Chapter 39
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
KENSINGTON, TEXAS
Sexy #redemption club owner, Marco Houde, wife, Lynne, and daughter, Danica, were spotted in Collyer, Connecticut at the annual Fall Festival. They made an immediate beeline for the Amaryllis Bakery booth.
Then again, who wouldn’t?
—Sexy and Social, All the Scandal You Can Handle
“So, are you two certain we’re going to get through tonight?” I cringe. I was supposed to meet my family for dinner and hearing the disappointment in my brother’s voice when I called to say I couldn’t make it almost caused me to change my mind. Almost. Instead, I’m glaring down at my two associates, who are looking at me with something akin to consternation.
“We’ve practiced all week, Ethan,” Sam reminds me.
“It has to be three separate IPs engaging the line simultaneously—one phone, one unlocking the VoIP connection, one computer pulling down the data,” Leanne states flatly. “And Thorn…”
“Can’t.” We all know the reasons why Thorn can’t. If his IP is ever traced in any way back to a phone sex hotline, his career—the career that saved all of us—will be tanked. A gust of air releases from my lungs. “When do we start?”
Sam looks at his watch. “Thirty minutes. I’m going to go spend some time with my wife before we get down and dirty.” He disconnected immediately after saying that leaving me and Leanne alone on the line.
She studies me quietly. “You’ve gone above and beyond, Ethan.”
“Whatever,” I brush off her praise.
“No. This needs to be said.” She inhales sharply. “I appreciate how much deep cover you’re doing. I know you’re in a committed relationship.”
I wince as guilt floods each and every one of my veins when thoughts of Fallon come to mind.
“Yeah,” Leanne leans forward. “That’s why I’m thanking you.”
“Lives are at stake.”
She hums her agreement. “Mine and my unborn child.”
I meet her gaze head on. “Not to mention the unknown number of people whose lives you save with your wizardry. So, no, Leanne, I’m not doing this just for you. I’m doing this for them. That’s how I’m getting through.”
She pauses before asking me, “Has this affected your relationship?”
I bark out a laugh. “With Fallon?”
“Is that her…wait, what? Fallon?” Leanne is incredulous.
“You say her name as if you know her.”
“If it’s the same woman, I met her at a party at Redemption.”
I snort. “If it was at Redemption, that’s highly likely.”
An unfettered smile breaks across her face. “I liked her. We talked for a while after someone was blowing up her phone.”
My head tilts as I study her face. “Why were you there?”
“I was invited for Kensington’s birthday.”
A short laugh escapes. “Then you’re right on all accounts.”
“Those being?”
“That’s my Fallon and yes, I was the one blowing up her phone.” Leaning back in my desk chair, I admit, “I’d said some pretty shitty things to her after she asked why I wasn’t there.”
Leanne tsks. “Finished groveling yet?”
I sputter. “It’s been years. She can’t still hold that against me.”
She calls out something to someone off screen. The next thing I know, I hear a quick agreement and a door slam. Leanne’s smile is strained before she confides, “I wanted some privacy, so I just begged for some lasagna. Since my husband can’t cook, that means he’s heading to Daniela Trattoria to get it for me. We have a little bit of time.”
I wait for Leanne to gather herself before she begins to tell me how she and her husband got together. It’s a story of subterfuge and vengeance that spanned a year and left both of them buried beneath emotional baggage. “He knew what I was doing and why, Ethan. But when push came to shove, his past got in our way. I don’t want to see this set you down the very tumultuous path I went down.”
“It won’t happen. Fallon trusts me,” I declare confidently.
“She knows what you do? What you really do? What you’re doing now ?”
I hesitate for a second too long and Leanne jumps all over it. “You can’t hold back any piece of your heart if you want her to trust you with hers.”
Long after Leanne hangs up, her words play over and over in my head. Leanne’s right. I know I love Fallon because over the last five years, she’s become one of my closest friends as well as the missing piece to my soul. But since we’ve become lovers, our conversations have taken a turn.
Fallon and I need to talk about more than sex.
And soon.
She needs to know how I feel about her and I need to know where her heart is at.