Chapter 13
KYLIE
Patrick didn’t show up for the briefing at four. Collin was gone by the time I went back to close my office. The matter was done and over with, but I had to get some context. I felt like I hadn’t heard the whole story and was kicked out of the movie before the previews.
Did he really have a crush on me? Why would he? I wasn’t anything special, and from our discussions, not what he was looking for.
I was so confused and mentally drained, holding something in my gut with no outlet or end in sight. My little would have to wait until my mission was over.
When he walked in, I had been going through some employee files.
A report I had generated gave me a list of new hires at Grant Enterprises corresponding with FBI raids based on Grant provided information.
It further confirmed my theory when I discovered Rayna and Tinley were both on Grant Enterprises' payroll, too.
Some people I discovered, their salaries were unknown, their employment onboarding went outside the usual HR channels. Much like my own.
After a while, none of it made sense, and my brain was not in the right state to decipher it.
Maybe pizza would help.
I found my way to Luciana’s by the Slice in Quad I, drawn by the scent of baking dough and garlic.
The place mimicked a real New York joint, right down to the row of massive pizza ovens dominating the back wall.
An assortment of pies sat under the glass case, guarded by three guys in white t-shirts and striped aprons.
They were loud; their New York accents were too authentic to be faked.
“Kylie!” they said in unison as I walked to the counter. “You want the usual?” The one named Tony asked. I think they were all named Tony, or some version of it.
“Yes, please.”
He winked and slid my hot pepperoni and mushroom slice into the oven to warm up. Tony handed me my drink, a cherry cola made old-school with actual cherry syrup. “Pizza will be out in a minute.”
“Thank you.” I nodded and leaned against the wall to wait when I spotted a familiar face.
The one I had seen in photos and through a phone screen a few hours ago.
In every photo, Tyler Grant had the same look—chin down, eyes somewhere else, like he was already leaving whatever room he was in.
In person he was tall and thin, flannel buttoned wrong over a white tank, the sleeves rolled with more care than the rest of him.
He was holding hands with a man who stood even taller, his own flannel fitted, tucked, and buttoned with precision.
Tyler was laughing at something he’d said, his whole body loose and easy, like a knot that had finally come undone.
They passed by me, straight to the counter.
“Oh, that looks good.” He pointed at a pie. “We getting a whole one? Or we can get different slices.”
“What does Rayna want?” Maddox, I assumed. I’d only seen a corporate headshot of him. Easily recognizable, too. He was handsome and even taller up close.
Tyler pulled out his phone.
“Pepperoni with a copious amount of ranch on the side and hot honey.” I don’t know why I spoke up; they weren’t talking to me. But my brain knew the answer and figured I could help.
They both turned to look down at me.
“Well, the ranch, no duh.” Tyler grinned. “You must know Rayna if you know about her insane ranch addiction.”
“I’m Kylie.” I extended my hand. “We met on Collin’s phone.” I sounded like an idiot.
“Oh my goodness,” Tyler bounced when he spoke. “Yes. You’re the one Patrick has a crush on.”
I ignored his comment. “You must be Maddox.” He took my hand, which was still extended.
“Yes, nice to meet you, Kylie.”
“You, too.”
“We’re having dinner with Rayna if you’d like to join us,” Tyler offered. “Kyler is at some business thing and she’s bored.” He pouted for effect.
“No, thank you.” I looked past them, waiting for my order. “I have some stuff to finish up for work.”
“Oh, come on.” He nudged me. “Work can wait.”
“Ty, she said no.” He gave Tyler a stern stare, which redirected his protest. “Decide what kind of pizza you want.”
“Yes, sir.” He saluted Maddox, a laugh bubbling up.
“It was nice meeting you, Kylie. We can get to know each other tomorrow at the show.” He waved his arms in the air with a flourish and then scooted further down the counter to talk to the employees who seemed to know him.
His official position was head of marketing and communications, but I wasn’t sure how much day-to-day involvement he had in the company.
And I certainly didn’t know he was a little.
The place was riddled with them, and little’s weekend hadn’t even started yet.
“Sorry about Tyler. His enthusiasm walks a fine line between sweet and suffocating.” Maddox watched him.
“Oh, that’s okay.”
“How do you like the job so far? Different from the FBI, I assume. A lot less rules.” Maddox looked down at me.
