Private Eye Read online

  He heard Kierra’s voice, “You sure about this?”

  Maya’s eyes lifted to meet his.

  There was a fleeting moment where Kenny’s foolish heart thought he saw a softness in her gaze that he recognized; the same look she gave her webcam after she came, the giggle still dripping from her lips. But if it was there, it was gone in a heartbeat and her voice reached him easily across the distance between them.

  “It’s just business,” she said. “And I need the money.”

  ***

  Maya was trying not to fidget, but this was the strangest meeting she’d ever been in.

  They were all sitting in a very normal boardroom that just happened to be located behind the pantry in Lane and Monica’s middle-class, suburban New Jersey home. She and Kierra were sitting on one side of the table, shoulder to shoulder; them against the world as usual. Although their adversaries had usually been shitty professors or bill collectors, not the literal manifestations of their sexual fantasies.

  Monica was sitting directly across from Kierra, her eyes laser-focused on Kierra’s averted face. Lane stood just behind Monica’s chair, leaning over her, his eyes intent on Kierra as well. Maya noticed the small movement of his thumbs across Monica’s skin and her heart swooned.

  She wanted that one day. And that was an inconvenient thought to have since she was expressly focusing on Kierra’s drama to avoid looking in Kenny’s direction. He hadn’t bothered to look anywhere but at her.

  This was not how she’d expected this meeting to go when she’d sat at the dining room table eating breakfast with a hungover Kierra this morning. Somehow, in the cold light of a chilly fall morning, she’d thought that she could do this. She’d thought that she could use the money they’d pay her to go about her business and crawl out of the mountain of debt she was just barely keeping at bay. She imagined the joy she would feel at being able to put a little money aside just in case Jerome or Kaya ever needed anything big.

  She refused to think about him.

  “Alright, enough of all this emotional staring,” Lane said, cutting through the tension. “Who wants to hear my plan?”

  Kierra and Kenny mumbled their acceptance while Monica merely dropped her eyes to her lap.

  Lane walked to the front of the room and touched the screen. It whirred to life on a screenshot of Maya’s public chatroom from about a week ago. She knew because she recognized her makeup and lingerie from that day. She smiled. She looked fucking great.

  She heard Kenny fidget in his seat.

  “Alright, so we captured this intel last week during one of Maya’s broadcasts,” Lane continued. He turned his eyes toward her and quirked an eyebrow up. “Great show, by the way.”

  She smiled and nodded her head primly. She could never turn down a compliment.

  Kenny shifted in his seat again.

  “So here,” Lane tapped the screen again and it zoomed into the chatroom, “is Joseph Mehmeti.”

  Maya quirked her head to the side and studied the username and avi Lane indicated. “I don’t recognize that name,” she said.

  “Makes sense. He’s only been in your room less than a handful of times. But this,” Lane tapped the screen again, “is another model he frequents a lot.”

  Maya sat back and crossed her arms over her chest as she studied the picture on the screen. She definitely recognized her. “That’s LissXO,” she said.

  “That’s her?” Kierra gasped, turning toward her.

  Maya nodded and frowned.

  “Oh,” was all she said. And Maya couldn’t blame her. LissXO was sexy as hell.

  She was also Maya’s closest competition. They’d started their channels at around the same time, they were both fat, Black models and were doing, at least for a while, about the same rate of business – if ChatBot’s ratings could be trusted. But a few months ago, LissXO had shot up the daily popularity charts, leaving Maya in her wake. Maya was trying not to be infuriated but, as she’d whined pathetically to Kierra more than once, “what does she have that I don’t have?” She was so ashamed of her own envy.

  “Is there something I’m missing?” Lane asked.

  Kierra clamped her mouth shut and Maya exhaled loudly. “She’s my competition in my head.”

  “What?” Monica said, her first word in the meeting came out as a harsh whisper, which made Maya wonder if maybe this had been her first word of the day.

  She turned to Monica and explained their one-sided competition. “She’s at least ten spots ahead of me on most daily popularity rankings. I can only imagine what kind of money she’s pulling in.”

  “What does that matter?” Monica asked the question in a tone of voice that Maya was used to. That tone of voice was code for “you just strip online” or “you’re a whore” or “are you really taking this so seriously?” That tone of voice said Maya should be ashamed of what she did. That tone of voice refused to acknowledge that Maya was a fucking entrepreneur and that just because her product was her body didn’t mean she wasn’t running a small business. That tone of voice was why Maya hated talking to most people about her job. Not because she was ashamed. But because most people didn’t have the range to understand it.

  She took a deep, frustrated breath, trying to order her thoughts. She jumped when Kenny’s voice interrupted her and he answered Monica’s question.

  “The daily, weekly and monthly popularity rankings are important. They’re averaged at the end of the month, quarter and year. Channels with the best views are rewarded with financial bonuses. They also get prime placement on the home page if they make it onto the site-wide Top 20 chart. That obviously drives more viewers to their rooms and so on. If someone wants to make this a career, they should be worried about their competition.”

