Montreal (International Guy Book 6)

by Audrey Carlan

  I reach out my hand. “What is it, boy?” He rubs his head on my hand, demanding to be petted. I take the bait, because who wouldn’t? He’s a furry, cute entity rubbing his sweet head on my hand. I give him a few pets and scratch against his cheek. He starts to purr melodically.

  A voice interrupts me and my new furry friend. “I see you’ve met Spartacus.”

  I turn to the man standing in the doorway. “It seems I have.” I stop petting the cat to reach out my good hand.

  He shakes it. “Kidd Stanton. I’m next on the list of interviews,” he supplies helpfully. Alexis set the schedule so that the last person would notify the next person in line for their interview.

  “So, you are. Come on in, have a seat.”

  I pull out his employee file from the folder on the table, as well as my tablet, which has the information Wendy provided on each staff member. I read them all on the plane ride over so I’m aware of what his “other” file states. The big surprise was finding out Alexis filed for guardianship when Kidd was fifteen and their parents didn’t contest it, signing over their rights without ever seeing the inside of a courtroom.

  Kidd sits down across from me, seeming perfectly at ease with being here. Probably because he knows his sister would never fire him.

  He shrugs and starts off before I can ask a question. “What do you want to know, man? I’m an open book.”

  “Tell me about what you do here.”

  “I lead the coding and analysis team. Under Alexis’s watchful eye, of course.” He chuckles.

  “Course.” I smile, making sure to keep the conversation easy and my body language relaxed.

  “Been coding under Lex’s guidance since around the age of fifteen, so ’bout eight years. As my file there will show.” He jerks his chin toward the file I’m holding in front of me. “Lex hired me right outta high school. I didn’t have the grades or desire for college anyhow.”

  “And you took to the job.”

  “Like a drunk to a mickey, eh?” He laughs heartily.

  The young man smiles a lot, seems to be comfortable in his own skin, and has a happy nature. His features mimic his sister’s. Blond hair, blue eyes. His hair is more of a dirty blond than a golden hue. He has a solid day or two’s worth of scruff on his jaw and a silver hoop in his left ear. Tattoos line his forearms, depicting a myriad of images. A lion on one, a sword on the other. A distinct red heart adorns his left inside forearm, and the word “LEX” in thick block letters is drawn in its center.

  I nod at his tats. “Nice ink.”

  He pushes up his henley farther, showing off more artwork. “Yeah, I’m proud of it. Drew each design myself. Kind of a hobby.”

  I look closer and note the scars slicing horizontally underneath the ink close to the dip in his elbow. I don’t say anything, for one because it would be highly inappropriate, and two because sometimes a person needs their secrets. The wounds look old, aged enough that the ink over them is a tad faded. My guess, he did those when he was a teen, before he was old enough to get the ink to cover them.

  “Lex?” I ask, making note of the blood-red, vibrant heart.

  His smile before was happy and unguarded; this one is sensational, inspired. “My sister. Alexis. Big boss lady.”

  I grin. “You tatted your sister’s name on your arm?”

  He nods with glee. No bullshit. Happy as a clam. “For sure. I know it sounds odd, but my sister is my life. My whole heart. Without her, man, I wouldn’t be the me I am today. I’d probably be in jail or dead for fighting.”

  Without her. I wouldn’t be me.

  I’m not me anymore . . . without you.

  I close my eyes as Skyler’s words in her recent text come back to haunt me. Chills race up my spine, and I clench my jaw and breathe through the pain those words cause. I grip the pencil I’m holding so hard it snaps in half.

  “Whoa. You okay?” Kidd frowns.

  I blink a few times. “Headache. Sorry. Probably from the travel. I’m fine. Continue.” I grab the water bottle that was brought to me earlier and swallow down half in one go.

  “Yeah, well, what I was saying is”—he fingers the heart tattoo—“my sister, man, she’s like my mother figure and best friend all rolled into one. We’re tight as two sibs can be. I got this for her when I turned eighteen. See, if I pull my arm up against my chest”—he imitates the words by bringing his left arm up to his chest, inner forearm facing in—“it touches my heart. Right where she’ll always be.”

