“I don’t have to, do I?”
The laugher faded on Compton’s lips. “You haven’t a clue. You’re trying to cash in.”
“Wrong again. I’m supporting Lara.”
Compton ignored that. “I saw you watching my sons, you’re jealous.”
“Wrong again.” Draco reached into his pocket and pulled out a notepad and pen. “I suppose I could write the name down on a piece of paper. If you think I’m wrong you can choose to tear it up. I’d never say the name aloud ever.”
Compton scowled. “What do you hope to gain from this?”
“Just one thing, something for Lara.” He paused, let that sink in. “I don’t need to write the name down though, do I?”
Compton’s eyes narrowed. “You’ll have to, to prove your point.”
Poker faced, Draco shook his head. “I don’t think so, because I can write down some numbers instead, that’ll be much more useful proof.”
Compton stared at him resentfully, and it was enough to show Draco he was on the right track. Quickly, he scribbled a string of code. He pushed the piece of paper across the desk. “It’s a clever little macro, made to look as if there’s fraud, but no money is really going out, is it? It’s just being transferred back and forth between two accounts.”
Compton Senior glanced down, studied it for a moment then pushed the paper away. He said nothing.
“My only query is why didn’t either of your sons spot it?”
Compton’s mouth pursed. He didn’t like that.
Draco knew he wouldn’t, but he couldn’t resist. “It’s a puzzle, one they should’ve worked out by now. I reckon you didn’t bank on Lara getting involved. Why didn’t you rate her enough to give her the clues too?”
“Apparently she didn’t need any.”
“You knew she was involved?”
“I only suspected when she requested to bring a friend on board. She had a hungry look in her eyes once she thought of bringing you in.”
Draco nodded, he’d seen that look too. “She does that.”
Compton studied him at length, resentment on his face. “Who are you?”
“Just some random guy with an obsession for mysteries and code.”
“A risky business.”
“Not necessarily. It’s really the code that interests me. Although I do notice things...” he added, dangling it like bait.
“Looking for a payoff?”
“You think I’m going to blackmail you about something in your personal life, but you’re wrong.”
Compton looked furious. “I can have security in here in sixty seconds. They’re on stand by.”
“Of course you can. But you’re wrong. I don’t want you to call security and I don’t want a police file. I’m ambitious, driven and eager, things you respect.”
“You think I haven’t had upstarts come in here before and try to impress me?
“I’m sure you have. But I’ve figured your puzzle and I could prove worthwhile in many other ways, if you let me see it through. Take a chance on me, Lara did.”
“You think you can come in here and tell me what to do?”
“Is it so hard to give a little trust, Sir?” Too much sarcasm, but he could feel it slipping away. “I was watching your sons because I’m frankly astonished two guys with so many opportunities are so lazy.”
Compton swore under his breath,
“Then again,” Draco added, pressing ahead before he got thrown out, “I believe I’m only saying aloud what you’ve been thinking. That’s why you wrote the macro, to see what they’re made of. They have things handed to them. You didn’t. I read all about you, Sir.”
“Of course you did, a good con man would.”
Draco’s gut tightened. Con man? Fuck.
“My security will have you out of here and out of Lara’s life so fast your feet won’t touch the ground. You latched onto my daughter, you realized who she was and you saw an opportunity. You wheedled crucial corporate information from her. That alone could have you locked up behind bars for a long time.”
“But you won’t, because you’re curious to see what I’m going to say,”
“Don’t try to second guess me! How much do you want to walk away from her? To keep quiet about the in-house breach?”
He really was worried about the fraud story coming out.
“I want one thing, respect for Lara. Give her an equal stake in your business, the same as her brothers.”
Eyes black with fury, Compton slammed his fist on the desk. “Lara chose to side with her mother!”
“So you’re taking it out on Lara?”
Compton glared at him, but he couldn’t deny it. “Lara is the best of my children, the sharpest and the most motivated. I want her to enjoy life a bit before getting stuck in here.”
Was that really the truth? “Lara’s doing a business degree for one reason, to impress you. She’s taking every option viable to arm herself for a career in finance, and she’s doing it for you, to get ahead in a field you might approve of. What’s coming from your direction?”
“What the hell do you mean, she’s nineteen and she’s already got a job here.”
“A temporary placement on a piffling task anyone could knock up in an afternoon, and you’re not even paying her entry level rate. She’s working for free while her brothers get executive roles and ludicrous salaries to fund their habits.”
Furious, Compton rose to his feet, hitting a red button on his phone cradle as he did so. Seconds later the door sprung open and two security guards marched in.
“A night in the cells will give you time to figure out where you went wrong.”
He’d intended to have Draco arrested all along. Draco’d gambled on it, figured it would pan out this way, and he was ready. “I’ve said my piece, Sir.” He rose to his feet. “I stand by every word.”
“Take him down the back stairs,” Compton instructed, “I don’t want my daughter to have to see this.”
Draco could only thank god for that. Lara wouldn’t be humiliated by the public scene involving her “boyfriend”, not unless her dad chose to do so.
