Meyer patted her bottom. “I need to take care of the condom, babe.” Sadie moved reluctantly. She was starving but it had been pleasant to simply be held in a man’s arms.
Meyer headed into the bathroom and she made a face at Logan. “Spoilsport.”
Logan spread out his arms in a helpless gesture. “I waited as long as I could,” he protested. “You two took forever.”
“Forever?” Sadie arched a brow and glanced at the clock. “We did not take forever.”
Logan chuckled and found her robe on the hook behind the closet door. “Okay, maybe forever was an exaggeration but it was a long time.” He tossed her the robe. “Let’s head to the kitchen and eat before it gets cold. Or colder, I should say. Meyer will be right behind us.”
She shrugged into the robe and cinched the belt. She linked her arm in Logan’s. “Feed me, slave.”
“Your wish is my command.” Logan escorted her down the hall toward yummy smells that made her stomach growl. She could get used to this. Hot sex, loving men, and a home-cooked meal.
Yep, she could really start to like this.
Chapter Nine
“Just go. I’ll be fine. Brenda and Carl will be here very soon anyway.” Sadie sighed. Logan and Meyer were starting to drive her crazy. She needed to get these invoices into the computer and they were acting like she’d never been in a house by herself.
Meyer scowled. It was a permanent expression since they’d found out what had happened in Lodi. The servers Meyer had found belonged to a retired couple. The husband liked to dabble with computers but had never bothered to set up any sort of firewall. Jean-Luc had seized control of the servers and had been using them. Jean-Luc was nowhere to be found and could be anywhere. The only rainbow in those dark clouds was the gold mine of information the authorities had discovered. It would take months to sort through all the data Jean-Luc had stolen from multiple financial institutions and to assess the extent of the damage.
“You can come with us,” Logan offered.
“I have work to do here. Besides, you’re meeting with the Feds and getting briefed on the details, right?” Both men nodded. “I don’t need to be there. I’ll get these invoices done and by then Brenda and Carl will be here. Brenda says she wants us to start cooking the minute she steps in the door. I won’t be able to do that unless I get my work done.”
“Leave it for next week,” Logan argued. “I don’t think your bosses will mind.”
They wouldn’t mind, but she would. She liked to have everything orderly at the end of the week. With Thanksgiving the next day, she wanted the paperwork done and filed so she could enjoy the holiday.
She looked at them expectantly, her brows raised. Finally they sighed and headed for the door. “We’ll be back in a few hours,” Meyer called over his shoulder. Sadie heard the soft click of the front door and smiled. A few quiet hours to herself. She’d get tons of work done and then have fun baking pies with Brenda all afternoon.
Sadie was engrossed in her work when she heard the peal of the doorbell. Brenda and Carl had a key but maybe they thought it would be more polite to ring. She hurried to the door and threw it open, happy to greet them. She’d grown very fond of them in a short time. They were wonderful people.
Instead of Meyer’s parents, a smiling man in a uniform stood at the door. He was on the young side, with a walkie-talkie in one hand and a toolbox in the other. His shirt read “Plenty Cablevision.”
“Hey, I’m Mike. I’m here to fix your cable.”
Sadie frowned. “The cable? I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it.”
The guy pulled a piece of paper from his shirt pocket and handed it to her. “Someone called in a complaint about slow internet service.”
Meyer complained about it all the time. She hadn’t realized he’d called anyone about it. The work order clearly showed Meyer’s name and address. The man’s walkie-talkie came to life with loud static then a voice.
“Mike? Have you fixed the bandwidth issue yet?”
Mike lifted the walkie-talkie to his face. “Just got here. Shouldn’t take long. What’s up?”
More static. “Need you at Town Hall.” More static. “Call me when you’re done.”
Mike smiled. “Sorry about that. No rest for the weary. If you could just point me to where the router is, I can take a look.”
The slamming of car doors interrupted them. Brenda and Carl had pulled into the driveway. They were unloading the car filled to the brim with suitcases and bags of food. Sadie had already gone holiday shopping but it looked like Brenda had loaded up as well. They would have food for weeks. Sadie waved to them and Brenda and Carl trundled up the stairs, their cargo in tow.
