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“I’m ready to get back to work,” she said with a nod. “The doctors have cleared me, but someone is determined to run interference between Cerberus and me.”
Fitz sat down and noted that Damon sat at the head of the conference table with Miley to his right and Fitz on the other side. Turning his chair toward Damon, he said, “Bottom line it for me, Damon, am I losing her?”
“If he has anything to say about it, which he doesn’t, you are,” snapped Miley.
“We both know I have had a lot to say about it, as have you—mostly at the top of our lungs.” Damon added the last bit with a chuckle. He picked up Miley’s hand and kissed her fingers before turning to Fitz. “I have a proposition for you.”
“I’m listening,” said Fitzwallace, enjoying the way Damon handled her. Miley was a badass with a bad temper and lethal skills. It took the right kind of man—the right kind of Dom—to handle her.
“I need to be able to sleep at night, Fitz. I need to know she’s safe. I would propose that you expand Cerberus’ operations into Charleston, and name Miley as the head of operations.”
Miley’s face became an unhealthy shade of red and she looked as though she could have cheerfully strangled Damon.
“That is not a compromise. That is you taking over my life and making decisions in areas outside of our agreement,” she snarled.
“You really need to read that agreement, sweetheart,” Damon said smoothly. “It says nothing about our D/s relationship being confined strictly to the bedroom and club settings.”
“I don’t care what that piece of paper says. You do not get to drag my boss down here and have him invent a job for me…”
“I don’t hear him saying that, Miley,” said Fitz.
“Of course, you don’t. You Doms have some secret code and understanding that you conspire to keep your subs under your thumbs. Well, I’m not having it.” She turned to Damon. “I’m better than administrative work.”
“Are you now?” asked Fitzwallace. “You think you’re a better field agent than King or Nigel? Than me?”
“I didn’t say that at all,” she stuttered.
“Sweetheart, when you intimated that you were better than office work, you dissed those who run the administrative side, but I know you don’t feel that way.”
“No,” she said morosely.
“As for a compromise, this is the best I can do. I know that even though they are in charge of operations, King, Nigel and Fitz all end up in the field. You know it, too. If I had my way, you’d be lying in the sun at our home and doing philanthropic work, but I know there’s a part of you that needs to do what you do. I think I’m being very understanding.”
“Aye. He is. You were in London long enough to know that I put the kibosh on JJ’s shenanigans a long time ago, and I don’t hear Damon trying to do that. I’ll tell you this, I think, like King, you’ll be one hell of an ops manager. Those who work out of here will know their boss is one of the best, and more than that, knows how to have a decent work/life balance. You know how easy it is for field ops to go down a black hole and never come out. I worried about that happening to you. Seeing you with Damon, I’m going to feel a whole lot better about that.”
Miley sat forward, looking like she was going to argue and then slumped back with a sigh. “I’m not going to win this argument, am I?”
“Only because you don’t really want to,” said Damon soothingly.
Damn, the man had gotten a handle on Miley far more quickly than Fitz had believed possible.
It was Fitz’s turn to lean forward to make his point. “This is a good move for you. It’s a promotion. You’ll be the first female ops manager of Cerberus. Maybe we can attract more female operatives. Miley, there are few people I trust the way I do you. You’ve always been one of the people I knew was good under pressure and an excellent critical thinker. Time and again, you showed your ability for strategic planning both in the office where it’s easy and under fire where it's not. I’d be willing to bet that some of our best people will want to be here in Charleston—my guess is the first two will be Dusty and Liam.”
“Really?” she asked.
“Absolutely. Both had nothing but praise for your leadership, as did Seth. Everybody that was on the scene at Acosta’s told me that it would have been a whole lot worse if you hadn’t made sure they knew that the wine cellar was booby trapped. You saved a lot of lives that day.”
“What about Acosta?” she asked.
“He’s in the wind. He’ll most likely turn up in some country where there’s no extradition treaty, but Interpol has red noticed him. I’ve let it be known that Cerberus will pay handsomely for any information regarding his whereabouts, as will your Dom.”
Miley looked at Damon with love and joy. “You put a bounty on him?” Damon nodded. “No wonder I love you so much. And Damon?”
“Yes, Miley,” he said indulgently.
“About that question you keep pestering me about. I want a ring that matches my collar.”
Outside of Damon’s private office, all those who were waiting to see him could only hear Damon whooping and hollering and the loud booming laughter of a man with a Scottish accent.
