“I cannot disclose that information.”
I stared at him, but he remained uncowed.
“Fine. I’ll find him another way.”
“Very good, ma’am. Have a nice day.”
I resisted the urge to tell the concierge to fuck off.
Luckily, my hotel was only a few blocks away. I paced the room while looking up information on the dashing Liam Windsor.
“Mother was the only child of the Roquefort banking dynasty, making Liam by far the richest member of the royal family—richer than the Queen. Father was the youngest grandson of George V, and passed away in a skiing accident a dozen years after Liam’s birth. Mother passed away less than a year later of cancer. As the sole inheritor of a fortune worth billions and an influential social fixture, Liam Windsor is one of the most recognizable faces in Britain, if not the entire world.”
I plopped onto the couch.
“I’ll be fucking damned. And he didn’t mention a single bit of this.”
I didn’t know if that pissed me off or impressed me. The one thing I did know was that I had to find him again.
That’s where my particular set of skills came in handy. The benefit of being one of the most practiced hackers in the world was the breadth of information available to me with a bit of effort.
It didn’t take long to remotely access Liam’s email account using an exploit I’d discovered a few months ago. From there, it was a simple matter to download his calendar.
I smiled. It would be fun to see the look on Liam’s face when I just happened to run into him on his way out of the Roquefort building in a few hours.
6
~ Liam ~
“No, Jeffrey, that’s unacceptable. You know that. Bring this proposal back once you’ve had it thoroughly vetted by someone other than your secretary.”
The balding man flushed and nodded. “I’m sorry, sir. It won’t happen again, sir.”
“Good. Make sure it doesn’t. Due diligence is how we remain on top, Jeffrey.”
He nodded once more as he backed away before turning tail and fleeing the office.
I sighed. He was my new head of international mergers and acquisitions, and he showed promise, but there were still a few rough edges that had to be polished.
A quick look at the clock gave me the time. Thanks to Jeffrey’s lack of preparation, I had a few minutes before I had to leave for my lunch meeting.
I tapped the direct intercom link to outside. “Sandra, hold everything. I’m making a personal call.”
“Yes, sir.”
This morning had been even busier than usual, and there hadn’t been time to give James a call yet. I dialed his number on my personal phone as I stood and walked to the window. The Roquefort building was an imposing presence in the city of London, and my office was at the pinnacle. It was one of the best views of the city from anywhere.
“Liam?”
“James, how are you doing? Still on your honeymoon?”
The other man laughed. “If you can call it that. Kat insisted that we had to go to Kenya and volunteer with one of the aid organizations here. It’s not the relaxing time on the beach I’d pictured, but she’s happy and that’s what matters.”
“Good to hear.” I hesitated. Might as well get straight to the point. “Your hacker didn’t show up last night.”
“No shit. Really?” There was a pause. “No sign at all?”
I shook my head, even though he couldn’t see. “None. I had a way better night than if I had to talk business, but now I’m back to square one with my problem.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, Liam. I really thought she’d show. Addison is the best there is.”
The ground dropped away beneath my feet. “Addison?”
James chuckled. “Yeah, that’s right. I know you assumed it was a guy, and I didn’t bother correcting you. Thought it would be hilarious once you figured it out.”
I blindly reached out for the desk chair and barely got it behind me before my legs gave out. “Addison is the hacker? Red hair?”
“Yes… so you did meet her last night?”
I couldn’t help it—laughter spilled forth from my gut like a split cask.
“Oh, I met her. If you check the gossip sites, then you’ll probably find I did more than that.”
“Be cautious, Liam. She’s the best hacker I know, but she also turned me in to the FBI a few months ago. I forgave her for that, but it ruined the friendship between us.”
That sobered me. “She sounds like a wild card, James.”
It took a few moments for the reply to come. “I wouldn’t say that. If I had to guess, she still had feelings she hadn’t dealt with from when we used to date, and once Kat and I fell for each other, she couldn’t handle it. Just be careful, is all I mean.”
“Thanks for the warning, James. I don’t know whether to be glad I asked you for help or if it will end up being my downfall.”
“Doesn’t that at least keep things interesting?”
I chuckled. “We always had different definitions of interesting. Take care of yourself and that lady of yours, James.”
“You too, Liam.”
I sat in silence after ending the call.
Addison is the master hacker you were looking for.
It was so difficult to reconcile that information with the vivacious and charming woman I’d met the night before. And there was one obvious question it raised.
Is she already playing me?
What were the odds that Addison just happened to willingly go out with me, the man who’d been looking to hire her? Was her ignorance of who I was a complete sham?
I’d already been hesitant about seeking assistance from an accomplished hacker, a person who flew under the law’s radar. That I’d now slept with that person just made everything that much more complicated.
Fuck, was that ever a fantastic night, though.
Even if she knew all along, it was hard to be mad at such an entrancing woman.
