“He’s got a point,” Kyle said. “Not about being Maddie’s boyfriend. That won’t work, but I would way rather we risk his life than hers.”
“Thanks, buddy. I appreciate your support.” Drake sighed. “Why can’t it work?”
“Because we’ve already set up our cover, and you’re not taking my place. Byrne is hot for a woman who’s interested in having him top her,” Deke explained. “Maddie and I are going to mentor him. Kyle and MaeBe are friends of ours who’ve been in the lifestyle for a while and who are regulars at the club Byrne wants to get in to. You’ll have to settle for sneaking in when we go to his place.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Drake’s head fell back on a groan. His head came back up, a gleam in his eyes. “But he hasn’t met you yet. I can answer to your name, and I’ve got Master’s rights at a lot of clubs.”
He wasn’t going to punch the man again. He turned to Maddie. “You want to go in with this guy, baby?”
Her eyes rolled. “No. Obviously not.”
He shrugged Drake’s way. “She’s not comfortable with you, and she’s a terrible actress. It wouldn’t work.”
“I’m not that bad,” Maddie complained.
She was. She was pretty awful, but he could make it work. “Byrne wants to bring his lady friend to The Reef.”
Drake whistled. “So he wants to bring some random woman to a club that just happens to be run by an ex-operative.”
“It’s also a bunch of Hollywood stars’ home club.” MaeBe had moved closer to Kyle while Boomer stood near the stairs, watching the whole scene playing out. “She might want to meet one. She might be using Byrne to get in so she can find a movie star hottie.”
“Somehow, I don’t think it’s that easy.” Drake nodded as though coming to a decision. “All right then. I’ll go in with MaeBe. We can have a few practice sessions, but we don’t need much. We both have plenty of…hey!”
Drake’s chest took the full power of the orange Kyle had just fastballed his way.
“He’s got more fruit,” MaeBe said, taking a sip of her wine. “Maddie’s fruit bowl is full of citrus. He’s not going to let me go in with you. I think you get to be the bartender or something.”
“I’m always the damn bartender.” Drake smoothed out his shirt. “Fine. I’ll hang back with Boomer. It’ll be a good way to make sure he doesn’t snipe me.”
“I’m good at hand to hand, too,” Boomer offered. There was a chiming through the room and Boomer perked up. “That should be the burgers. I hope I ordered enough.”
“All right, let’s sit down and talk this out.” Having Drake around would give him more options and potentially keep Maddie from having to do the really dangerous stuff. It also meant he would have to watch him like a hawk.
“Which room is mine?” Drake asked.
“Uh, the one at your house,” Maddie replied.
“He’s going to want to stay close.” Deke didn’t want the fucker around twenty-four seven, but it would make it easier to watch him.
“MaeBe, you got any room?” Drake ducked when a lemon went flying his way. “I’m just kidding. Jeez, Kyle, take a joke.”
Kyle would never joke about MaeBe.
“I’ll go and get the downstairs guest room ready for you,” Maddie offered. She went on her toes and whispered in Deke’s ear. “He won’t buy the whole we’re together thing if we’re in separate rooms. I’ll move your stuff into mine. Keep him occupied for a couple of minutes.”
She strode away.
Deke looked to the man who’d just handed him the keys to the kingdom. “You’ll be in the room down from ours. Now I want a rundown on everything you know.”
Drake sighed and started to talk.
All in all, not a bad night. And it wasn’t over yet.
* * * *
Nolan Byrne stared down at the laptop screen.
He’d sent off a text to Madeline Hill earlier in the afternoon to see if she’d made it back to LA on time. She’d read it and ignored him until now.
If he didn’t need the little bitch so much, he would fire her. Unfortunately, she was too important for all his future plans to deal with her properly.
His phone vibrated right before the message popped up on his screen.
I’m back and I had a lovely time. Deke is in town this week. He would like to meet you before he talks to the woman who runs The Reef. They have some requirements that have to be met before they allow guests in, but Deke is sure we can work something out. I was hoping we could have lunch soon. Thank you so much for the time off. I needed to relax.
If he hadn’t been able to track her phone, he would be suspicious. She’d suddenly needed a spa trip right before the biggest launch in company history? He supposed if she’d been doing something she shouldn’t have it would have been better to claim a family emergency. Instead she’d explained she was exhausted and the opportunity to go to a spa with her cousin had come up.