“Yeah, it’s going well. For a big company, it’s getting smaller by the day.” Everyone was in everyone’s business.
“Yeah, well, it is a family business.” He chuckled. “No matter how many employees or zeroes are on the balance sheet.”
“Do you work for them, too?” I guess there was some fraternizing between employer and employee after all.
“I own a construction firm that specializes in restoration. They contracted my company for a project in New Jersey, and we were doing some research on another spot in Seattle.”
“Oh, nice.”
Tyler had his phone to his ear, laughing. He jogged back, tripping over his own feet. Maddox caught him. He shoved the phone in my face.
“Someone wants to talk to you.”
“Kylie!” Rayna yelled through the phone. “Come have pizza with us.”
“I already order—”
“Bring it with you, pleasssseeee.” The whine in her voice was annoying and convincing.
“Great. She’s coming.” Tyler snatched the phone from me. “Put her slice in with ours.” Tyler called across the counter.
“I’m sorry.” Maddox frowned. “You really don’t have to go if you don’t want to. They can be —”
“Pushy.” I completed the sentence for him. Probably not what I should have said to my boss’s boyfriend. Something about Maddox as an outsider made me feel like I could trust him. He had a way about him. “It’s fine.”
The staff packed our order into three bags. Maddox grabbed two of them and Tyler the third, and we made our way up to the penthouse.
“Have you been to Kyler and Rayna’s place before?” Tyler asked as we entered the elevator.
“I have. For lunch and to be interviewed by the man himself.”
Maddox scanned his thumb and pressed the PH button. The Grants trusted him. That surprised me. He hadn’t been around long, but trusting him with their younger brother was enough to grant him full access. He seemed like a decent guy. What was his angle? Why was he involved in sex trafficking?
The elevator opened, and there stood Rayna in an all-black jumpsuit with a hood and mask.
Only her eyes were visible. She waved a plastic sword and posed in what I could only describe as a ninja pose with one leg up, and her hands over her head, her sword ready to strike.
We all jumped back. Tyler gasped. Maddox instinctively stepped in front of us.
Thankfully, I wasn’t carrying, or I would have pulled my gun.
“Rayna!” Tyler clutched his chest. “You scared the shit out of us.”
“Language, Tyler.”
“Sorry, Daddy.” He stepped around Maddox and pushed Rayna’s sword away while wrapping her up in a hug. “Hi, Rayn drop.” Instead of ending the hug, he hoisted her onto his shoulders and ran back down the hall.
“Tyler, stop!” she yelled. “I’m going to throw up. Uncle Maddox, help.”
“Tyler, be careful.” Maddox laughed and grabbed the bag Tyler had abandoned. “You break her, you have to explain it to her daddy.”
We arrived in the apartment to find Tyler on the huge leather sectional, sitting on Rayna. “Do you promise to behave?” he asked.
“I don’t have to. You’re not my Daddy.” Her legs flailed as she attempted to push him off her. “Get off me. You’re wrinkling my gi.” She had lost her hood and mask, and her hair was escaping her slicked-back ponytail.
“Tyler.”
“Fine.” He stood up. “But stop scaring people. Especially from your own clan.”
Rayna adjusted herself on the couch, “That’s not a rule. Besides, scaring Daddy is no fun, and I can’t scare Tinley or she’ll never leave the house again, so you’re the only one left.”
“You don’t know if Kylie likes to be scared.” Maddox added.
“She carries a gun, so she’s not scareable.” Strange logic.
“That makes no sense.” Tyler agreed. “I’m hungry.” There were more pressing matters to attend to.
Maddox pulled the food out of the bags and arranged it on the dining room table. Tyler had regained his composure, and he and Rayna hugged in a fit of giggles and joined Maddox at the table.
Battle postponed. I relaxed and followed.
I sat in the same seat as before, across from Rayna. The pizzas came in triangular boxes with lids that folded down to double as plates. He placed a tub of ranch in front of Rayna.
“What slice was yours, Kylie?” Maddox set a slice of pizza with all the meat on it in front of Tyler. He gave Rayna her pepperoni.
“Pepperoni and mushrooms.” I grabbed one of the individual packets of hot honey. Rayna copied me.
“What are we drinking, guys?” Maddox asked.
