Neanderthal Marries Human

This statement surprised me. I glanced at Quinn then at Steven, and found the latter issuing me an inscrutable look.

“Oh, well. That’s too bad. I’ve heard your team is the best.” Mr. Carter appeared to be markedly disappointed. “Very discreet and all that.”

Quinn shifted on his feet, and I knew he was preparing to make an escape. “We’ve found our considerable talents better suited to corporate security. If you’ll excuse us, we’ll see you during dinner. I promised my fiancée a better look at the orchestra.”

“Oh, yes. Quite!” Mr. Carter nodded and gave me an exceptionally polite head bow paired with an exceptionally cheeky wink. “You’re fiancé is a very lucky man.”

I returned his head bow with a small nod, but not a wink.

Quinn turned us away and his hand moved to my back. He began steering us through the crowd toward the orchestra, and my thoughts were all muddled. Foremost on my mind was why he hadn’t mentioned prior to now that Cipher Systems was moving out of private security.

I knew he was meeting with private clients while we were here; that’s where he’d been spending much of his time. But I’d assumed the meetings were benign.

Our party made it maybe ten feet before our path was blocked by a very blonde woman.

Honestly, when I looked at her, the first thing I thought was that she was very blonde. Likely, if I reflected on it, many people looked at me and their first impression was that I was very red-haired.

“Well, hello stranger,” she said, her eyes on Quinn.

I forced myself to look away from her very blonde hair coiffed in a style reminiscent of Marilyn Monroe, and studied her gown: a white halter-top with a fitted bodice and a skirt that bloomed into fullness at mid hip. I had no way of knowing what the fabric content was without touching, asking, or looking at the label.

I refocused on the conversation just in time to hear Quinn’s huff. I knew that huff. It was a huff of irritation.

Dan stepped in front of Quinn and placed his hand on the mysterious, very blonde woman’s arm. “Hi, Niki, let’s go for a walk.”

“Get your hand off me.” She smiled as she said the words, and her voice was light and pleasant. “Or I’ll scream.”

Dan let his hand drop, but stepped more fully in front of me. “No problem. Wasn’t looking forward to touching you anyway.”

Quinn leaned close to my ear and whispered, “Will you get me a drink?” Then he lifted his chin toward Steven.

I glanced at the very blonde woman then at the back of Dan’s neck where his swirled tattoos were just visible above the collar of his shirt and jacket; my eyes then darted to Steven, then to Quinn. I wasn’t the best person at reading social cues and body language, but even I could feel the coiled potential for drama.

I hated scenes. As much as I was curious about who the very blonde woman was, the thought of being part of a mid-ballroom spectacle made leaving sound like a very good idea.

Therefore, I acquiesced, thankful for the escape. “Sure. Whiskey?”

He nodded, gave me a small, grateful smile, and passed me to Steven.

When I say that he passed me to Steven, I mean Quinn tucked my hand around Steven’s arm, into the crook of his elbow, and issued him a pointed look.

Then, we were off.

Steven and I maneuvered to the bar. At one point, we had to walk single file to make it through a cluster of ball gowns. I used the opportunity to glance over my shoulder and saw that Quinn was standing next to Dan, his hands in his pants pockets, his face a mask of boredom. I couldn’t see the very blonde woman’s face as her back was to me.

“You looked surprised.”

Steven’s voice drew my attention back to our current task as we stopped at the end of the line for the bar. I studied his features for a moment, looking for a clue regarding which subject he was referencing.

“I looked surprised?”

His gray eyes narrowed. “Yes. You looked surprised when the Boss told Carter that Cipher Systems was pulling out of private security.”

“Oh. Yes.” I frowned. “I was surprised.” I knew that Quinn had been meeting with private clients during the trip, and that his meetings had been running longer than he’d anticipated, but I didn’t realized he’d been meeting with them to terminate the contracts.

“He didn’t tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

“We’ve been outsourcing private clients to new firms.”

