She looked at Gabe, who was lying on his back with his legs up, supporting two-year old Annabelle on his feet while she pretended to fly. One-year-old Nathan Junior was sitting in Hallie’s lap as Nate played peek-a-boo with him. Hope was holding a sleeping almost one-year-old Mia while Mitch dangled his keys at his son Pax’s grabbing hands.
“Yes. He would.” She sat next to me at the table. “Now that you’ve finished raising them, perhaps you can live your own life.”
I looked at her. “I didn’t have to raise them and I am living my life.”
Her brow quirked up suggesting she didn’t buy my statement.
“That’s not for me,” I said. I wasn’t a family man, except for this family.
“I don’t know why not. You’re a good man. Smart, successful — ”
“You’ve still got your looks, although not for long,” my brother Nate said apparently overhearing our conversation.
“I’m happy with my life just as it is. No poopy diapers.” And no risk of losing someone and experiencing the crushing heartache loss could produce. Losing my father was bad enough. I loved my mother and brothers and their families, and that was all my heart could handle.
“Coward,” Gabe said lowering Annabelle to the floor. He whispered something to her and she came running to me.
“Uncle Will.” She held her arms open, and I had no choice but to scoop her up.
“Hey, ma ‘Belle.”
She grinned at me. “Kiss.”
I lowered my cheek and she gave me a big wet kiss.
“How can you want to avoid that?” Mitch asked.
“I’m happy to be the favorite uncle.” I put Annabelle on my knee and started bouncing it. She squealed with delight.
“Someone will change your mind someday,” my mother said as if she could read the future.
“No one has yet,” I said equally as certain she was wrong. I liked women, but I’d never been in love. I’d had a few relationships, but none ever made it to the “I love you” stage. And though I’d cared for them, I had never felt the depth of devotion my brothers felt for their wives.
I hadn’t had a real relationship since my father died a few years back. There’d only been one woman who’d tempted me, but since she was the daughter of a client and had clearly thought I was a bore, I’d never asked her out. Today, Adalyn was working on a joint project between my company, CTS, which a few years back bought Mitch’s company, and the government. But I hadn’t seen her or checked on her. Well, that wasn’t totally true. I had seen her from across the room when I’d made a visit to talk to project manager at CTS. She’d been even more beautiful and vivacious than I’d remembered. She’d been surrounded by men, and while working in an industry still dominated by men wasn’t unusual, there was no doubt that several of the men’s eyes shone with interest for her. They were closer to her age and probably more fun, even though they were geeks.
As for me, my sex life mostly involved my hand, and an occasional hook up with a female friend-with-benefits. It had been a relief to find a woman like Karen; a woman who like me, who didn’t want attachments but on occasion wanted an orgasm by something other than her own self-stimulation.
“I can’t wait for the day when Will eats his words,” Samantha said.
“It better be soon. He’s almost too old. Is there a male equivalent of a spinster?” Nate asked.
“Har har.” My phone beeped in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw a number I hadn’t seen in some time. “I need to take this,” I said, rising from my chair.
“Not too long, Will. Dinner will be ready in a few minutes,” my mother said, returning to the kitchen.
I headed outside on the deck, feeling the crisp October air fill my lungs. My mother’s dog George and Mitch’s dog Duke came running up. I patted each as I poked the answer button on my phone. “Hello?”
“Will?”
“Yes. Guy?”
“Oh good. You remember me.”
“Of course, I do.” Guy Beaumont had not only been a client, but I felt like we’d been friends. He was also Adalyn’s father. I wondered if he was checking up on her. “What’s up?”
“I was wondering if you’d seen Adalyn recently.”
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. His question suggested that Adalyn could be in trouble. “I haven’t. Is something wrong?”
“Well, I haven’t heard from her in several days, and her phone is disconnected and her email is bouncing back. I’ve tried to call her brother but he says he hasn’t heard anything either.”
