Page 10 of Owned (Office Intrigue Duet 8)
Dragging my attention back, I swallowed hard. “I need a favor.”
He said nothing, clearly waiting for me to elaborate.
“It’s a big one, Talon, one I’m hesitant to ask for, but … well, I can’t think of another way to handle this.”
“Handle what?”
“I have some things I need to take care of,” I explained. “Things I’ve put off far too long now. It’ll require I go off the grid for a while.”
“This have something to do with your family?”
I stared back at him, doing my best not to give anything away. Like Talon, I rarely shared details about myself with anyone. Need to know was my motto, and as far as I was concerned, there was rarely anyone—save for Zeke Lautner—who needed to know anything about me or my family.
Talon surprised me then, a cunning smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth. “We’ve been friends for years, have we not? And you’re aware of who I am and what it is I do. Surely you suspected I’d done a deep dive on you.”
Honestly, I hadn’t thought much about it. “And what, pray tell, did you uncover?”
“Probably more than you thought I would.”
“Really?”
“Not initially, no. But I’m nothing if not persistent. When I hit a brick wall, I decided to dig a little deeper.”
I frowned. “So you’re aware of my sister?”
“Braelyn? Yes.” He must’ve sensed my fury, because he added, “Don’t worry, your secrets are yours. I have no need to share them with anyone.”
Before I could form a reply, the shirtless man returned, delivering two mugs of coffee. He placed one in front of Talon, the other in front of me before resuming his position near the wall as he waited for Talon to assign him another task.
“I take it you’re not aware I’ve encountered your sister once before,” Talon said.
The admission shocked me, had me frowning. “What? When?”
“Halloween before last. TJ’s house. She came looking for you.”
She had? Why the hell had she not told me this?
“After attempting to contact you and failing, she mentioned Zeke. I tried him, got confirmation you were at Dichotomy, otherwise engaged. After I relayed this information to her, I had her escorted safely home. I figured she’d told you. Evidently, you were supposed to drive her home from yoga that night?”
He phrased the last part as a question, as though attempting to trigger the memory. Didn’t work.
I shook my head, at a loss. Who else knew about her?
“I told no one,” Talon added, as though he could read my thoughts. “Didn’t feel it was my place.” He studied me for a second. “What is it you need from me, Ransom?”
“I need you to hide my sister,” I blurted.
“Hide her?” His laugh was dark and laced with incredulity. “You really trust me with your sister, Ransom?”
Yes, I realized exactly what I was asking and to whom I was asking. Talon had a reputation, at least in our BDSM circle, known mostly for his lack of empathy toward submissives and his desire never to take one more than once. More interesting than that, I suspected that was a persona he’d developed for the club scene. Underneath the hardcore Master facade, I got the feeling there was something much, much darker.
But he wasn’t the only one who knew things.
“No,” I admitted. “I don’t fully trust anyone with Braelyn. But her safety is paramount, and right now, there’s no one I trust more to get her off the grid for a little while.”
“And how do you propose I do that?”
“Hire her. She’s on the verge of getting fired as it is. My fault, of course. I’ve made it nearly impossible for her to be punctual.”
Talon took a sip of his coffee, waited.
Figuring he wanted more details, I rambled on. “It won’t be difficult for me to delay her arrival this morning, which, according to her, will be the last straw.”
His dark eyebrows dipped low. “So they fire her and I hire her?”
“Yes.”
“To do what?”
“I don’t care.”
Talon continued to stare, so I decided to play my hand.
“I know a few things about you, too, Talon.”
He appeared amused. “Do you?”
I motioned toward the man standing near the wall. “I know you’ve got four sexual slaves you keep hidden away.”
“Seven,” Talon clarified. “I have seven. And to clarify, I prefer the term possessions. Your turn of phrase infers they were unwilling when they came to me.”
“Fine. Possessions. All of whom are men.”
“They are,” he confirmed, his smile returning. “And you believe, because I have seven male possessions at my beck and call, your sister will be safe with me?”
“She’s not exactly your type.”
Talon was now smirking. “Which only goes to show how little you actually do know about me.”
Because this was getting me nowhere, I worked to get us back on track.
“I know you’ve got a private island, Talon. A place where my sister can safely go until I make things right here.”
