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“Then why are there so many others?” Lou finally seemed to find some fire.
“To get back to…” Tasha began.
Her mother held out a hand. “No, I’d like to hear what he has to say.”
Her mother was a menace, too.
“There hasn’t been anyone who meant a damn thing to me,” TJ replied. “Why don’t we go somewhere and talk?”
“So you can convince her to give up more of her life for you?” Kala asked.
“The way Cooper does for you?” TJ turned Kala’s way. “I’m there for Lou. Half the time you pretend like Coop doesn’t exist. You know he built that whole fucking club for you.”
“Hey,” Coop said, standing and leaning over. “How about we not talk about this in public.”
“I would watch your ass, Dare,” Chet was saying, pointing Zach’s way. “This guy will do anything it takes to get what he wants.”
Dare looked up. “Should I get a mirror? I’m not sure how I should watch it. Zach, are you going to shoot me in the ass? I would suggest somewhere else. I think an ass can probably take a bullet pretty well.”
Her father laughed and nodded her way. “I like him, Tash. You did good.”
Tasha had enough. She stood up and slammed her fist on the table. “Stop it, all of you. It is obvious to me that you are all screwed up in numerous ways, but I’m not going to allow any of you to threaten this mission. TJ, Lou is going to start dating. Stay out of her way. Kala and Cooper, everyone knows there’s way more to whatever fucked-up mess you have going, but you’re both too stubborn to talk about it, and until you’re willing to, keep it to yourselves.”
“I’m not the one who mentioned it,” Kala began with a frown.
Tasha wasn’t done. She turned to Tristan. “You have zero room to talk about anyone. You are literally going to let the woman you love marry your best friend because…none of us knows. That’s your misery, brother, because you won’t share it, but stay out of everyone else’s drama if you don’t let us in on yours.” She turned to the worst of them all. “Chet, you slept with someone else. You knew damn well I wouldn’t be okay with it. You fucked around and I found out. Zach saved me a lot of time.”
“He could have saved me some money by telling you sooner,” her dad interjected.
She pointed a finger her father’s way. “You hush. You are not going to turn this into a soap opera for your entertainment.”
Her father gestured around the room. “I don’t have to. It plays out in front of me every day.”
“He’s right about that, baby,” her mom said with an apologetic wince. “It’s hard not to watch.”
She gathered all of her willpower. “I am not leaving this open to debate. I am taking Dare out of here. The fact that Huisman is leaving the country will change Oakley’s plans and potentially tip him off that something’s gone wrong. It’s time to pull up stakes and report back.”
“You should have done that in the first place.” Chet had his arms crossed over his chest. “If you had, we wouldn’t be in this position. You’re thinking with your pussy, Tash. And honestly, you’re doing this as payback. You don’t have to. When you’re willing to admit you made a mistake, I’ll be willing to discuss getting back together. You’ve had your fun with that asshole. I get it. Anything more is playing the whore.”
“You want to deal with him?” Zach had gone a nice shade of red. He was staring Dare’s way. “Or should I do it?”
She rolled her eyes and wished there was something she could do to lower the testosterone level in the room. Lou needed to get to work on a new device.
“I don’t think either of us should fight him right now.” Dare sounded perfectly reasonable.
“Thank you.” Maybe they could get back to business.
“I think we should wait a while. Until he’s forgotten this moment entirely and he thinks I don’t care that he used that word in my presence and about someone I care about. A year or two should do it. Then we track the fucker down. I bet he ends up in dark alleys from time to time. We sneak up and slit the fucker’s throat. I don’t care if he’s in pain as long as he’s dead. See, I think the pain part is where most people screw up. Just get to the killing,” Dare said.
“You are not allowed around my father anymore.” She knew damn well who’d put that idea into her sweet man’s head.
Her father held a hand up. “I swear to… Okay, we might have talked about it, but this is mostly his idea. I’m proud of you, son. Though a little pain wouldn’t hurt if it was properly planned. See, this is where knowing a lot of people with BDSM clubs comes in handy. There’s usually a torture room somewhere close.”