I shook myself. I would have time to figure everything out once I returned home for the day. She might still be there, and if not, I’d have to track her down.
“Sandra, let me know when the car’s ready for my lunch meeting.”
“It’s waiting below,” came the quick response.
Resolving to put the matter out of mind for the time being, I took the executive elevator to the ground floor and the waiting automobile. After leaving the front doors, someone called my name.
“Liam.”
Even after a single night together, I would never forget that voice.
“Addison?”
She leaned against a pillar, dressed in a killer black dress with red accents the same color as the hair that tumbled over her left shoulder. She pushed off the pillar and walked up beside me—the security detail that followed at a discreet distance sprinted forward until I waved them off.
“I thought I’d come see you,” she said. “Especially after I saw this.”
She brandished a newspaper that fluttered in the wind, making it hard to read the front page. My stomach dropped, certain what I would find, but I reached out to flatten it and be sure.
“That’s a nice photo of you,” I said. “Although it doesn’t even come close to matching your beauty in real life.”
Addison cocked her head to the side. “Thank you. Don’t you think you should have warned me about this? I had no idea who you were until I saw my face plastered everywhere on my walk home this morning.”
She seemed genuine, but I still couldn’t be sure. I knew how disarming James could be, and Addison had worked with him for years.
“I apologize. I couldn’t know for sure if you were pretending ignorance or if you truly didn’t know. Would you have done anything differently?”
She pursed her lips. “Well… I don’t know. It’s hard to say. It’s not everyday you get swept off your feet by some prince.”
I laughed. “I’m no prince. You have to be a lot closer to the throne to get that title.
” I left alone her other comment, about getting swept off her feet. I didn’t want to have her take it back.
“Whatever. Apparently, you’re even more famous than the princes because you’re wealthy as hell, thanks to your mom’s side. That’s a killer combination.”
“I guess that’s one way to put it.” I glanced at my watch. I still had unfinished business with Addison that had nothing to do with our hookup together the night before, but it wasn’t a topic I could broach in public. My other meetings could be rescheduled. “Would you join me for lunch? We have a few things we need to discuss.”
Addison twirled a finger in a strand of hair as she considered. “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea. This is more media exposure than I’ve ever wanted. If we see each other more, then it’ll just get worse.”
I crossed my arms. “What if I told you I’m also friends with James, and we have a few things to talk about that we forgot to discuss last night before leaving the pub?”
Her mouth dropped. If she was acting, then she missed her calling to be on stage. “You’re the contact? The black business card?”
I gave an exaggerated bow. “At your service.”
7
~ Addison ~
There had been far too many massive revelations for one morning. First, discovering that Liam was a royal cousin with a ludicrously large fortune, and then that he was the person James had sent me to find. The one with a life-changing problem that only I could help solve.
The smile on Liam’s face grew wider by the second as we stared at each other. I snapped my mouth closed.
“How the hell did—”
“Not here,” Liam said, cutting me off. “Let’s go back to my apartment. It will be much safer to talk there.”
I looked around. There weren’t that many people, but I hadn’t noticed anyone following us with cameras the night before, either.
“Fine. This will take some explaining.”
He nodded agreement and opened the door to the waiting sedan for me before sliding in next to me.
“My apartment, Gerald.”
“Yes, sir.” The driver kept his eyes focused on the road ahead of us. If the change in plans surprised him, he showed no sign of it.
Uncertain whether Liam trusted his driver enough to talk about his problems, I kept quiet. When he showed no inclination to start things off, I followed his lead and watched the city streets pass though the window.
It was the first real exposure to London driving I’d gotten. Gerald pulled across several lanes of traffic so quickly that it nearly stopped my heart.
“What the hell!”
Liam started. “What’s wrong?”
I stared out the window, realizing what the problem was. My heart pounded in my chest, subsiding as I got over the sudden expectation of a crash.
Liam watched me in concern. I grimaced. “You guys drive all backward here. I swore we were about to crash.”
This time, Gerald shared a look with Liam for an instant before they both broke out laughing.
“Hey! It’s not my fault you have such a crazy system!”
Liam choked back the laughter that still searched for an outlet. “Of course not. But you should have seen the look on your face.”
He was blessed with an infectious smile, and I couldn’t keep a stern expression on my face any longer. “Whatever. Let’s see you be so calm and collected when something catches you completely off guard.”
The rest of the drive passed without incident, and Gerald pulled up to the imposing residence I had left only two hours ago. He came around to open the door and assist me out.
“Thank you, Gerald,” Liam said. “I’ll call you if I need you later, but it will be at least a few hours.”
“Very good, sir.”
I looked forward to seeing the concierge who had prevented me from re-entering the building that morning.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Windsor. Ma’am.” He nodded his head cordially.
There was no acknowledgement of the incident from earlier.
“Good afternoon, Frederick.” Liam returned the greeting as we passed.
