Chapter Two #2
As I pulled the page out of the printer tray beside my feet, I glared at him. “Not starting this shit today. Don’t have time for it.”
“Right. I understand you’re busy,” he drawled as I stapled the sheet back into the file. “But debriefs are mandatory.”
I shot him a glare. “Is this a debrief, or are you just in here because Grayson sent you to snoop—”
“Because he didn’t believe a damn word you said?” he deadpanned. “Absolutely, but I’m a kill-two-birds-with-one-stone kind of man, so while we get to the reason you have a stick up your ass, we can also mark this as your mission debrief.”
“I’ll pass.”
“Not an option.”
I broke our gaze, returning to the file. I rewrote the same note in the same place—in black ink. “Not in the mood.”
“Mitchell, talk to me.” His command was soft. Too soft. I lifted my eyes, finding him in a new position. He was leaning forward now, feet on the floor, elbows on his knees, brow furrowed. “What are you avoiding?”
Everything.
I opened my mouth, but closed it when Jake appeared in the doorway, his auburn hair pulled back, eyes flashing with anger. “We have a problem.”
Dominic and I shared a look, and in the next second, we were out of our seats.
“What’s going on?” Dominic asked as I came around the desk.
We all met in the middle of my office, and outside, thunder clapped.
Not even a second later, rain began pelting the window.
Jake pulled off his black-rimmed glasses, pointing them at me.
“The only reason I’m coming to you and not cussing out that spineless, poor excuse of a human is because you and I have been through a lot together.
” He paused, a muscle jumping in a cheek underneath his red scruff. “Because I respect you.”
“Jake, what the hell are you talking about?” I asked, folding my arms over my chest.
Dominic cleared his throat. “Or who, rather.”
Jake was Red Snake’s technical specialist. If it was connected to a power source, this man and his supercharged brain could hack into it from a hundred miles away. He was also a damn good friend. His brown eyes slid over to Dominic, his tone cautious as he said, “Maybe you should leave the room.”
“Don’t bother,” I grumbled. “I’ve been trying to get him to leave for the last ten minutes.” I snapped my fingers, pulling Jake’s attention back to me. “What the fuck is going on? Which client is pissed off?”
He blinked. “This isn’t about a client.”
A few beats of silence passed before I nearly lost my patience. “Murphy, stop beating around the fucking bush,” I growled. “Spill it.”
“Veronica is on the line.”
All the air was sucked out of the room, then as every inch of my body tightened, an old, familiar fury ignited in my gut.
“What the fuck does she want?” Dominic growled.
“What do you think?” Jake shot back, looking at me. “It’s your call.”
Veronica was the woman, once upon a time, I had every intention of marrying.
She was perfect. Checked all the boxes. And for a time, I thought I did the same for her.
That clearly wasn’t the case, I discovered, when I came home from an assignment to find her taking another man’s cock—in my fucking bed.
It had been nearly twenty-four months since that day.
After kicking her and her rent-a-dick out, I didn’t give myself a chance to fucking process it for at least a month.
I love you, Hayes. I’ll always love you.
“Is she in trouble?” I found myself asking, unable to help it. Even though I told her to never contact me again, if she was contacting Red Snake, it had to be for good reason.
“Why the fuck would it matter?” Jake clipped.
My head ticked to the side. “Because the five of us signed up for this gig to do good in this fucked-up world, Jake. That includes helping the people who’ve hurt us if they need it,” I reminded him, my voice laced with warning.
When he didn’t give an answer, Dominic chimed in. “Did she ask for Hayes specifically?”
“Yes.”
“What did she say?” I pressed, taking a step closer to him.
Dominic’s hand shot out, hitting my chest. “Easy, Mitchell.”
Jake studied me for a moment. “She is asking about your apartment in Charlotte.”
My brows came together. Then I turned, stalked toward my desk, eyes on the phone. She was on line three—the personal line.
For fuck’s sake. This day couldn’t get any worse. “I should’ve gone home,” I muttered under my breath as I picked up the phone. “Mitchell,” I answered sternly.
Her voice filled my ears then, smooth, light, and downright perfect. Veronica was the perfect southern belle, down to the way she spoke. “Hello, Hayes. It’s good to hear your voice.”
“Wish I could say the same, but you and I both know lying isn’t really my thing.”
Lying was all I knew how to do most days.
“There’s no need to be rude,” she scoffed. “I’m not calling about that.”
“Then stop wasting my time and tell me why I’m on the phone with you,” I ordered, feeling Jake’s and Dominic’s eyes on my back.
“You have something of mine at your apartment.”
That was a lie. I’d cleared all her shit out the day she broke me. “There’s nothing of yours in my apartment, Veronica. You know that.”
“Really?” she quipped. “Because there is a Dior sweater that my father bought me two Christmases ago that is missing from my closet, and the last time I remember wearing it, I was at your place.”
“You’ve decided to interrupt my workday, my life, over a fucking sweater?” I pushed out through clenched teeth.
Had she always been this self-centered and shallow?
“It’s cashmere.”
I tipped my head back, staring at the ceiling as an unexpected wave of disbelief washed over me. “After everything, that’s all you have to say to me?”
“Well—”
A harsh laugh resonated from deep in my chest. “You took another man’s cock in my bed, V.”
Her voice changed then, getting softer—weaker. When we were together, this voice was my weakness. I would’ve gone to the ends of the earth for her. “Hayes, please.”
“Please what?” I shot back, walking to the window. “Please give you your fuckin’ sweater back? I don’t have it. I’ll take this time to remind you that I put all your shit out on the damn curb.”
“Yes, I remember,” she muttered, huffing. “You left me standing out in the rain.”
“You came on a cock that wasn’t mine when I had a ring intended for your finger sitting in a safe three feet away.”
“Easy,” Dominic urged from behind me.
I looked at him over my shoulder. “Seriously?” I quipped, pulling the phone away from my face.
His dark blue eyes flashed with caution. “Don’t piss her off.”
“I wasn’t fond of her when you two were together, but if you piss her off and she shows up like a crazy-ass ex…” Jake trailed off, rolling his eyes. “I don’t think any one of us has the energy to put up with that bullshit.”
“She is a crazy-ass ex,” Dominic corrected, looking at the floor. “No need to beat around the bush.”
Shaking my head, I brought the phone back to my face. “I don’t have your fucking sweater.”
Veronica was quiet for a moment. “Well, maybe I could come over and double-check.”
God, she was really trying it, wasn’t she? “There’s nothing to double-check.”
“I would really appreciate it if you let me do this,” she pressed.
“You’re more than welcome to ask Monty if it's in lost and found, but that’s all I can do for you,” I told her, voice hard. Monty was my former doorman. He was also the one to tell me the man in my bed was also a resident.
The annoying sound of her snobby scoff filled my ear once again, and I was seconds away from hanging up the phone. “Why would it be in lost and found when I last saw it in your apartment?”
“I no longer have an apartment there,” I pushed out. “Lost and found is your best bet. Call Monty.” As I pulled the phone away, she frantically called out my name. I bit down, my jaw popping. “What?” I barked.
“You—you don’t live in the Westchester anymore?” she asked, stumbling over her own disbelief.
I grinned, finally finding something I loved about Portland. It was nowhere near Veronica or her manipulations. “V, I don’t live in North Carolina. Hope you find your precious sweater.”
I gently put the phone back on the receiver and turned to the boys. “I’m done for the day.”
Dominic studied me. “We’re not going to have the debrief, are we?”
“Nope.”