“Sorry,” Sadie apologized to Mike. “You know how it is at the holidays.”
“No problem,” he assured her. “I know how it is.”
Brenda and Carl joined Mike on the porch. Sadie pushed open the door further to grab some of their bags. “I’m so glad you made it. This man here is looking at the slow internet issue we’re having.”
All three of them entered the house and Carl dropped a quick kiss on her cheek and headed up the stairs with the suitcases. Brenda hugged her warmly before turning to the repairman. “It’s chilly today. Can I make you some coffee? Only my son would complain about a slow internet connection. It’s twice as fast as the one at our house, and ten times as fast as the one at the hotel we were staying at.”
Mike nodded. “That would be nice. Thank you.” He looked around. “Where is your router set up?”
Sadie slapped a hand on her head. “Sorry. I’ll take you back to the office. Follow me.”
She led Mike into the office area and pointed to an area of the office she kept a wide berth from. The lights on the front of the router were flashing and she knew enough to know it meant the internet was working. What he needed to get it to go faster was a mystery.
Mike nodded and started pulling out tools. “I’ll get started. It shouldn’t take long.”
She hesitated, but he didn’t really seem to need her. He was already unplugging the cable from the back of the router. “I’ll go see if your coffee is ready.”
She ducked out and headed for the kitchen. The drip coffeemaker was already going and she would be able to take back a cup for him in a few minutes.
Brenda was unloading the bags of groceries and humming. “Is he working on things? He seems very young, but then everyone seems young to me these days.”
Sadie pitched in, loading the already full refrigerator and cabinets with food. “He is. Seems to know what he’s doing. I felt a little in the way, actually.”
“Best to let repairmen do their thing and stay out of their way.”
Mike stuck his head into the kitchen “I just need to step outside for a minute. I’ll be right back.”
By the time Mike returned, they had his coffee waiting. He sipped at it and they chatted about the cooler Florida weather.
“I’m from up north. New Jersey, actually.” Mike wrapped his hands around the cup. “But I love this weather down here. It’s great.”
Brenda laughed. “I don’t miss the snow. I’ve seen plenty of it in my life. That cold seeps into my bones. I’m getting too old for freezing weather.”
Mike grinned. “I don’t think there’s a minimum age for not liking cold. I don’t miss it myself.” He put down his cup. “Thank you but I need to get to work. I’ll be done in just a few minutes and out of your hair.”
He disappeared into the office and true to his word, came back out less than five minutes later. “You should notice a difference. Call the company if you have any more problems.”
Mike handed her his card and she walked him to the front door. “Happy Thanksgiving. Thank you for fixing it so quickly.”
Mike grinned as he bounded down the porch steps. “It was my pleasure. Happy Thanksgiving.”
Mike hopped into his white panel van and was off down the street. Sadie headed back into the kitchen where Bre
nda was starting to mix up pie dough.
“I just have to finish these invoices and I’m all yours. It’ll only take a couple of minutes to add them to the spreadsheet.”
Brenda nodded. “You work too hard. I’m going to talk to Meyer about that.”
Sadie laughed. “I couldn’t work any harder than they do. They both work too hard.”
“That’s true. You need to take them in hand.”
Sadie’s eyebrows shot up. “Me? Take them in hand? Why would they listen to anything I say?”
Brenda sprinkled flour on the counter. “You have more power than you know. They love you, Sadie. If you put your foot down, they’ll work less.”
Her heart squeezed painfully. “They don’t love me.”
Brenda snorted. “Yes, they do. And by the look on your face, you love them back. What is it with young people? You think you can just decide who and when to love? Shoot, when the right person comes along, they come along. I knew Carl was the man for me the minute I met him.” Brenda shook the rolling pin at Sadie. “Tell them. Be brave, Sadie.”
Sadie didn’t feel brave. Not about this. “I’ll think about what you’ve said. But I’m not convinced.”
