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"Yes." Kevin draped a napkin over his pants. "I am. Hypnosis can be used to address various psychological and medical issues. It can help manage pain, reduce anxiety, treat phobias, and address other behavioral or emotional concerns." He smiled. "In this case, it addressed criminality, which is a deviant behavior. After a couple of sessions, Modana and his men will become the good men their mothers had hoped they would be."
Negal chuckled. "Who said that their mothers wanted that? Perhaps they wanted their sons to be the meanest, baddest criminals around?"
Margo thought about that for a long moment. "In some societies, that might be true. Not everyone has the same values that we hold sacred. Some mothers encourage their sons to become murderers."
Jasmine looked incredulous. "What mother would wish for such a thing and why?"
The woman was really naive or just uninformed. "Religion for one, social pressure for another. Some religions glorify death, and as it happens, those same religions discriminate against women and deprive them of basic rights that you and I take for granted. One of the few ways women can get respect in these societies is to encourage their children to become murderers for the cause."
Across the table, Kevin groaned. "Let's change the subject before I lose my appetite." He smiled at Jasmine. "Tell us a little about yourself. What do you do for a living?"
Ugh, why had she had to open her big mouth and spout depressing stuff?
Margo cast a quick look at Negal, but he smiled at her with affection, so perhaps he didn't mind that she was the glass-half-empty kind of girl.
"I'm an actress," Jasmine said. "I've been cast in a few commercials, and I even got a nice chunk of money for it, but since the roles are unreliable, I continue working in customer service to pay the bills, and what I get from the occasional commercial, I put in my savings account."
"That's smart." Kevin shifted his gaze to Margo. "And you?"
"I work at an advertising agency and hate every moment of it. I can't wait for Mia's boyfriend to get me the job he promised Frankie and me at Perfect Match Virtual Studios. For starters, I'll work at beta testing the new adventures you guys come up with, and then I hope to get promoted to the advertising department. They are doing amazingly well with their commercials, but I have a few ideas on how to improve on that."
Jasmine's eyes widened. "Can you get me a job there as well? I mean in the commercials. I'm not sure I would be good as a beta tester, but I can be a spokeswoman or a participant who describes her experience."
Kevin lifted his hands. "I'm not affiliated with the Perfect Match Studios. You will have to talk to Mia's fiancé."
Margo frowned. "I thought everyone on board was a Perfect Match employee."
"Not everyone." Kevin cut off a piece of the roast. "Some of us are just friends and family."
Very capable friends and family who had managed to take down a cartel boss and rescue two kidnapped women.
Margo regarded the three men.
They looked like models or actors, and if not for what Kevin had just said, she would have assumed that they worked on the production side of Perfect Match. They could have been former Navy SEALs or some other commando unit turned actors.
But according to Kevin, they didn't work for Perfect Match.
Mia had told her and Frankie that the owners of Perfect Match were very reclusive and lived in a secluded compound. She'd also said that they had security on board, which was what these men most likely were.
But why would Kevin say that they were friends and family instead of admitting that they were security?
And what was the deal with how gorgeous they were? Had they been chosen for their good looks or their combat skills?
Something was fishy about these men and about the cruise.
64
KIAN
"Good evening, Mother." Kian leaned to kiss his mother's cheek.
She shifted on the couch, motioning for him to sit beside her. "Thank you for coming over to give me an update in person."
He'd considered calling her, but there was no justification for that, given that her cabin was just down the hallway from his.
"I'll have to make it short because there is still much to do."
"Of course."
