Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
Mason
While he couldn’t prove Asad wrong yet, Mason now realized that he’d had too high expectations for himself.
The subconscious couldn’t be controlled by the conscious mind.
Expecting his attraction to Audrey to turn off just because he and Yasmine had ended their engagement had been unrealistic, though he hadn’t realized it at the time.
The fact that he now felt protective of her because of the note that had been left on her bakery was probably part of why he felt so much chemistry with her right before he’d left.
Heightened emotions were always going to exacerbate other emotions.
And it was only natural to feel protective of her.
She was David’s little sister after all, and he liked her as a person.
Plus, she was a complete innocent. If someone was trying to scare her, of course, he was going to feel protective.
Step one—get that camera up.
It was possible Audrey was correct, and it was just kids playing a weird prank for some reason. Stranger things had happened. The camera would help her feel better and him as well. There was every chance that this would be a one-off thing, but just in case, the camera would be there.
Step two—see if any fingerprints showed up on the note. It was unlikely, considering that both he and Audrey had touched it, the surface wasn’t all that large, and it had been in her pocket for most of the day, but he should at least try.
Step two point one was to tell her that if anything else showed up, not to touch it without gloves on.
Step three—dig into Alexis’ background to make sure this note wasn’t aimed at her. He didn’t know anything about Audrey’s employee, and it was possible there was something Audrey didn’t know, either.
The chance that it was connected to Ashley seemed the least likely because he knew the most about her. While she had an enemy in the form of her ex-best friend and current daughter-in-law, Rebecca wasn’t going to make trouble for her and risk being cut off from Lincoln’s money.
Which meant that step four was to do some digging into Audrey’s background.
Her parents didn’t want her in Pittsburgh, and from what he knew about them from David, they were used to getting their way.
On the other hand, he also knew that they were more than willing to cut their children off if they weren’t getting their way—which was what had happened to David.
Why should Audrey be any different?
But he was still going to dig.
For her safety.
Not for his own interest.
Heading straight for the office, Mason felt a lot more energized than he had this morning. Having a mission, even a small one, could do that to a man.
Walking into the lobby, he was surprised to find David and Lincoln there, chatting.
Both of them looked up when the elevator doors opened, and David raised his hand in greeting as Mason stepped off the elevator.
Trying not to feel like the note was burning a hole in his pocket, Mason waved back, using his key fob to open the doors.
“What are you doing here?” David asked as he walked in. “I thought you were taking today off.”
“I am, I just was in the neighborhood and decided to swing by to grab a few things. Is something going on?”
David and Lincoln exchanged a glance.
“Has Marshall reached out about trying to hire you away again?” Lincoln asked, a small scowl forming, as it always did when he had to talk about his ex-best friend and business partner.
“What? No.” Mason shook his head. “Not that I would take it even if he did. He doesn’t seriously think any of us are going to jump ship, does he?” Marshall Devlin was smarter than that, surely. Especially since he’d already tried that tactic once.
“Not everyone, but he’s reaching out to a select few,” Lincoln replied grimly. “Zeus and Jensen on our team and Darcie and Jaxon on Harris’.”
Mason let out a low whistle, shaking his head at Marshall’s temerity and persistence. The man did not know the meaning of the word ‘no’.
“I haven’t heard from him, but if he does contact me, you’ll be the first to know.”
“I still think he’s up to something,” David said, shaking his head.
“I don’t think he really thought anyone would accept his offer.
I just can’t figure out why he’d try again.
Jensen said that he was trying to push the idea of being up close and personal with the next governor of Pennsylvania, and he did not appreciate Jensen pointing out that we’ve been hired by the other candidate, and that MacLeod does not have a lock on the race. ”
“Maybe he truly doesn’t believe the senator can win,” Mason suggested. “We all know that he’s a misogynist.”
“I am surprised he reached out to Darcie,” Lincoln admitted.
“He might have done that just to piss Grant off.”
“Why would that piss Grant off more than approaching Jaxon?” Lincoln asked, frowning.
David and Mason both looked at him incredulously. Had he really never noticed the way Harris’ team leader panted after Darcie? It was Grant, so saying he panted after anyone was an exaggeration, but anyone who knew him could see that he treated her differently.
Lincoln looked back and forth between David and Mason, slow understanding dawning on his expression. “Oh, really? Well, that’s interesting.”
“Maybe he’s trying to distract us from something else,” Mason suggested. “If we think all he’s doing is try to poach team members, it gives him some cover for other things.”
Could he have something to do with the note left on Cupcakes and Crumbs?
That seemed far-fetched.
And yet, he’d been behind sending black roses to all the team members.
Because the first house to receive them had been Jensen, in the middle of everything that was going on with Cassidy’s ex, they’d assumed Don had been behind the flower delivery.