  “Powerful,” I offer, still shaken by his remark so closely mimicking Skyler’s text.

  Kidd leans back and rocks the chair. Not a care in the world. “I think so. Anyway, why are you here? We’re not hurting for money or productivity. Lex would have given me a heads-up. There’s not a lot we keep from one another.”

  On a split-second decision, I choose to give him half of the truth since I’m getting absolutely nothing in the way of nerves or fear of any kind coming off him. This could be because he’s completely innocent of any wrongdoing, or a very good liar who is using his relationship with his sister against her.

  “Then you know that the last three products have been leaked and released in advance by Stanton Cybertech’s direct competitor.”

  He scowls. “Yeah, bunch of hosers, the entire lot of them.”

  I flatten my lips. “Be that as it may, we need to see what’s happening on the production scale. Perhaps something is leaking into public knowledge without a person being the wiser.”

  “Or maybe we have a mole on the team?” he suggests.

  Interesting how he went there first. “What would give you that impression?”

  He crinkles his nose, his happiness dissipating instantly. “The coding and security is done entirely by Lex and me. We are the only two who know the back end fully because we created the damn thing from scratch. The rest of the team creates new codes and programs to work inside of it but could never break through a firewall we’ve created.”

  “And if there were a mole in the system, would you have any idea who that could be? New employees, anything could be helpful toward figuring out how your sister, your legacy . . . ,” I add to see how he reacts. He simply nods and looks off into the distance. “. . . is being sacrificed. Anyone you have a strange feeling about or suspect might have a negative feeling about working here?”

  He shakes his head. “There’s a new girl, Wendy Pritchard, who was hired, but she’s brand-new. No reason to suspect her. We actually have very little turnover. I don’t think we’ve hired anyone new outside of Wendy in over two years.”

  Wendy Pritchard.

  Looks like my office nymph changed her last name to her fiancé’s. I’ll bet she enjoyed the hell out of that. Probably created an entire life around the name too.

  I nod and stand up. “If you think of anything, I’ll be here all week evaluating the processes and workflow as well as the productivity of each member of the team in the hopes of figuring out how the information is leaking. I’m sure it’s safe to say your job is secure.”

  He grins, the happiness he entered with seeping into his form once more. Kidd offers his hand and slaps the side of my bicep. “Hey, if you need a bud to hang out with after hours, get some drinks, see a little of Montreal, I’m your guy. I know a cool bar called Brutopia. They have great beers, good pub food, and often have some stellar live bands, if that’s your thing. My girl and I would be happy to show you around.”

  “Your girl?”

  “Yeah. My fiancée. Just asked her to marry me a few months ago. Best decision of my life, sharing it with her. She loves my sister—they’re like two giggling little girls when they’re together—and she looks up to Lex like a big sis same way I do. Can’t wait, man. We’re getting married next summer when the weather’s nicer. Up in Old Quebec.”

  “Wow. Marriage.”

  Marriage. He’s already found the woman he wants to settle down with. And me? I’m scratching the surface of thirty and have just lost the love of my
life. An empty hollowness fills my gut, making it twist and churn.

  “How old are you again?” My throat sounds raspy when I reply.

  “Twenty-three. Smart enough to know when I’ve got a good thing and to hold on tight and never let it go, stupid enough to rush it. Me and my girl don’t care. We’re soul mates.”

  Soul mates.

  I thought Skyler was my soul mate. A zing of lightning hits my stomach, and I curve my arm around myself protectively, trying to breathe through the sudden pain.

  “You got someone, man?” He cracks a grin. “Aw, sure you do. Good-looking guy like yourself.”

  I shake my head. “Actually . . .” I swallow the lump forming in my throat. “We’re uh, on the outs.”

  His body sways toward mine, and he locks his grip around my bicep again. “Sucks. You’ll pull through. If she’s the one, it will all work out.”

  I should stop the conversation where it is, get things back onto professional turf, but something inside me is screaming out, and I have to ask. “What do you think makes this woman your soul mate?”

