“Good employees are hard to find, hang on to that one. If Virgil doesn’t get outrageously jealous.”
Maisie’s smile softened at the mention of my brother’s name. “He’s already outrageously jealous that a hot young man jumps to do my bidding. I told him he has nothing to worry about unless he continues to question me.” Her serious expression morphed into a laugh that sent us both into a fit of giggles.
“You’re a bigger badass,” I said, reaching for a slice. “Virgil can be intimidating when he wants to be.” He’d been doing it since we were kids and after all the shit went down with those priests, he’d stepped it up a notch. Or twenty.
“So can I,” she said after swallowing a mouthful. “Besides, I know something he doesn’t. Jared aspires to learn everything he can from me and then move on to become me. So his interest is about pleasing me, professionally. And then he leaves. Don’t tell Virgil.”
I mimicked locking my lips and then unlocked it to shove a slice of pepperoni deep dish inside. “Your secret is safe with me,” I assured her with a tomato-y grin.
Another bark of laughter escaped, and Maisie shook her head. “You really do need some more women in your life Kat, you’re an animal.”
“Thank you,” I growled and took another, bigger bite. We fell into a short silence while Maisie ate her pizza like a lady, and I scarfed mine like a teenage boy. But girl talk wasn’t the only reason I scheduled this lunch with my soon-to-be sister. “I heard Trevor Stone just checked in.”
Maisie froze, Italian beef sandwich about a breath away from her mouth, blue eyes wide with shock. “Travis Stone? The rich techy dude who creates the spy software?”
I nodded. “That’s the one.”
She laughed and shook her head, and then she laughed some more. It was almost insulting. “You are totally barking up the wrong tree, girl, but if you need to find out for yourself, I’ll introduce you.”
“You will?” I let Maisie think I wanted to hook up with the handsome techie because it would make both of our lives a little simpler for just a little bit longer.
“Of course I will. He’s great. Funny and nice. Smart as hell too.”
I had to stifle the urge to roll my eyes at her matchmaking attempt. Instead, I smiled.
“Well you can’t blame a girl for trying, especially when even her loser brothers are falling…like flies.”
“You mean falling in love,” she corrected with a smile.
“Yeah, yeah,” I said and waved off her words, swallowing a bite around the lump of guilt at lying to my friend. It was a necessary evil. Since Maisie was already in the dark about the fight fixing because Ma didn’t want her to know, one more little lie wasn’t so bad. Right? Like they say, the second lie comes easier than the first. “You’re so in love you haven’t even set a wedding date yet.”
“Not you too, Kat. Sadie drops the most heavy-handed hints. She’s worse than Peaches who keeps sending me color schemes and centerpieces.” Maisie wiped her mouth and sat back, suddenly looking exhausted as hell. “Virgil and I are so damn busy that I’m tempted to just run down to the courthouse to get it over with. But I don’t. I know both moms would have the biggest shit fit the world has ever seen.”
“You’re not wrong about that. Luckily, there are these people called wedding planners who will do just about everything for you. All you have to do is pick what you want.”
It was the biggest perk of having money; you could always throw cash at people to take care of the tasks you didn’t want to or didn’t have time to deal with. “Just an idea.”
“Isn’t that a little too high class for a girl who grew up on a ranch in Texas?” she asked demurely.
“Maybe. If you were still that girl. You now work with the obscenely rich, the famous, and even the infamous, Maze. You are that kind of people. Get used to it. Besides, I’d hardly call that sprawling ranch and the other holdings, a farm.”
“You know what I mean,” she said just as her phone buzzed on the table. “Duty calls. If you come now, I’ll introduce you to Travis.”
At those words, I was on my feet, not concerned at all that from Maisie’s point of view I looked a little thirsty for male companionship. I let her believe it because it served my purpose, but the moment the intro was made, we both dropped the act.
Travis raised an eyebrow and said, “You don’t know much about me, do you Ms. Ashby?”
“Call me Kat. I know you create a suite of surveillance apps and that the media calls you the Spy King.”
Travis smiled and motioned for me to take a seat in the living room of his penthouse suite. “You an investor or looking to catch a cheating boyfriend?”
“Is investing still an option?” I shook my head and held a hand out. “Wait, no. Not at the moment, but I’m definitely interested in that.”
“But not me, right?” He looked amused as he waited for me to answer.
“You’re gorgeous as fuck, but that’s not why I’m here.” I explained in as vague terms as I could my purpose in meeting him. More to the point, what I wanted from him.
“I need to find out if some people are who they say they are, and I need to dig into them in a way that can’t be traced. Period.”
Travis sat up on the edge of his seat, elbows resting on his knees with a wide, charming smile. “Well now I’m bummed neither of us are interested, Kat. But yes, I can help. How long do you have?”
“As long as you can spare to explain it all. I’ll even throw in extra ringside seats for the fight, to say thank you.”
“Even better.”
