Page 12 of Theirs to Desire (Club M: Boxed Set)

ADRIAN

N ita looks stressed when I get back to work. “There’s a Cindy Nicholson to see you,” she says. “She works for Senator Downing. I put her in your office.”

The last three years might have been all kinds of hell, but there’d been a blessed lack of Downings in my life. Not anymore. “Did she say why she’s here?”

Nita shakes her head. “Sorry, Adrian. I could have told her you were busy, but I figured you’d want to talk to her.”

She’s right. Senator Theodore Downing is a powerful figure in Washington. What the hell does he want with us?

I guess I’m going to find out.

“Did you see Brody?” I ask my assistant.

“He just walked past me, stuck his head into the office, saw Cindy Nicholson there, and disappeared into a conference room.” She frowns in concern. “Is he okay?”

Probably not. “It’s Brody,” I reassure her. “He’s hard to keep down. He’ll be fine.”

This situation with Brody’s family is a shitshow, and Brody’s spent a lifetime trying to run away from it.

His father is a judge in a small town in Mississippi, who has taken advantage of his position to prey on several young women.

For thirty-six years, his mother has buried her head in the sand and insisted that the judge is innocent of the allegations against him.

When Brody was eighteen, he found out. He left Mississippi for college, and he hasn’t been back since.

He hasn’t spoken to his father in seventeen years.

Every five years or so, he’ll talk to his mother, trying to convince her to see the truth about the man she married, but that conversation never goes anywhere.

Now his mother’s calling. I’m willing to guess that she wants Brody to pay off this latest accuser. What a fucking mess.

“Mr. Lockhart, it’s good to meet you. I’m Cindy Nicholson, Senator Downing’s Legislative Director. Sorry to barge in like this without an appointment.”

Cindy Nicholson is in her late twenties or early thirties. Her shoulder-length blonde hair hangs in loose curls around her impeccably made-up face. She’s wearing a grey business suit that hugs her curves. She’s a good-looking woman, and she knows it.

I shake her hand and wave her to a seat. “What can I do for you, Ms. Nicholson?”

“I’m sure you’ve seen the tender for security services in sub-Saharan Africa,” she replies. “The senator was curious about why Lockhart & Payne hasn’t submitted a bid.”

I raise my eyebrow. “There are thousands of defense tenders out at any given time,” I reply. “Why is the senator interested in the particulars of this one?”

“The senator has his reasons,” she replies cryptically. “Well?”

I bite back my instinctive desire to tell her that it’s none of the senator’s business what we bid for and what we don’t.

While Lockhart & Payne doesn’t do much work with the government, confrontation isn’t good for the bottom line.

“We’re a boutique firm,” I tell her. “We’re currently at capacity. ”

“You could add more employees.” She crosses her legs, and her skirt rides high, and from the covert look she sends me from under her lashes, she wants me to notice. “The senator is in a position to influence vendor selection on the project.”

In other words, if we bid on the job, we’ll get it.

I steeple my fingers. Senator Downing is wealthy, and he has no pet charitable causes that need a ‘donation.’ So it’s got to be the son. Two years ago, Raymond Downing had been angling for a job at our company. Now, daddy appears to be lending a helping hand.

The contract is lucrative, but it’ll leave us with all our eggs in one basket. Lockhart & Payne doesn’t need to take on that kind of risk. Brody and I make enough money.

Plus, it’ll be a cold day in hell before we hire Raymond Downing.

“There’s no need to hurry to a decision,” she adds, lowering her voice to a seductive purr. “Perhaps we can continue this discussion in a less formal setting?”

I raise my eyebrow and wait for her to continue.

“Like in a certain club outside the city?”

I look up at the blonde woman, my eyes narrowed. “Are you trying to blackmail me, Ms. Nicholson?” I ask bluntly.

“No Sir. ”

So she’s a submissive. “Have I seen you at the club?”

She shakes her head. “I’ve only been a member for the last year,” she says. “But you’re something of a legend in the club. And,” she hesitates, and soldiers on, “According to the rumor mills, you don’t have a submissive right now.”

My thoughts go to Fiona. Will she show up tomorrow? With a start, I realize I want her to. I want her to be brave enough to ask for what she wants.

Cindy Nicholson is probably a lovely woman, but she’s not the one I’m interested in. “And I’m not looking for one either.”

Her face falls, but she recovers her composure almost instantly. “Of course,” she says smoothly. “The senator looks forward to seeing Lockhart & Payne bid on the contract.”

I’ll be bidding when pigs fly. I show her out and go to find Brody.