Chapter Six

 

Ariel glanced behind her at the table where Rob sat with Owen. They appeared to be studying the menu, but she could feel his focus on her. But then he’d been focused on her all morning.

He’d slipped into her room before dawn and she’d found herself woken with kisses and his big body wrapped around her. He’d made love to her and then taken her to the shower where they’d gotten more dirty than clean. She’d felt like the world had changed, become something better and brighter.

Then they’d joined the others for breakfast and she’d reevaluated her optimism.

Something was up with the lads. Oh, they’d seemed normal. She’d expected their good-natured ribbing about her relationship with Rob, but there had been something underneath it that she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

“Would you like some more coffee?” Rebecca asked from the seat beside her. They were in a booth in a small café on the edge of the medical district. According to Rebecca it was where many of the researchers at Kronberg had breakfast or lunch.

They’d been sitting for half an hour with no real information surfacing in what seemed to be a never-ending recitation of medical journals and who’d published what and when and which prestigious medical position they’d moved on to.

This was yet another reason she was happily in private practice, and one where she didn’t have to run to conference after conference. The social side of business had been dissatisfying.

Rebecca seemed perfectly comfortable with it.

“Sure.” She could use a little caffeine boost. Despite how exhausted she’d been she hadn’t been able to go straight to sleep. She’d lain there in bed thinking about how Robert had walked away.

They all had bad dreams. How could they not? He would likely never get over it if he didn’t try. Did he expect to not ever sleep with his lover?

Rebecca poured her coffee from the small carafe the waitress had left for them.

Dr. Arthur Dwyer was in his mid-thirties, his entire life devoted to climbing up the ladder of corporate medicine. According to all the information she’d been given, he was brilliant and likely lonely since he didn’t date or go out with friends. He worked and worked, and when he wasn’t working, he wrote for a journal devoted to pharmaceutical research.

No wonder he’d immediately said yes when Rebecca had called to ask him to brunch.

Arthur looked at her as though remembering she was there. “You said you were in the medical field, too?”

He hadn’t been pleased when he’d realized Rebecca wasn’t alone. She’d decided to go in with Rebecca when the other woman had mentioned Arthur had been known for getting a bit handsy. Ariel was there to make sure Rebecca didn’t have to deal with unwanted advances and to save them all the trouble that would come when Owen murdered the man for the aforementioned unwanted advances.

“I’m a clinical psychologist,” Ariel replied.

“She’s been helping me with my protocols.” Rebecca had told him a little about the work she was doing. Not that she was working with a group of mind-erased soldiers, but she’d talked about helping recover memories.

“I’m sure she is.” He’d been utterly dismissive of anything that wasn’t drug therapy. He was a true believer in better living through pharmaceuticals. “I can’t believe I’m seeing you again. I didn’t think you would ever come back to Germany. You left so fast. That was such a crazy time. First you and then Steven walked out, and then Dr. McDonald transferred like overnight. I’m glad that’s never happened to my team. We’ve only had to replace one junior member over the last couple of years. Stability is important. I always wondered what happened.”

“I wondered what the rumors were,” Rebecca replied with a hint of mischief in her eyes.

She was good. She might be a doctor, but she’d caught onto the spy thing quickly. That look in her eyes said she was curious but that it was all in fun. No danger here. It’s nothing more than a spot of gossip.

Arthur took the bait. “Oh, there were all kinds of rumors flying around. You know no one can come up with a conspiracy theory like a bunch of researchers.”

“Really? I would think you would be quite serious.” Ariel recognized the kind of man he was. The key to a man like Arthur was to challenge him. He was the kind of man who couldn’t stand the thought of being wrong.

“Oh, we can come up with some crazy stuff.” He looked around before leaning in. “There was a rumor that Dr. McDonald caught you and Reasor having an affair.”

Rebecca shuddered. “No. Never. I was married, and even if I hadn’t been I wasn’t attracted to him.”

