Chapter Twelve #2
Big Tag’s lips kicked up in a grin. “We could get him one. I
bet those boys you and Vivi took out today aren’t cold yet.”
He grudgingly had to admit he kind of liked her uncle.
“This is not a joke, Ian,” McKay said. “She could have been
killed, and the bodyguard was the only one who apparently didn’t fire a shot.”
“Well, he might have if Vivian hadn’t barreled into him,”
Oliver explained. “And I would have told her not to do that if I hadn’t been
playing dead.”
McKay turned on Oliver, pointing his finger Ollie’s way.
“Yeah, we’re going to have a long talk, too.”
Oliver’s hands came up. “I’m not touching your precious
girl. She’s merely cover for me, and she was damn good in the field. She didn’t
lose her cool. When she had a shot at getting out, she didn’t run.”
“She’s supposed to run,” McKay practically yelled. “Those
are literally her orders.”
Oliver shrugged. “Well, I got knocked on the floor, and
Tatiana’s wretchedly heavy handbag might have given me a concussion. I was
really down for a couple of minutes.”
That explained why Oliver hadn’t stopped her. He could
understand. Vivian should have left him and saved herself. She should have
trusted Mal to save Oliver, not come up with some insane plan to save everyone.
He sat on the bench, his leg aching, but he didn’t truly feel it because he was
filled with rage.
She could have died. They could have taken her and hurt her
in more ways than she could ever imagine, and he wouldn’t have been able to
find her.
“Taken down by a handbag?” Big Tag snorted. “I always
thought it would be chlamydia.”
“I still want to understand why my daughter, who is not a
trained operative, had to be the one to save everyone.” McKay wasn’t letting
anyone sway his attention.
“Dude, you are my friend, and let me tell you she did it
because she’s your daughter,” Big Tag announced. “You need to chill, brother.
If you walk in and start yelling at her about her heroic actions, do you know
what she’s going to say?”
That seemed to stop McKay in his tracks.
Big Tag didn’t wait for him to answer. “She’s going to point
out that you didn’t yell at Hunter when he ran into a fire to save his friend’s
cat. You threw him a party. I won’t even go into the dangerous shit Coop’s
done. But you don’t give him a lecture. You tell him you’re proud of him. This
is not your fight anymore.”
“Of course it’s my fight. She’s my daughter,” McKay said.
Taggart’s head shook. “But she’s an adult with a contract.
You don’t have to bring down the hammer anymore. You get to sit back and be the
good cop for the rest of time. When Kenzie decided she wanted to go take down a
group of hackers in Siberia in the dead of winter because they disrupted her
favorite show, did I say no? I told her to go for it because now I have Ben to
be the voice of reason. When Kala wants to burn down whoever pissed her off
today, I hand her the match because I’m her loving father and because Cooper
will be right there to blow it out before she can light anything up.”
“Your daughters are all married to good men,” McKay pointed
out.
“She is an adult. Look, do you think I was happy when my
sweet baby girls decided to do all the things adult women do?” Big Tag sighed.
“I mean yes, I was because I want them to have a good life, and sex and love
are a big part of that.”
“Shooting people is not,” McKay argued with a self-righteous
tone.
Big Tag’s eyes widened. “What world are you in?”
“I’ll take care of her.”
No one seemed to notice Mal said anything.
“I didn’t raise her to be a spy,” McKay argued.
“You also didn’t raise Cooper to be one and yet here we
are,” Big Tag countered.
Oliver sighed and sank to the seat beside him. “They can go
at this for hours. It’s rather amusing at times. Are you okay? I know I’ve
asked that quite a bit, but I feel the need to continue since you’ve barely
said three words since the incident.”
Incident? It had nearly been world ending. If something had
happened to Vivian…
“No, Oliver. I’m not fine because I watched three men die
and I don’t give a shit. I’m far more concerned that my sub might have broken a
nail.”
Oliver sighed and sat back. “Excellent. I was worried you
were angry with me.”
“I am.”
“Not if you’re worried about Vivi. Mal, you know how chaotic
that was. I tried to get to her but Tatiana lost it. She started using that bag
of hers like a weapon, and she didn’t care who she used it on. She hit me and I
fell and struck the back of my head, too. You know it could be a traumatic
brain injury and no one seems to care,” Oliver said, touching the wound on his
head. “Tatiana really lost it. It was unsettling.”
It sounded like a trauma response, but it also could have
been panic. “They wanted to find the blonde. Was Tatiana blonde?”
