Page 16

Reddington

I cracked my neck and stretched my back, placing my hands on my lower back, wishing that I had a fucking genie at my disposal so I could wish for a chiropractor to magically appear.

I’d been sitting, glaring down at a computer for—oh, I didn’t know—way too long considering the pain I had.

And screw the people who swore good posture at a desk helped. It didn’t.

Walking into the kitchen, I lazily combed a hand through my hair. “Hey, boss,” Kieran, my private chef, greeted, nudging his chin forward. “I was about to take off.”

I furrowed my brows, massaging my neck as I took a seat on one of the bar stools across from him at the marble island.

“Remind me again why you’re leaving early.

” I wasn’t an ass and genuinely didn’t care that he was leaving early.

If I was being honest, no one deserved time off more than him.

He was the best in the business, that was why I’d hired him, and he rarely ever took a day off.

Why hadn’t I made him take one before now?

Kieran folded a dish towel and placed it off to the side. “I have to pick my daughter up from my ex-wife’s.”

I nodded. “Right. You did tell me that.” I got up and pointed to the oven that was turned on. “I assume it’s timed, and I can take things from here. Go, get out of here,” I insisted, all but pushing him out the door.

“All right. Have a nice evening.” He rubbed the back of his neck as he walked to the front door.

“You, too, and I better not see you tomorrow. Take the day and spend time with your kid.”

He stopped dead in his tracks. “I don’t take—”

“You do now. Spend as much time with her as you can. You deserve it.” I leaned against the oven and instantly regretted it once I felt the heat beneath me.

Shit, if I hadn’t moved I could’ve been as cooked as the chicken parmesan in there.

“Seriously. I don’t want to see you. I can feed myself. Trust me, I won’t starve.”

He looked pained. I knew the feeling—neck, remember.

“It’ll still be your kitchen when you get back. But if you show up, I will fire you.” One more pull at my neck, and it occurred to me I didn’t need a genie. I was Reddington Lyons. I could get a chiropractor out here any time of day. So that was exactly what I was going to do.

“Okay, boss. Thank you.” Quickly collecting his crap, Kieran left the kitchen with me sitting there, thoughts of a massage running through my head.

Meanwhile, as I heard the door open, I noted the distinct voice of my mother as she talked to Kieran. What the hell was she doing here?

I crossed my arms leaning forward on the island, fully anticipating her to stroll in like she owned the damn place.

“Hello, Mother. I didn’t know you were stopping by,” I greeted before she fully came into view.

“I gave birth to you, Reddington. I earned the right to pop in whenever I please.” She placed her purse down on the counter and made her way over to me.

I nodded. “Still. What’s going on?”

“Your father called, tried to explain to me why he couldn’t be bothered to show up to his son’s engagement party.” She crossed her arms over her chest before deciding to peer into the oven at what Kieran had started cooking.

He’d called me, too. Apparently, he was on a cruise with some bubbly twenty-two-year-old.

He asked me to be his best man. Again. Said he was going to make her wife number four.

Not that I would be calling her mommy or anything like that.

They were all the same anyway—young, full of energy, and setting their sights on my father because of his money.

Thankfully, he made them sign a prenuptial agreement.

The gold digger—sorry, con woman—always ended up walking away from the divorce with something.

Last time it had been seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars and his yacht.

In this day and age, that money wouldn’t last long, but she didn’t have to work for it, only had to marry and have sex with an older man.

It depended on how you looked at things, but my guess was that was a walk in the park and a lot less taxing than finding a job and making an honest living. In that case, not too shabby.

“It’s not that big of a deal,” I finally answered, strumming my fingers against the surface to do something with my hands and not say something stupid like “It’s not that big of a deal because my engagement is all make-believe.

” It was like playing with action figures, fun for a minute, but then an unnecessary nuisance.

Not that Jade was a nuisance. Just this whole fake shit was.

“I doubt Jade thought so. I’m sure she was intending to meet the man who, and I’m going to use this phrase loosely, raised the man she’s going to be spending the rest of her life with.”

Nope. Wrong again. Only the rest of this short period of time. Until I got my investment. I didn’t plan on this lasting long. By the time we came home from Newport and this vow renewal, it should be over.

But you don’t really want that, do you? You want this engagement to last longer, don’t you? I tried to shirk the devil off my shoulder. I couldn’t stand being reminded of things I already knew. Especially when they were irrelevant. Like now.

I cleared my throat and straightened my back. “Jade’s fine.”

She looked around, her head moving every which way. What was she doing? “Where is she?”

Would she buy it if I told her at the garden, offering up her time again?

Or doing something else charitable? “She’s not here.

” Thank you, dumbass, for stating the obvious.