That wasn’t good. I knew Adalyn and her father had been close. “Did you and she have an argument?” I asked, in case their relationship had changed.
“No. I was hoping I could hire you track her down.”
I remembered talking with CTS about her visa a couple of weeks ago. We’d been trying to find a way to get her a H-1B visa, but to do it we’d have to find another project for her to work on after this one since it was a six-year visa. Had her current visa been rejected and she’d gone home? I shook my head of that thought. She’d have told her dad and brother. I’d have heard about it from CTS as well.
“When was the last time you heard from her?” I asked.
“Mid-week. She was planning a trip.”
“Do you know where? Maybe there’s no service where she is.”
“Out west. Dammit, I wasn’t paying close enough attention. Can you help me, Will?”
“Yes, of course. Do you think she’s in any trouble?”
“I hope not. I’m in Iraq now and can’t hunt her down. I’m a dad who worries.”
“Yes, I know.” He’d hired me for several reasons three years ago, one of which was to protect Adalyn while she’d been here. “Let me make some calls. Can I reach you on this number if I find out anything?”
“Yes. Anytime. Thank you, Will.”
“Of course. Stay safe, my friend.” When I hung up, I called the project manager at CTS and left a message asking if he knew anything about Adalyn going on a trip.
The sliding door opened behind me. “Will. Dinner,” my mother said. “Bring George and Duke in with you too. It’s dinnertime for them, too.”
“George, Duke,” I called and whistled to them. They came running and I let them in the house.
“Important call?” Mitch asked as I sat at the table across from my mother. It was strange to take my father’s place at the table. But as the family grew, room at the table became scarce.
“Old friend. He’s lost touch with his daughter.”
“Are you a P.I. now?” Nate asked, putting Nathan Junior in a high chair.
I shook my head. “Just doing a favor.”
“Is she pretty?” my mother asked.
Everyone at the table laughed.
“She’s beautiful,” I said playing along. “She’s also younger and thinks I’m a stiff.”
“No!” Gabe said on an exaggerated breath.
“Told you he was losing his edge,” Nate said.
“If I lost it, it left three years ago.”
“Tsk tsk.” Nate shook his head.
“Don’t let them hassle you, Will,” Hope said. “Any woman, young or old, would be lucky to have you.”
“Many have,” Nate said.
“Boys!” my mother snapped. “Will, would you say grace?”
“Yes Ma’am.”
Later that night, I returned to my penthouse in Arlington. Unlike my brothers Nate and Mitch, I’d opted for a luxury condo over a house when I decided to buy a home. Maybe they knew they’d someday have families and that’s why they bought spacious homes even as single men. Gabe had rented a home when he returned to Virginia, and ultimately ended up moving into Samantha’s home after he renovated it.
Me? I wasn’t going to have a family, so the forty-five hundred square foot, three-bedroom top floor condo was plenty. The building was secure and private and the views of Washington, D.C. were spectacular.
I checked my phone as I got ready
for bed, but there still wasn’t a response about Adalyn. I wasn’t worried, though. I knew Guy to be a worrywart, and chances were she’d simply turned off her phone. Perhaps she was on a romantic long weekend getaway and didn’t want to be bothered.
I frowned as the idea of another man touching her irked me. Why would I care that she was seeing someone? First, it had been three years since I’d last spent time with her. The idea that she stuck with me was a little disconcerting. Further, I wasn’t any more interesting now that I was then, so even if I did see her, she’d still think I was a bore.
It was all that time with my brothers and their families, I thought. It was putting odd things in my head. I considered calling Karen. It had been several weeks since we’d gotten together to take care of our baser urges. My dick didn’t perk up at the idea, so I simply went to bed.
As I lay there between sleep and wakefulness, Adalyn floated back into my head. Had I been an asshole for not more directly checking in on her when she got the job on the government contract? Worse, had I been a wuss? Had I avoided her because I knew I’d still be attracted to her and didn’t want the sting of her rejection?
