He’d known this wouldn’t be an easy conference, but they were testing his limits. “I’m pretty sure they’re all freaking dead, Tag. So unless you have a medium hanging around the office, you’re going to have to do some actual investigative work.”
The third person in the conference room leaned over toward Taggart, his voice going low. “He’s in a bad mood. Do you think it’s jet lag, now? Because I’m thinking his purity is finally taking a toll on him. You said his brother was a priest, but Beck’s the one who’s been living like a monk.”
The Americans weren’t the only ones well acquainted with the art of sarcasm. Liam O’Donnell’s Irish accent had softened a bit over the years, but he could lay it on thick when he wanted to.
When he’d gotten Kim to agree to his devil’s bargain, he’d expected the sex to come hot and heavy. Hell, he’d thought he’d be able to revisit the mile-high club with her. What he hadn’t counted on was how many damn people had been on the plane and how tired she’d been. He’d spent the majority of the ridiculously long flight watching her and Roman sleep. Then he’d had jet lag and he’d slept.
He didn’t want to live like a monk anymore. He wanted to sin and hard.
The object of his affection took that moment to walk in front of the conference room. Through the glass, he could see that she wore a simple pair of slacks and a chic silk blouse, and those sky-high heels she seemed to have been born to wear. Her long blonde hair was down, and she tucked a wave behind her ear, revealing a half smile she was giving the other woman she walked with. Charlotte was showing her around the office.
Then he saw his brother walking behind the two women. He hadn’t seen Ezra since they’d landed in Dallas and Tag had whisked him away to a secret site where Levi hopefully wouldn’t figure out he was alive.
He watched as Ezra walked by with Kim and Roman and Charlotte for their tour of the office. Roman was on Ezra’s back, treating his uncle like the free ride he was.
Then Roman looked Beck’s way and a big grin came over his face and he waved like this was the greatest adventure in the world.
He waved to his son as Ezra started toward the back of the office, following after Kim.
“And then vampires attacked and took back the world from the evil werebunnies,” Tag was saying.
“What?” Beck forced himself to focus.
Tag’s eyes rolled. “I was repeating the end of the bedtime story I heard Kala telling her youngest brother. She’s not a good babysitter. But she is cheap.”
“Only until you get the therapy bill for Seth and Travis.” Li sat back with a frown.
Tag waved that off. “The boys don’t need therapy. They’re going to shoot things and then they’ll feel better. That’s manly therapy.”
Tag was such a fucking liar since Beck happened to know a whole lot of men who’d gotten the help they needed because Tag eased them into therapy. He’d literally funded Kai Ferguson’s practice for years. “Sure. I’ll get them both BB guns for their next birthday.”
Tag actually paled. “I was joking. Dear god. Don’t arm my children. They’re too good at it themselves. I keep the gun locker double locked because once Kala started…” Tag winced. “Once she started with the hormones and stuff, my house got way more dangerous.”
Li chuckled. “Ah, sweet, sweet karma. Tag’s girls got their periods and Kenzie uses it like a baseball bat. If she wants to get out of anything, she announces she’s got her period and Tag goes and hides. It’s funny. Daisy is never doing that, by the way.”
Alex rolled his eyes. “Sure. You stay in that sweet delusion, my friend. But he’s right about Kenz. Does she have to announce that? It’s disturbing.”
“It’s nothing compared to what Kala can do,” Tag said with a shudder. “What were we talking about?”
He was really happy Roman had a penis.
“I believe you were pointing out that Beck’s distracted,” Alex explained. “Not that you shouldn’t be. When Tag’s wife came back from the dead he was all sorts of distracted.”
Tag snorted. “Was not. I was focused and clear because I never really thought she was dead. Deep down I knew she was alive.”
The door had come open and Charlotte and Eve McKay were standing in the doorway. Charlotte frowned at her husband. “Oh, really? You want to explain all those subs then?”
“I completely believed she was dead and lost to me forever, and I indulged myself in meaningless sex to cover up the fact that my heart was broken utterly,” Tag said with absolutely no sarcasm.
Eve simply shook her head and took the seat next to Alex.
Charlotte’s eyes rolled but she leaned over and kissed her husband. Her voice went low, but not so low he couldn’t hear her. “Obnoxious man. And according to Solo, Beck’s a saint compared to you.”
“Well, we all know that,” Tag said with a grin.
So Kim had been talking. It was one of those things he used to get mad about. Anything about their private life should have been private. Except Kim needed a friend to talk to. She so often in her life had no one. She’d been isolated and it had cost her. It had been one of the things that had gone wrong the first time around. He hadn’t realized he needed someone to talk to so he’d put all of his emotional needs on her. Since he didn’t need anyone else, she shouldn’t have needed anyone else. The trouble had been he was shitty at handling her emotional needs.
He looked to Charlotte as she took a seat across from Tag. “Thank you for showing her around. I appreciate it. And I also appreciate everything you’ve done
