“I’m happy to go back to my department, Bro. This whole company thing is more than I want on my shoulders.”
“If you worked out more, your shoulders might be as big as mine.”
He flips me off, and walks out of my office. I head down to see Kendrick and Waverly. They both clear me, and I hurry back upstairs, hoping I’m not too late. I practically run into the Foundation offices, and Alex looks alarmed.
“Is everything okay?” she asks as I hold onto her desk while I try to get my breathing back under control.
“Did Reina go to lunch yet?”
“No.”
“Yes! I made it.”
“Um, okay. She didn’t say she was eating with you.”
“She doesn’t know.”
“Go on back.”
I kiss her on the cheek, straighten my tie, and get ready to romance my wife. I walk in to find her finishing up a phone call. She smiles when she sees me, and I blow her a kiss as she hangs up.
“Nope. I heard you cleaned out my office after my meltdown, and had it put back together. That deserves a real kiss.”
“I told you that in the press conference, but I’ll never complain about kissing you.”
We kiss for several minutes, before she pulls back to look at me. “How has your morning been?”
“Busy.”
“Mine too.”
“It was brought to my attention that we’ve never eaten together in the cafeteria. I was hoping we could remedy that.”
“Making all my dreams come true, huh?”
“You dreamed of eating in the cafeteria with me?”
“Only on the days I was already there when you walked in. I would hope you’d sit with me instead of with the guys. Or the secretaries. It’s not a big deal.”
The fuck it’s not. I honestly don’t know how I got out of bed every day when I was being such an ass to her. I should’ve been curled up in the fetal position, cursing myself. I feel like doing that right now, honestly.
“Never again. We’re having lunch together whenever we both have lunchtime free.”
“What if I don’t want to eat with you?” she asks with a smirk.
“I’m willing to trade sexual favors for lunch.”
“You’ll let me suck you off if I let you sit with me? I’m down with that. Literally.”
“Best. Fucking. Wife. Ever.”
“Aw, you say the sweetest things. Now lunch me, Mr. Corrigan, so we have time to stop in your office before my afternoon calls.”
“Lead the way, Mrs. Corrigan.”
We walk hand in hand, and the stares are even more blatant than they were in the lobby. When we walk into the cafeteria, you can hear a pin drop. We ignore the awkwardness, and grab our food. I snag us a table right in the middle of the room, and then pull her chair right up next to mine. We eat and kiss. Kiss and eat. I don’t even know what I ate, but I know it was the best lunch I’ve ever had. No contest.
Instead of going to my office for an after lunch delight, I walk Reina back towards the Foundation. She’s surprised, and I love that I made that happen.
“Is something wrong?”
“Nope. Everything is absolutely right.”
“I still have time before my next call.”
“Good. You can think about where you’d like to go for dinner tonight.”
“You’re really good at this dating thing so far.”
“You inspire me.”
“Who knew Matthew Corrigan could be so romantic?”
“No one.”
“I knew. I just thought you’d never show me this side again.”
“I never thought I could. Thanks for giving me another chance.”
“Thanks for not giving up on me when I told you it was over.”
I kiss her because I have to. My hands are cupping her face, and hers are inside my suit jacket. Neither one of us takes it further, because while we don’t care if anyone sees us kiss, we’re not about to put on a show. After a few minutes, I take her hand again, and walk her back into the Foundation, where she has someone waiting for her. Someone who had better have a good explanation for the scowl on her face.
“What are you doing here, Nev?”
“She’s here to see Reina. I tried to explain that she’s got a full afternoon, but she wouldn’t leave. I didn’t call anyone, because I know she’s your friend, Matt.”
“Thanks, Alex. Now answer me, Neveah.”
“She can’t just treat you like she’s been doing and get away with it.”
“You know nothing about what Reina has or hasn’t done. Or what I have or haven’t done, for that matter.”
“You’ve always looked out for me. I want to look out for you now.”
“I don’t need you to do that.”
“Why are you holding her hand?”
“Because I love her.”
“She was all over half the guys in Europe.”
“Your mother has taught you not to judge until you have all the facts.”
“So tell me the facts.”
“I’m sorry. I really do have a call to make. I’d be happy to talk to you whenever Alex can schedule you in, Neveah. I’ll see you later, Matt,” Reina says.
“Yes, you will.”
I kiss her again and watch her walk away. Then I turn back to the girl I’ve taken responsibility for, but who’s currently acting like a brat. “My office, now.”
“I need to make my appointment first.”
“For the love of God, Nev. Leave my wife alone.”
“No.”
“Reina is free tomorrow at 3 for half an hour.”
“Perfect. I’ll take it.”
“If I let you live that long.”
I march her out of the lobby and into one of the elevators. She says nothing to me until we’re in my office with the doors closed. Then she says the one thing I was hoping she wouldn’t.
“They’re real. The stories you told me about the girl spies who were led by a fierce warrior. They’re not just stories. I saw the other women at the hospital. Reina is the warrior.”
“I told you those stories because you were depressed two years ago. I wanted you to realize that not every female was like the bitches from your school.”