“You’re a fucking pussy, Sloane,” I groaned as I turned over and worked to settle comfortably in bed. I was plenty interesting. I was a fucking billionaire whose job was to keep corporations, politicians and governments safe physically as well as digitally. On occasion, we even worked with celebrities. Hell yeah, I was interesting. Maybe when I tracked Adalyn down tomorrow, I’d tell her that.
What Happens in Vegas
Adalyn — Monday
I supposed it was a good thing that the slogan for Las Vegas was, “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” Not that I’d done anything I shouldn’t have done, but clearly, other people did. It certainly lived up to its name of Sin City with gambling, sex, booze, and more. For many people I saw at the conference, it was like a free pass for debauchery.
The conference itself was going well. The main hall of the conference center was filled with tech companies showing off their latest and upcoming innovations. I wondered what men like Thomas Edison or Nikola Tesla would think of all the progress we’d made using their inventions and ideas? Would Nikola think it was cool that an all-electric car as named after him?
My presentation wasn’t until tomorrow, so I was free to check out other presentations or simply to hang out and enjoy the amenities of the hotel and city.
At nine in the morning, I got a call from my boss. He said he’d received phone calls from my father and from Will Sloane wondering where I was. My heart clenched with guilt at going silent with my father, but it had to be done until my visa issue was resolved. But why was Will Sloane looking for me?
“Did you tell them where I was?” I asked.
“Your father left a message and I haven’t called back. I texted Sloane and told him you were at the conference.”
“Why does he care?” I asked.
“He is a part of the project and knows you’re key to its success. It’s not the first time he’s checked in on the project.”
Right. The project. I wasn’t sure why it bothered me that he’d never personally sought me out. We’d been friendly before. He was friends with my dad. Was he simply trying to be professional and not give away our personal connection? Or was he more socially inept than I’d thought? And why did I care?
Three years ago, I’d thought he’d fancied me, but he was so tightly wound, it was hard to tell. I used to tease him about it, hoping he’d loosen up and ask me out. But he either felt it was inappropriate to date a client’s daughter or he wasn’t interested after all. But goodness, on a couple of occasions I’d caught him looking at me and his usually unreadable eyes showed interest. Or I thought they had.
Ugh! Why was I even worried about it? Probably because cool intensity or not, Will Sloane was sexy as sin and sweet as pie. He was emotionally detached, and yet always aware and attentive to my needs back when it was his job to protect me. Not that I needed protection. I was the daughter of a diplomat, yes. But Canada and the United States were friends. I wasn’t in any danger here.
I frowned as I remembered that the United States seemed to have concerns that my father and I could compromise the country’s safety now that he was in the Middle East. It seemed to me the immigration official probably watched too many Bourne or Jack Ryan movies.
“All is going great here. There are some really cool new innovations being developed. I’ve been to a couple of workshops. Why are so many tech people so boring when they speak?”
He laughed. “They’re geeks who hide behind a computer all day.”
“Jobs was a good speaker,” I said.
“Jobs was an artist and creative first, not a tech geek.”
“Right. Well, everything is good here,” I said.
“Have fun this week, Addy, but not too much fun.”
“I’ll see what I can do.” When I hung up, I finished getting dressed and checked the schedule of events for the day. There were a few hologram demonstrations that sounded fun, even though it had nothing to do with the type of work I did. There were also some smart home exhibits that sounded interesting. I was up in the air on what I thought about smart homes. Sure, the convenience of giving voice commands to order your lights on or add something to your calendar was great, but I was leery of being connected to wifi twenty-four-seven. Who could be listening in? The government? Corporations?
I laughed. “Now who’s watching too much Bourne or Jack Ryan?” Still, it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility.
I headed downstairs to the main exhibits. Will’s company had an exhibit there, but I didn’t know the people who were running it. I was happy to see one of them was a woman. There was still too much testosterone in the tech industry.
