Chapter Fourteen #2
bringing together of the factions. They wanted to see if a bit of chaos knocked
some important information out. Even if they canceled the whole thing, they
would get good intel.
“The Tottenhams paid once,” Oliver
said. “I believe they think they can get even more now that she’s engaged to
the Kirkallan heir. And she’s obviously much more
lovely than she was at eight.”
“So this is about me,” Edward muttered. “I knew it.”
Mal wanted to punch the asshole, but he simply gave them his
gravest expression. “We believe you need better security for the wedding. A
personal bodyguard for both of you and some serious surveillance.”
“I need a bodyguard?” Tatiana asked. “I have security.”
“You have a driver. He’s not truly security since he’s not
with you at all times,” Mal explained. “You need what we call close cover.”
A tear squeezed out of Tatiana’s eyes, but the rest of her
face was peaceful. “All right. I hope this doesn’t take long. I don’t like the
idea of having someone watching me all the time. I like my freedom.”
“We’re looking into it,” Oliver said. “We hope we’ll have
real answers soon. Until then you need security. If not us, I can give you some
other companies.”
Edward nodded. “Yes. I think we will go with you. Write up a
proposal. You know I thought you were just a pretty face. I didn’t realize you
actually work.”
Damon snorted. “He doesn’t. He’s only here because he knows
you. Mal is the one who did all the work, and he will head security. My son
will drink and tell jokes and hopefully not lose his way and fall into some
random woman’s vagina.”
Oliver’s face turned petulant. An armor of his own. “Well,
I’m not allowed to do that anymore. I love Vivian. You should know that I
intend to ask her to marry me. One day. In the future. When we’re old.”
He managed to not roll his eyes, but there was another
needle in his skin. She was so young. He was older. He wasn’t sure how he would
handle it if she wanted children. It wasn’t that he didn’t like children. He
always wanted them, but after what Andrea had done…
“Yes, well, this one is a partner’s daughter and far too
good for you.” Damon stood and looked at the assistant, who was quietly standing
in the background. He was a middle-aged man in a perfectly pressed suit. “I
suspect you don’t want to handle the contracts on your own.”
Edward waved a hand. “Giles can handle it. I would rather
meet the new bodyguards. I don’t suppose you have a pretty female guard?
Obviously I need a new one since the last one is gone.”
“It’s not a catalogue, Mr. Kirkallan.
You don’t pick based on sexual attraction. Your guard is named Robert,” Damon
said with pure authority. “Tatiana’s is named Kara. She’s been with the company
for a few years. There are also backups if you need more than ten hours a day.
They’re going to check your home security systems as well. Mal will coordinate,
and Oliver will drink too much. My daughter, Samantha, will run the
surveillance team. I’ll work out the details with the adult in the room.”
Oliver sighed as his father strode out with Giles. He stood
and walked to the bar on the other side of the room, pouring himself a few
fingers of the amber liquid he found there. “My father isn’t any fun, but he
does know his whiskey.”
“I could use one.” Tatiana’s voice sounded hollow.
This was a good time for Mal to make his exit and send in
the person who might be able to figure out what was going on with her. He
stood. “I should go with Damon. Shall I send Vivian in?”
He didn’t want to offer because he knew it meant she would
fawn all over Oliver, playing her part. But this was about the mission, not his
jealousy.
“I think she’s working,” Oliver said negligently, pouring
more drinks. “That’s my girl. She’s always working. Always watching. Don’t
bother her. She’s got her hands full. I think she’s got a session with the
little Russian today.”
So he was letting her off the hook because she was
definitely watching and she had Sosa with her. Oliver was going to try to get
them talking. Hopefully the whiskey would help.
Mal nodded and moved toward the hallway that would take him
to Lucy’s office, where they would be watching a video feed. He was almost
there when Penny walked up.
“Malcolm, there’s a woman here,” she said with a grave
expression. She held her laptop against her chest. “She says she’s your wife.”
For a moment the words didn’t have meaning. They were noise.
They were a wormhole that took him back to humiliation and pain.
And then he realized what was happening. Andrea was here,
and he was going to lose everything again.
* * * *
“Where is Sosa?” Vivian asked as she entered Lucy’s
office.
There was a large monitor hooked up to Lucy’s laptop, and it
showed what was going on in Damon’s office. It seemed like they were finally
getting down to business.
“Ariel’s looking for her. You know she’s terrible with time.
She’s probably reading somewhere.” Lucy’s face was lit by the monitor’s glow.
She turned her head slightly and grinned. “You need to watch the feedback
later. I got a great shot of Mal looking like he’s about to take off Oliver’s
head.”