It had quickly become clear that he wasn’t, but they still hadn’t known that it was Devlin until the day that Royce MacLeod had announced that he was running for governor and introduced Devlin as his head of security.
Still, why would he go after David’s sister instead of Lincoln directly? So far, all of his efforts had been focused on Black Fox—either by bad mouthing them or attempting to poach their clients and team members. Thankfully, he hadn’t been very successful.
That might mean that he was trying something new.
A note on a bakery door that was only tangentially connected to the firm didn’t seem likely, but… that would be something else to look into if they weren’t already watching Devlin and his current team closely.
“Is there anyone on his team we can approach who’d maybe let some information slip?” Mason asked. He wasn’t surprised at the face David made; he was an ultimate do-gooder, like a redheaded Captain America, but Lincoln nodded slowly.
“I’m not sure. Most of them are just there for the money, but…”
“But that means there’s an opening, depending on what you’re willing to offer them.
” Mason shrugged. “The fact that Devlin is trying to poach people means he probably thinks his own people are poachable. Even if they’re not, if someone reports to him that you tried, he’s going to become paranoid that someone did say yes.
” Mason paused, sudden realization hitting him as he spoke.
“That might even be why he didn’t approach everyone on the second go-around.
He thinks it’ll make you paranoid that someone said yes and didn’t report it because actually trusting his team never occurred to him. ”
“Every accusation is a confession?” David asked dryly.
“When it comes to someone like Devlin, yes.”
“So, maybe I shouldn’t approach all of them, but just a few,” Lincoln said slowly. “The one I think is most likely to say yes and the one I think is most likely to report back to Marshall.”
“Possibly. Or just one of those. If you do the latter, he’ll spend as much time investigating his own team as he does anything else. And it won’t hurt for him not to completely trust them.”
Unlike Lincoln. It didn’t surprise Mason at all that Lincoln wasn’t suggesting that any of his own team might have taken up Devlin on his offer.
Trust was what had always bonded them together. Even with Zeus. They all might be wary of him, but Mason also trusted that Lincoln had done a deep dive and come up with no reason not to hire him. That meant that he was willing to build trust with him.
“Also, to that point, we should anticipate that we’re going to receive evidence that Zeus spoke with Devlin sometime soon.” Which was why it had been smart of Zeus to tell Lincoln about it ahead of time. Another point in Zeus’ favor.
Or, if Mason was super paranoid, a brilliant psychological move by Zeus and Devlin to ensure Zeus gained more trust with the group.
Personally, Mason didn’t think Devlin was that brilliant, especially not when it came to building relationships.
If Lincoln reached out to one of Devlin’s team members, and that member reported it to Devlin, Devlin was going to be incredibly suspicious of that person.
He was not going to trust him more because he’d reported the contact.
“You think Devlin was setting Zeus up?” David frowned. Obviously, he was going to be sensitive to anything that might disrupt his team, and the addition of a new team member had already done that.
“I think Zeus left Devlin’s team before we discovered everything Devlin was up to here, so there’s no way Devlin would think he had a chance at hiring Zeus back after everything that went down.
Especially now that Zeus is on our team, which was a coveted spot.
” Mason paused. He really didn’t think this next part was the case, but it would be irresponsible not to bring it up.
“That or this is a seriously long game by both of them, and Devlin is a hell of a lot smarter than I’ve been giving him credit for. ”
Both Lincoln and David grimaced.
“Marshall is smart as hell, don’t underestimate him,” Lincoln said. “At least, I have to tell myself that, given how long he was fooling me.”
“It wasn’t for as long as he thought he was fooling you,” David reassured him, clapping his hand on their boss’ shoulder. “And you fooled him in the end.”
“There is that.” A glimmer of a smile slid over Lincoln’s lips before disappearing. “I don’t think Zeus is working for Devlin or that this is a long game.”
“I don’t either, but I have to acknowledge it as a possibility, just in case I turn out to be wrong.” Mason shrugged.
“Okay, well, we’re headed out.” Lincoln glanced at David. “I guess we have a lot to talk about over cupcakes.”
That made David chuckle.
A feeling of guilt squirmed inside Mason. It wasn’t that he was trying to keep things from David, but he was well aware that the note in his pocket was probably something David would want to know about. Even if it turned out to be nothing.
But as Audrey said, David had a lot on his plate right now.
Not just the Devlin thing, but also security for Senator Marlin.
And eventually, he was going to find out about his Grandma and Mick.
So did Lincoln. There was no reason to worry them with a random note that might be nothing more than a prank.
If it turned out to be something more, obviously, he would tell them then.
Mason would do the work to make sure that the note was nothing and that Audrey and the bakery were protected. That way, David wouldn’t have to worry at all.
The fact that it gave him an excuse to go by the bakery more often… well, that was just going to help him wear out his attraction to Audrey.