by Helen Scott
“I thought I’d lost you.” Robin smiled, but her brows pinched together in concern.
“Me? Never.” He smiled at her, big and goofy, which earned him a true smile from her in return. “The laptop, as my lady requested. It’s yours from now on.”
“Mine?”
“Alec used it as an excuse to buy a new one, not that Ellie was super happy about the idea. Since it was going to good use, she didn’t object too much, so now it’s yours.”
“Wow.” She was quiet for a few moments. “Thank you, Hal, really.” She stood up and hugged him.
He wrapped his arms around her tiny frame, pressing her to him like the precious thing she was. Her emotions were still tinged with darkness, but whenever he made her happy, some of it seemed to fall away. The light inside her was able to shine through a little more.
The air between them changed, their emotions charging the space with their desire. Even if he could never bed her, he would never turn her away. She was becoming more important to him the more time he spent around her. She made him feel real, whole. His hands came up and tangled in her red hair, brushing it away from her face.
“Robin . . .” he started, but he didn’t know what to say, how to put into words what he was feeling without sounding selfish, without taking away the time she needed to process what had happened to her.
“I know, me too.” She raised up on her tiptoes, but even that wasn’t enough. Her hand wrapped around the back of his neck and pulled him down into a kiss so utterly sweet and filled with emotion that it left him breathless.
As they pulled away, Hal felt overly conscious of the mark on her back, like it was watching them, waiting for them to get close enough again that it could cause her pain, make her associate him with pain. That was something he wouldn’t stand for. If he could never touch her again, that would be fine so long as she didn’t associate him with the pain the mark caused her.
He handed the laptop over and couldn’t help but notice the glee in her face as she sat down on the couch and cracked it open. The scoop-neck T-shirt had seemed like such a good idea when he’d bought it for her, but now it was just laughing at him, tempting him with the creamy soft skin he couldn’t touch.
Walking away, he went to get them both drinks. By the time he came back, she was laser-focused on what was in front of her. He sat next to her on the couch, their thighs brushing against each other, practically burning him when they touched. Robin didn’t seem to notice, though. She twirled some of her red hair between her fingers as something downloaded while she sporadically typed code in another window.
“So, what’s your plan?”
“Hum?” Her eyes took a second to focus on him.
“What’s your plan? How are we going to find the estate?”
“Oh!” A wide, slightly menacing grin spread over her face. “We’re going to follow the money.”
When he didn’t immediately understand the idea, she backtracked and explained it to him.
“I figure he’s got to pay people to take care of the house, right? So, I’m going to hack into Randall’s computer and access his bank statements, and then I’m going to dig until I find Eclipse’s financial records, flagging any transactions going to England. It might be a lot from Eclipse, but I have a feeling that the estate would be under Randall’s personal purview with it being so closely associated with the Order and everything. Plus, I can’t imagine him having a ton of transactions to England.”
Devious and crazy smart. “I like it.” He grinned at her and saw her gulp. Whatever else he knew, she liked his smile. “How are you going to hack into his stuff?”
“I’m going to do some penetration testing to see where the weak points are, and then exploit those to gain access to the system, and then I have another piece of software I can use to crack his password. I doubt Randall is that creative, so it shouldn’t be hard.”
Hal shook his head. He wasn’t exactly sure what she just said, but he knew it was a skill set not everyone had. “How’d you learn this stuff?”
“I was going for a college scholarship. I love computers, so I started teaching myself everything I could about them. Plus, I figured they were only going to get more important to society, so it would be a stable job field. I dabbled in some white-hat hacking on the side, just do-gooder stuff, nothing bad. The bad came later once I was inside Eclipse. I wrote programs that hid my activities and allowed me limited access to things outside Eclipse’s network. It was the only way I stayed sane. Without it, I probably would have pushed Randall too far a long time ago.”
“Pushed him too far?”
“There were rumors of his previous assistants vanishing, never being heard from again, not that I thought he would do that to me with my . . .”—she paused, as if looking for the right word—“unique skill set. If I pushed him too hard, though? Well, since he controlled every aspect of my life, he could make it a living hell.”
Rage flowed through Hal at the thought of Robin being treated that way. The energy buzzed in his system like bees after something disturbed the hive. “I’m going to go for a run.”
She looked at him for a moment, concern tracing her delicate features. “Okay, you’d probably be bored here, anyway.”
Chapter 17
Hal finished his run and was back at the cabin a couple hours later. Sweat trickled down his back as he stood on the deck. He’d taken his shirt off a long time ago and now used it as a towel. The workout had been tough, the anger that had welled up inside him pushing him harder than usual. Every step, every movement, had been an exercise in not immediately running back to check on Robin, trying to keep his mind off her, but everything about her had invaded his senses. From the way she smelled to the way she moved, and he couldn’t even think about the way she tasted. Gods, when he had been licking her core, it was like tasting ambrosia itself. All he wanted to do was strip her naked and devour her. Rage twisted in his stomach. If he did that, it would cause her pain, again.
