyle asked. “Because I don’t think we’re going to be much help if we’re holed up at the Holiday Inn Express on the freeway. We should warn her about Boomer’s appetite.”
“I’ll take care of it.” Boomer wasn’t so bad. He wasn’t picky. He just needed vast quantities of food.
“Relax, man. I was joking. MaeBe and I have a plan. We’re going to hole up on Madeline’s second floor. She’s got two bedrooms and a big loft up there. Boomer and I will share, and Mae will have her own room. We’ll use the loft as our office space, and Mae and I have a list of hearty casseroles we can easily make to feed the Boom man. You are in the downstairs guest room, and we’re going to stay as quiet as possible. Unless she’s bugged, and then we’ll have to figure out where to go from there. How do we explain me, MaeBe, and Boomer if the big boss man shows up at her place?”
He’d already thought through that particular scenario. It was important they all had the basics of their stories straight. “You and Mae are a D/s couple we’re friendly with. Kayla is putting your name on the books at The Reef. When we get to LA, I want you to familiarize yourself with the place. You’ll take MaeBe out there and let Kay show you around. Boomer’s my brother. From what I understand, Maddie doesn’t have a lot of friends who come over. She works a lot.”