Her mind was on the night ahead. She had to focus on the mission. But maybe the smart play would be to simply take it all in, to pretend to be what she was supposed to be—a curious sub with a gorgeous, indulgent Dom.
If she got a chance to ask questions, she would, but she needed to be careful.
Tessa continued to chat, but all Vanessa could think about was Michael and the fact that their time was running out.
* * * *
Michael stood in the hallway that connected the men’s locker room with the women’s and waited for Vanessa to walk out.
He had a meeting later tonight. Deke was coming up to The Club to talk to him about something, but after the play session was over.
He got to play with her tonight. Play was a silly word for what he wanted to do with that woman.
“Everything going okay?” David Hawthorne leaned against the wall, obviously waiting for Tessa, who would be coming out with Vanessa.
“Besides the hiccup with Dani? Yeah, it’s okay. It probably works out better this way. I’d like Tessa’s take on her.”
“I don’t know if you will. She’s not happy about this particular assignment.” David kept his voice down, his eyes on the door across the hall. “Not that she won’t do her best, but if it was up to her she would be direct with the woman.”
Tessa was almost always direct. It was why she was a bodyguard and not an operative, why she’d been a soldier and not a spy. But he wasn’t going to point that out to David. “She’s made it clear how she feels, but this is my job, and I have to do it my way. I genuinely believe I’m conducting this investigation in the way I feel best serves my client and Vanessa. I know it seems harsh, but she’s the one who wanted a training Dom. She’ll get the training she wants, and if she’s innocent, she never has to know Julian doubted her. Once I’ve ascertained what she’s doing here, if she’s clean, she’ll discover Julian is a good boss. Once he can trust her, Julian will likely be incredibly generous.”
“So she has to be above reproach,” David mused. “Like Caesar’s wife.”
Michael raised a brow. “Sorry, Professor. I studied business in school.”
And then he’d studied the fine art of espionage. He was not well versed in Roman emperors’ wives.
“Her name was Pompeia. Caesar divorced her because she wasn’t quite above suspicion,” David explained.
He managed to not roll his eyes because David obviously didn’t read the tabloids. “It’s a totally different scenario. Vanessa has a reputation for doing exactly what Julian is afraid of. Whether it was earned or not,” Michael pointed out. “I’m not trying to hurt her. I know this side of the business can seem harsh. What Tessa normally does is much simpler.”
“And what you do can be necessary.” David looked utterly changed in leathers. Normally the man wore khaki slacks and button-downs, the occasional tweed jacket thrown in as though to prove the stereotype. But he looked like a Dom in a leather vest, pants, and boots. “Sorry. I can put my nose in where it doesn’t belong at times. Like I said, Tessa will do her job. You’ll have more trouble with my brother. He’s not happy that MaeBe’s still talking to Vanessa. She called yesterday to check up on her, and they talked for a long time.”
Michael nodded. “Yes, I heard about the conversation.”
MaeBe had written up a report. It had been a glowing, cheery thing that talked mostly about how awesome Vanessa was, and she didn’t seem at all like the type of woman who was trying to play an angle. But she had gotten one good piece of information. Vanessa had talked about him, and she’d mentioned that his family was a drawback. MaeBe had gotten her talking in a way he couldn’t. MaeBe was one of those women whose kind soul drew people in.
Kyle had also filed a report. It contained all sorts of threats if MaeBe wasn’t allowed to recuperate in peace.
Ian had made a quick phone call to MaeBe, who’d talked about how cool it was to be a spy, and then he’d promptly deleted Kyle’s report.
“MaeBe wants to do the job.”
David sighed. “I know. Kyle is fucking up with her, and when it all goes to hell, I don’t know how he’ll handle it. He’s obviously in love with her but he can’t admit it. I think he’s afraid.”
“Afraid of loving her?”
“Afraid of losing her. Afraid of being the reason why she gets hurt,” David murmured. “I don’t know. My brother talks to me about a lot of things, but not his past, and I think that’s what’s holding him back.”
Kyle’s past was a mystery everyone was curious about. “His time in the Navy?”