That above all else was something he could not abide.
The sun was setting, its orange and pink rays staining the sky over the ocean. He wanted to fly, to show Robin everything he loved about his life, but he also didn’t want to scare her. He turned to go back inside only to find her watching him. Robin’s hair glowed red in the dusk light, which only highlighted her delicate skin.
Her gray eyes raked over his body, causing a rush of blood south, naked lust showing on her face. Pride filled him; it was good to know she wanted him as much as he wanted her. Now they just had to keep their hands off each other until they got this thing with her mark figured out.
Opening the door, Hal had to move past Robin and keep her out of arm’s length. Otherwise, he knew he would pull her to him and would only stop when the mark made them. That thought was enough to cool the flames of his fire.
“How was your run?” Her voice was deeper than normal, betraying her arousal to his ears.
“Good.” Hal turned toward her after pouring himself a glass of water. “How’s the hacking?”
“It’s getting there. I think I have some promising leads, but I would like you to go over me—I mean, go over them with me.” A blush stained her cheeks, and he couldn’t help but chuckle. They both knew where her thoughts were, and it had definitely gone past the PG rating, maybe even PG-13. Gods, what he wouldn’t give to know what was going on in that sharp mind of hers.
“Sure thing. Let me just wash up.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I probably stink after that workout.” Hal stuck his nose down by his armpit. Yep, definitely not a spring day down there.
Robin tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “I like the way you smell.” The blush returned tenfold. “I’m not used to being around it. Helps me remember where I am and who I’m with.”
“Then I will be as stinky as you want.” He grinned at her. “Want me to go do another five miles?”
“No, you goofball. I want you here with me.” She paused. “He
lping me.” The last part seemed to be an afterthought.
Hal was starting to suspect he was just as much under her skin as she was under his. He was overly conscious of his scent now, but if she liked it, he would get sweaty every day. Sitting on the couch next to her, he could swear he saw her pupils dilate as her eyes ran down his body once more.
“So what have you got?” If he didn’t distract them both, there would be hell to pay.
Wrenching her eyes away from him, she said, “Well, as I suspected, Eclipse has a ton of charges going overseas, many to the UK specifically, but Randall doesn’t have as many. There are only a few that are regular charges, which I think we should investigate.”
She clicked around on the computer screen, pulling up a cascade of windows that she began tabbing through as she talked. “There’s this one, which I think is the most promising. It’s a property management company, so they could contract out to staff and all kinds of people. My mom was a cleaner for a while, and companies like this one would have her come in and clean either before the place was put up for rent or if there was some reason the owners couldn’t care for it. Then there are the actual cleaning companies. I found four total, most of which are only paid once or twice a year at most, so I am less hopeful about those. Apparently, he owns a horse too, so there are regular payments going to a stable for the care and boarding of the animal. Then there is this.” Robin maximized the window she was talking about. “I have no idea what it is, and it would be impossible to find out without raising about a thousand red flags, but it’s a crap load of money.”
When Hal’s eyes adjusted to the figure, he let out a low whistle. It was most definitely a lot of money, even by his standards, and he had more money than he knew what to do with. His was all in savings, though. He kept a pretty low budget for himself, just in case the gods ever decided to pull the rug out from under them.
“What the hell could he be doing with that amount of cash?”
“I was thinking maybe it’s membership dues for the Order? Or maybe he’s renting the estate and the owners charge an insane amount every six months? I honestly have no idea. I tracked it as far as I could, but nothing. No combination of the code above yielded any kind of useful results. They were all just random, unrelated things.”
“Well, let’s start with the property management companies, see what we can find out from them and go from there.”
“Okay.” She paused, looking at him as though she was embarrassed to say whatever was on her mind.
“What’s wrong?”
“Do you have a phone that can make international calls?”
“Oh, yeah, use my cell.” Hal grabbed his phone from the pocket of the jeans he had been wearing earlier and handed it to her, watching something that appeared small in his own hands change to something that appeared large in hers.
“Thanks.”
With a few taps, she had pulled up the company’s website and was dialing their number. She glanced at him and put her finger to her lips, her face frozen in concentration.
“Ohmygosh, hello. Yes, I’m hoping you can help me. I’m Mr. Randall Fields’ new personal assistant, and oh my gawd, he’s going to kill me if he finds out, but he’s heading to his estate over there that you all manage, and I forgot to have something packed for him, so now I have to ship it. Is there any way you could give me that address?”
Hal’s eyebrows shot up when he heard the voice coming out of her mouth. She sounded more than a little ditzy, flustered, and overly feminine.
“Oh, yes, no, I completely understand. I just, I’m so new to this job, and he’s such a powerful man. He can be a little intimidating, you know? The last thing I want to do is mess this up.”
Hal was more than a little curious as to what the other person was saying, and was sorely tempted to lean down and listen in. That would probably distract both of them, though, so he kept his distance, even though inquisitiveness gnawed at him.