Rebecca had gotten comfortable with Tucker, but Ariel had noticed she still didn’t like to be alone with him. She understood he wasn’t the man he’d been, but there was an ugly history there. One only Rebecca remembered.

Arthur shrugged. “I never bought that one. The two of you were complete opposites. My favorite theory was that McDonald was working on something dark.”

Yes, this was one of the things she would like to know. How much had gotten out? How careful had McDonald been? “Something dark?”

Arthur’s voice went low. “McDonald was an odd one. I’ll be honest she always…what is the word you Americans use? She creeped me out. I’m a very ambitious man. It would have been easy to get on her team, and yet something about her always made me pause. I didn’t like to be around her, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say the woman was capable of trying to invent a way to give people Alzheimer’s. That would be evil, and what would the purpose be?”

Oh, it wasn’t as simple as that, but someone had known at Kronberg. Someone had an inkling of what Hope McDonald had been doing there. If the rumors had filtered down to Arthur’s level, a lot of people had to have known.

“I miss the rumor mill. The people here could come up with some doozies. At least it’s not aliens. Well, I assure you everything I worked on was to cure the disease,” Rebecca managed with a laugh, though Ariel could see the way her shoulders had tensed.

“Of course it was. I actually thought she might be close given how Kronberg treated anything coming out of that lab.”

“I never worked anywhere else in the company,” Rebecca said. “There was a difference in security procedures? I would have thought there would be a single protocol.”

“There was for everyone else. Dr. McDonald’s research was treated like pure gold,” Arthur said with a long-suffering sigh. “While she was working there the rest of the teams were definitely not as important as hers. If McDonald needed a piece of equipment, she got it. They would take money from other budgets to give her whatever she requested. As for security, someone came into her office at the end of the day and downloaded whatever she’d worked on. It wasn’t allowed on the shared network. We take pains to ensure our research can’t be hacked, but they were overly concerned with McDonald’s. I had a friend who worked in tech support who said no one was allowed to work on McDonald’s systems. She had her own tech and no one else touched her systems.”

“I know. I was surprised to find out the other teams didn’t have a dedicated tech,” Rebecca said. “And then I decided Dr. McDonald was merely eccentric. And filthy rich, of course.”

“Yes, the woman did have an entitlement problem,” Arthur replied. “But then she also spent more time with the board of directors than any other doctor here. She and the head of research and development were close. I was surprised she left the way she did.”

“How did she leave? I’d already gone back to the States at that point,” Rebecca admitted. “I left because my husband and I were having trouble. Not that going home worked. We still ended up divorcing.”

Ariel knew the real reason Rebecca had left. She’d been terrified by Steven Reasor, the man they now knew as Tucker. Someone had used the time dilation drug on Rebecca and she’d spent a night in hell. She always said “someone” because she had a hard time believing it had been Tucker.

Arthur shook his head. “It’s a mystery. I think it’s probably why there are so many rumors about her. One day she up and left, her lab was completely cleaned out, and we never heard from her again. They were all gone. All her researchers, not that the team was ever big. She kept her team small because I don’t think she trusted many people. Funny thing is from what I can tell, most of the team is gone now.”

Ariel knew what he meant but wanted him to talk more. “Gone?”

Arthur leaned in, his voice going low. “Dead. They’re almost all dead. Reasor had that car accident. The tech who worked with her was killed a few years back in a mugging. Dr. McDonald died under mysterious circumstances. Even her dad passed. Cursed group of people, if you ask me. You were lucky.”

“Yes, I guess I am.” Rebecca had paled slightly. “Did anyone ever find out what happened to Veronica?”

Arthur shrugged. “Oh, I heard she got out of the business, but I don’t know where she went. I know she upset the big bosses for some reason. She requested to move teams and when she was denied she walked out without notice. It was a couple of days before Dr. McDonald disappeared. It’s good she didn’t want to work in medical research because I don’t think she would be able to find a job again. The bosses were upset with her.”

“Rebecca left the same way,” Ariel pointed out, turning to her friend. “You never mentioned Kronberg tried to blackball you.”

