Charmed: A Masters and Mercenar - Lexi Blake Page 0,41
know what I did hurt him. Dana rebelled, too. She went a little wild and ended up marrying someone she shouldn’t have. She went missing when we were in college. We’ve never found her, and we’ve had the best in the business look. It was like she disappeared off the face of the earth. It affected JT. It affected me, too, but I accepted long ago that I can’t control the world around me. JT hasn’t learned that lesson. He didn’t have to because he does control his world.”
“That’s not fair. He’s had to because he didn’t have anyone to lean on. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not blaming you for the choices you’ve made, but you left him. I suspect up until that moment you did almost everything together. Did you ever talk to him about the fact that all that responsibility, all that destiny, suffocated you?”
“He wouldn’t have understood,” Michael insisted. “He wanted it. He wanted everything our parents had planned for us. He would have tried to stop me, and I couldn’t let that happen. I had to break free. I had to find out who I was without the Malone name behind me.”
“Then you should understand how he feels. He needs to know he can do this. If you force him out, I think you’ll hurt your relationship with him.”
“But your job would be far easier with me.” His eyes narrowed. “Unless there’s a reason you specifically want JT on this. Are you looking to spend more time with him?”
“I think he’s the best man for the job.” She wasn’t about to let Michael put her in a corner. “I think I can handle him. Now that I know what will worry him, I’ll manage him better. I appreciate that information. If you’re questioning whether or not I’ll let some attraction to your brother mess with this op…”
He shook his head. “No. I know you wouldn’t do that. Again, I trust our bosses. But you like him. You like JT.”
She was about to protest that liking JT Malone didn’t matter when a feminine voice broke her concentration.
“I would hope she likes JT if she’s planning on marrying him.” Deanna stood right behind Michael, eyeing them both like she wasn’t sure what she’d walked up on.
Well, it proved that she wasn’t entirely on her game since normally she would never break cover unless she was completely alone. “Michael was making fun of his brother. He seems to do that a lot.”
Michael shrugged and smiled smoothly. “It’s been my hobby since we were kids. I can’t help it. I’m the pretty one and the smart one.”
Nice deflection. He knew what he was doing. “I hardly think you’re prettier than him.”
“He’s definitely not smarter since he walked away from a billion-dollar empire for the military.” Deanna had a glass of red wine in her hand. “And honestly, I can’t tell the difference between the two of them until they open their mouths, and then Michael sounds like he’s a paranoid nut bag.”
Michael frowned her way. “Really?”
“Duh, you’re always going on about spies and stuff. No one is trying to steal our oil rigs. They’re kind of too big to steal,” Deanna said. “But you get JT all riled up and then I have to calm him down.”
Michael sighed, obviously unwilling to start this fight. “I think I’ll go check on my dad. Thank you, Nina. You’ve given me a lot to think about. I think you’re going to be very good for my brother.”
She wasn’t sure what he meant by that, or if he was merely playing his part. She only hoped she’d gotten through to the man. “Hello, Deanna. I would have thought you would take the day off since you’ve been around so very often.”
“Expect to see me a lot,” Deanna replied, a smug smirk on her face. “I’m not some nine to fiver. I’m on a path and I’m not about to let anyone push me off that path, if you know what I mean, Ms. Banks from London. You’ve never been married. That’s surprising, given your age.”
She laughed. The queen bee shite didn’t get to her at all. “I’m in my thirties and I’ve had a career. You’re what? Thirty-three at the very least.”
“Yes, but I’ve been married before,” she replied.
“And now you’re divorced.”
Deanna tipped her glass. “Happily. You’re older than JT.”
“Slightly. Or are you one of those people who view women in dog years? Like we’re only interesting when we’re twenty, and every year