Chapter 30 #2
Z didn’t answer, his gaze on Anne. With narrowed eyes, he was studying her like a Dom, like a Master of Masters, taking in the dampness of her cheeks, how her hand had settled on her low belly, her shirt that was a bit tighter because of her fuller breasts.
After a second, his dark gray eyes warmed. He’d figured it out.
But, with his usual tact, he simply returned to his conversation. “Benjamin, I think you’ll find yourself…busier …in the future. I’ll increase Ghost’s hours and leave it up to the two of you how you wish to cover the position.”
Ben nodded. “Works for me. For us both.”
Anne exchanged a glance with him, smiling, as she remembered the last time they’d scened together at the club. How hot it had been. Now they could continue. After all, Kari and Dan had a child and still enjoyed an occasional night at the Shadowlands for kink and loving.
Z turned and touched her cheek lightly. “Anne.” He said nothing more, but somehow managed to convey his affection and concern—and approval.
After smiling at Ben, he joined Cullen, and they headed off the deck.
“Who were they?” her father was asking her mother. “And why did—”
Galen moved forward. “My turn.”
“Turn for what?” Anne regarded him.
Black hair, black eyes, olive complexion.
He hadn’t lost any of his intensity when he’d gone from being an FBI special agent to owning his own company.
Maybe because his organization specialized in finding missing things—children, documents, people, secrets.
Sally, the wife and submissive he shared with his partner Vance, adored tracking down money.
“His turn to talk to you,” Dan explained with a scowl. “He won the toss. He gets to go first.”
“Oh, well, of course.” Seriously, how did men function with all that testosterone tripping them up?
Galen nodded to the empty table on the other side of the deck, distant enough that her family couldn’t eavesdrop without being too obvious.
She glanced at her parents, “Can you—”
Her mother shooed her off with a gesture. “We’re fine. They drove all this way to speak with you. Go ahead, dear.”
“Thanks, Mom.” When she checked Ben, he simply smiled and stayed beside her brother.
As soon as she took a seat across from the two Doms, Galen leaned forward and fixed her with his dark gaze. “I have a proposal for you.”
“What kind—”
“Come and work for me.”
“What?” Too many surprises in one day, in one month. If this kept up, her baby was going to be born hooked on adrenaline.
Not waiting for her to recover, Galen continued.
His new company was inundated with contracts to find missing people: runaways, wives, husbands, stolen children, embezzlers…
everything. And she had a reputation as being the best skip tracer in the business.
She could write her own ticket—work full time or part time, set her own hours—and he’d pay her three times what she’d earned at the bail bond company.
“Problems?” Ben was suddenly beside her. He rested a hand on her shoulder in concern. He’d probably seen the shock in her face.
“Actually, no.” Galen’s offer would solve her employment problem. Much as she’d loved the active part of bail bond pickups, she couldn’t put her unborn child at risk. “Galen offered me a position with his company. No travel. No danger. My own hours.”
Ben squatted beside her. “You know I can support us both while…uh, for a while. There’s no rush to find a job.”
“Damn you, Haugen.” Galen’s annoyance turned his New England accent even crisper than normal. “Don’t listen to him, Anne. You’d be bored within a week. If we—”
A hum interrupted him. With an annoyed sound, he pulled out his cell phone, checked the display, and answered. “Right. Yes. Going on right now. You want a turn?”
Anne frowned.
“Since we’re in a bidding war for your services, Anne, here’s another contender.” Galen was laughing as he set his cell on the table between them. “You’re on speaker, bro,” he said to the phone, “so watch your language. Go.”
“What’s going on?” Anne asked.
“Anne, you’re there. Good.” The voice from the phone was Vance’s, Galen’s partner who still worked for the FBI. “You’d be wasted working for Galen. You have the skills we need in the FBI. Let’s talk about it.”
She bit her lip to keep from breaking down. After feeling as if she wasn’t valued at all, now she had two job offers at once.
“The FBI?” she heard her mother say.
Looking up, she realized her family had ignored politeness and blatantly moved close enough to eavesdrop. She should have known.
They were totally snoopy. And interfering. And loving.
She firmed her voice. “Thank you, Vance. Much as I appreciate the work you Feebies do, I’m a little too settled to want to move around. I’m afraid the FBI isn’t for me. But thank you.”
“Well, I’m disappointed. If you ever change your mind, I want to know.”
“Excellent decision, Anne,” Galen said loudly enough for Vance to hear.
