Thank you,
McKenna Thorne
By the time Tag finished reading the article, his vision was blurry from the red haze that had consumed him. That little fucking weasel was still harassing McKenna. Not only that, she didn’t bother to tell him about it.
Why would she? Oh, right, she wasn’t speaking to him, so the last part actually made sense.
Leaving his coffee cup and his tablet on the table, Tag grabbed his car keys, his phone and his wallet and was out the door. It was long past time for him to pay someone a visit.
Two minutes into his drive, Tag’s cell phone rang, and he hit the button to activate the blue tooth. “Murphy.”
“Where are you?” Logan’s deep voice filled the interior of the car.
Why did the man always start the conversation with that question?
“In my car,” he said vaguely.
“I need you to meet me at XTX.”
“Sorry, can’t do it. I’ve got somewhere I need to be,” Tag responded.
“Meet me at XTX in fifteen minutes, Murph. No excuses.”
The call ended, and Tag slammed his hands against the steering wheel. His temper was getting the best of him these days, and he was pretty sure he knew why. Those damn McCoy twins were starting to piss him off. But it wasn’t like he had much of a choice, so he pulled over, made an abrupt illegal U-turn and headed toward the XTX offices.
This better be good, that’s all he knew.
~*~*~
McKenna hadn’t known where else to turn, and somehow she ended up at XTX, requesting to speak to Samantha McCoy. To her surprise, not five minutes later, Logan showed up, but Sam was nowhere to be found.
Now she was sitting in an empty conference room, a glass of water on the table in front of her and her nerves in a serious state of uproar.
It wasn’t like she didn’t know who was responsible for tearing up the Sensations, Inc. offices. Seriously, Stephen Crawford made it way too easy. That didn’t make what he did any easier to swallow.
From the moment she reached the main door of her office, McKenna had known something was wrong. Seriously wrong. The fact that the door was unlocked and standing open was probably her first clue.
Instead of turning around and walking back out to her car, McKenna had morphed into the girl in the scary movies who proceeds into the unknown, despite knowing better. The only difference between her and that naive young girl was that McKenna pulled her handgun from her purse before she entered the office. Maybe not the smartest move ever, but she knew how to use it, so she at least wasn’t walking into the unknown ill prepared.
What she saw before her stole her breath.
The entire office had been ransacked. Completely. Everything in there was trashed. Everything. All of the desks, phones, chairs, computers, filing cabinets... everything had been overturned, and some of them had even been thrown through walls. Through. The. Wall.
After a quick assessment, McKenna debated on what to do. The only thing she knew to do was to call Whisper. After briefly informing her assistant of what happened, she instructed her to call all of the employees and tell them not to come in. From there, she locked the main door, practically ran to her car and began driving until she was pulling into the parking lot of XTX.
Once Logan came down to talk to her, she managed to explain to him what was going on. He interrupted her briefly to make a phone call, and she heard him telling Alex McDermott the details before instructing him to have someone sent over to Sensations, Inc.
She didn’t know what good that was going to do now. The damage was done. The only good thing was that he had decided to take out his rage on her office equipment, rather than her employees. He being Stephen Crawford. There was no doubt in McKenna’s mind that he was the bastard responsible.
When the door opened, McKenna looked up from watching her fingers fidget nervously, fully expecting to see Logan standing there, but to her surprise, he wasn’t the man staring back at her. Suddenly, as though he jump started her heart, she was overcome by an uncomfortable pounding in her chest.
“Where’s Logan?” How she managed to produce words, she didn’t know.
“He’s talking to Sam,” Tag explained as he shut the door behind him. “They’ll be here in a minute.”
McKenna nodded her head. She would wait for them then. She had absolutely nothing to say to Tag. Not one thing.
So maybe she had a million things to say to Tag.
But she wouldn’t.
“Why are you here?” Or maybe she would.
Her brain was fuzzy, her palms were suddenly damp, and her heart was still pounding. All from the mere sight of Tag Murphy in all of his sexy glory.
Not that she had forgotten how incredibly attractive he was, or how intense his presence could be. No, she’d thought about him each and every day for the last two weeks, secretly hoping he would call. He never did.
“Why didn’t you call me?” Tag questioned her as he sat down in the chair beside her.
He was way too close. Close enough for her to inhale the spicy scent of his cologne, mixed with the heady scent that was unique to Tag.
Instinctively, her eyebrows darted down into a frown, her head cocked just slightly, and she stared back at him. Why hadn’t she called him? Was there something wrong with this man?
“Today, McKenna. Why didn’t you call me today?” Tag clarified.
She knew exactly what he meant, but she played along, masking her emotions but never taking her eyes off of his. “I didn’t feel as though this were any of your business,” she told him honestly.
And that was the truth.
For the last two weeks, McKenna had been wracked with a multitude of emotions ranging from heart wrenching pain to blood boiling anger. None of which she particular cared for. And yet here he was, sitting beside her as though nothing had transpired between them. Acting as though her first reaction should have been to call the one man who had deliberately, and hurtfully, pushed her away.