“I thought him kissing my cheek was a bit much, but I
couldn’t stop him and remind him I have a boyfriend,” Vivian replied. “Not when
Oliver is my fake boyfriend.”
“I think the term boyfriend is too minimal to use
on that man,” a familiar voice said.
Lucy nodded. “I forgot to tell you. Your mom’s here.
Apparently your dad’s going to live.”
Damn it. She’d been hoping to avoid her parents as long as
she could. She’d managed it the night before because they’d been working, and
then she’d been happily ensconced in Mal’s utilitarian flat. She’d taken care
of his bumps and bruises and babied him, and then he’d fucked her hard and
wrapped himself around her and she slept so well.
And now her mom was here. “I wish you would be nicer to
him.”
Her mother’s brow rose. “Nicer? I’ve barely talked to him. I
think you should direct your rage at your father.”
It was time to start dealing with her overly protective
parents. She wasn’t going to ignore it. She was serious about Mal, and they
should understand that. “You just told me he’s too old.”
Her mom sighed. “I did not. Believe me, I’ve had my ass
handed to me by Charlotte. I was wrong. What I said wasn’t about his age. He’s
not a boy. He’s not like the others you’ve dated. I read his file. He’s a
serious man, and he’s seen some real heartache. I only want to make sure you
know what you’re getting into.”
“Oh, I think you’re the one who should have thought about
that.” Lucy had licorice in her mouth, her gaze moving between the monitor,
where it looked like they were finally settling in, and to the place where
Vivian was about to take down her mom.
She loved her mom. Loved her so much. But she was wrong.
“You really want to go down this path again? How much time did you take from
Cooper and Kala because you thought she was too damaged?”
Her mother’s jaw tightened. “I didn’t say that. I never said
that. Your brother misunderstood me. I was worried about her.”
“And how did she take it?” When her mother didn’t reply,
Vivian moved on. “She heard you say she was too damaged to love. If Malcolm
hears you say that, we will have problems. Am I clear?”
A tear fell from her mother’s eyes. “As crystal. I didn’t
mean it that way. I admire the man I read about in that file. And I trust you,
Vivi.”
She didn’t like the tension between them. It hurt that she’d
laid down that boundary with her mom. They’d never had them before. “I
understand why you would question my relationships. I’ve had some bad ones. Not
like you and Dad.”
“I dated before your dad. He dated before me. Most of it was
terrible,” her mom said. “None of it was right. But I know how you can make all
the right moves and things still come between you. We loved each other and we
still divorced. I don’t suppose being the same age helped us with that. You’re
our baby girl, and before a few days ago we didn’t know this massive hunk of a
man existed. And he’s British. The truth is we hoped you’d end up coming home.
I think that’s affecting us. I would like to get to know your Mal.”
She could always count on her mom to be reasonable. “You
have to make sure Dad doesn’t pretend he can’t see.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that. I think he wishes he
couldn’t,” her mom replied.
“Your ass looked great,” Lucy offered.
“Not helpful,” her mother said with a sigh. “But I do have
to admit I’ve had some fun in limos.”
“Why don’t you tell us about that?” Lucy looked eager.
Vivian would like to avoid those stories. “Aren’t we
supposed to be working?”
Her mother’s lips kicked up. “So you can dish it out but you
can’t take it, can you, baby girl?”
“Coop and Hunter and I agreed that you only had sex three
times. Even though they are adopted, they think you did it as a way of honoring
them. But only three times,” she said with a smile, remembering how she and her
brothers had tried to figure out what was happening in their parents’ room one
night when she was small. Cooper had tried to tell her they were exercising.
Hunter had bought it and talked about it over breakfast the next day, and she’d
never seen her parents turn so pink before.
Her mom smiled. “Only three times.” She leaned over and
kissed her forehead. “I love you, baby. I’m sure I’ll love Mal, too, and I will
handle your father. I’m glad you’re happy, and I do not want you to hesitate to
talk to me. I’m all in now. I’m team Val all the way.”
“Nah, we’re calling them Mivi,”
Lucy corrected. “More fun that way.”
She frowned at Lucy. “You just wait until you fall in love.
I will come up with the worst couple name ever.”
“I’m in love with the earth and my job,” she replied. “No
male needed.”
Ariel walked in looking exasperated. “I can’t find Sosa.
I’ve checked all her regular haunts. I’m worried she’s gotten out of the
building.”
“I don’t think she would sneak out,” Vivian said, watching
the monitor.
“I do not sneak.” Sosa was in the doorway. She had a book in