  Kidd purses his lips and rubs at his chin. “Well, for one, I had a girl I loved in the past. Had to end things with her to focus on the job. I was a punk kid and not paying attention to the responsibilities that Lex entrusted me with. My work was suffering, my life was turned upside down, and I hated the path I was headed down. Spent the next few years focusing on the job until I met Victoria. She adds to my life and doesn’t take away from it.”

  “That’s it, she adds to your life, unlike the first woman you scraped off?”

  He shakes his head emphatically. “Naw, it’s more that Eloise wanted all of my time and attention. That’s my ex.”

  I nod, following along as though every last word is the last I’ll hear. For the life of me, I haven’t a clue why.

  “With Victoria, she fits right in, you know? Like the last puzzle piece of a whole picture. She just fits. She completes me. When I’m down, she lifts me up. When I’m not with her, I feel her absence, right here, man . . .” He points to his abdomen. “In my gut. Yet I know she’s thinking ’bout me and I her. Then, the times we are together, it’s explosive.”

  I run my hand over the back of my neck, massaging the ever-present tension I haven’t been able to shake since I left San Francisco.

  Kidd walks over to the door. “Most of all, though, Vic is someone I can’t imagine not being in my world. Like Lex. She’s integral to who I am now. I appreciate who I am with her. She makes me like myself.”

  “Well, man, hold on to her and never let her go, because in my experience with women, I can promise you, a love like that is rare.” Practically nonexistent, more like it. Though I don’t add that, because he doesn’t deserve my bullshit layered on top of his happiness.

  “I know. It’s why I’m going to make it mine legally.” He waggles his eyebrows.

  I chuckle, and he taps the doorframe the same way his sister did earlier today before leaving. I stare at the cat, who’s now sleeping perched on the edge of the love seat back.

  “What do you think, Spartacus? Are soul mates bullshit?”

  The cat opens one eye, stares at me pointedly, and then closes it.

  “Yep. It’s what I thought. Total bullshit. I wish him luck, though. He seems like a good guy.”

  I’ve just sat on my bed and let my body fall back into a heap when the connecting door in my hotel room flies open, and Wendy bounces in.

  “What the hell? Two phones in less than a week?” Her tone is shrill and grating on my last goddamned nerve.

  “I dropped it, okay?”

  She makes a face that tells me she’s not buying it. “You dropped it. If that’s the case, it would still be working, boss man. Not shattered into bits for the janitor to vacuum up when he cleans the warehouse tonight. You’re lucky I went in there after you left and snagged the SIM card. Luckier still, it must have bounced off the wall, because I found it stuck in the threads of the area rug, away from the primary stomping you gave the old phone. You’re also lucky I always keep a backup phone in my bag.”

  This piques my attention. “You do?”

  She grins. “Yep.” She hands me an exact replica of my last iPhone but with a plastic Rubbermaid-like case.

  I slide my fingertips over the bumpy surface. The phone looks like it’s been encased in an inch of rubber. “What the fuck is this?”

  Wendy puts a hand to her hip. “It’s an OtterBox. It’s the thick one meant for men working in construction who drop their phones from high distances, et cetera. I figure if they can drop it from two stories up and the phone survives, this one should survive you catapulting it into a wall. I mean, your mom says you were a star baseball player, but really, Parker, this is phone number three. Give it a rest, okay? You’re bleeding money in phone replacements outside of the warranty time frame.”

  I huff loudly, and she just bats her eyelashes, completely unfazed.

  “I’m not using it like this.” I hand it to her. “Remove that crap. The damn thing won’t fit into my pants pocket.”

  Wendy inhales loudly and sighs even louder when she grabs the phone from my hand. “Fine.” As if she had prepared for my refusal, she pulls a sleek metal case from her back pocket.

  I watch while she removes the rubber childproof case and puts the sexy sleek one on, pocketing the old one. She hands it to me. “It’s already loaded up with your contacts again, messages, voice mails, and emails.”

  “You know my password for the Google Cloud?”

