From Sanctum with Love (Masters and Mercenaries #10)(63)

“Who would stand to gain so much from you eating at his place,” Grace replied. “We would love to have you. We’ll keep a table open for you while you’re here. Feel free to walk around and ask anything you like. Your friends are already here. I set them up in an empty office, but apparently Brad decided to run up stairs or something.”

“He’s very active. Thank you for putting up with all of us.” Jared turned back after giving Grace a wink. The minute she was back at her desk, he leaned over. “I’ll go and see if I can shadow someone since you’re meeting with Ian. I’ll stay out of your way.”

He stopped Jared when he turned to walk away. “Hey, that’s a nice thing you’re doing for Sean. Top will get a lot of publicity if you’re seen there and you know it.”

“I like to be seen in all the hot places.”

“Top is small. There are a ton of other restaurants in Dallas with higher profiles, some that would likely pay for you to walk past the front of the place.”

Jared shrugged. “They seem like nice people.”

Maybe his brother wasn’t so shallow. “Like I said, I appreciate it. I know I might not have friends from childhood still hanging around, but I do have friends and I am grateful when someone helps them out.”

Jared nodded. “Anything I can do.”

His brother had done a lot for him today. For him. For Kori. “Thanks for helping with Kori’s car, too. What was Lena talking about when she asked if you’d looked at her proposal?”

He had to admit, he was curious.

“Her mother runs a studio. Lena thinks I’m wasting my life making comic book TV shows and movies like Love After Death. She’s not into genre entertainment. She wants me to do a bunch of small indie films. Something with award bait to it.”

“Why not?”

“Because I have fun making Dart. I’ll have fun doing this. I know a lot of people in the industry look down on genre stuff, but it has something to say, too.”

“That a douchebag with a bunch of darts can do push-ups?”

Jared stared at him for a moment. “That ordinary guys can be heroes. That it’s not all bad out there. I can pick up a newspaper to tell me the world is shit. I don’t need a film to tell me that, but there are days when I need to turn on the TV and be reminded that it can be good, too. That’s what I do. That’s what I want to do. I want to make people happy. I don’t see how that’s a bad thing to do. I don’t see why that makes me less of an artist.”

Kai stopped, looking at his brother in a slightly different light. Maybe there were times he’d been the *. “It doesn’t. It’s good, Jared. You need to do what makes you happy.” If he didn’t stop, he was going to get emotional, and he didn’t have time for that right now. Still, he couldn’t leave Jared like this. “Why don’t I show you around here? Ian’s office is in the back. I can give you a quick tour.”

A cautious smile this time. “I would like that. This is the top floor, but I read that there’s a second floor.”

The tension seemed to go out of the room. Oh, Kai had no doubt it would rear its ugly head again, but they needed time and privacy for that conversation. “The second floor is fairly new. It used to be a law office. They moved to a private building and Ian took over the space. The business covers a lot of security needs, but they’re broken up into different teams now that MT has gotten so big. The main floor is for the central team. They work for corporations and do some government work. Downstairs there’s a team specifically for physical security, both buildings and people. There are five highly trained bodyguards on retainer and the nerd squad specializes in security systems. On this floor, we have several conference rooms, the main one right here on the left. What the hell?”

Adam and Jesse both had a leg up on the conference room table, stretching their big bodies as Brad pressed a hand to Jesse’s back.

Yes, he had to figure out what was going on there. He opened the door. “Dare I ask?”

Jesse looked up. “Hey, Kai. Brad here is showing us how to properly stretch out our hamstrings. I keep pulling my left one when I run. Nearly took a damn bullet in LA last week when Si and I were on assignment. It stiffened up on the flight last night. I’m getting old.”

Adam shook his head. “I’m not old. I just spend too much time behind a desk. Brad’s going to give me a comprehensive workout plan. Jake doesn’t believe in intellectual pursuits and somehow he never gains sympathy weight. Serena’s pregnant again. I have to keep off the weight or I’ll be the less hot but still intellectually superior husband.”

So it was a typical day at McKay-Taggart.

“You can come and work out with me,” Jared offered.

Adam gave him a thumbs-up. “That would be awesome.”

“I’ll get these two in better shape. Let’s go run some stairs. See how that hammy holds up now that you’ve properly warmed it.” Brad clapped his hands together like it was the best thing in the world.

It sounded horrible to Kai. Of course, he’d always accepted that he was the less hot but intellectually superior brother. Kori didn’t seem to mind that he wasn’t a gym rat who pounded pavement or lifted weights four hours a day.

Jared watched as the trio started toward the stairs. “That has to be Axel from The Doms with the Golden Whips. It was one of my favorites.”