When he pulled into his parking space at the office, he texted the info about Marlon Beckett to Carson.
Got it,Carson replied.On it.
Using his ID card for access, Julian took the elevator from the parking garage to the fourth floor and greeted Hector at the reception desk.
Hector waved him over.
“What’s up?”Julian asked him.
“So it’s none of my business, but…” Hector looked around to make sure no one would overhear him.“That woman Stacey… She’s going off on you online.”
“How do you know?”
“I, uh, looked her up to see if she had anything to say.People like that never go away quietly.”He handed Julian a slip of paper.“Her socials.”
“Thank you, Hector.I appreciate this.”And he meant that, but it was mortifying to have one of their employees clueing him in about an ex trashing him online.
“The stuff she’s saying about you… It’s obvious she doesn’t know you at all.”
“I’ll take care of it.”
“I figured that’s what you’d say.”
Julian forced a smile for Hector, who looked upset.“This is when all those years in school pay off.”
Hector laughed and then reached for his ringing desk phone.
One of the central facts of Julian’s life was that no matter how early he left his house in the morning, he never,evergot to work before Mattie.She was always waiting for him with a smile, dressed to the nines with coordinating nails, ready to help him conquer the day.Today, she wore a red suit with a black silk blouse and a black-and-red scarf.
He handed her the skinny latte he picked up for her along with his tall Americano every day on the way in.
“Thank you, my love,” she said as she followed him into his office, closing the door for their daily coffee and planning ritual.
Before Hector had told him about Stacey’s latest salvo, he’d been wondering about how he might go about finding out what was going on with his parents without Carson’s involvement, as that would usually be his first move.
Julian had debated whether to ask Mattie about whether she’d picked up on anything about his parents being back together, but if anyone would know, it was her.Somehow, she knew everything that went on with everyone.Carson often said he wanted to steal her for his team because she already knew everything they were trying to find out.
“What’s wrong?”she asked when he was seated at his desk and she was in one of his visitor chairs.
“I want to ask you something…”
“You can ask me anything.You know that.Why does my Julian look so distressed?”
“Have you heard any rumblings about…”
She raised a brow.
“My parents being back together?”
Her expression conveyed pure shock that answered his question.“What?”she asked in a whisper.“Back together?Good Lord, no.I haven’t heard anything of the sort.”
Julian exhaled a deep sigh of relief.If Mattie didn’t know about it, it probably wasn’t true.
“Where in the world did you come up with such a thing?”
“You know how my mom is staying with Kaidan during the week since the fire?”
Mattie nodded.
