The Dom Who Loved Me (Masters and Mercenaries #1)(71)

“She could be very savvy.” Black wasn’t listening to a thing anyone said.

A strange calm settled over Sean as he listened to Black. Black made perfect sense. Grace could have used her breakup with him as an excuse to send Kayla out as cannon fodder. If she was a ruthless thief, it would be easy for her to send her friend out to take the knife for her. Sean’s brain worked overtime as he watched Grace. She was so lovely sitting there. She was perfect, and that was the problem. He didn’t trust his instincts. Grace seemed perfect, therefore there must be something wrong with her. Black went on. Somewhere Sean could hear the man talking about how Grace could be fooling them all, but Sean was finally calm enough to ask the pertinent questions.

Who was Grace Hawthorne? Grace Hawthorne was the type of woman who could easily write out a check for something when she wasn’t sure exactly what she was buying. She would do it because she trusted the people around her. Grace Hawthorne was the type of woman who was loyal to a man who had given her a chance even when that man was a wretched alcoholic. Sean felt his heart twist inside his chest. Grace was the type of woman who would follow a man she thought was cheating her boss even though it put her in danger.

God, he hoped Grace was the type of woman to give a man who loved her a second chance.

“She didn’t have anything to do with this,” Sean said, a deep calm settling inside him. He trusted Grace. It was far past time he shoved aside his role as an employee. He wasn’t an agent anymore. He was Grace’s lover, her Dom, and it was time to protect her. He brushed past Black.

“About damn time.” Adam sighed as he walked past.

Sean took the ten steps from the small viewing room to the interrogation room door. He slipped in the room, and ignored Ian’s wide-eyed stare. Grace turned to him, her eyes bright and focused for the first time in an hour. He pulled up a chair and sat down beside her, sliding his hand onto hers. “Go on. Answer the question. It’s going to be all right.”

They needed to get through this. It wouldn’t go away, and there was no way to hide her from it.

Grace’s face contorted sweetly. She stared at him for a moment, but she didn’t move her hand away. After a brief pause, she turned back to Ian. “I don’t know Matt’s brother. He talks about him, but mostly after he’s had a few, if you know what I mean.”

Sean squeezed her hand. It was the most animated answer she’d given the whole interview.

Ian’s eyebrow arched aristocratically. “So you’re telling me you didn’t know that Evan Parnell is really Patrick Wright?”

Grace’s eyes widened, and she clung to Sean’s hand. “No. Until Sean told me, I had no idea. I don’t see how I was supposed to know. I’ve seen pictures of Matt’s brother. He doesn’t look anything like Evan.”

Sean leaned toward her. He was painfully aware of Black stepping into the room. “Babe, he probably had a lot of plastic surgery. Some criminals with cash change their appearance to get away from the law, or in this case, his former employer. He probably did it in Central America. He seems to have some ties both there and in Asia. Wright is trying to avoid the law and the Central Intelligence Agency.”

“So Evan Parnell is related to Matt, but he never told me?” She chewed on her lower lip.

“I’m sure he didn’t want you to know. When exactly did Parnell show up?” Sean knew the answer from the paper trail, but he was curious to see it from Grace’s view.

“A couple of years ago. We ran into some serious trouble moneywise. I never got a real explanation as to why. The books all seemed good. Matt said it was the economy, but we had contracts rolling in. I always suspected Matt had done something he shouldn’t have with the money.”

Sean nodded in what he hoped was an encouraging fashion. That was exactly what they suspected had happened as well. Matt Wright liked to gamble when he drank. He played deep and not well. “So Parnell came to your boss a couple of years back?”

“Yes. He said he was trying to take his custodial service to another level. He’d done some work in the Northeast, but had to move. He didn’t have any contacts in Dallas. We hadn’t offered custodial services before. I was surprised. Matt’s a bit of a snob. He liked that he repped IT services. It had a cache in our world.”

“But an IT temp would be watched, Miss Hawthorne.” Black eased into the chair beside Ian. “They would be very restricted in their access to the systems and the building.”

Grace leaned over, her shoulder brushing against his. Sean could practically feel the anxiety rolling off her. “Who is he?”

Black frowned and leaned forward. “I’m the man who will decide your fate, Miss Hawthorne.”

Grace turned to face Sean. “I have a fate?”

Sean checked his chuckle. He leaned in. “He’s a drama queen, little one. He can’t help it. He’s with the CIA. They take a class or something.”

Sean caught his brother’s brief smile before Ian covered it up.

Eve didn’t bother. She laughed out loud. “Grace, this is a man who calls himself Mr. Black. He works for the CIA. He used to be Patrick Wright’s handler.”

Black turned his stern expression on Eve. “Thank you for the introduction, Ms. St. James. I might have preferred to keep some of that information to myself. Ms. Hawthorne doesn’t need my biography to answer my questions.”