“You’re not denying that they’re real. You trained me to be one of them. You can’t deny that. The language lessons, the sparring. You want me to join them.”
“If it was real, you couldn’t join. An organization like that would require you to shoot a gun.”
“I’ll never shoot a gun. Never.”
“I know, and that’s why the stories will never be real.”
* * *
Reina
“Camari from PR is here to see you, Rei.”
I look at the clock, and see that I have ten minutes until my next call. “Go ahead and send her back, Alex.”
I command my door open, and look over some more notes for the next call while I wait. She doesn’t keep me waiting long. “Hello, Reina.”
“Hi, Camari. What can I help you with?”
“You could wear your engagement and wedding rings, for starters.”
“I hate those rings, so no.”
“You hate them? Does Matt know?”
“Yes to both,” I tell her with a smile.
“It would make my job easier if you would wear a ring that Matt bought you.”
I hold up my right hand. “I am wearing a ring Matt bought me. Is there anything else? I have a call in a few minutes.”
“I don’t believe the two of you have been happily married. Yesterday when you came back, and again today, the two of you have been different.”
“After the kidnapping scare, we’ve re-affirmed our love for each other. We feel the need to show it.” It’s not a lie. There are even flowers on my desk to prove how much Matt wants me to know he loves me.
“I can’t do my job properly if I don’t know the truth.”
“You know what you need to know,” I tell her, mentally
applauding her for standing up to me. Not many people in this building do that. “When is your internship over?”
“Why? Matt said I might be able to stay on. Are you going to have him fire me?”
“No, Camari, I won’t have him fire you,” I tell her with a smile. “I may steal you right out from under him, though.”
“Really? I told him I wanted to work at the Foundation. And I talked to Audrey yesterday. She’s great. I could learn so much from her.”
“You have no idea how much she’d have to teach you. I really do have to take this call,” I tell her as my phone starts ringing. “We’ll talk more soon, okay?”
She nods, as I smile at her again. I’m gathering the girls today to tell them my plan for the future. I think they’ll be on board with it, and I also think that they’ll know just who we need. The calls I’ve been taking tell me this is the right direction for the Society to go in, and since the mentors have not only given me control, but also their blessing for this, I’m feeling good about what I’ve come up with.
I still feel that way when I walk into the conference room later. Part of feeling good might be from Matt pushing me against the wall, and kissing the fuck out of me before we went inside, but it’s also because I believe in what I’m about to tell them.
“Thanks for meeting with me today, everyone,” I say, looking out at all the girls, the mentors, and the other people in our circle who know about us. “I also need to thank everyone for keeping things going while I was gone. I needed that time away, and I knew you would all be okay without me.”
“No one was okay without you. We just managed to hang on, and in my case, get kidnapped,” Alex tells me.
“You did more than hang on, and getting kidnapped wasn’t something you could’ve easily prevented.” Cara had approached her about meeting, and no one will fault her with trusting her biological grandmother.
“Thanks for saying that.”
“Of course. Now, for why we’re all here. The Society cannot continue as it is. I have spent the last two days fielding calls from donors wanting to get as much information as they could about me, and also about you. I knew I could never go out undercover again because of my high profile, but neither can most of you. Ainsley, Stella, Darcy, and Audrey knew they were in my same position. Faith, Isa, and Tegan have been in the press a little, but we’d hoped no one would pay much attention. Because of what happened with the kidnappings, all of the footage will come out again. Right now, Jade and Ellie are the only ones who haven’t been exposed, but Ellie’s always at risk when she’s out with Aiden, and I’m not going to ask them to hide.”
“So I win. Cool,” Jade says, throwing her fists in the air.
“Jade’s been on TV from when Nate won,” Ellie says, sticking her tongue out at her best friend.
“Yes,” I agree. “But I was hoping that her exposure would be limited to his fan base. In any case, we can all still go out and do things, but now we’re going to have to do it as ourselves. I have no doubt we’ll be effective. I mean, who’s going to expect a pop star’s girlfriend, or a quiet genius of being a highly trained spy? The problem is that we have missions that require anonymity.”
“We can’t be over,” Ainsley says.
“We’re not over. We just have to do what we’ve always done when we’re faced with an obstacle. We have to adapt. I’ve already talked to the mentors about my plan, because while I no longer need their permission, I wanted their blessing. For the first time ever, I would like the society to bring in an entire class of recruits.”
“Ten, all at once?” Audrey asks.
“Yes. As you know, in the past when someone was recruited, we would all join each other in class so they wouldn’t be alone in training, and also to motivate us to do better. I don’t think we can wait to train girls one at a time, and also, as much fun as it is to spar and have Stella dress me up, I would rather use what I know to train the new recruits instead of taking classes next to them. I think they will push each other to succeed.”
“What if they don’t succeed?” Ellie asks.
“Their mentor will find someone to replace them.”
“We’re the mentors,” Isa says. “and the instructors.”
