It wasn’t too long before Drew and Naomi came in, both of them looking a little more distant than usual as they joined in the conversation.Not just from the group, but from each other.Mason kept a close eye on them, even after a grumpy Jensen came in, alone.
He knew what Jensen’s issue was, and there was nothing he could do about that little love triangle.
He was far more concerned about Drew, and by proxy, Naomi.
They seemed to relax after a while in the club atmosphere and soon ended up heading downstairs to scene.Good.That would probably help both of them.David and Cassidy abandoned them not long after that, stars in their eyes as they looked at each other.Audrey watched them go with an odd expression on their face.
“What’s wrong?”Mason asked, leaning forward.
Claudia and Jensen were currently having a private aside, and he was pretty sure Jensen was getting dating tips on how to steal Jennifer away from her doctor to have her all for himself, which meant it was up to Mason to check in on Audrey.
“Just… it’s not that I want to imagine my brother and Cassidy doing some of the stuff that I saw last week—or that I’ve read about—but I’m also having trouble imagining it.”She shook her head, like she was trying to shake the thoughts off.“I shouldn’t think about it too hard.Um, any updates on the fingerprints or anything?”
“Unfortunately, nothing.I just found out today before I left work.And I still haven’t been able to pinpoint who the guy I chased off was.”
There were two men with light brown hair who worked for Devlin, but neither of them had motorcycles.At least, neither had a motorcycle registered to him.That didn’t mean they didn’t have access… but it wasn’t exactly a warm lead at this point.
Audrey sighed, which made her breasts heave up in her corset in a manner that had his cock perking up with interest.
Don’t look, don’t look, don’t look.
He was staring so hard at her face, to keep his gaze from dipping down, he almost felt like he had lasers coming out of his eyes.
“I guess it was too much to hope for that it would be an easy answer.”She shook her head.“I still can’t figure out who would care about my bakery like this.”
“If it helps, wearepretty sure Rebecca had nothing to do with it.So, that’s at least one suspect down.”When he’d turned her over to Lincoln, he’d found out that she’d just gotten home from a trip with her mother.
Mason had very quietly run her financials, and there was no out-of-the-ordinary spending, nothing that couldn’t be accounted for outside of her normal life and the trip.If she’d hired someone to leave the notes—which she couldn’t not have left herself, going by the time she was on a cruise ship with her mother—she had paid for it in cash.But there were no cash withdrawals from her accounts at all for the past four months, which was long before Ashley had been hired or the bakery was even a thing.
He felt pretty comfortable marking her off the list.
“That’s actually a relief.I know she’s a terrible person, but I felt kind of sorry for her.”Audrey traced her fingers through a wet spot on the table where someone’s glass had left condensation because they hadn’t used a coaster.“I think she really loved Ashley’s dad.”
“That or her pride is hurt, and she’s worried that she alienated her former friendandher father for something that ultimately didn’t work out.”Mason shrugged when Audrey looked at him in surprise.Yes, he was a little cynical.
“It could be that.I just like to think the best of people sometimes,” she admitted.“Even when I don’t know them.”
“I tend to think the worst.That way sometimes I get a nice surprise, and I’m rarely disappointed.”
“Oh, yeah?”Her lips quirked up.“What’s the worst expectation you could have of me?”
Mason met her gaze and felt his pulse pick up.His senses tingled, his nerve endings coming alive as it felt like the rest of the world melted away.The description was something he’d always dismissed as frivolous exaggeration, but right now, looking into the emerald pools of her eyes, it really did feel like they were suddenly the only two people in the world.No one else existed.No one else mattered.
“You only made the baklava so you could find out my favorite, then withhold it from me unless I do you favors.”
His voice was husky.Deeper than usual.He hadn’t meant it to sound like a sexual innuendo, but it came out that way.A pink blush immediately spread across her creamy cheeks, her bright red lips forming a perfect ‘o’ in surprise.
Fuck.
He would happily do her thosefavorseven without the baklava.
“Oh, well.”She cleared her throat, and her voice came out higher than usual.Squeaky.Nervous.Just like a little subbie who had caught a Dom’s attention and didn’t know what to do with it.“I promise I’m not looking to bribe you for anything with baklava.”
“If you did, it would be a good bribe.”He smiled at her, trying to joke to lighten the sudden intensity of the space around them.It didn’t work.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”She looked down again at her wrist, where she had a black watch rather than a bracelet.“Oh, wow… it’s getting late again.I should probably go.”
Hopping up from her seat, she seemed about to flee, but Mason was already getting up from his.He glanced at Claudia and Jensen, who were still deep in conversation and didn’t even look up.Audrey halted, wide-eyed, when she realized Mason had gotten to his feet as well.
