“Good. Now, who is this Roy Simmons you wish to discuss?”
“I met his son, Blake, at the hotel. He’s a chef’s assistant there. We got to talking and he mentioned his name and the sad tale of financial strain on the family. It triggered something but I couldn’t make the connection straight away.”
“Of course it did. I’ll never know where you store all the information,” Parker rumbled as he did a search for Roy Simmons.
Zeke was the one they always depended on when it came to remembering the smallest detail. With his sharp mind, and eidetic memory, he had the capacity of a walking web search.
“Ah well,” Zeke smiled, “someone has to do it. I remembered who he was on the way back here. It goes back to the first corrupt official we put away, the then Director of Defense, Gary Sullivan. After we caught him in Florida, he was flown to DC for the trial. Roy Simmons was one of the police detectives who was allocated in transporting Gary Sullivan from the airport to the prison. As you know, the convoy was hijacked and Sullivan was killed—supposedly by the very same police detective riding in the back with him. Simmons was also shot and left for dead but he pulled through after months in the hospital. According to his son, he was laid off with full pension benefits due to not passing the fitness test, which to this day, he is still fighting to receive. They wouldn’t even give him a desk job. It seemed odd, so I dug deeper and found the FBI was involved from the get-go. They were the ones keeping the police department from taking Simmons back and kept his recovery a secret. Contrary to what one would expect, they didn’t offer a witness protection cover for Simmons, which triggered my suspicions.”
“Are you saying he’s involved with SPEONUS?” Parker asked as he stared at the intel Zeke had put on the monitor.
“No, but the FBI never does anything without reason. I suspect they’re using him on the quiet as bait to prod SPEONUS into the open. From what I could find, he’s been staying off the grid. I suspect he knows something but is too scared to talk about it. If SPEONUS finds out he’s alive, he’ll be a dead man. As it is, to date, Simmons is struggling to have his pension paid out. His twenty-year-old son is supporting the family but he’s not earning much.”
“So it’s their game plan to force him to go out in the open to find a job to keep his family above water. And once he does, SPEONUS will be on him. What a fucked-up mess,” Shane grated.
“The worst thing is, up to getting shot, he was one of the best detectives on the force by far.” Zeke slid a blue folder toward Stone. “I compiled a dossier on him, including his accolades and achievements. He’s the kind of man we could use in DC. Especially now.”
Stone contemplated him silently for a second before he studied the dockets in the folder.
“He definitely appears to be a good fit for us, but first, I’d like to personally meet him.” He glanced at Hawk and Shane. “I suggest the three of us and Zeke have a discussion with him. If we’re in agreement, we can consider offering him a job.” His gaze hooked Zeke’s. “If he has the skill and ability, he’d be perfect, as you suggest, but I’m not promising anything.”
“I’m not expecting it either.”
“Right. That’s it for today.” Stone glanced at Shane. “Would you mind checking up on Ace? I tried talking to him but he’s not opening up.”
“It was my intention to as soon as we’re done.” Shane got up and everyone trailed out of the room.
Hawk laid a hand on Zeke’s shoulder as they followed behind everyone. “I’ve got the contract you requested ready. Not that I understand why you decided to wait after pushing me to get it ready the day she arrived.”
“Thanks, Hawk.” Zeke smiled. “I wanted to make sure she’s ready. I believe the time has come to reel her in. I’ll get Taylor and meet you in your office at the Castle in thirty minutes.”
“You were serious about signing an agreement?”
Zeke stopped at the landing of the stairs and cast a dark look at her. “You believed I wasn’t?”
“Well, I …” She licked her lips. It irked the devil out of her that she was always cool, calm, and collected facing the most bombastic men in court but when he slanted that pure Dom look at her, she became flustered. “It’s been ten days and you haven’t mentioned it again. I logically assumed you might have …” Her voice drifted off as he dropped her hand to regard her with his fists on his hips.
“I didn’t need to mention it again, Taylor. You were already warned prior to arriving here.” His lips flattened. “Am I wasting my time with you?”
“If giving me utmost pleasure is considered wasting your time, then I suppose—”
“I don’t appreciate your insouciance, especially not at this moment. You are here because you freely committed to becoming my permanent sub. If it’s your intention not to honor that commitment, you better tell me now.”
“Offering such a position purely to pacify your cousins in allowing me onto the island isn’t reason enough to make it a binding agreement, Zeke. For all intents and purposes and as far as everyone is concerned, I am your permanent sub.”
“My cousins had nothing to do with the offer and you fucking know it.”
His entire demeanor changed within a blink of an eye. Taylor forced her feet to remain cemented to the spot and not step back to gain much needed space between her and the man whose eyes spat as much fire as the animal totem he represented.
She glanced around. Her cheeks burned as she noticed they were the center of attention to the group of trainees and assistant training Doms that had just emerged from the dungeon.
“I don’t believe we should discuss it here.” She lifted pleading eyes at him. It was bad enough that she was seen as an intruder by some of the permanent subs who had their sights set on Zeke. She didn’t need to have her own insecurities broadcasted in public on top of that.
He grasped her hand and stomped toward his office down the hallway and slammed the door shut once inside. She turned to face him but all thought fled from her mind as their eyes met. It was the first time in her life that she was struck mute by what she read there.
Zeke’s expression might have been thunderous and his body drawn as tight as a guitar string but his eyes told of the emotions swirling inside him. It floored her mind.
And destroyed any ability she had to resist him.
What woman would in the face of such adoration and determination to have … her. Her, Taylor Banks, overweight and flabby, wobbly thighs, and all.
He wanted her; no holds barred.
She swallowed the knot forming in her throat. She was humbled and for the first time ever, yearned to open her heart to the possibility of love.
“I’m sorry, Zeke, and I know I'm perfect in your eyes but when I look around and I see how you and the other Doms peek at those perky size zero asses and bodies … I can’t help feeling even fatter and the least sexy woman in the room.”
Zeke frowned. “Don’t mistake our appreciation of the female body as a fixation on a specific size or weight, Taylor. We’re men first and foremost. A swaying ass and bobbing tits are fucking sexy. That’s what we ogle at.” His eyes swept over her, taking in the way she crossed her legs to make them look thinner and hid her round stomach with hands over her belly.