While his arms were jerked behind his back, he stared at Compton, determined to face up to him.
He heard the clink of cuffs on his wrists.
His chest was tight, but for some reason all he could think of was Lara sitting there at their desks with two cups of coffee, looking out, waiting for him, and the image wouldn’t go away. Not during the slow walk down the stairs or when he was bundled into a police van, or even when he was locked up in the local constabulary holding cells.
Forget her, it’s over, he told himself. But it wouldn’t go away.
All he could see was Lara, waiting. Even when he closed his eyes.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Draco paced the small holding cell almost continuously overnight, but when he heard keys rattling in the door, he sat down on the edge of the bed—such as it was. The cold, concrete plinth jutted out from the wall, dressed in a filthy, slender mattress and a uniform grey blanket. The void inside him was twice as cold.
A police officer brought in a plate holding a mug of tea and a dry piece of toast. “Breakfast.”
“No, thanks.”
The officer put the plate on the floor and gestured at it. “Drink it, you’ll be leaving soon.”
Before Draco had a chance to ask anything, the officer turned away and was gone, relocking the cell door as he went.
Leaving? They were letting him out until he was charged.
Draco sipped the lukewarm tea and tried to decide what to do when he got out of there. He hadn’t considered it. The cold void of loss inside him hadn’t allowed him to do so.
Rory had texted his address to him a few days before, and made a big point of inviting him over to stay. It was a peace offering, because he’d been so much more agreeable about them seeing each other. Right now it sounded good. Sanctuary, maybe. He’d already had to give his home address in Wales to the police, and he
wasn’t ready to resort to going home as yet. Rowan had enough on her plate without him turning up like a stray dog that had been starved and kicked.
He’d let his previous room go when he’d moved into the apartment with Lara. He didn’t have a base in London now, but if Rory and Sky were really open to him he could go there, get his head together, and try to put this behind him. It wouldn’t be easy to do that, because of Lara. Draco simply couldn’t imagine not seeing her again. That’s exactly what he should do, to keep her safe.
Yes, Rory and Sky’s sounded good.
Beyond that, he couldn’t think straight. He’d spent the whole bloody night going back over what he’d said in his statement – double-checking he hadn’t in any way implicated Lara. Hopefully he’d kept his back up story straight, stating he’d ingratiated himself with her at college, and she knew nothing of his background and his relationship to Sean Rattigan and hacking.
It’d been hard enough to give his statement, and afterwards, alone in the cell, no matter how many times he went over it, it got harder to be sure. It didn’t help that the crackhead in the next cell kept shouting his mouth off and kicking at the walls. The noise and what was behind it rubbed Draco up the wrong way, shaving way too close to the bone of his childhood memories. It brought back the many nights he’d spent on the landing outside his sister’s door in case their mum lashed out at the girls. It also hammered home there would be more of the same ahead, once the courts banged him up properly for cyber crime at Compton finances.
Soon enough, the key in the door drew him to his feet. There were two officers standing there and one of them gestured for him to leave. The other guided him through the warren of corridors and out into the station processing area. Predictably, they double checked his place of abode and then returned his possessions to him.
“You’re free to go,” the desk duty officer said as he pushed the tray toward Draco.
Draco lifted out his belt and began to put it on. “Court date?”
“Charges have been dropped.” The policeman eyeballed him suspiciously. “You got lucky. This time.”
Charges have been dropped. Draco had to silently repeat the words several times before he realized the significance. What the hell?
The police officer nudged the tray containing the rest of his possessions toward him, urging him to take his stuff.
Snapping to it, Draco pocketed his wallet and phone and put on his watch.
A moment later, he heard the heavy bolt on the door behind him.
Beyond the open door, he saw Lara rising to her feet from the chairs in the waiting area. Lara. Looking pale and fretful, but it was really her. She was really here and waiting for him.
That empty place inside him no longer felt void and cold, because her presence altered his state of being. God, he loved her. Knew it in a flash, right then,
Concern marked her expression but it quickly broke when she caught sight of him. “Draco,” she called out, darting toward him.
He moved fast, closing the space, unwilling to let her see beyond the desk to the warren of gloomy corridors behind him.
“Hey.” He captured her in his arms. “What the hell are you doing here?”
She looked up at him, her eyes glazed with tears. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” He lowered his voice. “Don’t worry, you’re not implicated. I kept you out of it.”
“I don’t care about that! I’ve faced up, told my dad I hired you I told him everything.”
Confused, he stared at her. “Christ, Lara, you didn’t need to do that.”
She shook her head, her hands clutching at his shirt. “I’m so sorry. I never should have dragged you into this. It was a stupid idea and I—”
“Shush.” Tears slid from the corner of her eye and he wiped them away with his thumb. He couldn’t believe she was there, and more than that, he was having trouble processing what was going on. Charges had been dropped, which was good, but she’d confessed to her father. That was bad news. He didn’t want C.S. to know he’d been hired as a hacker. He wanted to be seen as her friend.