  Maya couldn’t help but turn and gape at him. But for the first time he refused to look her way. He dropped his head and focused his attention on his lap. Maya turned back to Kierra whose mouth had similarly fallen open. When they made eye contact, Maya could see the words forming in Kierra’s brain as her eyes began to soften, moving from shocked to gushy. Maya shook her head quickly. She still was not asking for any information about how good of a guy Kenny might be after he’d spent half a year lying to her.

  She cut her eyes at him and her mouth fell open as they made eye contact.

  He seemed sad.

  She sucked her bottom lip into her mouth and turned away. It doesn’t matter, she thought to herself.

  “Well alright,” Lane said, cutting the suddenly thick tension in the room with his words. “I’ll remember that. So let’s just get to the plan, shall we?”

  They all nodded, except Monica, whose eyes skittered across Kierra’s face and then back to her lap.

  “It’s pretty simple, really. Hardly a plan at all,” Lane offered, an easy grin brightening his face.

  Kenny scoffed and shifted again. Lane ignored him. Actually, scratch that. Maya thought Lane’s smile only widened at Kenny’s annoyance. She smirked.

  “We wanna start introducing Kenny to your room ASAP. You two,” he gestured to Maya and Kenny, “can work out the particulars about what’s allowed and not allowed.” His gaze settled on Maya and he quirked his eyebrows at her again.

  Maya pursed her lips and flipped him off with both hands, which made him laugh loudly.

  “Anyway, there are some things I can’t tell you or our sweet girl,” he said, looking directly at Kierra for the first time since his presentation started. Kierra shifted in her seat and looked away. “But once you’ve got him in your room we’ll meet again and work through any kinks. How’s that sound?”

  Maya cocked her head and said, “It sounds like we still need to discuss what you all are paying me?”

  Lane clapped his hands and laughed. “Honestly, you really are great.”

  “How much do you want?” Monica said, lifting her head and making eye contact with Maya. Maya’s mouth went dry and she was suddenly full of apprehension. How the fuck did Kierra manage not to bur
st into flames between Lane’s charming ass and Monica’s… everything?

  She let out a harsh breath of air.

  “She wants $40,000,” Kierra cut in, drawing Monica’s attention.

  Maya’s eyes widened at the figure. She could pay off all of her credit cards with that and still make a sizeable lump sum payment on her student loans.

  “And that’s only if this all stays online. If you want her in the field, her fee starts at an extra $10,000 and rises with the degree of danger scale per The Agency’s civilian contractor rates.”

  Maya couldn’t help the proud smile that spread across her face as she watched her friend – chin held high – challenge her boss and girlfriend, who was more intimidating than a team of football players.

  “Any other requests?”

  Maya shivered at the way Monica was looking at Kierra. As if she wanted to strip her naked and eat her for breakfast. Did the room feel warmer than a few minutes ago, she wondered?

  “Since Maya works from home, you’ll need to contribute a fraction of her portion of the rent, electric and internet since she’ll technically be using those things in service of your operation. And since you probably want her to adjust her current broadcast and private session schedule, you’ll need to pay her for any loss of income. She’ll be happy to show you her records for that.” Kierra turned to Maya and whispered, “You do have records, right?”

  Maya scoffed, “Of course. I keep a very detailed spreadsheet of weekly, monthly and quarterly earnings.”

  Kierra nodded once and turned back to Monica. “And she needs a new webcam.”

  Maya held her breath as Kierra and Monica stared at each other. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed that Kenny’s gaze was intent on the side of Monica’s face. But when she looked toward the front of the room she saw Lane’s eyes nearly glazed over in lust and she let out a harsh breath. Seriously, how had Kierra survived all of this? She felt as if she was going to melt into a puddle and she was only on the margins of whatever was happening here.

  “I accept your terms,” Monica said.

  Lane clapped. “Well alright. So the mission is a go.”

  Maya couldn’t contain the giddiness she felt, but she realized that Monica and Kierra were still staring each other down.

  “Uh, would it be too much of an inconvenience if we spoke to Kierra alone?” Lane asked, inching toward the table.

  Maya leaned forward, “Is that what you want?”

  Kierra turned toward her, reluctantly dragging her eyes from Monica’s. Kierra didn’t technically need to answer. Maya could see her arousal all over her face; in her dilated pupils and soft pants. And honestly, after that negotiation, she was right there with her.

  “I won’t be long,” she said in a breathy whisper. “Will you be okay?”

  The fog of Maya’s excitement cleared and she moved her head to look at Kenny, who had dropped his gaze back to his lap. She turned back to Kierra, forced a smile and nodded. “Yep,” she said in a cheery voice that sounded strange to her own ears. “Take all the time you need.”

  Maya rose from her seat, nodded in Lane’s direction, even though his attention was focused, as was Monica’s, squarely on Kierra. She walked toward the door and out into the hallway where it was absolutely five degrees cooler. At least. But then she heard the door to the boardroom close and felt Kenny’s presence behind her as sweat beaded at her hairline. She walked to the foyer, the sound of his footsteps following her. She turned toward him unexpectedly and his steps faltered. When he raised his eyes to look at her, she clenched her fists behind her back. How dare he be this fucking beautiful in person? She’d been underselling his potential in her fantasies.

  “Maya,” he started, but she cut him off.

