Page 10 of Bad Boy Billionaire Protector

“And what does dad make of this investment?”

“As long as she’s out of his hair he doesn’t care. I think he’ll be glad of the peace while she’s away in Santorini. Are you heading out to Naxos soon?”

“I can’t right now. Not while I’m working this case. I’ll take a trip across to check on the villa during winter break. Although I’m planning on going snowboarding with what little time I have, so I don’t know how long I’ll have to go to Naxos.”

“You’re the one who wanted to work for the man.”

I sighed. “I know. I don’t get special allowances for vacation time. Dad’s sphere of influence doesn’t extend to the FBI.”

“Well, you can always leave and come join the family business. From what I hear, vacay time is very much encouraged.”

“Nah. No, thanks. I’d rather stick pins in my eyes than join the family business. I hate shipping, you know that. And I don’t like nepotism either.”

“Hey, I don’t mind being a nepo baby. I’m happy to suckle at mom and dad’s proverbial teat.”

“Ugh, stop. Don’t say the word “teat” to your brother. It’s gotta be against some law among siblings or something like that.”

“That’s what makes it so fun to say it. That’s why you love me.”

“Yeah, you know it. Maybe I’ll get to see you at some point this year.”

“It’s only been six months since you last saw me.”

“It’s never enough. A lot can happen in six months.”

“I know. Anyway, I’ll have to love you and leave you, Mase. My study partner is here and I’m about to hoover up a whole lot of information about family law. My favorite kind of law.”

“Okay then. I’ll talk to you soon.

“Love you, Mase.”

“Love you, too, Minie.”

I ended the call and sat down at my desk and looked at all the work I had in front of me. Perhaps some Chinese takeout would help me concentrate. It had been a while since I had eaten.

I ordered some food and sat and read until my crispy shredded beef with spicy sauce was delivered. The sticky, chewy beef was soul food and I enjoyed eating it very much.

My phone rang. I picked it up. It was my boss, Supervisory Special Agent (SSA) Damian Wachowski.

“Sir. What can I do for you?”

“How are things going over at Stanford?”

His voice was deep on the other end of the phone. Wachowski was a tank of a man, ex-military, and he had a gruff demeanor.

“Pretty good so far. I’ve made inroads with a number of persons of interest. Professor Owens has tagged me as one of the elite and has invited me to a mixer for the secret society we’re interested in. I’ve also made contact with our primary source’s girlfriend, Amber Valentine. I plan on utilizing her as much as I can.”

“Good. Andrew called earlier with some information about that professor. I’ll have it sent over to you later this evening. Maybe it will help, maybe it won’t but we can at least discount it if it’s useless.”

“Fair enough, sir. I’ll look over the intel as soon as I receive it.”

“Excellent. Keep up the good work.”

I ended the call and soon afterward, I received a text from one of my classmates, Daniel. I didn’t know many of my fellow grad students yet, but he had sat beside me since the beginning of term, and we had struck up enough conversations to exchange numbers.

I opened the text.

Hey, Christos! We’re heading off to a Spoken Word event in town in a couple of hours. They are usually pretty fun and rowdy after a few beers. Are you interested in coming with us?

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