“Fine. Waste time thinking instead of planning a future. Doesn’t make any sense to me, but it’s your decision.”
Sadie wasn’t so sure. The decision might have already been taken out of her hands.
She was in love. Did she have the bravery to tell Logan and Meyer and plan a life with them? Was she brave enough to turn her back on everything they’d offered her and make a life for herself alone?
She wasn’t that brave.
* * * *
The smell of pumpkin pie had wafted through the house when Meyer and Logan stomped through the front door. Both had sour expressions and it appeared the news hadn’t been good. Meyer especially looked down, his shoulders hunched, his mouth a flat line. He gave his mother a hug but it was clear he was upset.
Brenda poured both of them a cup of coffee. “You look like you lost your dog. What happened?”
Logan briefly explained about finding the servers in Lodi but that Jean-Luc wasn’t there. “They did say the data is a godsend. They’ll be able to learn quite a bit from it. But we’re back to the beginning, looking for Jean-Luc.”
“This doesn’t stop him? You took his hardware and data?” Carl asked.
Meyer still hadn’t said anything and he turned away and headed down the hall, leaving Logan to answer. “Jean-Luc is too smart not to have backup hardware and data. We’ve dented him, that’s for sure. It’s more than we’ve been able to do in the past, but we have a lot more work ahead of us.”
“Do you have to wait for him to do something?” Sadie asked.
Logan sighed. “Technically, no. We have other avenues we can revisit. They led to a dead-end before, but perhaps there are things we’re overlooking. In addition, Pierce, Quinton, and Ryker are on the ground in Lodi. Perhaps we can find a link between the couple who owned the house and Jean-Luc. Maybe he met them or lived in that area at one time? It’s a long shot but we have to follow every lead.”
Brenda put her hand on Logan’s arm. “Friday. You have to follow every lead on Friday. It’s Thanksgiving. It’s family time now. Nothing will change between now and then. In fact, it might help to leave it be for a few days.”
Meyer ran into the room, almost stumbling over a kitchen chair. His expression was wild, his short hair standing on end.
“What. The. Fuck. Happened? What happened in the office?” His voice was loud and angry.
Sadie and Brenda exchanged glances. “Did the cable man make a mess?” Brenda queried. “He wasn’t here long enough to move things around all that much.”
Logan and Meyer looked at each other. Meyer’s breathing was shallow. “What cable guy? Why was the cable company here?” His face was pale and he appeared to be trying to hold onto his control, but barely able to.
Sadie grabbed the work order from the counter and handed it to Logan, who was closest to her. “He came to work on the slow internet connection. He said one of you called it in.”
Logan perused the paper and then handed it to Meyer. “Babe, what did he look like?”
Sadie shrugged. “Young. Very friendly. We had coffee with him. He was nice. He said we would notice a difference. Is it slower? We can call him. He gave us his card. I tossed it in the big tray where you keep all those business cards you collect.”
Meyer looked up, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat. “You were alone with him?”
Brenda shook her head. “We were all here. Why are you grilling this poor girl like a criminal? I offered him coffee, is that a crime?”
Meyer groaned and tossed the paper on the table. “No, but what he did is.” He whirled around. “We never called the cable company.” He pointed to the work order. “That’s a fraud. Anyone could have created one on a computer. Someone waltzed into the house, ruined my computer system, siphoned off my data, and you served him coffee. Fuck.” Meyer turned on his heel and walked out.
Carl stood and held up his hand. “I got this.” He headed down the hall while the three of them stood staring at each other. Logan finally shook his head. “Do you think he was serious? All his data is gone? His network destroyed? How long was that guy here anyway?”
“A half hour maybe. Not more than an hour.” Sadie sat down, her legs shaky. She’d let someone in the house and they’d raised havoc with Meyer’s work. She felt terrible. It was all her fault. “I have to apologize. I let him in.” She rose but Brenda put a hand on Sadie’s shoulder and pressed her back into the chair.
