Catalina kicked off her shoes, uncaring the rubber soles of her cross-trainers thumped against the front of the stackable washer and dryer. She’d been pleased to learn the small guest house had its own laundry room—traipsing around the Barnes home carrying dirty underwear hadn’t sounded appealing. Still wired after spending two hours in Cam and CeCe’s enormous workout room, Cat was practically bouncing on the balls of her feet, rolling her eyes at the absurdity of calling it a home gym—the spacious room was filled with so many machines it rivaled the most upscale commercial health clubs in Austin.
“Damn it all to fucking hell. I’m going to go insane if they don’t let me go back to work. What am I supposed to do all day? Daytime television is mind-numbing. When I tried to clean the place, one of the maids swore at me in Portuguese. Unfortunately for her, I understood her accusation. Hearing her swear I’m trying to steal her job because her boss is hung like a horse was just wrong on too many levels. Hell, I’ll probably have nightmares thinking about how she came upon that information.” Cat had been stuck inside for days without a clue where Cooper had gone or when he would be back. And now I’m talking to myself—this disaster seems to be snowballing into a full-blown avalanche.
Catalina was struggling to come to grips with how things were playing out. The second night after they’d moved into the Barnes’ guest house, Cooper’s phone rang during the night. She’d been dead asleep after a scene so hot, it was nothing short of a miracle she had enough functioning brain cells to rouse at all. It wasn’t until the next morning, when she awoke to an empty bed, Cat realized the ringtone had been the one Cooper assigned his handler at the agency.
She’d found a note propped in the one place he knew she wouldn’t miss it—the coffeemaker. Holding the folded paper in her hand, Catalina had spent long minutes struggling to get her eyes focused on the neatly penned words. Shaking her head to clear the lingering cobwebs of sleep, Cat had sent up a quick prayer to the Great Goddess, asking her to give her an extra boost from the caffeine. When the words continued to blur across the note, Cat had only been able to sigh in frustration.
Now, several days later, she was still trying to sort it all out. Maybe she needed another cup of coffee… or two. Sitting on a tall stool at the bar, staring off into space, her unseeing gaze focused on the note she’d left on the counter. Catalina barely registered the door opening until Tobi West’s voice filled the small space.
“Good morning, sunshine. How are you this morning? Oh, goody, coffee. I could use a pick me up. I overslept this morning, hell, the sun was already peeking over the horizon singing…”
“For the love of God, Tobi, give Catalina a chance to breathe. Not everyone bounces out of bed, ready to take on the day.” Gracie shook her head and rolled her eyes at her best friend and business partner before turning her attention to Cat. “Morning people just don’t get it. I’ve never understood them. How do they do it? I won’t even share a hotel room with her when we travel. I live in fear I’ll strangle her before I’ve had enough coffee to cope with her cheerful ass.”
“Kent and Kyle would be pissed… probably. Well, most of the time, they wouldn’t want you to strangle me. Okay, they wouldn’t be happy at all, but I find it hard to believe the thought hasn’t crossed their mind a time or two. Damn, it’s getting late. We need to get moving if we’re going to talk about what pieces we would like to have for the forum shop.”
“Pieces? Like jewelry pieces?” Cat was trying desperately to keep up, but Tobi’s thinking wasn’t anything close to logical.
“Oh, look at you. Miss finally-turned-the-page is finally catching up. The caffeine is kicking in, isn’t it?” Catalina dropped her head and sighed before turning to Gracie.
“Please make her stop. Morning people are put on Earth to torture the innocent who need a few moments for their brains to switch on.” When Gracie nodded, giggling, Cat turned her attention back to the note Cooper had written.
Princess – I’ve gotten a solid lead on who hired the men behind the fiasco at the ceremony. Stay with Cam. He is coordinating your security with Israel. No one comes or leaves w/o his permission. Stay safe and don’t forget to miss me. – Ace
“I can’t believe he didn’t take me. We’ve worked together on a lot of missions. Why would he leave me out of something this important?” She hadn’t intended to speak out loud. There wasn’t any reason to advertise how diminished she felt by being excluded. Damn it all to hell, he’d essentially iced her out of the entire investigation. And she wasn’t even going to start on the nonsense about asking Cam Barnes’ permission to leave his compound. Yeah, that’s not fucking happening.
If you think Cam is working alone, you are sadly mistaken, sister mine. We’ve enlisted the help of every Dom in the club.
Israel’s voice was so loud in her head, Cat almost turned to look for him. If they put her on a damned no-fly list, she was going to… hell, what could she do? Since Cooper took the call, he’d be considered the Agent in Charge and would have access to resources she didn’t. Sure, she worked for the Agency occasionally, but she was considered a contractor rather than a Special Agent.
In many ways, Cat’s out-of-the-box status was a blessing because it was much easier for her to walk away, unlike Cooper and Cameron. Over the years, Catalina had also worked as a special operations asset for Mossad and the Secret Intelligence Service, among others.