“They didn’t,” Rebecca replied. “I didn’t give notice at all, but they’ve never given me a bad reference.”

“Well, they know you’re going to move on to bigger and better things. Veronica wasn’t in your class, dear. They wouldn’t mess with the darling of neuro. I’m sure they wanted a chance to hire you back someday. No one cared about Veronica. She should have been grateful for the job, but she was a foolish girl,” Arthur said with irritating authority.

“That’s sad,” Rebecca replied. “I was hoping to catch up with her. I always liked Veronica.”

Arthur glanced down at his watch. “Well, this has been delightful, but I have to get going. I have a meeting soon. And you know I never believed any of the rumors about you and Reasor. Now the one about him and Veronica, that I did believe. I always thought the lady did protest too much, if you know what I mean.”

Veronica and Reasor? Rebecca had never mentioned a romantic connection between the two.

Rebecca looked as surprised as Ariel felt. “I don’t. I knew Veronica pretty well. She and Steven never got along. She never once mentioned she had a thing for him. Quite the opposite.”

“Well, I do know that they went away together the weekend before Steven left,” he admitted. “I was at the airport and I saw them get on a plane together. I assumed when he left that the weekend didn’t go well and that was why he requested the transfer to Argentina. He didn’t even come back to the office from what I understood. He simply went straight to McDonald’s secondary lab.”

“Where did they go?” Ariel asked. “Steven and Veronica, that is. Sorry. I’ve heard so much about these people from Rebecca that I feel like I know them.”

He pushed back his chair and stood. “Paris. They boarded a plane to Paris. Like I said, I guess the city wasn’t kind to them because Veronica came back alone, and shortly after, she left the company. Rebecca, it was good to catch up with you. Please keep in touch. We’ve all missed you. I would love to hear more about the private group you’re working for. I thought you were crazy to leave Huisman, but then I heard about the foundation’s troubles. If only we weren’t reliant on foundations for money.”

Rebecca stood, too, offering her cheek for a kiss. “Wouldn’t that be lovely?”

They said another few words of good-bye, but Ariel’s attention had caught on a woman walking toward the bathrooms. Tall and blonde, there was something about the way she moved that gave her away.

Kimberly Solomon. She was chic and lovely in white slacks and a crisp green top, a Chanel scarf around her neck.

Ariel glanced back and Robert and Owen were eating their lunches, seeming to pay no attention to anything but their burgers and beers.

Had they seen Kim? What the hell was she doing here? She didn’t have permission to let anyone else know the fact that they might be working with the Agency in a small way. She wasn’t sure how Robert would handle an operative walking into the middle of their mission. After the morning she’d had with the Lost Boys, she wasn’t sure she should tell them at all. They were suspicious, and a faction of them were starting to question the status quo. That much was obvious. The question was would telling them they had Solo in their corner hurt or help the situation?

“I’m going to visit the loo,” Ariel said, standing. “I’ll be back in a minute. Arthur, it was lovely to meet you.”

Rebecca nodded her way as she and Arthur were exchanging cards. Robert glanced her way but seemed to be mollified when she nodded toward the ladies’ room. She took her purse and quietly stepped away.

She opened the door and Kim was sitting there like she’d been waiting, but then she likely had.

“Hey, Ari. You have a little glow about you. Come on, dish. How was it?” Kim asked, looking like they were nothing but a couple of girlfriends gossiping about their love lives.

“What are you doing here? Owen and Robert are sitting right there in the dining room. They could have seen you.” She knew exactly what was at stake, even if Kim didn’t seem to care.

Kim waved that worry off. “They didn’t even look at me when I walked by. They were far too busy pretending like they weren’t obsessively watching their ladies. They didn’t do a particularly good job of it. When that dude showed up and hugged Dr. Walsh, Owen nearly came over the table after him. That research dude was lucky he managed to stop short of touching her ass or I don’t think anyone would have kept Owen off him. Such a caveman, that one. I wish I didn’t find it sexy. I should be more liberated, right?”

