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Kael rolled his eyes. “You’re going to Trojan Horse your parents?”
I glared. “Don’t be insufferable. Look, if you show up with me in tow, and I seem like I’ve lost all hope with you as my captor, they’re going to be fucking ecstatic. I escaped four different bodyguards before I finally hopped on a plane and went dark. They know I’m untamable.”
Kael got a funny look on his face. “Debatable.”
“Anyway,” I glowered, “if it looks like you cowed me into submission, I guarantee they’ll offer you a semi-permanent position. At least until they… well, anyway, they’ll let you stay with me.”
Tabitha nodded. “Go on. I’m following.”
“So, if I’m in their house, and you’re with me, then I can snag their shipping records. They don’t like digital records; they like paper ones. That’s how I came across information in the first place, because they were careless with it in my dad’s study. I can prove that they’re shipping more cathynol than they’ve been approved to manufacture, and voilà.” I swept a hand out in front of me. “They’re busted. Even if we get caught or something, you’ll be there.” I searched Kael’s gaze, hoping against all the odds that he gave enough of a shit to hear what I was saying. “Like… you’d help me if there was trouble. Right?”
Kael was silent for a beat, his expression inscrutable. Finally, he said softly, “Right.”
“It’s straightforward, it’s uncomplicated, and I think it’ll be the best way for me to escape their constant attempts to control me. I would have outed them a long time ago if I’d thought the authorities would listen.” I sniffed, coughing lightly. “Plus, I’ll pay you an ungodly sum for doing it.”
“Four million is ungodly,” Tabitha admitted. “Bunny Foo Foo isn’t playing around.”
“Did you all decide that was my nickname or something?” I asked scathingly.
“Yes,” Kael and Tabitha said together. Kael scratched his upper lip, thinking. “I’ll need to think this through. This plan assumes a huge amount of risk for you, Mattie.”
“It’s my risk to take,” I reminded him. “And even if it goes south, you’ll be there to go Rambo or whatever.”
Kael scrubbed a hand down his face. “Rambo.”
Tabitha cackled. “I want it to go south. It’ll be so fun to watch on your cam.”
Kael gave his employee a silent look of suffering, and then snapped his laptop closed. “I’ll think about it.”
“That’s a yes,” Tabitha told me.
I perked up. Kael shot her a withering scowl. “Out.”
“I’ll draw up a protocol directive,” Tabitha promised me. “It’ll take a little work, but nothing crazy. Trust me, this is basically retirement for him.”
“Out,” Kael reiterated. Tabitha obeyed, chuckling slightly to herself and pulling a phone out of her pocket to dial someone as she walked.
I gave him an innocent fast-blink. “Why are you snarling again?”
Kael stilled, hands low on his narrow hips and body angled my way from across the room. Even from several feet away, I saw heat simmer in his eyes. “Say ‘snarl’ again, Bunny. See what happens.”
I pinched my lips between my teeth fighting a smile. Then I released them with an audible pop sound. “Let me know when you’re ready to go.”
Iscrolled through listings on my computer, letting my eyes dart over thumbnail pictures of sprawling ranches and idyllic mountain properties. Jake had sent me another batch of properties to choose from, but as usual, none of them hit quite right. None of them looked like… home. Maybe I needed to do what the realtor kept suggesting and actually go to visit them in person. However, something in my gut told me it had less to do with the properties and more to do with the concept.
Tabitha came up behind me, and from two feet away, she sniffed the air. “You smell like a middle school locker room.”
I rotated in my chair to face her, my elbow on the armrest and my chin in my hand. I flicked an irritated look her way. “There’s a rabbit in my bedroom, which is connected to my bathroom. I haven’t had a chance to shower after working out.” As we spoke, sweat plastered my back to the black leather chair, and I was starting to feel itchy as the perspiration cooled and dried.
Tabitha pulled a disgusted face, her dark brown eyes traveling over me. “So, you’re just gonna sit in it?”
With a sigh, I stood, stretching a sore arm over my chest. “You offering me your bathroom?”
“Jesus, no. I don’t need your cooties.” Tabitha backed away a step, and it was only then that I saw the plate of food in her hand. “I’m just informing you that your ‘compulsory guest’ isn’t eating anything.” Tabitha lifted the plate of microwave pizza meaningfully.
Sure enough, there wasn’t even a bite taken out of the slices. I glanced at the clock on the wall behind me, which read eight in the evening, and then back at the pizza. “Did she say why?”
Tabitha shrugged. “No. And I’m not her mother. I mean, I like the kid, but I’m not going to harp on her.”
