Page 20 of Ignite: Tony's Story
What I want is to expose Jackson Adley for the fraud and murderer he is, burn his empire to the ground, and then fuck my two lovers in the ashes.
“I’m going to be real honest with you here.” Tony says with a shy grin. “It doesn’t really matter what you did or why you did it. I’m in.” His words send a little giddy shiver of excitement through me, and I hope I’m reading between the lines correctly.
Looking up at him beneath my eyelashes, my voice comes out a little husky. “You sure? Because you might want to know before you jump in the deep end.” By the way his eyes darken, there’s no way he could have mistaken my meaning.
He chuckles quietly, flushing. “You have no idea just how far into the deep end I’ve already jumped,” he mutters under his breath.
My eyebrow raises. “Okay, well, I have to know what that’s about.”
Shaking his head, he distracts me by leading me into the kitchen, where he has some kind of not-burger patties ready on the counter. He grabs the plate, hands me a few things to carry, and then leads me out into the backyard, where a grill waits, hot and ready.
I watch him like he’s a puzzle that I can unravel. And then, since he obviously wants to change the subject, I ask him about his background, his parents, and his job while I watch him cook.
“So you just used to do IT for The Adley Corporation, and Bennet poached you?”
“I wouldn’t say it was exactly like that, but I was doing IT for The Adley Corporation and ended up setting up some accounts for Bennet when he took his current position in the company. He was concerned about the security of his accounts, so I gave him some advice and set some things up for him. One thing led to another, and he hired me to come work for him separately from TAC. I’m basically his virtual errand boy, but he treats me well and pays me well, and I respect him. Despite his father, he’s a good guy.”
Tony talks about him like a friend, not just an employer. “I can only imagine how overwhelmed he is with everything they’ve learned in the last couple of days, and I only caught the tail end of it.”
“Right now I think most of his concern is keeping this girl, Six, safe. The documents were for her and the other guys that are with them. And I’ve done background checks on every person who has so much as set eyes on her. I’m guessing there’s something special about her. But the deeper we dig, the more it’s looking like her stumbling into Bennet and his new friends wasn’t a coincidence.”
“The plot thickens,” I say.
“What’s thickened?” Quinn pops out of nowhere.
I wouldn’t have even noticed his silly innuendo, but the wink and lecherous heat that he aims at Tony is obvious. I’m so shocked at the tension I’m feeling that I gasp audibly, my gaze cutting back and forth between them, ready to catch flies with my jaw on the ground.
Tony’s face blanches, and he looks worried for some reason.
Quinn grins at me and presses a kiss to my cheek, but his smile falls when he locks eyes on Tony. “You okay, Bunny?”
Tony’s eyes narrow, assumedly at the nickname. I can’t help but snicker, though. It’s funny.
“Uh, yup. All good…” He takes a deep breath, his mouth opening like he has something to say, but then thinks better of whatever it was and closes it again.
I wonder if the three of us should have a conversation about this arrangement, or where it could be headed. We haven’t really talked much about last night, and obviously something transpired between the two of them today−which I would have bought tickets to see.
Is it too soon to have a conversation like that? I really like both of them, and I also really need both of their help. Will one compromise the other?
“I think the burgers are ready,” Tony says over-enthusiastically, turning to flip them one last time before loading them onto a plate and walking into the kitchen. He grabs some condiments and some beers from the fridge and cracks one open, downing half of it.
I swat Quinn, whisper-yelling, “What did you do?!”
“Why do you assume I did anything?” He whispers back. I throw daggers at him with my eyes. “All I did was have a little conversation and prove a point… with less clothes.”
I gape, my imagination getting the better of me. Tony sputters and chokes, spitting beer across the kitchen.
Quinn is giggling like a schoolgirl. I shake my head, amused. I’m honestly surprised to hear about this development, but more than anything I’minterested.
I’m no better than a man, fetishizing the idea of these two together. Swallowing, because I suddenly have too much saliva in my mouth, I help Tony clean up the mess he made with the beer.
He avoids eye contact, but finally says something. “Is that… okay?”
“It’s more than okay. For me, I mean. Is it okay for you?”
He nods. “It’s definitely okay. Surprisingly so.”
“You’re sure?”