“You should be more careful.” She moved the small trash can in front of the door so at least they would have a heads-up if they suddenly weren’t alone. “What if I’d brought Rebecca back here? What if she walks in?”

“She doesn’t know who I am.” Kim sighed and put her Louis Vuitton handbag on the counter. “I’m sorry but I couldn’t help it. I needed to talk to you.”

“You could have texted. You seem good at that.” How long had Kim been watching? It seemed to Ariel like Kim had some superpower where a person could only see her when she wanted them to. A handy thing for a spy.

“I wouldn’t risk sending this information to your phone because I don’t know who to trust on your team. I know I didn’t tip off Levi in Colorado. If I hadn’t been following Levi’s man, things would have gone differently. If it wasn’t me who tipped him off, it had to be one of them. You’ve either got a mole or Levi is way better than I give him credit for.”

She’d thought this through about a million times. She lay in bed at night worried whoever was willing to betray the team would come after Rob. “We’re working on the problem. I think I’ve got it down to two men, but I need more time to figure it out. This is a fact-gathering op. It isn’t dangerous or I wouldn’t be out in the field with them.”

Kim frowned. “It might be getting dangerous. Levi is on the move. I have intelligence that places him on his way here.”

Levi was the last thing she needed. This was supposed to be simple. “I’ll let Damon and Big Tag know. Maybe we should pull up stakes and go back to London.”

Kim’s gaze turned distinctly calculating. “Or you can let me try to figure out who’s communicating with him. Pretend nothing’s wrong. Let me watch and track. I can figure this out. Once we know who our mole is, I can work more freely. I’m afraid if I show up again, the mole will dive deep and we’ll lose our chance to catch him.”

That had been exactly Big Tag’s plan, too. “All right. I’ll run that by the bosses, but for now I’ll watch and wait. But I have a question for you. Who are you working for?”

“I’m not really supposed to say, but they have your best interests in mind,” Kim said. “I promise you. The faction I’m with is working toward the same objectives you are. They want to shut down the elements inside the Agency that want to continue McDonald’s work. Beyond that, part of my mission is to figure out who all was in on it. We want to know the names of the companies and individuals who funded her work and any person who was complicit in what happened to those men.”

“They don’t want the information for themselves?”

Kim shook her head. “No. They know better than anyone that some knowledge is best left unused.”

She was done playing around. “Why can’t President Hayes just fire the bastards?”

“I’m not confirming or denying anything, but if I was working for the president, I would tell you he’s in a sensitive position. The politics of it could cause a scandal that would rock the Agency. We need firm proof, enough that if it gets out to the press, there’s no question we did the right thing. The man I’m working for has been set up before, and he can’t let it happen again.”

It was as close to a confirmation as she would likely get. “All right.”

“I’m working hard to get the smoking gun we need, but you should understand that Levi has some finely honed survival instincts. He has to know the tides are shifting and once his bosses are out of power, he’ll be out of a job.”

“Good. He shouldn’t have one as it is. The Agency should have backed Ezra.”

“Well, my ex wasn’t the best at politics,” Kim admitted. “He never was good at playing the game, and Levi is a master. I knew if it came down to a choice, they would back Levi. I had to do a lot of work…”

Kim had gone pale.

“What kind of work? Did you try to save his job?”

“No. I had to work hard to make sure his job was the only thing they burned.” Kim shivered. “He knew too much. I had to play dirty to make sure he stayed alive.”

“Kim, what did you do?”

Tears shimmered in her eyes. “I did what I had to do. I would do it again. And again. I won’t ever stop protecting that man. Not even if it kills me.”

She hated how vulnerable her friend looked. Kim was always so strong, always in charge. It was easy to forget she was simply a woman who loved a man. “Let me talk to Ezra.”

Kim laughed, though there was no joy in the sound. “The very fact that you call him Ezra is proof enough that he won’t want to talk about me. It doesn’t matter. We all make our choices and we have to live with them, but by god I’m going to make sure that man doesn’t go down on my watch.”