“I’ll get it.” I got up.
Maddox put a hand on my shoulder. “Enjoy your pizza; I’ll get it.”
“Sprite please, Uncle Maddox,” Rayna said.
“Kylie?”
“Oh, I’m all set,” I answered and shook my cup.
“Ty.”
“Does my brother have apple juice?” He asked Rayna.
“Yep.” She dipped her pizza in the ranch and then in the round of hot honey at the point in her box of pizza. The honey quickly turned white. I never thought of mixing them together. I copied her, and she laughed. Her laugh was infectious.
“Okay, what are we going to play after dinner?” Tyler asked.
“We can find something in my playroom.” Rayna danced while she ate her pizza. “Or watch a movie.”
“Not too late,” Maddox warned. “We have had a long day, and you didn’t take a nap on the plane.”
“I tried but I couldn’t,” Tyler pouted.
“You are taking a nap tomorrow.” Maddox kissed the pout off Tyler’s mouth. It was so cute. He grinned but tried to maintain the pout.
“Tomorrow is going to be epic.” Rayna smacked her lips. “Have you ever been to a littles’ event, Kylie?”
The room fell silent. All eyes were on me.
I didn’t know how to answer. I didn’t want to lie, but I didn’t know how to explain my lame reasoning to these two who were perfectly comfortable navigating the world as littles and with their actual Daddy Doms.
Reasoning that seemed foolish now.
I was a little, but only for a few hours every couple of weeks.
Yet, when I see littles, I have to fight my own little to stay inside and stay hidden.
And, it wasn’t like I was on the job now.
I wasn’t in charge of Rayna, here in her own home around her Uncle Maddox who was a full-on Daddy and who she seemed to adore.
Tyler, who had a full-on title in a billion-dollar company, had no qualms about letting his little flag fly in front of someone he just met. Where did these people get the courage to just be themselves? It was both admirable and weird.
“Kylie?” Rayna’s voice softened. “I’m sorry. Maybe I shouldn’t ask that question.”
“No. It’s fine.” I inhaled and exhaled, opening my mouth, but no words came out.
“I’ve never been to a Quad IV Little’s Night.” Maddox jumped in. “Baby boy, you haven’t either, right?”
“Not as a little, no,” he confessed. “So, it will be new for all of us.”
Bless these two sweet men. I smiled and returned to my pizza.
“The Wizard of Oz at The Sphere. I heard it’s spectacular.” Rayna raised her hands above her head. “I’m so excited. I’m not sure how I am going to sleep tonight.”
“Maybe your daddy will tire you out.”
“Ew, gross, Daddy.” Tyler dropped his pizza on the table. His face scrunched up in disgust. “You’re talking about my brother.”
Rayna covered her mouth and giggled.
“I didn’t mean it like that.” Maddox chuckled. “I meant he will make sure she’s well rested.”
“Still not helpful.” Tyler shivered but went back to his pizza.
Once we finished, Rayna insisted on showing me her playroom.
“Come on.” Rayna pulled me down the familiar hallway leading to Kyler’s office. “Don’t worry, they changed the security on the death trap we call Daddy’s office.”
“Why do you call it a death trap?” Tyler trailed behind.
“You didn’t hear.” Rayna stopped in front of the office door. “Kylie entered without permission, and it went into lockdown mode around her.”
“Oh, my goodness! Did you freak?”
“No, it was fine.”
“You freaked a little.” Rayna giggled. “Patrick and I watched it on the security cameras. And, Daddy was just as stunned as you were, but he was able to open it, and everyone was safe.”
“I’m still staying out of there.” I gave the door a side-eye like it might reach out and grab me.
“My office is right here.” We all turned toward the closed door across the hall. Rayna pressed her finger to the reader next to the door, and it opened.
“Aren’t you afraid of getting locked in while you’re in here?” Tyler asked.
“It doesn’t lock while I’m in here, unless Daddy’s office also goes on lockdown and then I have an escape route that leads to the garage like in Daddy’s office.”
“Don’t y’all think all this security is a little overboard?” Tyler said, voicing what I was thinking.
It seemed like overkill unless you were really trying to keep something or someone out.
“Maybe, but if it makes Daddy feel better, then I’m fine with it.”
Oh boy, she was so brainwashed.