Page 39 of The Reluctant Siren
He ignored Jack entirely. “I asked you to watch over her notto take her to bed immediately.”
“Was it immediately… What was his name again, baby?” Taggartasked.
“Niall,” Charlotte supplied.
Niall ignored them, turning to Harlow. “I think we shouldtalk. Alone.”
Harlow snorted. “Did Charlotte give you the good vodka?Because that is not happening.”
“Is anyone interested in talking about how the events of thenight fucked everything up?” Jack asked, sounding exasperated.
“Nah, it’s more fun to watch this completely dysfunctionalthreesome explode,” Taggart replied.
Harlow’s eyes narrowed. “We are not a threesome.”
Harlow came from a threesome. Her fathers shared her mom.He’d thought it was weird at first, but she talked about how loving her familyhad been. How her dads always had someone to lean on while they were supportingher mom.
“No?” Charlotte asked. “I mean I agree you didn’t realizeyou were in a threesome because these two are not emotionally mature.”
“Hey,” Niall said, sounding offended.
“That’s fair,” Jensen agreed because he was prettyself-aware about some things.
“I’ve been around several of these types of relationships,”Charlotte continued. “Let’s see if I’m right. At some point in time Jensenfucked up.”
“I’m pretty sure he’s the reason Harlow got arrested inCalifornia,” Taggart added. “I didn’t know his name until tonight because shewasn’t talking, but a quick search revealed much. I have excellent hackers,even if they get mouthy when I wake them up at three in the morning. They getsoft once they’re married and have kids.”
“Excellent. So Jensen fucked up and sends his bestie in towatch over the woman he thinks he loves,” Charlotte continued. “Which soundslike a very threesome thing to do.”
“No thinking involved. I know who I love,” Jensen insisted.
Niall huffed.
“We’ll see,” Charlotte replied enigmatically beforecontinuing. “So you sent in your best friend and your best friend… What all didyou give up in order to take on this assignment, Niall? I’m going to take ityou weren’t conveniently located here.”
“I suspect you know where I was located and what I was doingwith my life six months ago, Mrs. Taggart. I moved to Dallas. Opened abusiness. I was planning on moving anyway. I was working a couple of jobs,saving money to open a gym. I couldn’t do that in the small town I grew up in.I probably would have gone to Houston or Austin if I wasn’t needed here,” Nialladmitted.
“Well, you should feel free to get your ass to either one,”Jensen shot back.
Then he was hit with the thought of not being in the sametown as Niall. He missed the fucker. Not that he was going to let that sway himnow that he realized what a woman-stealing asshole he was.
“I did it all because he was my only real friend in theworld,” Niall continued. “And then I did it because of her.”
Taggart sat forward. “When did you know you were going to gobehind your friend’s back? Was it early on?”
“Ian,” Charlotte said with a sigh. “He wasn’t planning onnever telling Jensen. It’s why he didn’t actually sleep with her. Did you?”
“I knew pretty much after my first conversation with her,”Niall explained.
“You know we don’t have to talk about this. Jack, how fuckedare we?” Harlow asked in a crisp, professional tone.
Had Niall really not slept with her? Like sleep sleeping wasone thing. Fucking was another. He kind of thought from the way Harlow talkedthat they were all in.
Why would Niall hold back?
“Pretty fucked since Dave had a chance to take some picturesof you and Jensen and send them back to Phil. We were watching the spot wherewe thought you would pick her up,” Jack admitted. “To say he was shocked whenMaster J showed up would be to downplay the situation. He was practicallygiddy. You didn’t make friends inside, did you?”
“Did I make friends with the criminals who killed mybrother? No.” Jensen wasn’t sure why he felt judged. “Why the hell would I?”