“No. He hasn’t mentioned it yet. How long as this been going on?”

Steven studied me, his lips pinched, his expression tight. “Janie, how much has Mr. Sullivan told you about the private clients?”

I tugged the glove higher on my upper arm. “I know the specs, the accounting side of things.”

“Do you know what we do for them?”

“Yes. Actually, more accurately, I know what we bill for.”

“Hmm.” Steven crossed his arms over his chest and regarded me for a long moment. We took a step forward to advance our position in the line. Then, as though he couldn’t hold on to the thought any longer without bursting, he said, “You need to ask him about the private accounts. Promise me you’ll grill him about the subject —and I mean grill him like a steak until you know absolutely everything. Don’t let him put you off.”

“Is there something you want to tell me, Steven?”

He opened his mouth as though to respond, then snapped it shut and shook his head. “No. Nope. This is none of my business. I’m not getting involved. But, as your friend, I’m encouraging you to ask him, and don’t stop asking him until you’re sure you know everything.”

I suppressed my next question, as it was our turn at the bar. I ordered top shelf whiskey for Quinn and Dan, and a glass of champagne for myself. Steven also ordered a glass of champagne.

We stood in silence until our drinks arrived, though I tried to hurl questions at him using just my eyes. He, in turn, peered at me, his gaze a like a gray, stony wall.

We gathered the glasses and moved toward table seven. I waited until we were several feet from the bar and clear of the crowd before resuming my questioning.

“Are you trying to make me nervous, Steven?”

“No.”

“Are they…?” I glanced over my shoulder at Quinn and Dan then leaned into Steven’s ear to whisper my question. “Is it something illegal?”

I drew away to study his face before he responded. “No. Not illegal.”

“I don’t like how you said that.”

“Said what?”

“Illegal.”

“How did I say it?”

“Like it isn’t illegal, but it should be illegal.”

“Well, it’s neither of those. At least, I don’t think it’s either of those.”

“Then why are you being so vague?”

Steven didn’t get a chance to answer because Quinn and Dan arrived just at that moment, Dan’s voice cutting through our exchange.

“What’s Steven being vague about?”

“Janie and I were just talking about viruses,” Steven said, deflecting.

I glared at Steven, which caused him to glower.

“Viruses?” Dan took the whiskey from Steven, his eyes moving between us. “Do I want to know?”

Quinn accepted his drink when I offered it to him, but instead of drinking it, he set it on our table. “Thank you,” he said to me. I got the impression he wasn’t referring to the whiskey.

“You’re welcome.” I studied him over my champagne glass.

“It’s the secretive viruses you have to be careful around.”

We all turned and looked at Steven. I felt the first hint of a blush spread up my neck. He was being purposefully cryptic, the stinker.

“Secretive viruses?” Dan squinted at Steven. “What are you talking about?”

“The stealthy ones.” Steven took a large swallow of champagne before continuing. “The stealthy ones blind your genetic code with propaganda so you don’t pay attention to the details.”

“Are you drunk?” Dan said.

Steven gulped down the rest of his champagne. “No. But I am hungry. Let’s go find some miniature food so these two kids can talk.”

Dan cast a suspicious glare at me then Steven. In the end, he shrugged, obviously still a little harried from the encounter with the very blonde woman. “Fine. Let’s go. Lead the way.”

I watched them depart and felt acutely troubled.

Steven was right. I should know more about the private accounts. Other than help implement the new billing software for the private clients, I knew very little about that side of the business. I hadn’t thought it terribly remarkable since I’d been so busy bringing in new corporate partners, but every time I’d asked Quinn about Cipher Systems, he’d deflect or steer the conversation in a different direction.

I think the fact that he’d deflected bothered me most of all. He knew I was easy to distract and had taken advantage of my weakness.

I turned my attention to Quinn, pondered his profile. He was scanning the ballroom with an assessing glare. He’d entwined his fingers with mine. His other hand was at my hip.

“Looking for anything in particular?” I asked.