Total pages in book: 148
Estimated words: 139606 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 698(@200wpm)___ 558(@250wpm)___ 465(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 139606 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 698(@200wpm)___ 558(@250wpm)___ 465(@300wpm)
“And all the dogs got adopted,” Lou finished.
“Her dad talks about her like she’s some kind of saint,” Nate pointed out, shaking his head. “All Liam could talk about the last time he came out to see us was how Daisy could do no wrong. I thought she might be considering becoming a nun or something.”
“Uncle Li is deeply confused about his kids,” Tasha explained. “He’s kind of got it backward.”
“He talks about how Aidan doesn’t have a brain in his head. Aidan got a near-perfect score on his SATs,” Tristan grumbled. “He’s literally in med school. He’s…anyway, good to see you, man. I’m going to go find Zach. I’ve got some Deep Web searches I need to monitor.”
They all watched as Tristan strode away.
Nate’s head shook. “What the fuck happened to him? That’s not the Tristan I know.”
“You know how the work can change a person. Now how about we have a beer and talk about what you’re going to be doing for the next couple of weeks.” Cooper neatly changed the topic.
“Sounds excellent,” Nate replied.
Nate could help solve one of her problems. She’d put off calling the BDSM club here in Sydney because she worried they might call her father, but she happened to know that Nate’s parents had connections here, too. “Hey, I also need you to get us into The Station this weekend.”
A brow rose over Nate’s deep blue eyes. “You guys looking to play?”
“We need to download the contents of the target’s laptop,” Kala explained. “I don’t want Tash to do it. The easiest way to get the job done is to take the target someplace he’ll have to leave the laptop behind. He’s got some excellent security on it, so we need a couple of hours of knowing exactly where he is. In the club he’ll be contained, and we can monitor the situation.”
“Does this bloke know he’s going to a sex club?” Nate asked.
He was definitely going to fit in. “He’s a top. He was a member of a club in Toronto, but his father’s an asshole, and he’s been out of the lifestyle for years now. I offered to take him to The Station, and he seems excited about it. It’s an excellent way to keep him occupied while Lou and Tristan do their work. Even if he insists on bringing it to the club, he’ll lock it up while we’re playing. I’ll make sure we play until we have what we need.”
Every word felt like a drag on her soul. She was falling for this guy, and it wouldn’t work out. What the hell was she supposed to do?
Exactly what you said you would. Take on his father. Play the game because you were taught how to play, and Dare has no idea how to truly handle a man like his father. He’d been thrown into a situation where he had to protect the ones he loved, but he’d been given no tools. So you be his sword.
She was being overly optimistic. If Dare ever found out what she was doing, who she worked for…
“Sounds like a plan,” Nate agreed. “Heard there was an Oakley connection to this mess. You know the rumors about Auggie Oakley?”
“I know what I’ve heard. Or rather what we’ve been told.” She would be totally upfront with Nate since he would be putting himself on the line. Also, she knew his dad still worked with Australian Secret Intelligence Service. He might have some intel they didn’t have. “We’re here to gather information on Dr. Emmanuel Huisman. Apparently a Canadian associate of my father’s believes Huisman is some kind of threat, and the Agency decided to look into it. Whether he is or not, there are people in the US who don’t like the idea of a man like Oakley potentially influencing Huisman. The man has enough power over the medical industry as it is, and we’ve reason to believe he might be working with some foreign governments against US interests.”
“You mean he’s taking money from China to put them on the forefront of medicine at the expense of Western countries.” Nate proved he was more than a big, gorgeous hunk of man. “The need for new antivirals and antifungal meds are starting to outpace our ability to keep up. We’ve got a nasty bugger here that is rapidly evolving past what we can cure. Oakley is heavily invested in firms currently doing that research. If he takes it and sells it, we’ll be at the mercy of whoever has it.”
“And that is why we have to make sure Huisman isn’t involved with him,” Lou summed up. “The Huisman Foundation is currently working on several vaccines that could cover emergent viral threats, and they’re funding the most advanced research going on candida auris. He’s funding research on a whole new class of echinocandins.”