“So don’t call her on her shit.” He’d known people like that. Of course they didn’t usually have the same money and power someone like Layne did. “Or she’ll sue me.”
“The lawsuits are a way to break her victims,” Alex explained. “You know she had a partner in the beginning. Another woman who insiders believe was probably the brains of Genedyne. At some point, Jessica decided to cut her out. Not only did she bury the woman in lawsuits, but she sent her social media followers after her. Oh, she said everything in public that she should have, but there’s evidence she was manipulating things behind the scenes. Her partner was crushed on many sides and eventually took what the police called an accidental overdose of sleeping pills. Then Layne cried prettily on camera and made it all about her and how she’d had to survive a relationship with a person with mental illness.”
Eve sighed. “She looks like a model, and she’ll be good at putting the people around her at ease. She’ll be charming right up to the moment she decides to devour you whole.”
Alex stood and held a hand out to Eve. “Good luck, Hutch. I think you’re going to need it. And keep us updated on Kyle. Also, try to remember that just because your past taught you how a bad relationship works, your present has a whole lot of good ones in them. I would hate for you to miss out because you’re still worried there’s a piece of your father in there.”
He shook his head. “It’s not that.”
Eve started to lead her husband out. “Sure it’s not. Come on, babe. I’ve got to go through about a thousand employee reviews before we can leave. The kids all have afterschool activities that include dinner of some kind, and we’re not on carpool this week. We’re picking up some Top and watching TV that includes actual human beings instead of cartoon characters this evening.”
They were still talking about drinking wine and watching TV as the door closed behind them.
“Ah, that’s the dream. All the kids out of the house for the evening,” Big Tag said. “All my monsters are grounded after the whole ‘let’s play spies’ thing. Do you know that kids get grumpy when they’re not allowed to do anything but chores?”
Charlotte’s head dropped to Big Tag’s shoulder. “So grumpy. And Hutch, I really thought the two of you would get along. What I saw today makes me think I made a mistake. I’m sorry. I won’t try to do it again.”
“But you were right. We’re definitely attracted to each other.” He knew it was perverse, but he felt the need to argue with her.
“But there wasn’t a lot of peace there,” Charlotte mused. “It’s good for sparks to fly, but that was more like war than ‘hey, I just met my future spouse.’”
“When I met my Charlie and our eyes locked across the crowded dungeon, I knew,” Big Tag said.
She snorted, but her lips were turned up. “That’s why he promptly invited me to join him for a threesome.”
He chuckled. “Foursome, baby. Give me credit.”
She smiled at her husband, their faces close together. “I promptly got rid of all the other subs and started a fight that ended in butt plugs flying. All for your amusement. But I did know I wanted you in that moment. I knew, somehow, that you would complete me.” She turned back to Hutch, and a sad expression came over her face. “That’s why I’m sorry I set you up with her. I saw two people who should have had a lot in common, and I couldn’t help myself. I was definitely meddling, and it didn’t work. I won’t try again. I promise.”
Again, it was perverse, but he didn’t like the sound of that. “I think if I were in a different place in my life, we would probably suit each other very well.”
“I think she might have too strong a personality,” Charlotte admitted. “I did underestimate that.”
He wasn’t sure how that was a problem. “She obviously needs a guy as strong as she is.”
Charlotte nodded. “Yeah. I can see that, too.”
“You are such a bitch,” Ian said softly, though he was smiling in that way that told Hutch he wasn’t getting their inside joke.
“She was attracted to me, too, you know.” He’d caught Noelle staring at him, and it hadn’t been with distaste. He’d actually been surprised because most women would have watched Kyle, but she’d seemed oddly unaffected by him. And she’d definitely sparked when he’d started talking about helium. He was a science junkie. If she wanted to throw down over some future tech, he could be right there with her.
Except she was a sweet lady from small-town Louisiana who had probably never once been tied up and had her tits clamped. She’d never cried prettily while her Dom fucked her ass with a plug.