Chapter Fifteen

Carys allowed Aidan to lead her into the lush bar at the back of the hotel. This wasn’t the lobby bar. The hotel boasted a small, Paris-in-the-twenties themed speakeasy-style bar. Naturally when her cousin went for a drink, she’d passed by the elegant bar in front for this obvious den of iniquity. Kala sat at the bar, looking perfectly at home in the low light.

She wasn’t alone, but the two people with her did look a bit out of place.

Tasha was in yoga pants and a sweatshirt, like she’d tossed something on before coming here. Same for Zach, who was in gym pants and a T-shirt.

“What are they doing here?” Aidan asked.

“Probably trying to figure out how to fix the glasses.” She winced. “I supposed Uncle Ian’s going to be upset we cut off communications so we could have sex.”

“We cut off communications so we could have a fight not everyone would express an opinion about,” Aidan corrected. “We ignored our cell phones because we were having sex. And honestly, I’m leaving this whole part to Tris, who is likely getting yelled at right now. Tash coming out was unnecessary. Are you sure you don’t want me to stay with you?”

When she’d walked out of the shower, she’d known she couldn’t simply slip back into bed. She was antsy, despite the orgasms. Or maybe because of them. The intimacy, really. Being with them reminded her of everything she’d ever wanted out of life. But she had questions, questions she wasn’t sure Tris could answer. Or rather she wasn’t sure she would believe him. Kala was a different story. Her cousin would be brutally honest with her.

“Hey.” Tash turned and walked over. “I need to talk to Tris. And apparently Kala didn’t mention that you can’t not answer your damn cell phones. This is not a vacation. I apologize for using the glasses the way my sisters and dad did, but Adam can’t simply cut off communications when Tristan wants him to.”

Aidan held a hand up. “That was me. And I heard about the cells. We’ll be more careful about it. I’ll take you up to Tris. Carys wanted to talk to Kala.”

“A drink would be nice, too,” she admitted. “Tris insisted someone walk me down, and then he figured out he had forty messages on his cell, so Aidan it was. He said I would be okay as long as I was with Ka…Kara.”

Zach frowned, crossing his muscular arms over his chest. He looked like he’d been impersonating her Uncle Ian and had gotten good at it. “Whatever Adam did screwed up the connection between here and the safe house. I have to take them back to Lou.”

“I’ve got them in my bag. Let’s go upstairs and talk to Tris, then we can get back to base,” Tash said and glared her sister’s way. “Don’t let her out of your sight again.”

Kala gave her a salute that managed to drip sarcasm and then tipped back her glass. “Come on, Carys. You want a drink. Pierre and I were starting a lovely friendship when Tash came in. She’s got the righteous indignation thing down. Told you I’d get in trouble if I let your threesome love be a private thing.”

Carys slid onto the barstool beside her. The bartender was on a landline at the back of the bar, but he quickly hung up and started filling an order.

Aidan gave her a wave before walking off with Tash and Zach.

“So I take it things went real south.” Kala pushed her empty glass slightly away and sighed. “I was kind of hoping that fight would end in some nasty, soul-fulfilling sex. Guess I was wrong. The world sucks.”

“Of course it ended in sex.” Carys kept her voice low, though there were only a few men sitting in the back of the bar at this late hour. “And it was…everything. But it’s still right there between us. I need to understand why he did what he did, and I think you might be able to tell me.”

The bartender moved their way. He was an older man with thinning gray hair and dark eyes. He smiled as he slid a cocktail napkin in front of Carys. “Tu as un ami?”

Kala didn’t hesitate to reply. “C’est plut?t une famille. Je pense que nous allons faire une autre tournée. Elle aura ce que j’ai.”

Pierre nodded. “Certainement. Donnez-moi un instant. J’ai besoin d’une autre bouteille.”

Sometimes she forgot how smart her cousins were. It was easy to chalk them up to simply being weapons the Agency pointed and shot, easy to put them against Lou and not see their brilliant minds. Kala had spoken Russian earlier, and now she’d apparently been conversing in French with the bartender. “I took four years of Spanish, and I can barely order a beer.”