“Trust me. I know my boy and he needs to cool down. He’s going to blame everyone and anyone for what happened here. It was a mistake. I let him in the house as well. He was wearing a uniform and looked legitimate, which I assume was what he intended. This could have happened to anyone.”
“Not Logan and Meyer.” Sadie shook her head.
Logan sighed and sank down into a chair. “I’m guessing he was watching the house and waiting for us to leave. We weren’t gone very long when he showed up, right?”
“Maybe fifteen minutes?” Sadie didn’t take comfort when Logan put his hand on hers, squeezing her fingers. “Why would someone do this?”
“Because we got too close.” Meyer stood in the kitchen doorway, his jaw tight and his arms crossed over his chest. Logan stood and put his arm around Meyer’s shoulders.
“How bad is it, babe?”
Meyer heaved a big sigh. “Bad, although it could be worse. He’s sucked out all the data on our network. He’s compromised some cases. This was retaliation for getting too close to Jean-Luc.”
Logan cursed. “I never thought he’d come after us personally like this. We should have been more aware. This is our error in judgment.”
Sadie licked her lips, tears stinging the back of her eyes. Logan was trying to take the blame but she knew it belonged squarely on her shoulders. She wasn’t good for anything. She couldn’t save her brother’s life and she’d fucked this up too. She’d finally admitted she loved Meyer and Logan, dreamed of having a future with them, but life reminded her why that couldn’t happen.
“I’m sorry.” Her voice came out like a croak. “I’m really sorry. He looked like he knew what he was doing. He had a uniform and a walkie-talkie. It all looked so official.”
Meyer’s lips had a white ring around them. “A walkie-talkie? That made it official? Son of a fucking bitch, Sadie. How could you let him back in my office? Did you even watch what he was doing?”
Brenda, Carl, and Logan immediately joined ranks. They stood shoulder to shoulder between Sadie and Meyer. Brenda shook her finger at her son.
“Don’t you dare blame this girl. If you want to blame anyone, blame me. She didn’t do anything wrong. Believe me when I say, it looked real. You’re always complaining about slow internet. This man took a guess and it worked. I’m sorry this happened to you. But blaming others to avoid the work
of fixing the mess isn’t going to work with me.”
Logan nodded. “This is our fault, Meyer. Not Sadie’s. You know it, and I know it. We should have known Jean-Luc would make this personal. We certainly did. You need to apologize.”
Tears had started to fall unheeded down her cheeks. She peered around the three of them and Meyer’s face was red, mutiny written in every line on his face. Sadie’s heart was breaking knowing she had hurt the men she loved. She would rather cut off an arm than do anything to injure these men. She pressed a hand to her mouth to keep in a sob. Her crying wasn’t going to solve anything. She didn’t want an apology out of guilt. She wasn’t seeking one at all. She simply wanted to be forgiven for screwing things up.
“I’m so sorry, Meyer. Please, I’m so sorry,” Sadie pleaded, a catch in her throat. Logan turned, a scowl on his face.
“You have nothing to apologize for. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
Sadie wiped at her wet cheeks. “Meyer thinks I did something wrong.”
Carl sighed. “Meyer thinks many things. I thought we’d settled this in the office, but it appears we need to talk about this some more. Come on, son. Back to the office.” Carl moved forward and grasped Meyer’s arm, guiding him into the hallway.
Sadie slumped back into the chair, sniffling. This day had gone from good to fucking terrible in minutes. Nothing would ever be right again with her and Meyer. He blamed her and wasn’t going to forgive her. It would poison whatever feelings Logan had for her. She should pack her things and move back in with Sami. She couldn’t take the thick tension she could feel in the house. She’d grown up in a house full of tension and she didn’t ever want to live like that again.
Logan sat down in the chair beside her, pulling her into his arms. “It’s okay, babe. Meyer’s like this. He gets mad, then he gets stubborn. In a few hours, he’s going to be groveling for your forgiveness. Mark my words.”
Sadie shook her head. “I don’t think so. He’s angry. I screwed up. I’m sorry.”
Plenty to Give [Plenty, FL 7] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 11