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“You planning on leaving?”
I shook my head. My mind was screaming at me to distance myself, but I wasn’t ready yet. Not when there was the promise of more time with Zali and Flynn.
“Good.” He nodded. “Zali won’t mind if you’re naked. She’s rarely dressed herself.”
“And you?”
“I’m just the staff. I blend into the background. I’m not meant to be seen.” It was Ryder’s turn to shrug. He tilted his head toward the loungeroom. “She’ll be impressed if you’re doing whatever research you’ve planned when she and Flynn wake up.”
“That’s why I’m out here.”
A ghost of a smile tilted his lips. “Okay. I’ve got to run out for a bit. I’ll avoid the loungeroom when I come back in.”
It was as if he was giving me the green light to pursue something with Zali and Flynn. His approval was meaningless, yet I appreciated his candour.
“Probably a good idea.” I smirked when he rolled his eyes, and I dropped my clothes beside the door.
Striding out to the loungeroom naked, I chuckled when Ryder called out, “Thanks, mate. Wanted that eyeful.”
I’d been reading Flynn’s notes and compiling data for an hour, building on the information Flynn had started compiling. Some of the names of companies Zali’s mother identified as investment opportunities were familiar. Like ReimagINC, some were infamous victims of the GFC. Others were still around.
I downloaded another set of historical share price records from the stock exchange’s site. I’d later compile a timeline that matched up the dates in the diaries with movements in the share price, release of financial data, and if and when investments were made. But to do that, I needed the financials. The regulator’s database would give me much of what I was looking for, but given the age of the records, I was going to have to wait for them to be emailed.
Zali had earmarked posts, having shown them to me as she ran through the information. I wanted to read the diaries—they’d be worth their weight in gold for my research—but I couldn’t bring myself to overstep Zali’s trust in me. Even showing me the diaries in the first place was huge. But she’d wanted me to see them. She’d asked me to read parts of them. I picked up the first diary she’d shown me and held it gingerly, tossing up whether I should read the tabbed entry or not. Finally, I opened it, making sure not to read more than the parts she’d highlighted.
It was a heartbreaking read.
Entry after tabbed entry showed me a glimpse of their perfect little family. They were happy. Zali had been a bright and bubbly little girl who adored her big brother, and Asher was a sweet kid who loved rugby and idolized his dad. Even back then, Zali and Flynn were already joined at the hip. The snippets Rosa shared of Flynn’s childhood didn’t seem happy. There wasn’t any real detail in there, but she’d painted him as a lonely kid whose family seemed to forget he even existed. She said more than once that he needed a bath and a decent meal.
The two of them had followed Asher and Ryder around, gazing at them with stars in their eyes. It was exactly how I’d viewed my older brother once upon a time.
Then there was Monroe, Rosa’s husband. She adored him. He worked hard and loved his kids. Rosa dreamed of jetting off to an island with him for a holiday where they could relax. She called it the honeymoon they’d never really had.
They had a dinner on the beach every Friday night, and when she had the time, they’d swim or kayak and explore the rock pools or fish. They were always on the water, something Zali had continued. It was so domestic, an idyllic environment to raise kids in.
Even reading only the tabbed entries, I got a sense of Rosa’s personality that my research had never uncovered. I wasn’t stupid enough to think that she was some robot, but the descriptions of her highs and lows, her love for her family, and the passion she had for her work made her human, more so than I’d been prepared for.
Zali had already changed me. There was no way I could cast her mother in the light I’d planned on when pitching this podcast. When Zali had defended her mother’s honour in my office, it had knocked me sideways. But these diaries added another dimension that I couldn’t ignore. Maybe Zali was right. Rosa didn’t come across as incompetent or even close to negligent in the way she spoke about those investments. Maybe it was all bad luck.
But that didn’t sit right either. My gut told me there was something more. I just wasn’t sure what it was. Otherwise, why would someone threaten me? Who was behind all this? Who would try to stop me?
If only the death threat was my main problem.
But it was the lowest on my list of fears. Falling for them was so much more dangerous. I could destroy everything I’d worked for. No, itwould.
But I was beginning to suspect it’d all be worth it.
I couldn’t get the picture of Zali and Flynn out of my head. My hole was still tender where Flynn had fucked me so well, and no one had ever swallowed my cock like Zali had. I fucking loved sex with them.
I’d never bottomed for anyone before Flynn. I loved being stuffed full, loved the feel of a dildo up my arse, but I didn’t let anyone get close enough to let it happen. I wasn’t some emotionally damaged hero in need of saving. I just liked to keep things simple. If I controlled what happened, hook-ups didn’t get messy. They didn’t ask to stay the night. They didn’t want a repeat. There were only a handful of people I’d had seconds with, and even fewer who I intentionally sought out to go another round with—three to be exact.
My hook-ups were bathroom-stall blow jobs and hotel stays during conferences or weekends away where I’d be gone after a few days anyway. The women wanted a quick fling, and the men understood keeping it simple.
But Flynn…. The man was sweet and so very innocent. He was angelic. I’d fallen under his spell the moment I’d locked eyes with him in class. I should have averted my gaze and never thought about my student bent over and taking my cock. But Zali was sitting right next to him. Her fiery personality had been the perfect complement to her sex-kitten looks.
I was a lost cause.
My plans quickly devolved into figuring out a way to fuck Flynn after I’d made Zali scream my name.