He figured Compton Senior must have realized Lara would be in trouble too, unless he dropped the charges. Draco was annoyed she’d exposed her involvement, but he couldn’t bring himself to be angry with her. Not with her looking so tenderly beautiful, so concerned about him, with such yearning in her eyes.
How was it he could have gone from hell and back in the space of twenty hours, believing he’d lost her? He took her hand and made ready to leave. “Let’s get out of here. We need to talk.”
“No. Let’s just sit here a minute.” She held onto his hand, but rooted herself to the spot, halting him.
“You want to talk…here?”
“My dad’s outside, in the car. He’s waiting for us. We need to talk before we go out there.”
Draco turned back and grasped her by the shoulders. “He’s not come down on you, has he?”
He noticed how tired she looked. There were shadows under her eyes, and she wore the same clothes as the day before, her hair awry. There was sadness in her eyes. She’d been awake all night as much as she had. Bloody hell, what a mess.
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a tissue, dabbing her nose with it.
Draco realized just how upset she was. Her eyelashes glistened.
Lara shoved the tissue back in her pocket, then grabbed and embraced him.
Draco responded in kind, drawing her closer still, seeking out her mouth. Their kiss was tender, tentative. It was all he could do to hold back from making an exhibition of them both, showing her just how relieved he was she was there and willing to touch him.
As she drew back, she pulled his tie from his jacket pocket and stood up his collar, blinking away tears as she did so. With a tentative smile, she nodded at him. “Let’s get you tidied up.”
Realizing he likely looked a mess, Draco smoothed back his hair the best he could with his hands. Meanwhile, Lara did his tie and adjusted his collar. Sheepishly, he thanked her. “How do I look?”
“You’ll do.” She looked at him with fretful eyes. “I don’t know what he’s going to say. Just listen. All we can do is hope for the best.”
It was a warning. He held her hand and took it to his mouth to kiss it, before they made their move to the door.
Outside, Lara led the way across the crowded street to a black stretch limousine parked opposite. The rear windows were tinted. A uniformed driver sat in the front seat, window lowered, observing them as they approached. When a break came in the traffic Lara opened the door, and climbed in to the plush cream-colored leather interior. Draco paused long enough to take a deep breath, and then followed.
Lara took the seat next to her father and nodded at the seat opposite. They had their back to the driver, and he was facing front. Immediately Draco noticed Lara kept her eyelids lowered and her lips sealed.
Tension crackled in the atmosphere.
Compton Senior looked informal in faded jeans, with a sweater under a tweed jacket that suggested he might be going golfing later. He observed Draco from under hooded eyelids, his expression stern. Lara pulled her seatbelt on, but Draco wasn’t sure he was going to be in the car long so left his undone.
Compton Senior knocked on the glass between them and the driver, and the car pulled out into the stream of traffic a moment later.
Draco reluctantly did up the seatbelt, wondering where they were headed. Considering the look of contempt on Compton senior’s face, Draco figured the driver had instructions to swing by the local refuse site in order to discharge him into the waste incinerator.
The silence continued to weigh heavy, increasing the tension inside the car.
“I hope you’ve had enough time to cool down and consider the severity of your situation,” Compton Senior stated.
“Yes, thank you, Sir.” Draco hadn’t meant to sound quite as sarcastic as he did. For a moment he thought Compton’s mouth twitched, as if he was suppressing a smile, b
ut in a second it was gone.
“I understand you’re an ambitious young man. Lara built a strong case for you, but I could see it myself. However, I don’t appreciate being hoodwinked, nor did I request advice on how to run my own company.” He stared across at Draco, but when Draco went to respond, Compton put up his hand to stop him. “I’ve had my IT department go over everything you’ve done. The database is a vast improvement on what was already there and you’ve built in some impressive features.”
It wasn’t what Draco expected to hear, and it brought some level of relief, and yet he sensed a big “but” was coming.
“You’re talented, there’s no question. And as far as we’ve been able to establish, you’ve only looked at the critical query Lara requested of you and haven’t overstepped those bounds. Had you in any way benefited personally from your short time in the student placement in my company you’d be banged up for a long time ahead, believe me.”
Draco nodded. He knew he was getting off lightly, but he didn’t dare hope for the kind of reaction he was receiving. Compton had been through his history. There wouldn’t have been trace of his actions anywhere, because that’s what he was good at. However, it was a relief they hadn’t simply assumed he’d been lining his own pockets.
“As you so rightly pointed out,” Compton continued, “I didn’t have a college education myself. Cute reminder, thanks, I needed that.” Now it was Compton who sounded sarcastic.
Draco tried to remain impassive and focused.
“I pulled myself up by the boot straps, using whatever skills I could lay my hands on, just like you.” Compton gestured vaguely at him with his hand. “It was different back then, but if you had confidence, a decent suit, and access to headed notepaper, you could make a career path and that’s what I did. Things are more complicated these days, commercial rules and regulations are tighter. They have to be because the business model is so tightly ingrained with the technical side. I’d advise any young man seeking a career in finance or IT to get themselves a college education.”
Finally he paused, expectantly.
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