“I’m Kylie.” I extended my hand. “We met on Collin’s phone.” I sounded like an idiot.
“Oh my goodness,” Tyler bounced when he spoke. “Yes. You’re the one Patrick has a crush on.”
I ignored his comment. “You must be Maddox.” He took my hand, which was still extended.
“Yes, nice to meet you, Kylie.”
“You, too.”
“We’re having dinner with Rayna if you’d like to join us,” Tyler offered. “Kyler is at some business thing and she’s bored.” He pouted for effect.
“No, thank you.” I looked past them, waiting for my order. “I have some stuff to finish up for work.”
“Oh, come on.” He nudged me. “Work can wait.”
“Ty, she said no.” He gave Tyler a stern stare, which redirected his protest. “Decide what kind of pizza you want.”
“Yes, sir.” He saluted Maddox, a laugh bubbling up. “It was nice meeting you, Kylie. We can get to know each other tomorrow at the show.” He waved his arms in the air with a flourish and then scooted further down the counter to talk to the employees who seemed to know him. His official positionwas head of marketing and communications, but I wasn’t sure how much day-to-day involvement he had in the company. And I certainly didn’t know he was a little. The place was riddled with them, and little’s weekend hadn’t even started yet.
“Sorry about Tyler. His enthusiasm walks a fine line between sweet and suffocating.” Maddox watched him.
“Oh, that’s okay.”
“How do you like the job so far? Different from the FBI, I assume. A lot less rules.” Maddox looked down at me.
“Yeah, it’s going well. For a big company, it’s getting smaller by the day.” Everyone was in everyone’s business.
“Yeah, well, it is a family business.” He chuckled. “No matter how many employees or zeroes are on the balance sheet.”
“Do you work for them, too?” I guess there was some fraternizing between employer and employee after all.
“I own a construction firm that specializes in restoration. They contracted my company for a project in New Jersey, and we were doing some research on another spot in Seattle.”
“Oh, nice.”
Tyler had his phone to his ear, laughing. He jogged back, tripping over his own feet. Maddox caught him. He shoved the phone in my face.
“Someone wants to talk to you.”
“Kylie!” Rayna yelled through the phone. “Come have pizza with us.”
“I already order?—”
“Bring it with you, pleasssseeee.” The whine in her voice was annoying and convincing.
“Great. She’s coming.” Tyler snatched the phone from me. “Put her slice in with ours.” Tyler called across the counter.
“I’m sorry.” Maddox frowned. “You really don’t have to go if you don’t want to. They can be —”
“Pushy.” I completed the sentence for him. Probably not what I should have said to my boss’s boyfriend. Something about Maddox as an outsider made me feel like I could trust him. He had a way about him. “It’s fine.”
The staff packed our order into three bags. Maddox grabbed two of them and Tyler the third, and we made our way up to the penthouse.
“Have you been to Kyler and Rayna’s place before?” Tyler asked as we entered the elevator.
“I have. For lunch and to be interviewed by the man himself.”
Maddox scanned his thumb and pressed the PH button. The Grants trusted him. That surprised me. He hadn’t been around long, but trusting him with their younger brother was enough to grant him full access. He seemed like a decent guy. What was his angle? Why was he involved in sex trafficking?