In Catalina’s view, Americans’ belief the Central Intelligence Agency was the number one intelligence organization in the world was based more on Hollywood’s perception than fact. After working for each of what was considered the top ten intelligence organizations in the world, Cat held the opinion the U.S. was number three, at best. She’d met more world leaders than she could count and always marveled at how different they were from the way they were portrayed in the media.
“I don’t know where she went, but it doesn’t look like a happy journey.” Gracie’s Latina accented voice floated into the deep recesses of Cat’s mind without being enough to pull her back to the present. It wasn’t until she felt the paper slip from between her fingers, she realized her mind had wandered too far from the conversation. Blinking to bring the room back into focus, Cat watched Gracie and Tobi read the short note. Both women frowned but predictably, it was Tobi who found her voice first.
“He has good penmanship.” Grasping her arm when Gracie slugged her with no real malice, Tobi moaned. “What? You are always screeching at me to find the silver lining in everything, so I did… and it wasn’t easy because I wanted to tell Cat I think Cooper is acting like a socially inept piss pocket… but I thought that might be seen as outside the boundaries of Little Miss Sunshine and Lollipops take Austin.”
“I swear to God, I don’t know how you do it. I’ve never seen anyone talk for so long without taking a breath. It’s remarkable. I’ll bet your men think being able to go that long without inhaling is the best thing since sliced bread.”
“If you make a blow job joke at my expense, I’m going to take you with me to pick up the pop’n fresh exploding rolls next year for the fundraiser.” Gracie waved away Tobi’s threat.
“That was your own fault, sister. You were born and raised in Texas. How you managed to forget how hot the interior of an enclosed car gets in the summer is a mystery for the ages.”
Catalina shook her head as the two women bantered back and forth. She’d only recently heard about the exploding dough incident and wasn’t surprised Tobi was still being teased.
“Boy, oh, boy, do you think anybody is ever going to cut me a break on that mess? Hell, no. Those jackasses running the wrecker took enough pictures to feed the internet for the next hundred years. Even my kids still laugh about me killing the Pillsbury Dough Boy. It’s ridiculous. I didn’t kill the giggling, sticky little creep. I set him free. He should be grateful.”
Catalina couldn’t hold back her laughter, and Gracie rolling her dark eyes with enough drama to earn an Oscar nomination was like throwing gas on a fire. Cat fell into a fit of giggles that was likely as much from the emotional roller coaster she’d been riding for the past several weeks as the women who’d done a bang-up job of distracting her.
Once she’d finally recovered enough to excuse herself, Cat was surprised to find the closet filled with her clothes. Dressing casually, she brushed her hair, dabbed on some mascara, then headed back to the small living room. Coming to a dead stop, Cat stared at the boxes sitting on every available flat surface. Looking at Tobi and Gracie, she cocked her brow and waited for them to explain.
“Hey, girl, don’t be giving us that look. This is all on the Doms. We didn’t have anything to do with this.”
“Well, that isn’t entirely true, Tobi.” Turning back to Cat, Gracie explained, “We asked if we could take you into town to visit your store. We wanted to check out your line of kinky jewelry.” Shrugging the lovely Latina, added, “You’d have thought we asked to help you escape from some high-security prison. I swear the President travels with less planning.”
“Oh, yeah, I nearly fell asleep listening to the logistics lecture.” Tobi rolled her eyes so far, Cat would bet her friend had seen the inside of her own head. “I swear I have that speech memorized. They really need to rewrite the script.”
“An unnecessary drain on resources better utilized to finding those responsible.”
“Not reasonable to take the unwarranted risks.”
“We have an obligation to her Dom to keep her in the safest possible environment.” Gracie hadn’t missed a beat in their back and forth outlining of the lecture they’d both received. “We didn’t know they were going to do this, but we’ll roll with it since they just texted to say they are having lunch and drinks catered by the pool.”
It didn’t take long to unpack the boxes. Whoever put the jewelry trays inside had been meticulous with the packing—only one tray per box with enough cushioning to ensure nothing moved around on the velvet display boards. The care in packaging spoke volumes. There was no question—her sister Asia had overseen this process. No one else had Asia’s eye for perfection. Catalina didn’t think she’d ever appreciated her big sister’s obsessive-compulsive organizational skills more.
Sitting back, sipping the smoothie Cam and CeCe’s personal chef had delivered, Cat closed her eyes and groaned. The man was clearly a magician with food. If there was ever a reason to stay put, it would be Henry’s kitchen skills.
“Cam knows just how to ensnare the fly in his trap.” Tobi’s voice was comically sinister, pulling Catalina out of her delicious distraction. “The sugar rush fuels a sense of well-being.”
“Followed by the crash, which leaves the prisoner too lethargic to consider moving, let alone making a sincere effort to escape.”
Gracie’s ability to tag-team with Tobi’s off the wall sense of humor might have been more impressive if Catalina hadn’t recognized their understated warning. Cat noted the way Gracie’s eyes flickered up and to the left, but Catalina was too well-trained to immediately follow the other woman’s gaze. Hell, as a skilled operative, Catalina didn’t need to look. She’d spotted the nearly hidden cameras within seconds of her arrival yesterday, but she appreciated Gracie’s subtle reminder.
