The Hacker (The Bro Series Book 2)
Page 27
“And making sure it didn’t happen is the kind of thing a man never forgets.” He gives the back of his neck a soothing rub. “We were at Clover Rose…You were still babysitting Lynk. I wanted you to watch him that Saturday so Beth and I could go out to The Row, but you said you couldn’t because your professor was going to meet with you. You said you needed a better grade for the semester and he was willing to give advice off the clock because he liked you. I assumed you were boning him and went digging.”
I instantly glare.
“If you were fucking your professor, it would’ve been good leverage if I ever needed a favor and needed to apply pressure.”
“You’re a bastard.”
He nods. “Yeah, but when I came up empty handed on your end, I checked his. I found him linked to a site where he was auctioning you off already. He was guaranteeing an early evening delivery.”
Bile boils again in the back of my throat.
“So I saved everything I could and called in a fake bomb threat to the school. It spooked him, stopped you from going, and saved your life. By the time I went to turn everything into the authorities, he had disappeared and so had the site. He had a fake name. Fake address. Fake credentials. But exposing him…exposed me.”
“That’s how they found out?”
With reticence, he nods again. “My creditability was questioned and it was quickly discovered that Holden Reiss was a name I gave to myself when I entered their system. I got it changed legally after I was caught. At the time it was nothing more than the name I gave to a persona I spent years building and back stopping. They uncovered that I was actually…Holden Moore, son of a prostitute, son of a killer, foster care system fuck-up who happened to take his only mentor’s first name as his last. However, the FBI was beyond impressed with the skills I possessed and that’s when the chains came. Part of the agreement stipulated you were to never know. The name of the student was to never be on file or mentioned. You didn’t need that on your conscience. I didn’t want that on your mind…”
A melancholy expression drapes onto my face. “Why, Holden? Why did you risk all that to save me?”
“Because Lynk needed you then,” his choked voice replies. “I’d do anything and everything for my children, you know that. I knew he needed you then, just like I know he needs you now.” He sniffles away his tears. “And Sage needs you now. And I need you now.”
I whimper at the declaration.
“I’m so fucking sorry for what I said yesterday. I was wrong. I was out of line-”
“You weren’t,” my disagreement is met with a scowl. “You’re right. They’re not my kids. They’re yours. I shouldn’t have become complacent with my relationship with them. I should’ve-”
“Stop,” Holden commands. As soon as I do he gives my cheek a lovely stroke. “You didn’t do anything wrong. All you’ve done is love them. Love me. And that’s all I want for the rest of their lives. For the rest of mine.”
Confusion cloaks me quickly. “Are you….are you asking….”
“You to marry me?” He promptly nods. “Yes.”
Unsure of how to process the idea of something not only permanent, but permanent with the one person I know I can’t live without, I playfully state, “Could you ask me perhaps when I’m not handcuffed to a silla?”
He chuckles at his mistake yet doesn’t move to correct it. “Does being handcuffed have an effect on your answer?”
I mindlessly hum, “No…”
“Then give me an answer now.”
Completely prepared to accept the emotion ridden proposal, I drop my jaw and start to reply when the argument from yesterday comes screeching back. While it was stupid and childish on both our parts, most likely from parallel over stressed days, the pain of being reminded I’m not their parent is more than I can ignore.
“If I say yes…I don’t just wanna be a ‘step parent’. I wanna legally adopt them. I wanna know you will respect and treat me like I’m an equal when it comes to parenting them, not an understudy.”
Holden’s face falls closer to mine. “You have my word.”
My lips briefly brush his. “Then si…after you un-handcuff me.”
His mouth mounts mine and my entire world seems to make sense again. Our tongues tangle from dangerous combinations of thrill and alleviation of the agony endured over the past twenty-seven hours.
Holden slips his lips away the same time my wrists are freed. Cockily, he states, “I’m taking these home with us.”
I snicker, toss my arms around him, and hug him tightly.
He traps me as close to him as possible, arms caging me in, assuring the protection he continuously promises. In a very quiet tone he announces, “I’ll take you to her and then I’ll take you home…to our home.”
Hearing the certainty in the words and feeling it for the first time in my life, I simply squeeze him tighter.
What we have between us is definitely not temporary.
It’s definitely not fleeting.
It’s what some people spend their entire lifetime searching for, yet never find.
It’s what gave us both the strength to get through the horror we just witnessed and what will give us more determination to get past this.
To build a solid life together.
Our love is far from a fickle thing, even if we’re just now both willing to accept it.
Epilogue
Meena’s beautiful body trembles harder as I yank her head back by her hair. “Fuck, I’m close…”
She increases the bouncing on my lap. The feeling of her full tits crushing my chest only tempts my balls to betray me further.
It’s like they can never come enough.
It’s like I can never get enough.
It’s like I can never press 1 enough.
How is it possible to wanna be so constantly connected to another person?
Her pussy pulsates for the third time while she whimpers, “Mi corazón…”
A slave to the pet name, I give her hair one more tug, and let go. My hot explosion erupts into hers and the two of us release a series of salacious moans. She digs her nails into my shoulder causing her white gold wedding band, which has an engraved 1 in the center, to cut into my skin. I bury my face in her full chest. Praise it with licks and nips. Allow my moans to nestle against her flesh. The two of us shake and shiver shamelessly until the very last spark is smothered.
I relinquish the hold on her hair, wrap my arms around her lovingly, and tumble backwards with her pressed to my chest.
In spite of the fact, she’s completely satisfied, she scolds, “You do know I’m now going to be late to Sage’s Mother’s Day tea party.”
My fingertips stroke her spine at the same time a happy sigh spreads throughout the room.
Mother.