  “I told you I’m not interested in more apologies from you. It won’t make me forgive you any faster. If I choose to forgive you at all,” she added hastily. “If it’s not about the… mission,” the word felt strange coming out of her mouth, “then keep it.”

  He pressed his lips together and nodded. His hands disappeared behind his back and Maya tried not to notice the way his biceps rippled with that movement. When he spoke, his voice was all business and Maya belatedly realized that that was a bit of a problem as her nipples hardened.

  “We should talk about how you want to play this for your broadcasts. My face can’t be on screen.”

  “Wait, what?”

  He nodded indulgently at her. “I’m a spy. I’m supposed to avoid being online in any traceable way. You never know who’s in your chatroom,” he said. Maya was happy that he at least had the decency to blush before he continued. “If someone had a record of what I looked like or recognized me from another… encounter, my career would be over, and you could be in danger.”

  “Oh, okay. Maybe that makes sense.”

  He nodded again. “Besides that, I’ll leave it up to you. Whatever you want, I’ll do it.”

  She had to look away. She knew that he was talking about the mission, but she also knew that he hadn’t chosen those words randomly. And she couldn’t think about that now. In fact, she realized – as the clean scent of his cologne tickled her nose and stirred the lust she’d felt surrounding them in that boardroom – she couldn’t even be this close to him. She didn’t have the willpower.

  She’d spent six months wondering if her interest in MasquerAsiaN was simply because of the mystery of his blank avi and his money. To find out that it wasn’t and that the attraction she’d felt online was only a hollow specter of what she could feel for him in person made her want to weep. She pressed her lips together and moved her hands to her overheated neck. She couldn’t look at him. She was afraid she’d cry.

  “Maya,” he said again, in a gentle, beseeching tone as he inched a few steps closer to her.

  She tried not to notice all of the different intonations of his voice. The direct, no-nonsense of his work voice and the soft pleading as he begged. She wondered what his laugh sounded like and if he ever growled when he came. She craved every new hitch of his breath as she tried to catalog the distinctions between who she’d thought him to be online and the man standing in front of her offline.

  “Maya,” he whispered, drawing out the two syllables of her name. He moved just a little bit closer. She could feel his body heat and she could have sworn she heard the pounding of his heart, or maybe that was her own racing pulse. She opened her mouth, unsure of what she might say. The sound of the boardroom door opening abruptly doused the heat building between them.

  She and Kenny jumped away from each other. Maya swiped at her face and pulled her mouth into a smile just as Kierra came walking into the foyer.

  She stopped and stared at them and gasped, her nipples very evident through her thin t-shirt. “I’m… I’m sorry, did I interrupt?”

  Maya shook her head vigorously. “Nope. You ready to go? I need a… I’m ready when you are.”

  As she was asking the question, Monica and Lane appeared in the hallway behind Kierra. Maya saw Monica reach out and run one finger up Kierra’s arm. She shivered.

  “Yep, ready,” Kierra said in a strained voice. “Let’s go.”

  Maya turned quickly, ducking her head to avoid Kenny’s gaze. His voice stopped them both in their tracks. “I should come over later so we can strategize for your broadcast tonight.”

  She should have said no. She should have said that they could do that at a place that wasn’t so close to her bed. But technically he was right. This entire mission hinged on getting him in her bed and convincing an Albanian arms dealer that he was supposed to be there. And as inconvenient as it was, she didn’t want to say no. She’d been wanting him in her bed for what felt like forever. So she simply nodded and headed up the stairs without looking back.

  Just as she’d made it to the top, Lane’s voice stopped her and Kierra again.

  “I think we should come over too,” he projected across the foyer. “What do you think about that, sweet girl?”

  Kie
rra mumbled something that might have been ‘yes’ or maybe ‘please’ and pushed Maya through the false wall into the pantry. They walked quickly to Kierra’s car and shut the doors. They both exhaled loudly.

  “Jesus fucking Christ I’m horny,” Maya yelled.

  Kierra was breathing hard and simply nodded.

  “Is it always like that in there?”

  A ghost of a smile touched Kierra’s lips, which was all the answer Maya needed.

  She turned to her roommate and touched her overheated arm. “You know I love you, right?”

  Kierra turned a quizzical eye toward her. “Are you about to proposition me right now?”

  “Oh my god no,” Maya laughed. And then Kierra laughed. “I was just going to say that you don’t have to be mad at your boos for me. You three clearly have a connection and you shouldn’t jeopardize that on my behalf. You deserve to be happy.”

  Kierra grasped Maya’s hand and squeezed. “Thank you.” And then she gave her a wicked smile, “I’m still going to make them sweat it out a little bit longer. They get real desperate when I’m mad.”

  Monica gasped, “When did you get this freaky?”

  Kierra smiled and winked at her. That smile turned to chagrin and Maya knew she wasn’t going to be happy with whatever came out of her best friend’s mouth next.

  “I know you don’t want to hear this, but I think Kenny might really like you.”

  Maya began to pull her seatbelt on. “Can we go home now?”

  It was Kierra’s turn to reach out and grasp her arm. “You deserve to be happy too. I think you liked him before you knew who he was.”