The door opened, and Logan and Sam walked into the room, saving her from having to answer Tag’s questions. That didn’t stop him from continuing to pin her with his unhappy gaze.
“McKenna,” Sam approached quickly, “I’m so sorry this happened.”
The despair in Sam’s brilliant green eyes had a lump forming in McKenna’s throat. This is the exact reason why she shouldn’t have come here. In no way would she ever blame Sam for anything that happened. Sam wasn’t going to be that easy on herself though.
“It’s not your fault,” McKenna stated around the knot that threatened to choke her.
“But it is –” she began, but gratefully Logan stopped her by interrupting.
“Cole is on his way over to your office. I gave him the key you gave me,” he explained as he pulled a chair out for Sam to sit in. “Alex and Luke will be here in a few minutes.”
McKenna glanced around at the three of them, but her eyes landed on Tag. He had an expression on his face that she didn’t recognize. She couldn’t tell whether it was disbelief, or disdain. Regardless, Tag didn’t look happy to be there, and more importantly, he didn’t look happy with her.
“Do you have security cameras at your office?”
Security cameras?
It took a second to figure out what Tag was talking about because she was apparently way too wrapped up in trying to figure him out. Oh, God. How did she forget she had security cameras?
Since this was actually a good thing, McKenna wondered why Tag looked a little out of sorts.
Chapter Thirty Two
*** ~~ *** ~~ *** ~~ ***
Alex and Luke walked in as Tag was asking the question, but he didn’t spare either of them a glance. The way McKenna’s eyes widened, obviously in realization, he knew the answer before she said anything.
“I do,” she replied, her eyes darting between the five people staring back at her.
The answer was a good one as far as Tag was concerned, but there were two possible problems w
ith it. One: her security cameras had been destroyed along with the rest of her office. Or two: they were still intact, and they now had something to hold against Stephen Crawford. Although he hoped it was the second, Tag knew that it was in his best interest – as their lawyer – not to listen to the rest of the conversation. But he couldn’t seem to convince his legs to get up and walk out of the room.
“Where are they?” Alex asked, standing off to the side with his arms crossed over his chest.
“They are recorded via a web feed. I had them installed a few years ago after our first break in,” McKenna explained.
First break in? How many did the woman have?
“They’re hidden really well for this exact reason,” she continued.
“Someone bring her a laptop.” Tag instructed, not looking at anyone else in the room except for McKenna.
From the moment he walked in, she had seemed to be holding up fairly well, even though he noticed the slight tremble in her hands that she was working to keep hidden.
As soon as their eyes met when he walked through the door, Tag witnessed that invisible mask slide into place, effectively hiding any emotion she might be feeling. Her pride was a tangible thing, he knew.
“I’ve got a meeting to go to, but if there is anything I can do, let me know,” Samantha stated suddenly, her voice disturbing the heavy silence that hung in the room. “McKenna, again, I’m so very sorry –”
This time McKenna was the one to cut her off. “Sam, this isn’t your fault. None of it is. I’m insured, so everything’s covered, although I’m sure my insurance company isn’t going to be too happy with me this time.”
Tag couldn’t seem to get past McKenna’s comments that this was a reoccurring event.
Sam nodded her head and turned to walk out of the room, but not before Tag saw the sheen of tears in her eyes. He didn’t blame her.
All of a sudden, it seemed as though everything was beginning to crash down around them. Even with a renewed hope that they had evidence of Stephen Crawford doing this, which they might be able to hold against him, they still weren’t out of the woods yet.
Tag knew from a legal perspective, countering the blackmail wasn’t going to be the best avenue to pursue, but he also knew he wouldn’t be able to convince Logan or Luke of that. No matter what they did at this point, these pictures were going to get out and honestly, every attempt they made to stop it only bided them time.
After McKenna found the website where she could access the security camera feed, the laptop was handed off to Alex. While the rest of them waited patiently to see if there was anything they could garner from it, Tag opted to interrogate McKenna a little, although he could see how unhappy she was to answer his questions.
“How many times has this happened?” he asked. “Or better yet, when is the last time this happened?”
“Not in a long time up until recently, but never to this magnitude,” she answered, glancing back and forth between him, Logan and Luke.
Realizing he was changing the subject, Tag moved on to the other question bothering him. “What prompted you to write that article?”
“I don’t know.” McKenna shook her head and looked down at her hands. “I think his last email just pushed me too far.”
“I want to see that email,” Tag demanded, knowing his tone wasn’t in the least bit polite.
“I’d like to see it too,” Logan chimed in.
McKenna pulled out her cell phone, scrolled through what appeared to be her email and then typed in something. A second later Tag’s phone beeped along with Logan’s with an incoming email. He didn’t hesitate before reading it.
It was then that he was grateful for his overabundance of patience because what he read infused him with a blinding rage so violent he damn near crushed his phone with his bare hands.
“Did you give this to the police?” he managed to ask, though he could feel the muscles in his neck straining as he fought the urge to lash out at someone for allowing this to happen to her.