“Does he know?”

“Again, it doesn’t matter. Just take care of him for me, Ari. I’m going to settle things on my end once and for all, but I need time. Levi hates him.”

“I think it’s more a case of Levi wanting you.”

She shook her head. “I’m a symptom, not the disease. Levi wants me because Beck had me. I don’t know why, but Levi’s hatred of Beck runs deep, and I worry about what he’ll do if this shit goes down and I don’t take him out fully. Do not underestimate him. I’m going to be in and out of Munich for a little while, but you can call if you need me. I might have a lead on your girl.”

“On Veronica?”

“Yes, and don’t ask me. I can’t take you with me. If I can find her, she might be the key to what really went down.” Kim settled her bag on her shoulder. “I’ll be in touch. And maybe I can come out of the shadows and we can get a drink. I don’t have a love life. I need to live vicariously through yours. I miss you, Ari.”

“I miss you, too.” She suddenly wished she could do exactly that. She wanted to go out to the bar and talk about what had happened the night before. She liked Rebecca, but there was a necessary distance between them. Kim knew everything about her. There weren’t secrets being kept from Kim.

There was a knock on the door and then a masculine voice. “Ari, are you all right in there?”

Robert.

Kim gave her a wistful smile and then disappeared behind the stall door.

She hurried to open the door or her personal caveman might bust in. “Sorry.”

He smiled down at her. “Are you all right?”

She nodded and took his hand. “I’m good. That was a lot of information to process. We should get back to the club. I need to write it all up.”

Robert stared at the door and for a moment she worried he might still go in. She held her breath.

And then he turned and started to lead her out.

She prayed Kim worked fast because she couldn’t keep lying to a man she was absolutely certain she was falling in love with.

 

* * * *

 

“Paris?” Tucker paced the floor of the kitchen.

The minute they’d returned to the club, Robert had called a meeting. If he could have kept the news from Tucker he would have, but it was too important.

Ariel had been contemplative the whole ride home. He knew the expression on her face well. She was worried about something and it was probably Tucker and his reaction to the news. Now she was occupying herself by making tea.

Robert didn’t want tea. He wanted to be alone with her, but that wasn’t happening anytime soon. “That’s what this Arthur person said. He told Rebecca he saw you getting on a plane to Paris with Veronica Croft shortly before you transferred to Argentina and she quit Kronberg all together.”

“This should be easy enough to check.” Dante sat behind a laptop. “I don’t suppose he gave you the name of the airline?”

Rebecca shook her head. “I didn’t think to ask him that. I should have. Damn it.”

Owen slid an arm around her shoulders. “You did everything perfectly, love. You were great out there. If you’d pushed him he would have gotten suspicious.”

“He wasn’t suspicious at all.” Peter stepped into the kitchen. “When he left, I followed him a few blocks and he called someone, a friend I suppose. Said he’d met with you and that you were still pretty but…well, he’s not a particularly nice man. He called you an ice queen.”

“I’ll show him what I can do with ice. I’ll stuff his dead body in a bloody freezer and then we’ll see how he likes it,” Owen muttered.

Rebecca merely sighed and leaned into him. “He was always a douchebag, but he was friendly. I’m glad I got good information. I think we’ll have better luck with Louisa. I knew her better. I can be a little more open.”

“We’ll go over all of it,” Ariel promised, pouring out the tea. “I’ll make sure you’re prepped and I’ll be with you the whole way. We’re meeting her at an outdoor café, right?”

Rebecca nodded. “It’s one in the Marienplatz we always used to meet at. She’s kind of a bitch but she’s in on all the gossip.”

“I want to know everything about this Veronica person.” Tucker couldn’t seem to stay still. “Was she my lover? Was she my victim?”

“Well, you didn’t do a good job with her since apparently we don’t think she’s dead,” Sasha replied. “Next time you need to be better.”