My children officially have one. Almost two weeks after saving Mia, we hosted a small wedding in her parent’s backyard. With everything that had happened and it being so close to Christmas, the chance to celebrate something was welcomed. It wasn’t exactly small considering how large her family is, but it was small enough to keep us both happy. The kids were thrilled to dress up, eat cake, and start calling Meena mom and mommy. Her siblings were all excited to have more nieces and nephews and being officially ‘Aunt Mia’ seemed to bring her a little bit of joy she hadn’t been displaying since the incident. My bros and their girlfriends came, except for Wyatt who showed up stag. Arthur and Sybil who I expected to decline, not only showed up, they connected with Meena’s parents and started planning for holidays like it was the most natural thing in the world. Arthur also gave me a heart to heart fatherly talk about acceptance, about moving on, and about always considering me a son regardless of what happened between me and his daughter. Their wedding present was a large amount of cash to help ‘redecorate the house to make it ours’ and a paid for tropical vacation to the place of our choice. Of course they claimed dibs on watching the kids during that time. We haven’t had the opportunity to take them
up on it, but with summer less than a month away, we’ll make time. And my biggest obstacle, Brewster, won’t stand in the way of allowing me a couple days off. Taking down The Baker, real name Albert Holmes, not only gave her the promotion of her dreams, but credibility to the team it desperately needed. I’ve been gathering the intel I can on the other sites while still turning in random pedophiles I cross paths with. Brewster cut me another deal after she was done basking in her glory. If I bring down the other two sites, my sentence will be considered completely served. Not as good as the original promise, but I wouldn’t trade a life without Meena in it for shit.
Meena on the other hand, officially quit as my nanny on our way to the hospital the night we rescued Mia and began tutoring some woman’s daughter who works for the same company Tamara does. More recently, she also started helping tutor classmates from Lynk’s school once a few parents got wind to her being the reason for his excellent improvement in grades. Improvement that allowed him to try out for the soccer team.
Improvement that is keeping his ass on it.
He’s going to end this year with the best grades he’s ever had in his entire life and spend the summer busting his ass to stay on his new team.
Our kid might have a real shot at something great in the sport.
“That reminds me,” Meena continues in a soft tone. “We…may have an extra person to help us celebrate it next year.”
My brow creases.
“I…Well…I think I might be pregnant.”
Elation shoots me back up to a sitting position, taking her with me. “Seriously?”
“Si…”
“But I thought-”
“So did I,” she quickly tries to explain, “but I’m late. And with those pills I’m never late. And I took one of those home pregnancy tests-”
“I’m gonna be a dad again!”
Her smile expands at the same time she slowly nods. “Posiblemente. I need to go to the doctor-”
“We,” I quickly correct. “We will go the doctor’s appointments. We will pick out names together. We will decide if we wanna stay in this house or get a bigger one. All of those things will be an us thing. I’m not making the same mistake I made with Beth. I know I’m not in this marriage alone this time. I’m gonna make sure you know we’re a team, baby. All the time.”
She swoons and swiftly sweeps her lips to attach to mine.
I never thought there’d be anyone in my life ever again I would willingly let handle the code to my system. I never believed anyone could weather the viruses. Deal with the out of sync components. Crack the uncrackable firewalls built cleverly around my soul. I should’ve known better. Everything is hackable including the heart. But in this case? No hacking required. Meena has access to every inch of my hard drive just as I do hers, which is how it should be when you’re truly in love.
She gives me the one thing I always hoped I would find between the 1s and 0s.
She gives me love.
She reminds me that I’m human.
Did you enjoy reading this story?
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Want to hear some good news?
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Next book in the series:
“The Suit” featuring Pax and his girlfriend Ryann.
Coming Soon!
Wondering about Nate and Ainsley? Check them out in the first book in the series!
The Substitute (The Bros Series #1)
Nate
Being a substitute teacher is good for me.
It's sensible.
Logical.
Abandoning my plans for a career in the film industry and a life full of fun, albeit slightly reckless, actions was the responsible thing to do.
That's who I am now.
That's who I've become.
Mr. Boring. Mr. Predictable. Mr. Anal Retentive.
At least that's what I thought until one irresistible student breathes life back into the version of me I've been desperately trying to suffocate.
Being with Ainsley isn't a want. It's a need.
And I'm willing do anything to fulfill it.
Ainsley
I've spent my entire life ashamed of who I am.
Who my mother is. What she does.
Being forced to attend a private school where people endlessly whisper about it is only bearable because I know exactly what's in my future.
I know exactly where I'm going.
I know exactly what to do to get there.
Or at least I thought I did.
One class with him and suddenly my entire world was missing one very important piece.
Being with Nate isn't just about sex.
It's about loving life in a way I never imagined.
The situation isn't ideal, but I'll do whatever it takes to be with him.
Curious about the little girl and the mother Meena saw leaving Joanne’s office?
Check out their book now.
Part Of The List (A Novel)
If you were dying, what would be on the list of moments that mattered most to you? That shaped your life? What would you choose to remember or choose to ignore even in the face of death? Who would you miss? What would you regret not doing? Who would you regret not loving? In the face of your own mortality or in the face of your lover's, what would be part of the list?
Curious about the identity of ‘T4’?
Check him out in his own novel, which is in the Adrenaline Series!
Error (Adrenaline Series #5)
Destin McCoy has a flawless reputation behind the keyboard and in the sheets. However, when he is put to the test by the Drug Lord who is responsible for his brother's deaths, he has a choice to make. Save the girl who has helped him heal or take the vengeance he deserves. Will Destin make the right choice or will this just become an error?
*Can be read as a standalone, but reads better with the entire series*
Thank Yous!
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Until next time….
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Senses Series (Sports Romance/ Romantic Comedy)
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