Luscious (Topped #1)(56)

Macon strode into Chef Taggart’s office with his gut in a knot. It was Friday night after dinner service. He had to catch his boss before he disappeared to go to whoever’s house was hosting Sanctum this week. Friday nights were a standing playdate between Sean and Grace Taggart.

He needed to get this shit over with. He couldn’t take too much more of watching Ally with her sad eyes and luscious body.

Not that she’d been too sad earlier in the afternoon. She’d stood over him and told him off. Like she had a right to do that. Like two weeks was too much time to ask for. Not that he’d asked for time. He didn’t care. He didn’t care that she’d been so beautiful telling him she believed in herself, that she’d made plans to stand behind him, to be his partner, but if he was an idiot, she’d move on.

Nope. He didn’t care. He wanted her to move on. He was going to do the same. What she’d done was unforgivable. In his family, you didn’t get a second chance. You got it right or you were done.

Was he really hearing his father’s voice in his head? Was that what he wanted his life to come to?

“You wanted to see me?” Sean Taggart sat behind his desk, going over the nightly reports. “Make it quick. We’re due at Ian’s in an hour.”

“I’ll pass tonight.”

“Oh, okay. I guess you heard Ally’s there. You know just because you’re not together doesn’t mean you should stop going to the club.”

He stopped, his heart clenching. “What do you mean Ally’s going?”

Sean sat back. “She’s asked Ian if she can be accepted as a trainee. Smart girl. She showed up at Ian’s office with a lemon icebox pie about a week ago and negotiated so she doesn’t have to pay fees. She’s taking care of the kids for three months twice a week and then training on Saturday nights. Tomorrow is her first training night. I think Ian’s going to put her with Ten.”

He felt his eyes widen. “With Ten? With cold as ice, probably killed someone five minutes ago Ten? I know everyone is claiming that guy is just a friend of Ian’s but I swear if he wasn’t Special Forces I’ll eat my C-leg.”

Sean’s lips curled up in an enigmatic grin. “I’ll get you some sauce to go with that. He’s not Special Forces.”

“Then he’s worse. He’s Agency or something. He’s not a f*cking civilian and he’ll hurt her.” Ten was also gorgeous and had every sub panting after him. He was ice cold. So cold that the subs were calling him Master No because that was what he said almost all the time. No. He would be so negative around Ally, and that wasn’t what she needed. She needed an indulgent Master.

“It doesn’t matter what he used to do. Now he’s a Dom in training and Ian takes that serious, as you know.”

Jake was Macon’s mentor. Jake had been disappointed he’d started missing sessions. If he didn’t watch it, he would lose his rights in Sanctum altogether, but it didn’t really matter. Did it? “Well, I hope that works out for her. I need to hand in my two weeks’ notice. I know I’m leaving you in the lurch, but I’m going to move back to New York.”

Sean’s eyes closed but not before Macon saw a wave of disappointment there. His boss sat back and sighed. “Are you really going to do this?”

Well, he’d known Sean wouldn’t be thrilled. “Yes. I think it’s time I take my life back.”

A chuckle came from Sean’s throat but it wasn’t an amused sound. He sat back up and gestured to the chair in front of his desk. “Take a seat, Macon.”

Macon did as asked. He was sure he was going to get a lecture on how Sean had taken a chance on him—and he had. Getting dressed down by a superior wasn’t something Macon liked, but Chef Taggart deserved his pound of flesh. “Of course.”

“Are you really so angry that you would go back to a life that you hated?”

“I’m not angry.” Why did everyone think he was angry?

“Of course you are. You feel betrayed. She lied to you. Everything life has taught you before this moment tells you to cut her off. Excise the wound and move on. There’s only one problem with that. If you excise Allyson from your life, you lose the best part of yourself. You might be angry with her, but are you so angry with yourself you want to self-destruct?”

Before he could even think about it, his hands were fists and they were coming down on Sean’s desk with a mighty crack. “I am not f*cking angry.”

He stared down at the desk. It now had a neat crack that shot up one side. It didn’t seem deep but he’d made his presence felt.

Fuck, he was so mad. He was so angry he could barely breathe.

Sean ignored the state of his desk. He turned around a picture frame. It was a shot of Taggart and his wife, Grace, holding their toddler girl with two young men standing behind them. Grace Taggart’s children with her first husband. They were all smiling for the camera, but it was easy to see who was the center of attention. Carys Taggart had her mother’s coloring but there was no doubt she was a Taggart. “I need you to look at this. This family almost didn’t happen because I lied to my wife. I was undercover. I gave her a false name and background and she fell in love with a man who didn’t exist. Except I did. I became the man Grace fell in love with. I was better, stronger, more open because of Grace Hawthorne. I lied to her. I nearly cost that woman her life and do you know what she gave me?”