Kala sat back as Pierre disappeared behind the bar. “Well, I just ordered another round of vodka tonics. Don’t worry. Though it hurts my soul, I asked him to go easy on the vodka since I’m working. And all he has is French vodka. What the hell kind of place is this?”

“A very French place.” She didn’t mention to her vodka-loving cousin that she deeply preferred grape-based vodka to potato. It would potentially start a war. “And thanks. I love a vodka tonic.”

“I know.” Kala turned in her seat. “I might need twenty of them since I have to explain this to you again. He thought he was protecting you. He was dumb about it, but that’s kind of how guys go.”

Carys shook her head. “It’s not about the Agency stuff. It’s about The Court. With Tris gone, going to the club was more of a social thing for me and Aidan. We went and talked to our friends and spent time in privacy rooms. I didn’t feel some deep need to find another Dom.”

Kala shook her head. “But you did need him. You needed his dominance.”

“I didn’t think about it at the time. Maybe I was too upset to really think about what was missing. I don’t know. I want to understand why he needed to top someone else.”

Kala’s eyes closed, and when she opened them there was sympathy on her face. “I can only tell you why I have to. Believe me there are days I wish I wasn’t wired like this.”

She’d come down because she’d thought Kala might be able to explain this in academic terms. She’d never thought her cousin would open up this way. She was almost afraid to ask questions because it might scare her off, but she had one she couldn’t ignore. “Because Cooper’s a top, too?”

“There are many reasons, but I suppose that’s one of them.” Kala’s eyes were dark in the low light. She’d put in colored contacts before they’d left for the hotel, and it made her look even more grim than usual. “I’m not sure I got to choose.”

“What does that mean?”

She seemed to think about whether she wanted to continue. Pierre came back carrying an elegant bottle. He used a corkscrew to cut through the wrapper and then came the pop from uncorking, proving the vodka not only wasn’t Russian but was high-end stuff.

“It means I had something happen to me,” Kala said quietly. “It happened when I was dumb enough to get kidnapped so your brother would walk into his stalker’s trap. I don’t talk about it so you’re not getting the story, and if you say anything…”

“I wouldn’t. Ever. I would never tell your secrets, cousin, but I worry if you don’t ever talk, they’ll take you down.” She’d been aware Kyle had been in trouble once years before. They’d all gone into lockdown, and Kala hadn’t been there. But she’d been assured her cousin came through it all fine. “You don’t have to tell me anything. I’m sorry I asked.”

Kala was oddly fragile at times. Now Carys had an idea why, and it broke her heart.

“Don’t be.” Kala seemed to shake it off. She smiled Pierre’s way when he slid the drink in front of her and then Carys. “Merci, mon ami.”

Pierre inclined his head and then moved back down the bar, picking up his cell phone.

“Test it first.” Kala slid a thin test strip into Carys’s drink. It came back clean. “Every time someone hands you a drink, you test it. Unless you pour it yourself and you opened the bottle, you test.”

Carys nodded. Kala tested her own drink and seemed satisfied with the results.

“I will.” They were going into Huisman’s world tomorrow.

Kala slipped the test strips back into her bag and held up her glass. “Za tva-jó zda-ró-vye.”

She knew this one since she’d spent many days with her Aunt Charlotte. She clinked glasses with her cousin. “To your health.”

Kala took a long drink and set it back down. “All right. You want to know if there’s anything sexual about Tris playing at The Court. Probably.”

Carys took an even longer drink because that wasn’t the answer she’d been looking for.

“But not the way your jealous mind is thinking,” her cousin continued. “Tris has had a connection to you and Aidan all of his life. He was pretty much the Dom right from the beginning. In the way most Doms in our lives are Doms. He didn’t make all the decisions, but when it was something important, he took control. Did he initiate sex the first time?”

“He planned it all out. He made it special,” she admitted. “I think Aidan would have just done it and been happy, but Tris plotted and turned it into something magical. Then he found all the weaknesses in my dad’s security system and started visiting me after hours.”

They’d all been insatiable. It had been damn lucky her parent’s bedroom was on the first floor and opposite hers. She’d had to bribe the hell out of her younger brother and then cover for him when his horny ass discovered sex.

“Hey, didn’t we all. I used to spend Saturday nights at Coop’s.” She stopped and chuckled. “I would have totally gotten away with it too if it hadn’t been for those meddling kidnappers.”