  She chuckles under her breath. “Sweetheart, I know your PIN on your debit card. I could probably get into your gym locker quicker than you. Never underestimate what I can and cannot do. Besides, you scared the shit out of me when you went off the grid today. I had to do a drive-by of your office pretending I was looking for a bathroom to make sure you were in that conference room.”

  “Wendy, really, you need to stop worrying about us.” Guilt oozes into my mind, making me feel even more twitchy than I already do.

  Her face flushes red, and she narrows her eyes. “Every time your temper flares, you do something insane. Destroy your phone, punch a wall. What next? You gonna drive off a bridge? This behavior is upsetting for those of us who give a shit about you. I may be your PA, but I’m also your friend, someone who loves you like family. This path you’re on is dangerous and destructive.”

  “I’m sorry; it won’t happen again.” Even with the apology and declaration, I’m not sure it won’t happen again.

  “Sorry doesn’t cut it, Parker. The three of us are worried about you. So much so, I read your texts from Skyler. If you want to fire me for invading your privacy, fine. I’ll deal with it.” Her chest moves up and down as though she’s breathing fast. She’s probably scared I am going to fire her, but honestly, I don’t care.

  My shoulders sink, and I lie back down on the bed and stare at the blank white ceiling. An empty void, just like my life without Skyler in it. “I’m not going to fire you.”

  She sits on the bed and brings her knees up, where she rests her chin. It’s a move Sky did all the time. God! Why can’t I just forget about the damn woman for one fucking day? Hell, I’d settle for half a day . . . an hour even.

  Wendy grins. “Goody. Does that mean we can talk about what she wrote?” Her tone is hopeful.

  “No,” I state flatly.

  “Parker, she said she didn’t cheat. She’s begging, freaking begging to talk to you. Hell, she’s pleading to talk to me, and I’ve been ignoring her messages. And you know, you know how hard that is for me. All I’ve ever wanted was a bunch of friends and a big family. First, I scored Mick. Now I have you guys. And for a little while, I had a new best girlfriend.”

  Great. Now I’m hurting Wendy with my jacked-up relationship. “Guilt trips don’t become you, minxy,” I say dryly, rubbing at my tired eyes.

  She eases her knees to the side and puts a hand to my shoulder. “Neither does avoidance become you.”

  “
I’m not avoiding anything. She betrayed me.” Why does it feel like I have to keep reminding everyone that I’m the one who got screwed over? Sky burned me. Just like Kayla. Just like all women I end up having romantic feelings for.

  “She says she didn’t.” She shrugs nonchalantly as though we’re not talking about the woman I gave my entire heart and soul to.

  I suck in a harsh breath. “And you believe her. Even though he said they rekindled their relationship, and she was there. She spent the night with him, Wendy. There’s no denying it.”

  “I think you want to believe that she hurt you. Why is that?”

  “Because she did!” I sit up and stare Wendy down. “I was going to tell her I loved her!”

  Wendy gasps, and her eyes fill with tears. She reaches out a hand to my cocked knee. “Park . . .”

  I push her hand away, not wanting her pity or comfort. “No. I flew straight to New York to be with the woman I loved. To tell her to her face that I loved her and that me and my team were going to solve her problem with her ex. And what did I find?”

  A tear slips down Wendy’s pearlescent cheek.

  “An empty fuckin’ apartment. An empty bed that should have had the woman I love in it! Then I wake up to her ex in my ear and hearing her in the background. What would you think, Wendy? As a woman? Why would you have any reason to be in your ex’s hotel room at shit o’clock in the morning, huh? Tell me.”

  Another tear falls. “I don’t know. The only thing I do know is that I recognize when a woman is in love. And Skyler is in love with you. All of us saw it at Lucky’s. Saw it in your eyes and hers. A woman in love would not cheat on her man. Not a good woman. And Skyler is a good woman, Parker, or you wouldn’t have fallen in love with her in the first place!”

  I get up and pace the room before heading to the bar and pouring myself two fingers of scotch. “You want?”

  “Fuck yeah. No one should drink alone.”

  I pour her a couple of fingers and pass her the tumbler. She tosses the entire thing back like a pro. “Fuck!”