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“No, you’re not. He’s used to that. It’s what his father’s been doing to him for over a decade. That’s why this hit him so hard,” Tasha explained. “He’s spent the majority of his life being manipulated, and that’s exactly what he thinks I’ve done.”
“Have you?” her mother asked.
“No,” Lou said. “We didn’t go into that pub with the thought of finding a target. Well, not for the op. For Tasha’s stress relief, yes, and before you judge you should know that just because we’re behind computers doesn’t mean the job isn’t stressful. Between trying to ensure Tristan stays alive and Kala doesn’t kill someone she’s not supposed to, it can get really anxiety inducing. Not to mention the fact that Kenz will shut down a mission to save an animal. Or have we forgotten the dog in the Paris sewer systems that nearly cost us the intel about a potential attack on the US embassy in Argentina?”
“I was with her on that one,” Kala conceded. “That dog was way sweeter and less smelly than our informant.”
“I wasn’t judging,” her mother corrected. “I know it’s stressful. Who do you think put it in her head that she should blow off some steam? You should, too, Lou.”
Lou seemed to suddenly realize that she’d acquired the attention of Charlotte Taggart. Her mother could be ruthless when it came to matchmaking. “I’m good with stress. I actually work better under it.”
“Mom, focus.” Kala was there to help out her bestie. “This is about Tasha. What’s the plan? If anyone knows how to get a dude to forgive her, it’s you. You literally cost Dad everything and left him for five years, and he forgave you the minute you walked back into his life.”
She’d heard the story often. Her dad had known he couldn’t waste more time. He’d welcomed her with open arms.
Her mother’s eyes rolled. “Okay, so part of my penance was letting your father rewrite history. He was a massive ass when I came back, and he hurt me over and over before he could admit he still loved me. It was a hard process, and I’m afraid Tasha is about to have to go through it, too.”
“I knew that story was bullshit,” Kala said under her breath.
She’d kind of known, too. Though if there was one person in the world her father could forgive, it was her mother. “I have to make this right. Even if he can’t love me. I need to know that I didn’t ruin him.”
“Of course you didn’t, sweet girl.” Her mom reached for her hand. “But it does sound like you showed him something beautiful and then took it away from him. That wasn’t what you intended to do, but it’s the reality of how he feels. I wish you had time and proximity to help this situation along, but I’m afraid all you have is a few days, and then he’ll probably walk away.”
“Nah,” Kala said with a wave of her hand. “Dad’s already working him over. He’s agreed to help take down Dare’s dad.”
“He did?” That was news to her.
Her mother nodded. “Yes, he did. For all your father gripes and groans, he knows you. He knew the minute he found out you were sleeping with Dare Nash that you were very likely in love with him. And after reading what Drake sent over, he knew Dare was in trouble. He quickly figured out the familial situation. He knew he would need leverage not only to get Dare to go through with the op once he found out what was going on, but to buy you the time you need to draw him back in.”
“I don’t know if there’s enough time in the world,” Tasha admitted, starting to get emotional again. Her parents had been planning how to help her even before she knew she’d had a real problem.
“He’s in love with you. Even I can see that, and I don’t particularly believe in love. You can get him back if you want to,” Kala said. “And we’ll help you out. That is a man searching for a family, for acceptance. If it was simply you hopping back in bed with him, I would be worried. I think he can compartmentalize like mad. But Dad is already doing his thing. Mom will be warm and welcoming and weird. Kenzie will do the same. And I’ll stay off to the side and try to not say too many murderey things. Though I do not think that man liked Chet. We could bond over that.”
Kala wasn’t wrong about Dare’s need for a family.
“What you have to understand is that men have stages they go through when it comes to a thing like this, and they can be hard on a woman.” Her mother sat back. “You’re going through the initial stage. It’s the worst stage. The world is against him, and he should have known nothing good could come from loving a woman. He should have known the universe was fucking with him, and when he thinks about it, it’s all his fault. You see, this stage is hard because what he’s trying to convince himself is that he never loved you and you don’t matter.”