Her cousin used humor to cover her pain. Carys had always known it, but now she wondered how deep the pain went. “Does Coop know?”

Kala’s head shook. “I stopped talking to that asshole the night it all went down. We eventually became friends again, but none of this matters. What does matter is how Tris is wired. A lot of his identity is tied up in being a Dom. He was raised around the lifestyle. It makes sense to him.”

“But his partners weren’t there.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Kala countered. “Being in the club, even topping subs, made him feel closer to you. Because it made him feel more like the him he was when he was with you. I can’t be certain this is exactly the way he feels, but I would bet it’s close. When I put on my fet wear, I tap into a part of me I like. A part of me that’s not afraid of anything. A part of me that’s still capable of maybe one day forming a connection with someone. Or repairing a connection with someone. A part of me that still trusts.”

Her heart ached for her cousin. Would it ache for herself if she couldn’t figure this out? “It feels like cheating.”

“But to him it felt like reaching out across space and touching some part of you.” Kala’s voice went wistful. “When he was disciplining a submissive, he was fulfilling the role he always had in your life. He was using it as a touchstone. Not something that showed him all the possibilities he could have, but rather it showed him what he loved. Like a memory. Sometimes those can fuel us when everything else seems lost.”

Tears pierced her eyes. Had Tristan been trying to keep a door open when she’d thought he’d locked it? The idea made her want to melt and yet… “It doesn’t make it right. He shut me out. He could have had the real thing.”

Kala knocked back the rest of her drink. “He did. I understand that, too. He did some shitty things to get this job done. He says it was to protect you, but some of it was about protecting him. How would his sainted doctor girlfriend feel when she saw how much blood was on his hands? Carys, it’s probably time for you to call it. You know there’s a point of no return in any attempted resuscitation. Not much you can do if the doc working on the patient shrugs and walks away.” Kala looked down at her watch. “Time of death. 11:10 p.m.”

Tears gone. She was back to anger. Maybe it had been a stupid idea to think Kala could take this seriously. “What is that supposed to mean? And don’t tell me I didn’t fight. I’m sick of hearing that. I asked him to come home. He said no.”

“Preach, sister.” Kala slapped at the bar. “He said no. Leave his ass. He’s not worth it. He said no. He’s stubborn. He doesn’t deserve you and you can totally do better. While you’re at it, Aidan’s a prick, too. I mean he hid shit. You need one-hundred-percent honesty or the relationship is over. Don’t worry about it. Mom will set you up with some accountant dude who will never, ever put his relationship on hold to try to save the world.” She chuckled. “Not that Tris did a great job. He kind of sucked at it.”

“You are such a bitch.” Carys stared at her cousin.

Kala seemed to sober and fiddled with her glass, rattling the ice around. “So I’ve heard. Look, Car, you’ve come to the wrong person if you want me to give you advice. You either love him and can forgive him, or you love him and you’ll feel his loss for the rest of your fucking life. Personally, I went for door number two, and I spend my nights drinking and I only feel like the me I could have been when I’m in the club and he’s at my side. I’m in a box. You want to climb in with me or do you want to realize it’s not worth tossing out years of love and devotion because he faltered? It’s not bad, you know. The box. We have vodka and cookies and the deep sense of satisfaction that you never dragged him down with you. I can scoot over and you can sit here with me. You can let me drag you down instead. Always knew I would.”

Her cousin’s words were rumbling inside her, but she shoved aside the way they made her feel—antsy and angry with a big spoonful of doubt—because something was wrong. Kala wasn’t sitting up straight anymore. There was a hazy look to her normally predatory stare. “How much have you had to drink?”

Kala shook her head. “That was my third, but like I said there’s not much vodka in it. It’s mostly tonic. Fuck. It’s drugged. Car…run.”

“Miss Taggart,” a deep voice said. Carys started to slide off the barstool but found herself dragged off by a tall man dressed in all black. He loomed over her, staring down with a nasty smirk on his scarred face. “I’m afraid my boss would like a word. Not with you, of course. You’re nothing but a pretty pawn. My boss wants to have a word with a man who we hope cares enough about you to not want you hurt.”