“Hey.” He’d felt some slight sympathy for the man the night before, but Sasha was still a massive asshole. “This is serious, and Tucker is asking the same questions any of us would in his situation.”

“I don’t see how Tucker getting laid in his previous life has much to do with this. I’m more interested in the fact that they changed their security protocols surrounding McDonald than I am in finding out Tucker here had a woman he didn’t have to pay,” Dante said.

“I’ll get on the Dark Web and see if I can find anyone willing to talk about the protocols,” Peter offered. “I’ll pretend to be a corporate spy. I’ve done this many times to get information, though usually I had government backing. This time if I get caught, I will have to hope Ian is up for a jailbreak.”

“We’ll take care of you,” Ariel promised him. “It would be good if we could have some understanding of their protocols. If Kronberg still has that information…”

Robert shook his head. He’d thought this through during the car ride back. “It would be old intel. We all know she made her biggest findings after she went on the run. After she left Germany she wouldn’t have been held in check by their protocols. I doubt she shared her findings with them after she left Europe.”

“It would still be helpful to know what her first formulary of the drug looked like.” Rebecca thanked Ariel for the tea and turned back to Robert. “If I know where she started from, I might be able to better extrapolate where she went. I might also be able to figure out if it’s even possible she also made a cure. If Kronberg has her early research, I would love to see it. I want to see how she took the work I did here and twisted it. I want to know how much I’m responsible for.”

“You’re not.” Owen shifted so he could look in her eyes. He caught her face between his big hands. “You are not responsible for any of this, my love. You were trying to help.”

“I should have seen something was wrong,” she insisted.

“You did,” Tucker said. “You knew I was wrong. It wasn’t your fault. It was mine.”

“God, we’re full of martyrs today,” Dante said with a huff. “If only Ezra would show up we would have the holy trinity.”

“Fuck you, Dante,” Tucker said.

“You keep offering and I might take you up on it one day,” he said under his breath. He stood and closed his laptop. “I’ll be in the office. The Wi-Fi is better in there. I’ll let you know if I find anything about the flight. I might be able to track them around Paris if I can find the plane they took.”

“Maybe if I look at some pictures of Paris,” Tucker offered.

“No,” both Ariel and Rebecca said at the same time.

The last thing they needed was Tucker making himself sick.

Sasha shook his head. “I would not recommend this. Haven’t we had enough puking? Leave it be, brother. Let Dante and I see if we can find a paper trail. I think this is one of those stories it’s better we tell you than you live through.”

Because he’d already lived through it once.

“I think that’s a perfect idea, Sasha. You two work on that,” he said. The faster they got the information the faster Tucker might calm down. Unless they found out something else terrible about him. “We also need to look into the Argentina flight. If Reasor went to Argentina, there should be some records.”

“I’ll look into it. If Jax has some time, he could help, too.” Sasha stood up. “I’ll give him a call. I’m going to work for a while. Is the club open tonight? I wouldn’t mind some time with a Domme. Do you have any here who would scene with me?”

Peter nodded. “Of course. You’re more than welcome. Unless someone thinks we shouldn’t be open. I don’t see any reason. We’re a private club and we’ll have security.”

He wasn’t going to shut down the club. He wanted to spend some time with Ariel. If they shut the club, they would spend the evening working, and they could all use some time off. Sasha definitely needed to scene after what had happened the night before. If he didn’t, Robert was worried he would let off steam in other ways. “Please do stay open. Several of us will likely come down and play.”

“I would love to see it when it’s open and full of people. It looks so different,” Rebecca admitted. “I’ve only seen The Garden before.”

Owen leaned in close. “One day I’ll take you to Sanctum. I promise. Come, love. Let’s rest for a bit and then we’ll walk the dungeon tonight. Hopefully Sasha doesn’t convince his Domme for the night to torture his balls. It’s hard to watch that.”

“Speak for yourself,” Sasha said. “It’s a beautiful thing.”

Owen shuddered. “We speak two different languages, mate.”

The three of them walked off.

