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I blush.
“You really like him, don’t you?” she asks.
I just smile back. Then, curiously, I ask, “I know I’m being nosy, but did you two ever have a thing?”
“Me and Mack? God, no. He’s far too intense for me. I like my men much more relaxed and affable.”
“Like Huxley?”
She gives me a wry look.
“Maybe I’m wrong,” I say. “Are you dating anyone?”
She sighs. “No. I have terrible taste in men, I’m afraid.”
“Huxley seems nice.”
She flicks her pen through her fingers and gives me a mischievous look. “He asks me out every month, without fail. Has done since we first met.”
I laugh. “Really?”
“Yep. He sends me flowers or some other gift and a note that asks for a date. He’s persistent, I’ll give him that.”
“But you haven’t said yes?”
She shakes her head.
“Why not? He’s pretty gorgeous.”
“He only wants me because he can’t have me. He’s a tomcat, always has been. Can’t keep it in his pants. I’m not going to be one more notch on his bedpost.” Her eyes flash.
Then she glances at her phone as it buzzes. “Talk of the devil,” I say and grin.
Lips twisting, she reads a text, then gets to her feet. “Someone’s told Mack that David’s just coming up in the elevator. He’s heading for the lobby. Come on.”
He told me to stay here, but I’m worried about what he’s going to do, so I follow her out of the meeting room and along the corridor.
As we walk through the double doors into the lobby, I immediately see David coming out of the elevator. He’s with another couple of guys, and they’re all laughing at some private joke. The lobby’s fairly busy, people handing in coats at reception, Ed the bouncer checking badges and making sure nobody’s sneaking in who shouldn’t be there.
At that moment, the doors leading down to the Chess Room fly open, and Mack strides through—Huxley, Titus, and Victoria hot on his heels. He stalks across the lobby, right up to David, who turns at the last minute, just in time to see his life flash before his eyes. Mack pushes him with both hands, not dissimilar to the way I pushed him in his apartment, but a hell of a lot harder so that David stumbles back and bangs into the wall. Mack follows it up by putting his forearm across David’s throat and pinning him there.
“You motherfucker,” he barks, loud enough for everyone to hear.
Ed the bouncer scurries across the lobby, but Huxley puts out a hand and stops him. The two of them and Titus stand a few feet away. David’s companions look at the scuffle, alarmed, but clearly not wanting to get involved. Everyone else in the lobby turns to watch with wide eyes.
“Get the fuck off me,” David snaps, trying to push him away. But Mack is taller and heavier, and eventually David realizes the only way to break free will be an all-out fight, and he doesn’t appear to have the stomach for that.
“Hey,” one of David’s friends says, “what’s going on?”
“He’s been trying to steal my research,” Mack announces. “And he’s been taking advantage of vulnerable people, trying to pay them to spy on me.” He glares at him. “You dare to go after my girl? I ought to smash your fucking teeth down your throat.”
Victoria glances over at me and winks, and my face fills with heat. My girl? I like that.
“She wasn’t your girl at the time,” David points out.
“Shut the fuck up.” Mack bangs him against the wall once more before dropping his arm and taking a step back.
David, obviously embarrassed to be shown up in front of his friends, and conscious of everyone’s eyes on him, smooths back his hair. “She dropped her knickers pretty quick for you. Who knows, maybe she’ll do the same for me if I ask nicely.”
