He’d heard all about Angie’s trip to the big city when he’d gone home for the holidays. He’d also heard about how amazing Maddie was and how successful she was.
“We had lunch. Don’t be mad at her. She just thought it was weird.”
“And when did you start to suspect something was going on with Byrne?” He was about to prove he could put pieces of puzzles together too.
“A few months ago,” she replied. “That was when I realized we have two employees who’ve gone missing, and they all touched the satellite project.”
“But you didn’t know about Byrne’s obsession with BDSM at that point.”
“No. I found that out when I got caught reading that book.”
“And you were reading that book because someone you’re friends with is in the lifestyle. Who might that be?” He waited, and sure enough she flushed.
“Uhm, her name is Joanna.”
Now he did lower his tone. “That’s a lie, Maddie. We’re going to start now. If you want to play the part of my sub, then we’re going to set a few boundaries, and lying is one of them. Why were you reading that book? Shortly after you found out I was in the lifestyle.”
“I was curious.” She bit her bottom lip. “I don’t know. After Angie told me you were in the lifestyle, I was curious, and when the chance to get close to Byrne came up, I sort of told him this whole crazy story about my Dom and how we were trying to get into The Reef too. For a while we just talked, but now he wants to meet you, and I can’t put him off anymore.”
“All right. I believe that.” Actually, when he thought about it, there was no one in the world who’d needed a good top more than the Maddie he’d known in high school. She’d needed a partner who could remind her she was more than her big brain, that she was worthy of care and rest, that she didn’t owe the world everything she had.
She frowned at him. “And I know what you were doing. That was your Dom voice, and we don’t need rules because we’re not really going to be a D/s couple.”
She would find that working with him on an op would be a whole lot like being a D/s couple. Oh, not with someone like MaeBe or Charlotte or any of the other highly trained women he worked with. But this was dangerous and outside Maddie’s area of expertise. “I’ve done this job for more than a decade, and then there’s all my military training. Did my sister happen to mention I was on a CIA special ops team for a couple of years?”
“No.”
At least Angie had some discretion. “I was. I assure you I’ve worked more corporate security cases than I can remember. You were worried enough about your safety that you spent thousands of dollars trying to cover up where you were going. How much more dangerous is it going to be when you get into Byrne’s private system? I’m going to be honest with you, Maddie. I’m going to take over now. I know you’re smart and I’ll follow your every order when it comes to launching a satellite, but you’re going to follow mine when it comes to this.”
“Or?” She got that stubborn look on her face. “I assume there’s an or.”
He hated the fact that he wasn’t going to be able to ease her into this, but he knew her. At least he’d known her, and Maddie required firm boundaries or she ran over everything and everyone in her way. “Or I’ll call in the authorities and probably blow it all to hell.”
“But he’ll have warning,” she argued. “He’ll be able to hide what he’s doing.”
He shrugged. “Then you should let me do my job. You need to understand that this isn’t my job right now. I don’t have skin in the game beyond making sure an old friend of mine is safe, and that will be my primary goal if I’m not in charge of the mission.”
“Your way or the highway, huh, Deke?”
“I’m not trying to be a dick.”
“And yet you’ve managed.”
“Is the situation dangerous?”
She sighed. “Yes.”
“Do you have security training?”
“No.” She slumped against the sofa. “Fine. I think I probably knew you would be a dick about it and take over, and somewhere in the back of my head I know I’m not ready for this. But you have to understand that it is important to me.”
“I’ll do anything I can to help and that includes protecting you.” He watched her for a moment. “It is good to see you.”
Her lips curled up slightly. “You, too, Murphy.”
A gentle chiming sounded through the apartment.
Damn it. He’d forgotten about the pizza. “Stay here. I ordered some pizza a while back.”
She winced. “They weren’t really going home, were they?”