Working with Tobi and Gracie was a cross between hysterical and baffling. Catalina knew the two women built their business from the ground up and had recently taken it international. They weren’t traveling much anymore, proving it was possible to continue growing a successful business via technology. Gracie and Tobi both swore while they enjoyed meeting club owners face to face, they didn’t miss airport security.
“Tobi is a damned trouble magnet. I swear there could be a hundred people in line, and they will pull her out for a pat-down every flippin’ time. I don’t know if it’s those long blonde waves, her curves, or her mouth that attracts attention.”
“Hey, what the holy Hannah is that supposed to mean? I’m not mouthy. I could have filed sexual assault charges against that jackass in Newark.”
“You’d be sunning yourself in Club Fed if it wasn’t for Ian.” Gracie hadn’t missed a beat, even though she’d appeared engrossed in the close examination of a clit clip set. “This set is exquisite. I love the sapphire insets. We could also do special orders.”
“Yes, Doms would love to pick the stones for their sub. Birthstones, rocks to match their collar or eyes, something to remind them of the Caribbean Sea. For a bunch of whip-wielding bossy-boots, they can be really romantic.”
Catalina felt her mouth drop open. Whip wielding bossy-boots? Gracie must have seen Cat’s quick glance toward the poorly concealed camera. The grin spreading over her face was a dead giveaway, they’d be hearing more about Tobi’s comment… and if Cat’s guess was right, the two women were looking forward to it.
“Tobi, you know Cam is going to throw you under the bus so fast, you aren’t going to have time to explain to Kent and Kyle. All we’re going to hear is the thump, thump of tires running you over.”
“Posh.” Tobi interrupted her friend and waved her hand, clearly dismissing her concern. “Do you know how many people throw my happy ass under the bus on a daily basis? The number is mind-boggling. One look from Kyle and everybody and their damned dog turns into a blasted snitch. Then we have the Spies-R-Us wannabes with their damned cell phones. Remember when that heathen bitch almost ran over me last month?” Turning to Catalina, Tobi explained.
“I had a flat tire on the highway a couple of miles from home. I know how to change tires, but my husbands get all grinchy when I do it, so I was standing off the side of the road. I must have been a solid ten to fifteen feet off the road, and this lunatic newbie sub from the club comes racing by. Crazy girl is so busy checking out my car and dialing her damned phone, she went off the road and almost hit me. What the hell? I was still so mad when Kent got there, I was raving like a lunatic.” By this time, Tobi’s arms were flailing in the air as she stormed around the small room like a tiny blonde tornado.
“You know who Ditzy Dolly was calling? Prairie Winds. She told Kent I wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Good grief, try looking out your damned windshield instead of at your phone, Nutso Nelly. After learning what happened, Kent wanted to call her Dom, but I asked him to talk to her himself. I know what it’s like being tattled on, and it sucks. Hell, at this point, my men would be more worried if someone wasn’t tossing me in front of a speeding Greyhound.”
“I don’t understand. If she recognized your car, why didn’t she stop and check on you herself?” Catalina was always shocked when women didn’t help one another. She and her sisters learned early in life how important it was to empower each other.
“She has a lot to learn, and there are some painful lessons in her future at the club. Tobi didn’t share the story with the other subs, but… what did you call her? Ditzy Dolly? Oh, yeah, she’s earned her nickname. The woman actually told some of the other subs at the club what she’d done… including Jen McCall.” Catalina had only met Jen a few times, but she’d been drawn to her take no prisoners attitude.
“I can tell by the look on your face you know how well that went over. Jen let her have it with both barrels. The entire locker room was filled with Doms and subs by the time it was all done.” Tobi’s eyes were practically dancing with glee. “And the best part? Sam and Sage led the applause when Jen was done.” Tobi’s excitement was more subdued now, a sheen of tears, making her eyes appear glassy. “I hope the woman learns a lesson from this mess. First, she damned well shouldn’t be on her phone while driving by a disabled vehicle.”
“She should stop and help when she recognizes the vehicle. Might be nice if she’d think about something other than making herself look important to the owners of the club.” Gracie’s observation was likely dead on.
Catalina was still reeling. She hadn’t lived in Austin full time for several years, and it was sad to think her hometown had lost some of its small-town charm and friendliness.
“Let’s move this outside. I’m anxious to find out what’s for lunch. I bet it’s spectacular. Grab a notebook, and let’s talk orders and prices.” Tobi gave Catalina a cat that swallowed the canary grin, “Hope you’re ready for what’s headed your way. You’re going to need to hire help… probably a lot of help. Maybe a magic wand would help.” Tobi burst out laughing at her own joke as they headed outside.
“She doesn’t need a wand to do magic, and there won’t be a need for hocus pocus since she’s partnering with Ian McGregor. I swear his organization is the most efficiently run corporation on the planet. He should run for president.” By the time they settled down with their plates of food, they’d named a dozen reasons the entrepreneur and Dom would never consider politics. In Catalina’s opinion, all the reasons centered around one theme—Ian was simply too honest.