Those aren’t questions, but I answer her anyway. “Yes. I’ve included everyone here, because I don’t think we need to pick our own girls. If we know of someone, great, but I value everyone in this room’s opinion, and I’m happy to mentor someone else if they fit me better. We can also have a short list of alternates, because while I don’t want to lose anyone, we have to be realistic. So, go ahead and hit me with your names if you have them.”
“Sierra,” Ainsley says.
“My sister? She can’t so this,” Zack says, looking a little freaked out.
“I think she can, and I know she wants it. You know she wants it.”
“But it’s dangerous.”
“It’s okay for me to be in danger, but not Si?”
“Dammit, I hate it when you outsmart me. It happens too often.”
“You can show me your skills later.”
“You want to mentor her?” I ask Ainsley, bringing us back on topic.
“No. I love her, but I think someone else would do a better job because we’re so close.”
“I’d love to mentor her,” Darcy says.
“Perfect. Who’s next?”
“Rose,” Alex says.
“She’s done with MIT?”
“Not in the way you mean, but yes, she left.”
“Tell her the rest,” Miles prods her.
“She was participating in illegal drag racing—not driving, but souping up the cars. They kicked her out.”
“We’ve never had a mechanic. I think that’s awesome,” Jade says.
“I think so, too. I like Rose. I want to mentor her,” I tell Alex. “I would like to recommend Camari.”
“My PR person? Et tu, Brute?” Matt asks.
“Yes, and you can get over it. She stood up to me, and no one else who works for you would ever do that.”
“I’ll mentor her. She would be an asset to Foundation PR as well as the Society,” Audrey says.
“I agree.”
“I have someone, but she’s going to be a challenge. A big challenge. I’ve actually been training her for the last couple of years. She already knows languages, tech, and hand to hand,” Matt says.
“Neveah?”
“Yes.”
“She sounds perfect,” Tegan tells him.
“She won’t touch a gun.”
“Oh yeah, that’s a problem. Is she scared of them?” Isa asks.
“No. I accidentally shot and killed her father when I was in the sand. She’s not scared of guns, but she is scared of what they can do.”
Everyone is quiet for a moment. I know they all want to ask him about it, but they won’t. These people in this room love Matt enough to wait for him to be ready to come to them with his story. It makes me love them all even more.
“I’ll mentor her,” Faith finally says.
“You?” Matt asks, eyes wide.
“Yes, me. I understand justice. I think I can help her.”
“Thank you,” he says, getting out of his seat to kiss her on her cheek.
“My friend Matisse would love to work with Stella,” Aiden says.
“She would. I liked her when we met. She has tattoos, though. A lot of them,” Ellie says.
“We can cover them. I’m in for mentoring her,” Stella tells me.
“Jenysis,” Darcy says.
“Yes,” I tell her. “She helped us in London.”
“I’ve got her,” Tegan says with a fierce look in her eyes.
“I know you and Wayne are friends, and they have some kind of relationship thing going on. Can you be on her side, because you’ll need to be.”
“Yes. I want them together, and I know he’s being as much of an idiot in this as she is.”
“Okay then, Jen is yours.”
“I
’ve got someone, I think,” she tells me.
“You think?”
“I know she’d be perfect, but I don’t want anyone messing with her because of her job right now.”
“What’s her job?”
“She’s a dancer.”
“Sign me up,” Ellie tells her, pointing to herself. “Bar girl, right here.”
“What’s her name, Teeg?”
“Harlow.”
I nod. “Cool name.”
“I know someone. She’s one of our biggest donors,” Audrey says.
“Rhieve?” I ask with a smile. I love that woman.
“I could rough her up a little,” Jade says.
“Figuratively, of course.”
“Of course.”
“You got her, J.”
“I’ve been paying attention to girl studying at UNLV. She’s brilliant, but hiding it. Her name is Kalila.”
“You want to mentor her?”
“I don’t know that we’d mesh. She’s playing at being a party girl. Or she really likes it. I can’t get a read on her, but like I said, she’s brilliant.”
“I got her,” Ainsley tells Isa with a smile.
“One more for Isa. Anyone?”
“I used to work with a chick in private security. She’s a little cocky, and she doesn’t always play well with others. You guys might be able to teach her how,” Theo says.
“I like a challenge,” Isa says.
“We’ve all got your back. If she fucks with you, she’ll be sorry,” Jade tells her.
“Her name, Theo?”
“Greta.”
“Okay. Everyone give Alex the contact info you have, and she can start scheduling us meetings with them. Thank you all again. For everything.”
“You have a meeting with Neveah this afternoon at 3.”
“That’s right. You free, Faith?”
“I can be.”
“Perfect. See you then.”
Matt pulls me into his arms as everyone leaves. “This idea is brilliant, Rei.”
“I hope so. It could all blow up in my face.”
“Nah. You’ve got this, and besides, you’re not alone.”
“You’ve really been prepping Neveah?”
“Yeah. She went through a rough time a couple of years ago, and so I started telling her stories about female spies. Then, I started providing her with lessons.”
Loving My SECRET (Corrigan & Co. Book 10) Page 20