McKenna shook her head. “How would that help? It would only bring light to this situation, and until Luke and Logan figure out what they want to do, I wasn’t about to be the one to raise any more interest.”
Tag didn’t like the answer. Not one fucking bit.
Based on the shit Crawford was spewing, McKenna very well could be in danger, and as much as he liked and respected Sam and Logan, Tag wasn’t capable of sitting back and allowing this to go further. If Crawford was the one who tore McKenna’s office apart the way she described, the man was on the edge. And, if they weren’t careful, he was about to go over.
“I want to drop the lawsuit against Susan.” Luke spoke for the first time since he walked into the room.
Tag jerked his head toward him. “What?”
“You heard me. I want to drop it. Sierra won hers, so there really isn’t any more we can do. As we all know, nothing is going to stop her from getting what she wants.”
“And what does she want?” McKenna asked.
“Fuck if I know,” Luke growled, his normal, disgruntled tone letting everyone in the room know what he thought of the situation.
“She feels as though she was jilted by Luke and Cole, right?” McKenna asked no one in particular. “And if I had to guess, no one has approached her civilly because of the way she’s acting out, am I right?”
Tag glanced back at Logan and Luke. McKenna had nailed it accurately because Luke and Cole both had tried to talk to Susan, but Tag knew without a doubt there wasn’t anything civil about the conversation.
Since the day Luke called him, advising him to file the lawsuit for breach of contract, he’d been irrational any time her name was mentioned. Even Logan had tried reasoning with Luke, but he failed just like the rest of them. So, Tag had done what he was hired to do.
And yes, Sierra had won the lawsuit Susan filed against her accusing her of misrepresentation, and Tag had sat back watching the entire thing play out. He hadn’t been Sierra’s legal counsel because he was a corporate attorney, but the man she had hired was one of the best Tag knew.
Granted, it didn’t hurt that Susan really was bat shit crazy. He was surprised the judge was able to keep a straight face anytime the woman showed up in court. He certainly hadn’t been able to.
“What are you suggesting?” It was Logan’s turn to ask.
“I don’t know.” McKenna dropped her head into her hands.
And there lie the problem. They continued to circle back to the same answer every time. No one knew what to do, how to handle it, or even what the next step might be.
It was beginning to piss Tag off because quite frankly, the group surrounding him were some of the smartest people he knew and not a single one of them, himself included, had made it this far in life by not solving problems. There was some way they could get out of this, maybe not entirely unscathed, but there had to be some way.
Tag was just worried that the McCoy brothers were going to take matters into their own hands after this. And there lie the other problem.
They were going to have to beat Tag to it.
Chapter Thirty Three
*** ~~ *** ~~ *** ~~ ***
McKenna managed to get out of the XTX building without having to talk to Tag one on one. Unfortunately, she knew her good luck had run out the moment she pulled into her driveway. His car was parked on the street, and he was standing beside it. Not sitting in it, but standing beside it.
She was tempted to hit the button to close the automatic garage door once she pulled safely inside, but she knew that would be childish. Not that she really cared.
She didn’t.
She took her time gathering her things before slowly exiting the car. Taking her time didn’t help to strengthen her resolve any. Now she was standing just outside of her car, staring at the provocative man who still looked intensely sexy even with that grim look on his face. As she stood in front of him, McKenna realized her spacious two car garage had never felt smaller than it d
id right then.
Fine. If he wanted to talk, they could have it out right here because she was not letting him into her house. She watched as he turned his back on her and went to the entry door that led into the house.
Shit. She was letting him into her house.
McKenna had no choice except to follow because he was standing at the open door waiting for her. She refused to act like a petulant child, although she felt she was more than entitled.
Once inside, she set her purse down on the bar before turning to face him. Only she had to take a step back, which put her dangerously close to him and the hard countertop pressing into her back. She could barely breathe for how close he was to her.
It wasn’t like her house was small and he didn’t have plenty of square footage to take up, so she didn’t understand why he insisted on being quite this close. If she could find her voice, she might just ask him.
Nope, voice had definitely gone on hiatus.
Shit.
And now he was touching her. The warmth of his rough fingers slid over her cheekbone, then traced her jaw until he was gripping her chin and tilting her head back even more. When she met his eyes, she realized he was fixated on her. More importantly, he was fixated on her mouth, and damn her traitorous body for doing a sudden and intense quick preheat.
Still no voice.
Instead, she licked her lips.
Mistake.
Tag leaned in closer, his fingertips still tilting her chin, his mouth hovering dangerously close to hers as she inhaled the unique, dangerous scent of him into her lungs. And wouldn’t you know it, the man didn’t even have bad breath, so she was hard pressed to find any reason to try to break away from him.
Closing her eyes, McKenna tried to focus on breathing, but the only thing she managed to do was absorb the warmth of his chest through her clothes and into her skin. He wasn’t quite touching her physically anywhere except for his fingers on her chin, but she felt like he was wrapped around her completely.
Infatuation - A Club Destiny Novel Page 22