Well, Asa never did that…I liked it.

She’d been torn between praise and shame when I started speaking, but at those last words, she lit up like the Gotham Square Christmas Tree. She quickly wrote down the memorized list of names that she hadn’t recognized, or had time to research, as her date had run long.

I took a quick look, I’d investigate further once I had Skin secure our computers, though having her come over to my place would be suspicious…she could meet Asa again and I’d bring my laptop along, maybe even hook her and Kat up for some training in computer security? I’d been keeping her and Frannie very separate from the more legitimate side of my operations, though.

But from the quick look, no names jumped out to me. Not really a surprise as she was only working there part-time and obviously was trying to keep it secret from her work and the cops. Most proved to be corporate mooks, a few small time politicians, only the one judge. No criminals, which sort of surprised me, at least for any crimes that were more broadly known.

I ended up arranging a ‘drop’ for her to receive secure equipment and basic instructions on it, without ever meeting Skin. It was mostly online, but Skin would secure the stuff and drop it off for me when she was ‘working’ with Asa, and I would deliver it to Kat. The other thing I’d want Skin to do was check out Jewelz’s account with the agency, if it could be done safely and without being noticed, but I wanted to chat with Diamond about that first.

That left me as the cut-out between the two operations, but that shouldn’t be suspicious. Or at least not suspicious that I was the mastermind, controlling both sides, rather than a pass-through. Same as I was doing with Peyton/Scarface…this was doable. I kicked Kat out to set up another date with Jewelz and continue her information gathering, with Rapetoy’s help..

I’d review her other intelligence soon. She was getting very effective, and with Rapetoy as backup and help, that was only going to improve. I’d never done undercover work, but I imagined it was the same dance, you have to be helpful to maintain your cover, but don’t want to be so helpful you actually…help.

Shit, that was badly phrased. At any rate, with that all set up, it was time to pay Kianna a visit and set things up for Alina. I belatedly checked and discovered Kianna was picking up a shift, so it would have to be after everything else.

So, instead, I paid a visit to Jackson LTD’s security office to decline their kind offer and touch as many people as I possibly could. Which wasn’t that many, as it was Sunday. But the chief was there and accepted it with equanimity, which since he’d been ordered to make the offer, wasn’t really a surprise.

I gave him some bullshit about wanting to earn my own way and not take advantage of how I’d gotten lucky with Jasmine…I didn’t even realize the joke until he visibly resisted the urge to make it.

I grabbed lunch in the same district, once again ignoring the heavy private security presence. Ours would be better. I was sure. Then I spent a while meeting with security firms, when Asa told me she was checking out some of them for a bodyguard contract. Mainly it was just about stealing the skills of whoever met with me. By now I was almost constantly pinging Find A Slut, just in case I stumbled over Bridgette. I stole some interesting skills and found no one.

Then it was time for dinner with Jasmine. I headed over to Diamond’s as she was giving me a lift, so my beater didn’t show up outside Jasmine’s penthouse. Andre let me in, with a movement halfway between a bow and a curtsy, he fucking minced as he led me past the room where his kids were playing on a gaming set up that made me jealous, though I didn’t have time for games these days. I nodded politely to them, getting a happy nod from Liam in return, though Romy seemed distracted, or angry about the game. But all thoughts of that were driven from my head when we got to Diamond. She was all dolled up and talking to someone on the phone, but she snapped, “I have to go. Just do it,” when she saw me.

I smiled and looked her up and down openly. “Damn, you are wearing the hell out of that dress.”

She laughed, and spun, “Can’t let Jasmine get all the attention. Make sure the kids get fed, and don’t wait up,” she said, with a condescending pat of the cheek to her husband, before sliding onto my arm and pressing herself against me in a little black dress, with her fuck-me heels making us the same height.

“Yes, goddess,” he said quietly, though his eyes were on me.

Diamond had a car with a driver waiting, which I regretted until she gave him the instructions, then shut the partition. “It’s sound proof. If we need him, we have to lower it.”

“Excellent. So, how do you want to play this?” I asked as I glanced out the tinted windows.

“Well, if we can provoke her into wronging us, then you could claim her quickly, that would give you control of Tyrone too and essentially control of Jackson LTD. It might also allow us to figure out what counts as wronging…”

She was speaking professionally, but hesitantly.

“You don’t want to do that, though.”

“No. I don’t. There’s someone else…”