“Good afternoon, Frederick,” I echoed. I blew him a kiss and laughed as I finally got a reaction—a warm flush that crept up his neck.
“What was that about?” Liam asked once we settled into the elevator.
“Oh, I tried to come back here after I found the tabloid. He wouldn’t let me in.”
Liam chuckled. “I’d hope not. He’d get fired if he let someone into my apartment that easily.”
I rolled my eyes. “He was cheeky about it. I figured I would return the favor.”
The apartment was as opulently appointed in broad daylight as it had appeared the night before and that morning. Now that I knew who Liam was, it made a lot more sense.
“So, this is what being born into the right family gets you, huh?” This time, I explored more, examining the intricate carving on the furniture and the well-lit pieces of art hanging on the walls. “Must be a nice life.”
Liam watched me, eyes narrowed. “There are upsides and downsides. I’ll admit, the upsides are particularly nice.”
I still held the newspaper. I tossed it onto the coffee table centering a conversation area in the massive living room before curling up on a large sofa. “So, I guess we have business to talk.”
“I guess we do,” Liam said. “My problems haven’t gone away overnight, as much as I would like them to.”
I couldn’t tell from the tone of his voice if he included me in his set of problems.
“Let’s talk then. You asked James for a meeting with an accomplished hacker. Here I am. Why does Britain’s royal darling need a clandestine hacker?”
Liam approached the conversation area and sat across the table from me. He flipped the cover of the paper open to the article and pictures of the two of us. “It’s complicated. Someone is trying to blackmail me.”
I cocked my head. “Blackmail? Isn’t that a little… old-fashioned?”
“Old-fashioned or not, it’s something I have to take seriously. I have responsibilities to the Crown, to my shareholders, and to the public.”
“What do they have on you? Why not go to the police?”
What kinds of skeletons does the royal billionaire have in his closet?
Liam shook his head. “That’s the frustrating part. Whoever it is, they’ve only given me enough information to show they know my life well enough to fuck with me—but they haven’t dropped the bomb yet. I can’t go to the police unless I know. If they have damaging information, I can’t trust the police to keep it under wraps.”
I didn’t want to provoke his anger, but something worried me. “What could it be? You must have done something wrong to be this worried.”
“I don’t know.” His voice crackled with intensity. “I can’t think of anything, but that’s the problem with being a public figure—accusations don’t even have to be true to tarnish your reputation. All it takes is a wild claim, spoken with confidence, and my business and image will suffer for it. Not only mine, but my family’s.”
“What do you think I can do about this?”
“I don’t know who these bastards are or how they’ll threaten me. I don’t even know what they want yet. I’m blind, and I hate that. I need you to change that. Find out who’s messing with me, what they have, and everything about them.” Liam’s fist hit the table. “I’ll make them regret ever messing with me.”
There wasn’t much to go on, and I didn’t want to promise anything. It was impossible to tell whether I could give Liam what he wanted. That didn’t deter me—James and I had started cons with less information.
“What do I get out of this if I help you?” I asked. “When I worked with James, we would split the pot from the job, but that is a different setup.”
Liam gestured around the room. “Money isn’t an issue. I could make sure you are set up for life. If you help me solve this problem, it’s money well spent.”
&
nbsp; Money wasn’t my motivating factor. I’d gotten rich from preying on the wealthy criminals of the world. I was searching for a cause I could believe in.
Liam Windsor might be that cause.
I pointed to the newspaper on the table between us. “That’s still an issue, too. We must meet often, and if my face shows up plastered all over the place whenever it happens, then we’ll have a problem hiding the reason for it.”
Liam rested his chin on his fist, a classic thinker’s pose. “What if we embrace it?”
“Excuse me?”
“Be my girlfriend.”
I stared at him as if he’d grown another head. “I don’t date people I work with. Not since…”
Not since James and I got too tangled up.
It was a new rule I was determined to live by. I couldn’t trust myself when emotions came into play.
Liam grinned. “We don’t have to actually date. We’ll just pretend to. Then we could spend as much time together as we need to, and no one will find it strange. It’s perfect.”
I shook my head. “No, Liam. It’s not. It’s a terrible idea. So many things could go wrong.”
Not the least, that I’m afraid of being able to keep my distance if we stay so close.
“Addison, think about it. Is there another way? It’s the best way to go forward with this. Hell, the media is already jumping at the chance to claim I’m in another relationship. Let’s give them what they want.”
He’d already decided—that much was clear—and as hard as I tried, I couldn’t think of a good enough reason we shouldn’t do it. My body’s response was overwhelming, and I couldn't think of arguments when tingles ran down my spine.
“If we do this, it will be strictly professional, you understand? No sleeping together. We’ll do what we have to in public to keep up appearances, and that’s it.”
Liam nodded. “Done. It will work out the best this way. Trust me.”
I had a feeling this will be much more of a problem than we imagined. “I hope so.”
He grinned. “When are you moving in?”
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