It wasn’t like I had her locked in one of these rooms, tied to the bed.

Why was that suddenly slightly appealing?

All right, stop thinking about Jade. And stop thinking about shit like rope.

I wasn’t into that sort of kink. Never had been.

Never would be. It was Jade. She got under my skin and made me want to crawl with desire. “She’s probably at her apartment.”

The bewildered look that crossed her face said it all really.

Why the fuck did I just say that? I really needed to get better at this whole lying bullshit.

Was there a school people went to so they could get a degree in lying?

Perhaps just a class. If any of that existed, sign me the hell up because I was going to need all the help I could get.

I made up the worst lies that became messy, tangled webs I weaved (case in point: I was engaged), or I couldn’t seem to come up with a lie to save my life when I needed it the most. See, this was exactly why I led my life believing honesty was the best policy.

And now I needed to work in a classroom and teach kiddos.

Heaven help me. I fought the urge to pinch the bridge of my nose.

When was this damn meal going to be done cooking? The timer still hadn’t gone off, and I was sincerely hoping it would. You know, so I could be saved by the bell and all that.

“I’m surprised, Reddington.”

Me, too. But probably not for the same reasons. “Why’s that?”

She shifted in her seat, her gaze never leaving mine.

Oh no, she had that look that screamed she had something to say as a mother, and I’d better listen because she knew best. “You’re not living under the same roof?

More than that, you have your fiancée living in an apartment ?

” How did she make that word sound dirty?

I sighed. “Yes, her apartment. You know, the place where she lives.”

“But you’re getting married.”

“You want me to demand she vacate her apartment and move in with me before the honeymoon?”

“Since when are you old school? Even your father lives with his chippies before they tie the knot.” Please don’t start complaining about Dad.

“What are you saying?”

“She should be staying here.”

“Forgive me, but why?” It just didn’t equate.

She gave me a sympathetic look, probably pitying the fact that I was lacking good sense. “Jade Logan, or Morelli, or whatever she’s calling herself—”

“Logan, Mother. She hasn’t taken the name Morelli. She’s not Angelo Morelli’s daughter, just his late wife’s.”

“Nevertheless, she is about to become a Lyons. You’re a very important businessman, Reddington, and someone is always watching us, making sure we don’t slip up.

Because if we do, they want to be the first to expose it.

Besides, don’t you think your father draws enough attention with his shenanigans?

How about the fact that you decided to wed your brother’s ex? ”

I shook my head. “Too scandalous?”

“For some. My point is you need to control the narrative. As a CEO, I’d expect more from you.”

Oh, brother, she was pulling out all the stops.

Too bad there was no way Jade was going to go for this.

Plus, if I was being candid, I didn’t really want her living here.

For the sake of this whole fake engagement thing?

Maybe. But not for my own sake. She was temptation walking, and I would’ve preferred to be able to walk around my house with my cock not straining against my pants, wanting to be set free twenty-four seven.

Just the thought of Jade strolling from the guest bathroom to the bedroom in nothing but a towel made my heart beat faster.

“I doubt she’ll go for it until we’re married.

She’s old school, as you say.” Don’t judge me, okay?

Blaming her was the only way my mother would get off my back.

It seemed like the most logical thing to do at the time. Told you, I couldn’t lie on my feet.

Completely poised, as she always was, she tapped the top of the island. “You know her best.”

Wait. Did that really just happen? She wasn’t going to insist?

That was what this family was known for.

I felt more unnerved than I had before. Was I dreaming?

I smelled the chicken in the oven. I lightly pinched myself for good measure.

Nope. I was awake. “I do,” I agreed with her, hoping I wasn’t pushing my luck.

She turned on her heel and went to retrieve her purse before making a beeline to the door. Well, that was fast. Semi. It was semi-fast. “I’d like to get to know Jade more. After all, we’re going to be family.”

“Didn’t you get to know her plenty when she and Nate were together?” How much more could she know?

“Don’t be ridiculous.” She waved me off. “He was never serious about her.” He’d planned on proposing, but okay. Then she nodded, as though pleased with whatever she was thinking. “We can play tennis together at the club.”

“That’s a nice idea.” No, it was a horrible idea. One I hoped never came to pass. Too bad I knew hoping was useless because this was my mother we were talking about.

“Very well. Have a lovely evening, Reddington.”

“You, too, Mother.”

She turned back one more time before going, her hand on the knob. “Oh, and your dinner is done.”

I turned around to see how she figured that just as the timer went off.

At the door, she threw over her shoulder one final tidbit, saying, “Maybe you won’t need Kieran any longer when she moves in.”

“ After we’re married.”

“Sure, dear.”

Mitzy Elliot Lyons McGee, everyone.