She shook off that terrible memory. It had happened after she’d been left alone in that big mansion. When Junior had come to let her know he was going to make her life a living hell.
“Isn’t the guy you’re supposed to meet with named Michael? He’s an M and he’s a top, so that’s another M.”
“But he’s new. From what I know, he’s never been a member of The Club,” Vanessa corrected. Michael was above suspicion in this case, and she was so relieved. She could trust him. Well, as much as she trusted anyone.
“Was it okay meeting him today? Like was he nice and stuff?” Ruby asked.
Nice didn’t cover it. He’d been charming, and then he’d been commanding, and both had done something for her. It had been a heady combination.
It might have been the combination she’d needed all of her life.
“He seems like a nice guy. This isn’t some love match.” She needed to say the words so she didn’t forget them. If she was lucky, she wouldn’t even make it through the training period. She would find the killer and get back to her…shitty life.
“I think you have to be scared,” Ruby said softly.
She was, but not in the way Ruby meant. She was scared she could get in too deep with this man.
There was the sound of glass shattering, and Vanessa stepped in front of Ruby, her arms coming out on pure instinct.
“Assholes.” Ruby moved from behind her, her hands in fists at her sides. “How many times have they done this?”
Vanessa let out a breath. It was the same assholes, as usual. “I hoped they would stop when the HOA informed me I had a month to move out. I guess someone wants me gone faster than that. You should go home. I don’t want anyone to see you here.”
“Let me help you clean up. I’ll stay out of the line of sight.” Ruby moved to grab the broom and dustpan. “I helped you last time, and it’s way faster.”
She wanted to say she didn’t need the help, but the truth was she did.
A line in her contract came back to her. She was supposed to call Michael if she found herself in need of aid. He was supposed to be there for her while they were training, but surely that didn’t mean he showed up every time some asshole threw a brick with the word whore written on it through her window.
That would get old fast.
She went into the living room to make sure it was merely the same crime. Sure enough, there was a hole in the window and a rock on the floor. It was one of the smooth rocks lots of people used in their landscaping around here. Anyone could have picked it up and used a Sharpie to write their message on it.
Exhaustion swamped her. She was so tired. Tired of everything.
Tired of life. She was thirty-two, and she felt old.
She stepped outside, looking up and down the block, but there was nothing. A truck she didn’t recognize was parked down the street, but the person who’d thrown the rock was long gone.
She walked back in and got to work.
* * * *
The next morning Michael glanced at the clock and realized he still had an hour to kill.
That was a weird way to think of it. He was sitting in his office and had a ton of paperwork to do. He wasn’t killing time. He was working, and the event he was waiting on was work, too. It wasn’t some date that should make him wish time would speed up so he could get to it.
Coffee with Vanessa. He hadn’t chosen lunch or dinner because he needed to play this fairly slowly, let her set the pace in some ways. He’d wanted to see if she was disappointed he hadn’t set a more recognizable date with her.
She’d simply smiled and told him she looked forward to it.
There was a knock on his door, and he looked up to see MaeBe standing in his doorway. He gestured her in.
“Hey, I thought you might want to know that someone attempted to get into the Lodge Corp systems yesterday.” She strode across the office and sat down in the chair across from his desk. “I got a call from Chase Dawson, who was super annoyed. He’s out of town on vacation with his family, and he got the news from the guy who’s filling in for him.”
He’d met the Dawson brothers many times. They were in charge of security for both Dani and Julian’s companies, and the Masters Fund. Both Chase and his twin brother Ben had been trained by Big Tag before taking their positions. “Fill me in. Did they get any information?”
“From what I can tell, whoever it was accessed some emails,” MaeBe replied. “And they seemed particularly interested in The Club’s work schedule.”