“I’m sorry. I’m really not trying to put you in a bad spot, but I’m kinda panicking over here. I mean, if I don’t get this out tonight, then he won’t have it when he arrives, and that would be the end of my career.” She sighed dramatically. “Yeah, I’m working late trying to get this taken care of. My fiancé is going to kill me if I miss the appointment at the church again, but if I don’t have a job, we won’t be able to afford the wedding, anyway.” She paused dramatically. “I wouldn’t ask if I wasn’t completely desperate. Please, anything, anything at all that you could tell me would help.”
With a couple clicks, she had a blank document open on the laptop and began typing in an address.
“You are such an incredible lifesaver, you know that? I’m sure my fiancé would hug you if he could.” She giggled. “Thank you a million times over. You really just saved my career,” she gushed with a huge smile plastered on her face, which didn’t reach her eyes. “I hope you aren’t stuck there too much longer, either! Thanks again!”
She hung up and gently put the phone down, before turning and smiling genuinely at Hal.
“What was that? Were you an actress in a previous life or something?”
Robin laughed, and the sound took flight inside him. It was beautiful and pure, like the first bird calls of spring. “Just a little social engineering. Nothing major.”
“Social engineering, huh? I’ll have to remember that.”
“Please, I’m sure you’ve done something similar before.” She quirked an eyebrow at him. “You’re trying to tell me you’ve never used your good looks or charming personality to get something that you wouldn’t have been able to otherwise?”
He had—many, many times, more than he would like to admit, in fact—but he had never thought of it like that before. “Yeah, probably.”
“Right.” She grinned at him, clearly sensing that he was skirting the truth. “In other news, we now have an address!”
Before he even had a chance to respond, she had pulled up the address and was looking at it on a satellite map. She zoomed closer and closer to the little red bubble pointing to the possible location.
The map could only get so close, though. She zoomed out a little and found a main road that allowed her to zoom all the way in. The picture on the screen looked just as if they were standing there, looking down the gravel drive themselves. Wrought iron gates barred their way, but it was enough to give them a taste of the estate, and what an estate it was. The deep red of the brick facade was only accented by the stunningly green grass and the pale stone that made up the corners of the building. The towers on each side appeared to be topped with what would have been copper at one point, but were now a dull green. She zoomed out and looked at the area more closely.
“I think this is it. I can’t be sure, and I can do more digging, but my gut is telling me that this is the house he took me to. Not that house is really the right word for it.”
Hal’s phone buzzed on the table. Dem was calling. There was only one reason his brother would be calling him right now.
Bad news.
“Dem, what’s wrong?” Hal asked as he answered the phone.
“It’s Robin’s family. They’re gone.”
Robin’s form went deathly still next to him, staring at him with too-wide eyes. He squeezed her knee, trying to let her know that he understood.
“What happened?”
“Not sure. No signs of struggle. They’re just gone, but all the stuff they brought with them is still here. Something’s off, though. They wouldn’t just leave with nothing. It’s pretty much all they have.”
“Understood. We’ll be right there.”
Hal turned to Robin, who was white as a sheet and dangerously close to hyperventilating.
“Breathe, baby. We can’t help them if you lose it right now. Staying calm and figuring this out will be what gets them back.”
“He found them. I know he did.” She ran a shaky hand through her hair. “How did he find them? You told me they were safe!”
“They were. I
swear to you.” Hal’s heart was breaking for her. “Let’s go to the safe house, and we can see for ourselves.”
She nodded.
“We can’t go if you’re going to freak out, though. You sure you’re good?”
A few deep breaths later, she said, “I’m good.”
Hal gripped her hand and jumped them to the safe house, wondering what the hell had happened. There was no way anyone should have found them. So where did they go?
Chapter 18
“Dem, you here, Brother?” Hal’s voice rang out next to Robin, sending a rush of anticipation down her spine.
They had arrived in the bedroom of an apartment of some kind. She could faintly hear the neighbors through the walls. It was fully furnished, with the eclectic style she recognized from the big house Hal had taken her to the first night. The scent of her mother’s perfume still hung in the air, making her stomach clench. She hadn’t seen her family since they had given her to Randall. One of her father’s shirts was draped over the back of a chair.
A swirl of emotions filled her. She wanted to be angry, to rage against the memory of him, but mainly despair clawed at her, twisting her stomach into knots at the thought of them missing. The whole reason she had agreed to come with Hal was because he promised they would be safe. She should have never left Randall, and then he wouldn’t have searched for them.
“In here.”
Robin hurried through to the open area of the apartment that housed the kitchen and living room, as well as a corner office, where Dem was standing with Thad.
“I called in reinforcements,” he grumbled.
“Hey, Brother,” Hal said as he followed Robin into the room. “Any luck?”
“Yep. Check it out.”
The air before her eyes filled with a mist-like quality, forming the shapes of her family as they sat on the couch and moved around the apartment. She had never seen anything like it. For a moment, it felt like she was watching a movie on fast forward. It slowed, and Thad said, “Here we go.”