“He told me,” Lisa said quickly, a hand on her hip. “He’s moving back home. That’s why he’s in the apartment. He has to get his place ready to sell. He’s been upfront and honest with me, so stop baiting him, please, Master Ian.”

“Well, since you asked nicely,” Taggart replied.

“I’m going to take a shower. I have a busy day of staring at the computer and applying for jobs,” she said, putting her spatula down.

“You’re not going to eat?” He didn’t like the look in her eyes. It didn’t come close to matching the smile on her face.

“Poverty has killed my appetite. I’ll get something after my shower,” she replied. “You two try not to kill each other. And I’ll be happy to come back. I missed the kids, too.”

Taggart nodded. “See you soon, then. And thank you for breakfast.”

Lisa smiled and walked back to the bedroom.

Remy turned on his boss. “You massive, meddling asshole. What exactly are you trying to do?”

Taggart was looking at him without a hint of sarcasm on his face. “I am trying to ensure that a woman who has been a sub in my club for years isn’t getting played by one of my operatives. I thought you had better sense than this. Do you know why I picked you for this job?”

“Because everyone else was taken.”

Tag pointed a finger his way. “Because you’re the sane one. You’re the stable one, and I know that says something about my hiring practices, but you’re the one who knows his limits and can control his goddamn dick. You think I don’t know what happened with her earlier this year? The whole club saw that.”

He was never going to live it down. “I didn’t mean to make a scene.”

“No, but you did make the right choice,” Tag shot back. “You should have softened that blow, but you were smart enough to not take what she had to give because you got nothing to give back to her. I would like to know what happened between then and now. Tell me this isn’t some play to make the time pass. Tell me you’re not fucking her because she’ll be easier to keep up with if you’re on top of her. Damn it, I told her brother we would take care of her. I owe him and I owe her brother-in-law, and I damn straight owe Bridget.”