Another man moved around them, easily hefting Kala’s unconscious body over his shoulder.

Panic threatened to overtake Carys. Was Kala dead? What the hell was happening? Calm. She needed calm. What was she supposed to do? Kala had gone over all of it, and it fled her damn brain now. Tris was here. Zach and Tash were here. They probably already saw something on the CCTVs.

They were supposed to be safe here.

She tried to kick back, but he was an unmoving mountain behind her.

“She didn’t drink as much as the other,” Pierre said in heavily accented English, holding up a hypodermic needle. “You’ll need this.”

“Help,” Carys shouted out. There were other people in the bar. Or had it been these men? Had this whole thing been a setup? Except they couldn’t have known she would be down in the bar. Her brain was moving a thousand miles a minute, trying to process what the hell was happening. They’d done everything right, down to testing the damn drinks.

A hand snaked around her throat. “Won’t help you. No one will help you here. Now the boss is ready to start a fire. Let’s see if you get burned.”

Something sharp sank into her arm, and the world immediately went hazy.

And clear all at the same time. She loved them. She was going to die and all she wanted was one more moment with them. The past? Didn’t matter. The lies? She could forgive them.

All that mattered was loving them.

It was her last thought as the world went dark.

* * * *

Aidan didn’t want to leave Carys behind, but he couldn’t think of a reason not to. Kala was with her. He stepped onto the elevator, following Tasha and Zach. He hit the button for their floor and caught sight of the camera in the corner. “Is someone watching us? Like from our team?”

Tash stared straight forward. “Of course. Lou took over the CCTV cameras before you checked in. I’m more worried about tomorrow. I don’t think Huisman will have cameras all over his property. I wish we could have gotten someone on the catering staff.”

“We talked this through.” Zach’s tone was calm as though they’d already been over this a couple of times. “There are going to be sixty doctors walking around the compound at any given time. Aidan’s going to stick to the public places. He’ll be fine. The last thing Huisman wants is a scandal at his premiere event.”

“Unless Ben Parker is right and Huisman’s insane,” Tash said under her breath.

“What does your instinct say, Tash? You’ve met the man.” Tris hadn’t, but Ian and Tash had talked to him.

Tasha’s head shook. “My instincts tell me he’s kind and intelligent. But there’s something deeper that tells me I’m seeing what he wants me to see. After what happened with TJ, I think we have to consider what Ben has to say. I know Kenz is pissed at him, but I think he was desperate. I’ve thought a lot about it. What would you do if you knew there was a bomb waiting to go off but no one would listen to you? Ben might have been playing Cassandra for years now. He didn’t mean to hurt Lou, but he felt he had no other choice.”

Cassandra. He knew that one. He was never going to admit he only knew the story because of the Taylor Swift song. He hadn’t paid a lot of attention to Greek mythology, though he could see where Parker might sympathize with a woman who foresaw the fall of a whole civilization and no one would listen to her.

The doors to the elevator opened, and Aidan led the way. He kind of wanted those glasses now. He wanted to be able to watch over her. Despite what everyone told him, there was an anxious place in the pit of his gut. He took his key card out and led them into the suite.

Thirty minutes before he’d felt safe and secure. Tash and Zach showing up reminded him how fast things could change.

How had Tristan lived like this for so long?

“Yes, I do understand,” Tris was saying. “Uncle, you don’t have to tell me how stupid I am. I know. I’ll take a look at the glasses from this end.” He sighed. “I won’t know what could have happened until I look at them. If it’s not a software issue, then I need to actually have them in my hands to check them.”

So Tris was having a fun night, too.

He would be so fucking happy when they were done with this and they could be together without the threat of a mission over their heads. When he didn’t have to walk his fiancée around because she shouldn’t be without an escort.

“They’re here.” Tris nodded to Tash and Zach. “Yes, I will work on getting my head out of my ass. Aidan can certainly help. It’s why I picked him.”

Aidan snorted. Sometimes the only way to deal with an angry Uncle Ian was to concede everything.

Tris hung up and slid his cell in his pocket. “Tash, sorry. I have been properly yelled at, and I’m apparently looking forward to some serious torture, including being keelhauled. Your father promises he’ll buy a bigger boat just for the occasion.”

