Chapter Thirteen #4
“I should stay through this mission. Damon believes there might be someone from
The Chateau at the wedding. I can verify that if I am there to see. I will go
back to Dallas, but I don’t want to put the baby in danger.”
The baby. Colton. Charlotte and Ian’s only grandchild, for
now. Sosa cared for the child. Her cousins had told her Sosa liked to play with
Colton during her brief time in Dallas.
Something was wrong. She was reluctant to go to a place she
said she felt most at home. Sosa had been in London for long enough to come to
feel comfortable here. She could be wanting to spare the people she cared about
from knowing that.
Or she could be hiding something else.
“I think we have a good enough guard on Vivian,” Damon said.
“I believe we can trust Mal to protect her, but in case this does have something
to do with Vivian, I’m going to make the decision to keep her inside the
building. I’ll call Sophy and tell her.”
“Sophy needs to be in the building, too,” Oliver ordered,
and then seemed to realize what he’d said. “I mean, she needs to be here in
case someone thinks Vivian is still living with her and tries to break in.
She’ll be safer here until we sort things out.”
Mal leaned in, whispering. “He doesn’t even believe you’re
at risk. Who is he trying to fool?”
She had no idea, and she also wondered why Oliver didn’t
simply go after Sophy.
Luckily, she knew what her bestie’s plans were. “She’s going
to Scotland with her uncle. They’ll be there for a few weeks, so I wouldn’t
worry. I can stay here for a while if it makes everyone feel better. Is there a
place for me with all our guests? I could stay on a cot in my parents’ room,”
she said, knowing exactly how her Master would react.
“She’ll stay with me.” He kissed her cheek. “Don’t taunt me,
brat. You still haven’t gotten the spanking you deserve.”
She looked forward to it.
“Ben spanked me before he left to go save Canada,” Kenzie
said with a wistful smile.
“He’s picking up a report from an operative in Hungary,” Ian
said with a sigh. “He’ll be back soon. I fucking hope.”
“Ian,” Charlotte admonished. “They are newlyweds.”
Her uncle looked to Damon. “Anything you need from us?
Tristan is ready to help Lucy and Sami in any way he can. We’re here as backup,
Damon. You’re in control.”
Damon nodded to Ian. “I appreciate the help. Once my darling
uses that big brain of hers to crack the code, we’ll see what we really have,
but it could take weeks. The wedding is coming soon. The good news is we’re
going to sign a contract with the bride and groom for security. Apparently the
kidnapping attempt has caused concern that the company they’re using isn’t well
prepared. Personally, I think they simply enjoy firing people, but I’ll take
what I can get. They’ll be here soon to sign the contract. We can get several
of our people into the parties that come before the wedding and the venue
itself.”
“It will work for Vivi to start living here. People will
think we’re moving forward after that terrible afternoon,” Oliver said. “I’ll
make sure Eddie and Tati know. Then everyone will. Including the putz Mal
thinks might be trying to hurt her.”
“Don’t say his name,” Charlotte begged.
“Tarquin?” Cooper asked.
Ian started laughing. A massive, booming sound.
“You said it,” Charlotte said with a shake of her head.
Sosa was back to looking delighted. “Fake Papa knows when
something is… What is the word? Ridiculous. English names are silly. I’m
surprised he did not laugh at the new guy. Malcolm Mays sounds made up by some
over-the-top romance writer.”
Ian shut down immediately, his jaw going tight.
Vivian knew that look. Her uncle was on a leash. She eased
off her Dom’s lap and walked around to stand near her uncle, who was trying so
hard not to laugh.
It was Charlotte. Only her aunt could put her uncle on this
tight a leash. “Uncle, do you know what his middle name is?”
“Vivian, I was trying to spare you his assholiness,”
Charlotte said.
“My Mal can take it,” she said with pure confidence and
leaned over. “It’s Montgomery.”
Her uncle actually whimpered.
“You’re cruel, Vivian,” Kala said.
“So mean,” Kenzie agreed.
“We like it,” they said in stereo.
It was fun to fuck with the older generation. “Malcolm Monty
Mays.”
“It was my father’s name,” Mal said. “At least that’s what
mum told me. I think she might have gotten it from a soap opera. If I took
Vivi’s name, I could be Malcolm Monty Mays-McKay.”
Her uncle lost it, and so did everyone else in the room. His
laughter boomed through it all. What started as a business meeting now felt
like family, and Mal was laughing, too.
Everyone except Oliver, who frowned. “You know Tarquin is a
perfectly historical English name. He is a right bastard, but his name is
fine.”
“So says the dude named Oliver,” Kala shot back.
Oliver snorted. “Your name is an anagram for kick a little
ass.”
Kala grinned. “I know. Cool, huh?”
They all started arguing and she made her way back to Mal,
who welcomed her on his lap and kissed her cheek.
Whatever came next, they would face it together.