I moved along and saw an exhibit from a company called GS Sloane. I stopped to look. I’d remembered Will’s brother Gabe had once had a home renovation TV show. Apparently, he and his wife were expanding his line of tools to include smart gear for the home, and an app to help in home décor. It allowed you to take a photo of your room, and then use the app to change wall colors, move furniture and more. My apartment was pretty boring, so I put that app on a list of things to consider using if I ever got around to decorating it. Of course, if I was going to be deported, I wouldn’t have the time.
Moving on, I saw another exhibit with the Sloane name. Good criminy. Were they all related? This was some sort of software related to clothing design. I picked up the literature to read more. Sure enough, it was Mitch Sloane’s brainchild that he’d made for his fashion designer wife. I’d always wanted to meet him, as I found his tech work fascinating. In some ways he was like Jobs, an artist and creative, but he also had the tech skills to back it up. He’d sold his company to CTS where I now worked. I’d tried to get an introduction from Will the last time I was here, but he said Mitch was a bit of a recluse. I guess he wasn’t anymore, as he was now married.
“Ms. Beaumont,” I heard a man’s voice say as I began to move on from the exhibit to the next. I’d been wondering if the last Sloane brother had an exhibit too. Surely there were tech innovations in pharmaceuticals.
I turned. “Yes?”
A handsome, well-dressed man about my age approached with a smile. “I’m Robert Siddons. We haven’t met, but your work and reputation precedes you.” He extended his hand.
“Nice to meet you.”
“Hey listen, I don’t want to seem forward, but can I buy you a drink? Coffee maybe. I work in cyber security as well and I’d love to pick your brain about some of the work you’re doing.”
“I can’t talk about my current work,” I told him.
“Oh.” His eyes perked up at that. “I’m actually curious about some of the code you did two years ago with Coldpert Bank.”
All the work I did had some level of secrecy, as giving out specific details would make their systems vulnerable. But I could speak in general terms.
“I wouldn’t mind
a coffee.”
He smiled, and I couldn’t deny that he was good looking. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been on a date. Kip had been the only one showing any interest, and well, that wouldn’t ever happen. What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, I reminded myself.
As it turned out, Robert was handsome, smart, and a talker. The good news was that I didn’t need to worry about divulging secrets, because I couldn’t get a word in edgewise. The bad news was that I couldn’t get a word in edgewise. Before I could die of boredom, I checked my watched. Remembering there was a presentation coming up, I interrupted Robert.
“I’m so sorry to cut this short, but I was planning on attending the two o’clock presentation.”
He looked at his watch. “Time flies when you’re having fun, doesn’t it?”
I hoped I was smiling and not grimacing. “Yes.”
“I’ll go with you.”
Oh God. “You don’t have to. I’m sure you have other things you’d like to see or colleagues you need to meet.”
“Nope. I’m flying solo this time.”
I wondered if that was on purpose. Perhaps his colleagues sent him here as a respite from him.
Unable to figure out a graceful way to get away, I nodded. He yammered on as we made our way to one of the smaller presentation rooms. I didn’t even know what the topic was about, but I took a seat. For the next forty-five minutes, the presenter spoke about cryptocurrency. The topic was interesting, even though the delivery was not. But at least it shut Robert up for a bit. That is until the presentation ended, and he dove right into his thoughts on digital money.
My phone vibrated in my purse and I thanked the heavens for whoever was calling me. “Excuse me, Robert. I have to take this,” I said pulling my phone from my purse.
“Sure thing.”
I checked the caller ID and saw Mr. Bigalow. Good God, would I ever catch a break? “I need to find a quiet place. I’ll see you later.” At least I could get away from Robert. “Hello.”
“Ms. Beaumont?”
“Yes.”
“This is Dave Bigalow with USCIS.”
“Yes. How are you?” I rolled my eyes. I didn’t like being a suck up, but I’d do it if it would help my chances of staying in the United States.
Accidentally My Hero Page 2