Tash snorted and sank down to the sofa. “Dad thinks he needs a new boat. He’s looking for an excuse Mom will buy.”

“But it was stupid to leave your phone where you wouldn’t hear it ring.” Zach stayed standing, arms crossed over his chest. “I get it, man. You’re dealing with some personal stuff, but we’re also in the middle of a mission. I know it seems easy…”

“Nothing’s ever easy,” Tris interrupted. “I know it. All right. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again. And please tell Big Tag not to be too hard on Kala. We needed the privacy. We were fine. She was still in the hotel. Now she’s with Carys, doing her job. So what do you have for me?”

Aidan was interested, too. When Tristan took a seat on the couch across from Tasha, he sat down beside him. “Did Phoebe find something? I heard Parker giving Adam permission to send what his agency had on Huisman’s recent financials.”

Tasha’s head shook. “Nothing yet. It’s late, though, so I would bet we won’t hear from Phoebe until tomorrow. No, I wanted you to be aware of something weird we found. We managed to get the schedule for the symposium.”

“Weird?” Aidan asked. “It should be a series of meetings. A couple of speakers. Meals. I know he schedules what he calls ‘free thinking’ time, which is basically where everyone sits around and exchanges ideas.”

“The schedule isn’t the problem.” Zach paced behind Tasha. “Included with the schedule is a list of the attendees. When did you say you got the invitation, Aidan?”

“Two months ago. I received the invitation to apply for the symposium six weeks before that,” he replied. “So my initial contact with the foundation was roughly three and a half months ago.”

Tasha looked back at Zach. “So before Australia.”

Before they’d met Huisman himself. “That’s good, right? If Huisman hadn’t even met you, then it does feel like the timing backs up the idea this was all a coincidence.”

Tris had gone tense beside him. “Unless all of this was a plan and we’re playing catch-up.”

“We can’t know,” Aidan said.

“Aidan’s name is not on the list.” Zach frowned, a grim expression. “There are sixty-two registered attendees, but no Dr. Aidan O’Donnell. Did you have to send in anything like a bio?”

“Of course.” It kind of hurt, but he could come up with a couple of reasons he would be left off. “I sent in everything they asked for, including a bio and professional photo. I would bet it’s because I’m the only resident in the group. Everyone else is either a fellow or an attending. I can see where he wouldn’t give a resident the same page space. I’m literally years behind most of these guys. Or it could be a mistake. I can’t imagine another reason they would leave me off.”

“Plausible deniability,” Tasha replied.

Tristan took a long breath. “You think he wants to be able to pretend Aidan wasn’t there at all?”

“I don’t know,” Tasha admitted. “If that’s his plan, then this is more dangerous than we previously thought, and it’s time to get Aidan and Carys to a safe house. I’m worried Huisman will make his move the minute they enter the compound. Ben has done a lot of research concerning the house. He’s got serious security, and if they’re Huisman’s personal army, we could be outnumbered.”

Tris sat back, seeming to think for a moment. “Uncle Ian didn’t say anything about ending the op. Is he leaving this in my hands?”

“I believe he is, though you should understand he knows what he wants you to do,” Zach replied. “I think this is one of those Big Tag moves where he says he’s leaving it up to you—as long as you make the right call.”

Tris huffed out a laugh. “Good to know I’m going to make him happy. We’re out. We’ll pack up and return to base and we’ll be back in Dallas by tomorrow afternoon. I think I’ll take my subs somewhere tropical for a couple of weeks until we figure out what’s going on. My father can do the work he needs to do from Dallas. I know he wanted a chance at one of us getting hands on Huisman’s system, but he’ll find a way.”

A deep sense of relief swept through Aidan. Tris was dropping the whole op. He was coming with them. He could leave all of this behind if Tris was with them. “I’ll go and get Carys.”

Aidan stood, ready to get the train rolling. He’d been so excited about the prospects of attending this event, and now he never wanted to hear the name Huisman again. Even if they were wrong and it was all a coincidence and Huisman was the caring man he presented himself to be, Aidan wanted out. Something was happening and it would hurt people. He wanted to make sure it wasn’t his people.

He needed to make sure it wasn’t Carys and Tris.