“Yes and no. If we’re talking natural, I don’t think anyone
has that shade naturally, but she’s definitely blonde,” Oliver replied. “I
don’t think they were talking about Vivian, if that’s what you’re worried
about. It might have been a kidnapping attempt, and isn’t that intriguing. I’ve
already had two calls from Edward about taking a meeting with my father. He
needs a new bodyguard.”
Mal was sure Edward was deeply upset by Gerald’s death. “We
don’t know it was her they were after.”
“Do you want to lose your balls? You’ve managed to keep
them,” Big Tag was saying in the background. “But your wife and daughter might
twist them off your body if you keep this up. At least I had some drugs.”
Mal tried to ignore them.
“Why would they come after Vivian?” Oliver asked.
He could think of a couple of reasons. “Tarquin blames her
for his downfall.”
Oliver waved it off. “He’s a sad little prick. He wouldn’t
be smart enough to hire someone.”
Mal had been over those moments about three hundred times.
“When those two were talking, they said something about what they could do.
Referring to who had hired them.”
Oliver nodded, his expression turning grim. “Yes, I heard.
They were scared. Even when they knew the police were coming, they were more
worried about what would happen to them if they didn’t finish their job. They
were far more concerned with finding the blonde than they were getting
arrested. I’ve already got Dad working on it. He’ll send someone to the morgue
to get photographs for facial recognition, and Sami and Lucy will have a file
on them before we get out of here.”
“They. No he or she. They. It could mean a family or an
organization,” Mal said, putting his thoughts out there. “Who knows where Sosa
is?”
Oliver stiffened as though he hadn’t thought of that
scenario. “You think The Chateau is coming for us?”
Mal shrugged. “It’s possible, and we should consider that
scenario carefully.”
Oliver seemed to think about it for a moment. “Vivian would
be the weak link. Or rather they would see Vivian as the weak link. But what
would taking… Fuck. You think they might try to get my father to exchange Sosa
for Vivian? Don’t they know she’s already told us everything?”
“Has she?” Mal asked. The rest of the group had been around
Sosa for a while. They might not see what he saw. He saw a young woman who held
part of herself close.
“Why wouldn’t she?”
“Oliver, she was held there for years. She was tortured,”
Mal said quietly. “She lost her family and her childhood. Why would you think
she would be open and honest with anyone? I’m not saying Sosa is bad. She’s
not. She’s trying, but you have to know that information has always been the
currency of her life, and giving it all up wouldn’t be a good idea for her. No
matter how much she trusts your parents.”
“Yeah, buddy. Try that shit,” Big Tag was saying. “It’s not
the eighteenth century when women were property. I know. I’m disappointed, too,
because at one point I could have sold Kenzie for a shit ton of cash. You can’t
order Vivian to come home.”
This was getting out of hand. All the pressure of the day
was causing him to go back into his shell, and that wasn’t what Vivian needed.
He knew they wouldn’t work long term. Seeing her so comfortable in that elegant
world she belonged to had crystalized the idea in his head, but they worked for
now. For now, she needed him, and he needed to be her man. Her Dom.
“I am her father, and I won’t let her be in danger again,”
McKay shot back.
“She’s not going anywhere.” Mal stood, his knee aching where
the prosthetic had unlocked. The EMTs had cleaned him up and bandaged the
scrapes, but they would take forever to heal.
McKay turned. It was obvious he was in a state. “You almost
got her killed today.”
“You do know he’s not the one who shot up the restaurant,
right?” Oliver joined him.
“Logic is not his thing right now,” Big Tag pointed out.
McKay pointed Oliver’s way. “I’m not happy with you either.”
“Mr. McKay, if you want to alienate your daughter, keep
going. She’s already upset at the blatant sexism you’ve shown her,” Mal pointed
out without trying to soften it up a bit. Big Tag was right. Logic meant
nothing to a man in this state.
“Sexism?” McKay’s face went red.
McKay needed blunt honesty. “What else would you call it
when you treat your sons’ dreams as more important than your daughter’s? When
you’ve shown her enough that she won’t even talk to you about them because she
understands how you’ll react. You’re on the verge of losing her. I know you
think your family can’t fall apart because you’re a good dad, and I’m sure you
are. Vivian loves you very much, but she loves herself, too. You might be able
to guilt her into coming home—”
McKay’s head shook. “It’s not about guilt. It’s about
safety. And don’t throw Cooper in my face.”
He knew enough to know exactly where to thrust the knife in.
“Oh, is that what it is? I hadn’t suspected that. Your sons are adopted. Is
that why it’s all right for them to risk their lives? Because you don’t share
DNA?”
McKay gripped the bars and likely would have attacked if
they weren’t between them. “You bastard.”
“I am, indeed,” he replied calmly.
“Alex, he’s pointing out some truths to you.” Big Tag had