“Asshole. You win this one, bro,” Vance answered. “I hope you realize what a prize you got. See you in a bit.”
“In case Sally didn’t tell you, you’re cooking tonight.” Galen closed the phone over his co-husband’s curse.
Dan grinned at Galen, then fixed Anne with an intent gaze. “My turn.” He leaned forward. “Don’t you think it’s time to return to law enforcement, where you belong? We have an opening—and I know you’ll find my station more to your liking than the archaic one where you started.”
She smiled at him. He’d been after her for years to rejoin the force.
To the police, fugitive recovery was a necessary evil but not held in high respect. And in all reality, many of the agents were wanna-be cops who’d not scored a law enforcement job. She was the rarity that went the other direction.
Wasn’t it nice to be wanted? She squeezed Ben’s hand before telling Dan, “I’m afraid that wouldn’t work. I’m looking for something part time.”
Ben’s exhalation of relief was audible. He wouldn’t stand in her way, but he’d worry his heart out if she worked law enforcement. Just as she would if he chose that career, actually.
Dan sighed. “Fine.” He glanced at Galen. “Might you contract her out to present skip tracing workshops at my station?”
Galen’s gaze met hers. “Are you accepting my offer?”
“Assuming the contracts and all that look good, yes. I’d be delighted to work for you.”
“Wicked good.” He offered his hand, and they sealed the deal with a handshake. “We’re all set.” He turned to Dan. “We’ll map something out to get you access to her expertise.”
“Anne!”
The familiar voice had her turning to see her two uncles walking up the steps.
Way to ruin a fine day.
She fixed an accusing stare on her father. He’d obviously told his brothers that she was home and having a party.
When he held his hands out in a “What could I do?” gesture, Anne’s mother glared at him as well.
From the way the two incoming resembled Anne’s father, Ben figured they were the asshole uncles from the bail bond company.
Fighting back irritation and amusement, he squeezed Anne’s thigh and said in a low voice, “Got a feeling your dad’s going to be sleeping on the couch again tonight.
Want me to dispose of the trash for you, Mistress? ”
Amusement replaced her frozen expression, and she gave him a light kiss. “I can handle my uncles—and I love you.”
That was definitely his win. Rising, he took a position where he could guard her six.
“Now, Elaine, don’t be mad at Stephan,” said the gray-haired uncle. “Anne, we asked him if we could come by and apologize.”
With a Mistress’s self-possession, Anne folded her hands in her lap. “All right, Uncle Matt. Go ahead.” Head tilted, she waited for her apology.
She’d put them right on the spot.
Biting back a laugh, Ben saw Travis and Harrison doing the same.
Matt gaped for a second and glanced at the other. “Russell, tell her.”
“Right.” Russell ran his hand over his shiny bald pate. “We want you to come back, niece. We’ll let you take over the team again.”
“We need you,” Matt said. “No one is as good as you are at skip tracing.”
“Anyone in the business in Florida knows she’s the best.” Openly amused, Galen butted in. His nosy submissive undoubtedly kept him up on Shadowlands’ gossip—including Anne’s fight with her uncles. “Which is why I hired her the minute she was free.”
“What… You did what?” Russell’s face reddened. “Who the hell are you?”
“I’m a man who appreciates talent and will pay well for the privilege of having Anne in my company,” Galen said smoothly. “Even better, I got here before the Feds made their offer.”
“Feds?”
At the nasal voice, Ben spotted Anne’s asshole cousin Robert.
Harrison straightened.
Scowling, Travis handed the kitten to Anne’s mother. The party was going downhill fast.
And yet, Anne still sat, cool and composed. There were times he appreciated that Mistress armor of hers.
“She’s a police force dropout.” Joining his father, Robert asked Galen, “Did she tell you the FBI wanted her? And you believed her?”
“Actually, my ex-partner at the bureau, Special Agent Buchanan, made the offer and is pretty steamed she turned him down.” Galen had a wolfish grin. “I win.”
“Don’t know your source of information, boy, but she’s not a dropout,” Dan said.
“She quit the force. A lot of us have been trying to get her to return to us, where she belongs.” As Detective Sawyer leaned back in his chair, his jacket fell open enough to allow everyone a good long look at his holstered weapon.
That silenced the cousin fairly well.
Ben met Dan’s gaze and saw both amusement—and impatience. The cop had a low tolerance for assholes.
“Anne,” Matt whined. “You really took a job elsewhere?”
