He would call her beautiful inside and out. He would call her sweet and kind. He would call her the most complex thing that had happened to him in forever. He was starting to think she might be very good for him. “She was the…is the target of an investigation.”
“Then you’re not dating her.” JT liked to poke and prod. “But she’s staying at your place.”
What he meant was You’re not sleeping with her. Michael wanted to lie, but it was hard to lie to the man he’d shared a womb with. “It was necessary to get close to her.”
JT’s head shook, and Michael knew he’d shifted back into his normal disapproving role. “I hate the spy shit. You couldn’t be honest with her?”
“You’re lying to her?” His mother was staring, too.
“I can’t tell her I’m investigating her.” They had never approved of his job. Not even once. They hadn’t liked him going into the Navy, and they’d hated him working for the Agency. It had gotten better when he’d hired on at MT, but he still got the feeling they would rather he’d followed his brother into the family business. “That would defeat the purpose of the investigation.”
“She’s staying at your place,” his mother pointed out. “That’s what George Jr. told me. He said that was exactly how she’d gotten to his father.”
He bet Junior had put the situation in the worst possible light. “She’s staying at my place because someone tried to kill her, and the house she lived in became too dangerous to stay in. The press won’t leave her alone, and someone likes to throw rocks through her window. Of course they write on the rocks. They call her a whore. Did Junior tell you that? Did he offer you a rock to throw at her?”
“I would never do that.” His mother had gone slightly pale. “I have the right to ask questions. I did not mean to make this a fight, Michael. You have to know that I would accept and love any person you bring home. But I have worries about this.”
“You don’t have to worry because I had no intention of bringing her home,” he stated flatly.
“Because she’s nothing but a means to an end.” JT took a swig of his beer.
Frustration welled. “I didn’t say that.”
“You said she’s not your girlfriend and you have no intention of making her your girlfriend. So she’s nothing but a target,” JT challenged.
“Well, I don’t like the sound of that. Unless you truly think she’s done all these things. I’ll be honest. I didn’t like that man. I did like George, and I talked to him after he married that girl. He seemed happy. We didn’t specifically talk about her, and I’ve never met her, but he seemed happy.” His mother pushed the folder his way. “You should look into this. One of the things he accused her of was blackmailing him. He said he had an affair with her when she was married to his father.”
No wonder his mom thought Vanessa was the devil. He quickly looked through the folder and verified it was the same photos the intruder had uploaded on Vanessa’s laptop, which was now safely at the MT building with Hutch and MaeBe. “I’ve already seen these, and my tech guy proved they’re fake. Now I know where they came from. Junior is trying to make sure she’s in the worst position possible before they go back to court. She’s not who he said she is. She’s a nice woman.”
“Who you’re lying to since she’s nothing more than a target.” JT seemed to need to push him.
“She’s my sub, and I’ll take care of her,” Michael shot back to shut his brother up. Fuck. He hadn’t meant to say that. He hadn’t meant to let JT know they had a D/s relationship because his brother would know what that meant to him.
The minute JT’s lips curled up, he knew he’d made a mistake. “See, Momma, I was right. I told you this whole thing would have started as some kind of spy game and he would get in deep. I told you if she’s in his condo, he’s got real feelings for her.”
“I believe it was Nina who first thought this was probably a job,” his mother murmured. “You should know that Nina’s already a supporter of Vanessa’s. She doesn’t like how the press treated her. If she wasn’t out of town, she would be right here telling me she told me so.”
Nina didn’t hold back. But then Nina had fit in from day one. So had Tessa. His ex-fiancée had immediately been accepted, and it kind of pissed him off that Vanessa wouldn’t get the same treatment. She wouldn’t get a chance to make a first impression because the press had already made it for her. She wouldn’t get to walk in and show how sweet and smart she was. “You would like her. If you gave her the chance, you would like her. She’s intelligent and creative. She’s kind to the people around her. She got a reputation for being difficult for doing things men would be called assertive and confident for. She stood up for herself, and it cost her a career she enjoyed. She’s been betrayed by pretty much every person she ever cared about because she lived in a cutthroat world. Yet she’s still capable of kindness. Her mother wouldn’t even speak to her because she didn’t like her choice of career. Not that I think she was much of a mother to begin with. All Vanessa wants in the world is to do some good and live her life. She’s not fighting for the money because she wants to spend it. She’s fighting for it because she promised her husband that she would build a foundation to help people with addiction issues. People like the daughter he adored, the one he lost. So believe what you want to believe, but you’re missing out if you don’t give her a chance.”