The Dom Identity (Masters & Mercenaries Reloaded 2)

Her eyes went wide. “To my wedding? The one that isn’t to their son? No. I thought it might be weird.”

“You invited me.” He’d gotten that invitation and had to sit for a moment. Not because he wasn’t happy for her. He genuinely was, but it was another way the world seemed to be moving on. One more way he was left behind.

“I didn’t want you to think you weren’t welcome.” She leaned against the wall. “I decided to invite everyone at the office, and it would have been wrong to leave you out. Besides, I hope you would invite me to yours. I would want to be there for you.”

He wished she could have been the one. She was a genuinely nice person, and they’d gotten along well. They worked on paper. But paper hadn’t been enough. “I’m glad to be there for you, too. Send my parents an invite and put something phenomenally expensive on your registry. They like to show off.”

She breathed a sigh of obvious relief. “Good. I will.” She glanced back to the conference room. “Are you okay with this? With me as your backup?”

“I didn’t realize you were,” he admitted. “I thought I was going in with Kyle. Like I said, I didn’t know you played at The Club. Big Tag had mentioned you would have something to do with it, but he didn’t say we would be working closely.”

“I’m strictly there if you need me,” she agreed. “I can watch the target in places you can’t. Kyle’s your physical backup while you’re at The Club, and MaeBe’s on call for all your hacking needs. She’s got a big work-up on the target.”

The target. Vanessa Hale. There was a “big” work-up on her for the simple fact that there was so very much information concerning her. Vanessa was one of Hollywood’s favorite gossip targets. The blonde had pin-up girl looks and a thirst for money and fame that had led her to marry a man three times her age and get involved in one of the nastiest inheritance fights Michael had ever seen.

He could remember his mother shaking her head as she read one of the tabloid stories about the woman. His parents were both from old money, and they’d made plenty of new money with Malone Oil and Energy. Vanessa Hale was one of his mother’s worst nightmares—the gold digger getting her hooks into a member of the family. So far his mother had been happy with the next generation’s choice of spouses. She loved his twin’s wife, Nina, and she’d adored Tessa. But then Tessa had never been interested in his money.

“I look forward to it, though I’ve done my own research,” he admitted. He was sure MaeBe Vaughn had done a deep dive into the woman, so he was ready to find out what she’d learned. And to find out why Julian considered her such a threat.

“Are you okay doing this?”

“The undercover? It’s not my first rodeo.” He’d been undercover many times. It was more boring than the movies made it look. It mostly consisted of blending into the background and not getting caught. Though this time it would be a little different.

“Michael, you’re probably going to have sex with her.”

Yes, that was why it would be different. Although he wasn’t going in planning to fuck her. “I’m going to be her training Dom. That doesn’t mean I have to sleep with the woman.”

A brow rose over Tessa’s eyes. “You’re going to top one of the sexiest women in the world and not sleep with her?”

“First of all, she’s not my type.” The woman was sexy, but he found her past distasteful. He was certain he could have sex with her and enjoy it on a base level, but he wasn’t sure how he would feel about it afterward.

Yep, too many romantic movies.

“She’s every man’s type, but you need to remember that there’s always a person under the makeup and push-up bras,” Tessa pointed out.

“I doubt she needs a push-up bra. I’m pretty sure those aren’t real.”

“They’re real. They might not be natural, but they’re real breasts, and there’s a real woman underneath all the scandal.”

“You sound like you disapprove.”

“I just…”

“Spit it out, Tessa.”

Her arms crossed over her chest. “Honestly, you’re not who I would put on this op. I understand why Tag picked you, and I worry it’s going to bug you to be used as bait. And it bugs me that every single one of you is treating her like she’s some craven gold digger.”

Had Tessa not done her homework? “She married an eighty-year-old billionaire when she was twenty-seven, so yeah, I don’t think she married him for love.”

“Because no one could possibly love an old man?”

He stared at her for a moment.

Her hands came up in obvious frustration. “All I’m asking is that you go into this with even the tiniest bit of an open mind. You’re already judging her because she got her breasts done, and that shouldn’t be anyone’s business but hers. She was barely nineteen when she started her career, and I’ve heard Hollywood is rough on a girl.”