“Take Zach with you,” Tristan ordered. “I can handle the packing.”

“I’ll go with him. I need to talk to my sister,” Tasha offered, standing up and straightening her shirt. “She’s going to be pissed the op’s not on.”

Zach held his hands out as if telling them all he wasn’t about to argue. “Definitely sounds like a Taggart family problem. I’ll help Tris get packed up, and we’ll meet you downstairs. Why don’t you get them in the car and pick us up in fifteen minutes?”

“Sounds like a plan,” Tasha agreed. “Aidan, come with me.”

Tris stopped him before he could get to the door, putting a hand on his neck and getting into his space. “You do whatever Tash tells you to do. I know she’s a woman and your instincts will be to protect her, but she’s deadly. She knows what she’s doing, and she’ll keep you safe.”

Aidan chuckled. “We’re walking down to the bar. I think we’ll be okay, but I promise. I definitely promise I’ll hide behind Kala if it comes to it.”

“I’m serious,” Tris said. “Something’s not right. I can feel it in my gut. Leaving you off that list was a choice. He’s playing games with us, and I don’t know the rules. Maybe we should leave everything behind.”

He seemed to have forgotten who their fiancée was. “You want Carys to leave her makeup and shoes behind?”

“I can buy her more,” Tris insisted.

“You told me the key to everything was staying calm.” His Dom was on the edge. It was up to him to bring him back. “It’s going to be okay. All you have to do is shove her skin care and makeup in a bag. You can leave my stuff. I don’t care. But do not leave her e-reader. She’ll be pissed.”

Tristan took a long breath. “Okay. You’re right. Go. We’ll be right behind you.”

He hugged Tris, holding on for a moment. “We’ll be okay. All of us.”

Tristan nodded and stepped back. “Take care of our girl. I’m sure she’ll love sleeping on the couch instead of in this big, gorgeous suite.”

Tasha shook her head. “Sorry, guys. I already called the couch. I think y’all will be bedding down in the van, maybe. But not all is lost. I’m sure Dad will have us on a plane before dawn. Fun times.”

He followed Tasha out, retracing their steps to the elevators.

“I’m glad he’s being reasonable,” Tasha said as the doors closed and they started down toward the lobby. “I was afraid Dad was going to have to come and drag him away. He’s changed in the last couple of days.”

“He hasn’t changed. He remembered who he is and where he belongs,” Aidan explained. He knew Carys was still wary, but he wasn’t anymore. He knew Tris, and when he said he was coming home this time, he meant it. He’d bent, and that meant they hadn’t broken. Carys would see it.

A couple of weeks in paradise wouldn’t hurt.

Tasha reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell as the doors opened, and they walked out into the elegant lobby. Naturally Kala had picked the tiny bar in the back rather than the big one closest to the doors.

“Hey, Lou. We’re probably forty minutes out,” Tasha said as they walked along the marbled floors. It was getting late and the lobby was quiet, with only a few employees milling around. “Wait. What are you talking about?”

Aidan stopped.

Tasha’s brows had come together as she listened to Lou.

Aidan felt the moment his body started pumping adrenaline. Something was going wrong. They’d miscalculated some small thing, and the world was about to get upended.

“Lou says the CCTV cams went out five minutes ago,” Tasha said, the cell still to her ear. She gasped and then swallowed at something Lou had told her. “Yes. I’ll get us out of here right fucking now. Tell them we’ll be coming in hot.”

She hung up and slid her free hand around her waist, feeling for something there. Aidan had seen her keep a holster for her gun in the small of her back. Was she making sure the safety was off in case she needed to use it quickly? “Aidan, I need you to stay calm. Lou said Phoebe just called. She didn’t take the night off. She did a deep dive on Huisman’s recent financial transactions. It wasn’t easy because the foundation is linked to a corporation which has a bunch of arms.”

“I don’t need a lesson in finance. Tell me what’s happened.”

“Phoebe found a transaction for three million dollars. It went through two days ago, shortly after we made the reservations for here. To the manager of this hotel,” she explained. “His name is Pierre Allard. She sent a picture, and I’m almost certain he was behind the bar Kala was at.”

The one he’d recently left Carys at.

Aidan took off running, but he already knew it was too late.