Page 286 of The Black Trilogy

“Good idea. Give me fifteen minutes to shower and change, and I’ll come with you.”

I took twelve, even after I stopped to tell Bradley he’d better have the house cleared by the evening or I’d confiscate his company Lamborghini. I also paused to check the body lying across the upstairs landing was still breathing.

“Tia, do you want to ride with me or Luke?” I asked.

“You. Do you have a sports car? I bet you’ve got a sports car.”

We took the Viper, and on the way, she told me what happened after our interrupted night at Black’s. I already knew most of it. It seemed no one had filled her in on my Syrian escapade, and I wasn’t about to either.

I could tell she had mixed feelings over Luke being with Mack, and a lot of that stemmed from worrying how I felt about it. I tried to convince her I was happy about the situation, even though the pretence took an effort. My issues were my own, and I didn’t want to make things uncomfortable for the two lovebirds. And honestly, I hoped it lasted. If it didn’t, the fallout would be huge.

At Blackwood Headquarters, I parked in my reserved spot next to the front door. Nick’s space beside it was empty. I hadn’t seen him this morning, and I dreaded to think where he’d turn up.

Tia eyed up the Director sign in front of my car. “So you’re the boss around here, huh?”

“One of them. Nick and Nate are also bossy.”

“Nate?”

“The smelly guy in my kitchen who was struggling to turn the blender on.”

“Really?”

I couldn’t blame her for looking doubtful. If my first meeting with Nate had been this morning, I wouldn’t have believed he was capable of running a multi-billion dollar company either.

“Yes, really. He comes across better after a shower.”

Mack and I showed Luke and Tia around, from the shooting range to the forensics lab to the tech department. Tia seemed peculiarly fascinated with the surveillance room.

“It’s awesome. You can watch people and they don’t even know. It’s like a real-life version of Big Brother.”

“It’s also interminably dull.”

“No way! Oh, wow, that guy just reversed into a fire hydrant.”

In the end, we left her there with Jorge, the shift supervisor, determined to help out. Give her a day or two, and she’d soon realise monitoring CCTV footage was the most boring thing ever.

Luke and Mack followed me upstairs, where I was still borrowing Nick’s office. We paused in the kitchen to grab coffee on the way.

“I’d offer you a biscuit, but we only have these weird crackers with seeds in them.”

“Toby again?” Mack asked.

“The one and only. So, what are you doing here?”

Luke settled back on the sofa. “I’ve decided to open an office in Richmond.”

“You mentioned a while back that you might. I’m glad things are progressing. How long are you staying for?”

“A couple of weeks. Mack offered to introduce me to some people.”

“And Tia?”

“Just a few days. She’s got mock exams next Wednesday.”

“It’s nice to see her.”

“She asked if she could stay with you, but I didn’t want to say yes without asking first.”

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