“Yes.” Anne tilted her head. “Gentlemen,” she said coldly, “if you don’t wish to offer that apology, please remove yourselves from my property.”
Russell puffed up. “We did—”
“Actually, you did not. I didn’t hear any phrase containing the words forgive or sorry.
” Anne’s father folded his arms over his chest. “My gi—Anne built you the finest team in Florida, and you handed her crew over to your incompetent kid. That showed disrespect to Anne—and wasn’t fair to your agents either. ”
“Uncle Stephan, the guys wanted me. Not her,” Robert yelled.
“Sure, they did,” Travis said sarcastically.
“Two of the wimpy part-timers wanted a male—not particularly you. The rest wanted the person who melded them into a team and who kept them safe. Not the cowardly asshole who botched the last three apprehensions with his grandstanding, who almost got Aaron killed, and who got Michael winged.”
Anne was on her feet. “Travis, is—”
She’d gone pale. Damn, she shouldn’t have to deal with this crap. Ben put his arm around her and felt her tremble.
“He’s okay, sis. They all are. But it only took three times with dumbass here and the men are jumping ship.”
“The team is yours if you come back, Anne.” Matt directed a stern stare at Robert’s father, who stayed silent.
“Thank you, but no,” Anne said firmly.
Ben cheered silently. She didn’t need those fuckups. Galen would value her.
She continued, “I won’t be back. Perhaps if you remove Robert—completely—and make Aaron the team leader, you might keep your agents.”
Matt’s shoulders slumped. “I understand. We’ll give Aaron the job.”
“You’ll what?” Robert shouted. “You’ll listen to that cunt?”
Ben growled.
Anne’s upraised hand held Ben in place. She frowned. “Ben, did you ever visit the bail bond office to see me?”
“No. Never been there.”
When her gaze turned to Robert, the asshole turned white.
“I couldn’t figure out how the bastards last night got my address,” she said. “But a week ago, someone beat you up. You said it was Ben.”
Robert took a step back at the menace in Anne’s voice.
She leaned both hands on the table and fixed him with a cold stare. “I think those guys came into the office, slapped you around, and you told them where I lived. And you never even warned me.”
“I never…” Robert sputtered, eyes shifting sideways. Every single person on the deck could see his guilt.
As fury roared through Ben, he moved forward. Paused. It was Anne’s right to tear apart the chickenshit. But damn. “Anne. Please?”
She smiled and patted her stomach. “Feel free to tend to these little chores for me…for a while. Don’t kill him.”
“Fuck, I love you.” Ben advanced on the asshole, swung from his hip—and, obediently, pulled his punch. Barely.
Robert flew halfway across the deck.
Arms crossed over his chest, Ben waited for dumbass to rise. Instead, he lay there, flat on his back. Eventually he put a hand on his jaw.
The cheers meant nothing compared to Anne’s soft, “Excellent work, my tiger.”
“Okay, I want to know something.” Stephan scowled at his daughter, not quite belligerently, but obviously annoyed. “Last night, you yelled at me for expecting Ben to defend you. Said you could do it yourself. So why is it different today?” He waved at Robert.
“Well, actually, last night I didn’t have any choice as to fighting,” Anne said, “and once I started, I kind of lost my temper. Ben knew I needed to release some anger.”
Ben shrugged at her father. “Her home. Her toys.”
“After I calmed down, I realized I shouldn’t have…indulged.” She gave Ben a wry look because when he’d understood how she’d risked herself and the baby, he’d given her hell. “So today Ben got to deal with the problem.”
With a smile, Ben took her hand, silently letting her know that he was available to deal with all her little problems. Any time. Any place.
Travis stared. “Since when do you not indulge? You’ve been knocking guys into next week from the time you were ten.”
Oh yeah? It’d be entertaining to hear some of those stories. Maybe if he gave Travis enough alcohol…
“My indulging days are over for…oh, another seven months or so. Until after the baby is born.” Anne set her hand on her stomach and smiled.
As the uproar broke out, she leaned into Ben, fisted his hair, and demonstrated that her indulging would be in a whole different arena.
With satisfaction, Ben pulled her closer and gave her everything she demanded, knowing his heart and mind and soul were safe in her very capable, loving hands.
The mission had been a long one and filled with peril, but somehow—some-fucking-how—he had won for himself the love of the Mistress of the Shadowlands.
Well done, Haugen. Bravo Zulu.