“Is he all right?” Peter asked. “Perhaps he shouldn’t play. I heard there was trouble last night.”

Ariel sat down beside Robert. “Sasha needs to scene. He’s a switch, but he only tops when he’s feeling good about himself. He often bottoms. It’s part of his therapy. He never pushes it too far. I would select a Domme who’s worked with masochists before in case he does tonight.”

Peter pulled out his cell phone. “I have one in mind. She’s good. I’ll see you two this evening and I’ll let you know how it goes on the Deep Web.”

“Thank you, and thanks for following up with Arthur.” It was good to know Peter was doing his part. This was why Big Tag had wanted the man around. He could work more quietly than the rest of them because he fit in here, knew the language. And he was the type of man who might go unnoticed.

“I’m happy to help. I will say though that there was a woman at the restaurant today who I swear I’ve seen before. I’m putting a description of her in my report. I could be wrong, but she’s a striking woman. I will be on the lookout for her,” Peter said. “I’m going to file my report now. I’ll see you all this evening.”

“Do you think it’s Solo?” Tucker asked.

Ariel seemed to stiffen. “If she is here, we can’t know she’s not here to help us. I thought you liked her.”

“I did,” Tucker replied. “But that was before I knew who I was. Maybe she’s here to bring me in.”

“She’s not going to take you in. If she wanted to do that, she could show up with the authorities and we wouldn’t be able to fight them.” But he would try. He’d thought that scenario through. He couldn’t let them take one of his brothers. He couldn’t trust anyone in the government.

“Maybe she should take me in,” Tucker said. “I don’t think I want to know what I did in Paris. I don’t even like saying the word. Something happened to me there. Or maybe I did something. Veronica Croft was alive after we went to Paris?”

“Yes,” Ariel affirmed. “She was alive. She came back and quit her job and that was the last we know of her. You didn’t kill her.”

“We can’t know that.” Tucker had his hands on his hips, his face tight. “Maybe I waited until I got back.”

“I don’t think so. You went to Argentina before she quit,” Robert pointed out.

“We’ll figure it out, Tucker,” Ariel promised. “Please come out and play tonight. If you’re not feeling like topping, you can bottom for a change. Or I can find you a sex worker. I think you should indulge yourself. It’s perfectly legal here. It won’t be hard to find someone.”

“You know sometimes I don’t even have sex with them,” Tucker said, his voice hollow. “I sit and talk to them. I lie in bed and wrap my arms around them. God, I’m fucked up. I’ll come downstairs and see what happens. I’ll be okay.”

Tucker turned and walked out.

Robert reached for her hand when it looked like she was going to go after Tucker. “Don’t. He needs some space. He’ll talk when he’s ready.”

“But he needs to talk now,” Ariel insisted.

How hard was it on her? She wanted so much to fix them all, to put together their pieces and make them whole again. It wouldn’t happen. They were irrevocably broken and no amount of talking about their feelings would fill the empty holes. But they could learn to live with them. They could find their way. “He needs to know that we’re here. I know you’re the therapist, but you’ve gotten too close to us.”

Her eyes had filled with tears as she looked up at him. “I know I have. I’ve lost my objectivity.”

He pulled her close. “We need you to be involved with us. Tucker needs it desperately. I wasn’t saying something bad about you. In this case, I do know what he needs and it’s space. Let’s give it to him.”

She nodded and wrapped her arms around him, laying her head on his chest. “All right.”

It felt good to be able to hold her. He stroked his hand down her back, happy that she relaxed against him.

He couldn’t help but think about how odd it had been at the restaurant today. She’d left Rebecca alone, and that had seemed out of character for her. Yes, he and Owen had been sitting at a table close to them, but Arthur hadn’t left and she’d been there to give her impression of the man. “You would tell me if something was going on, right? Something we needed to know about.”

“I would if I could.”

He held her close and tried not to think about the fact that he’d seen a woman go into the bathroom before her. A blonde.

Ariel wouldn’t lie to him.

He forced the thought from his head and started planning the evening.