The Wells Brothers: Aaron

by Angela Verdenius

  Cole shifted uncomfortably.

  “Aaron turned up the other week but he didn’t say what for!” Hand to her forehead, she spun around, walked off a few paces, spun back to glare at her brother. “You idiot.”

  “Okay!” Guilt firing his temper, he glared back at her. “I’m sorry, all right?”

  “Sorry?” She flung out a hand. “Aaron knows you tried to hack into his computer, he came here to see you! He didn’t say anything to me.” Her eyes narrowed. “Has he spoken to you at all about it?”

  “No.” Cole shuffled his feet, glanced away. “Maybe he doesn’t really know, only suspects.”

  “You think? The man who has spy bases in his contracts, who has bodyguards for VIPs, who investigates people before events, you think he doesn’t know that you tried to hack his computers?”

  Cole’s cheeks were red.

  “You’re lucky he didn’t call the police!” Exasperated, worried and furious, Shea shoved her hands on her hips. “He still might. I don’t know. What I do know is that after school we’re going to see him.”

  “I’d think he’d come here-”

  “You’re in the wrong, Cole, not him!”

  “Fine,” Cole replied sullenly.

  “Don’t start that.” Growing more agitated by the minute she shoved a hand through her hair again, dislodging the ribbon that fluttered to the floor and was immediately grabbed by Carrot, who dragged it off down the hallway.

  “I think you’re overreacting,” Cole said, completely unhelpful. “If he meant to do anything about it, it would have been done by now.”

  Shea glared at him.

  “Fine!” Guilt-ridden, he slung the backpack over his shoulder. “I’m going to school. I’ll see you after.”

  “Cole-”

  “Bye!” Shoving the door open, he almost ran to the garage to haul out his pushbike.

  Standing on the veranda, Shea watched him leave. The beautiful morning was spoiled, fear churning inside her as she returned to the kitchen.

  Standing there, the sunlight coming through the window, the place so cosy with their belongings neatly placed around, it had become their home. She had a sudden fear that Cole’s stupid actions could have far-reaching consequences.

  Damn it, trying to hack Wells Security computers? Checking out mobiles for information? This whole reading business had started simply, so why was it getting so hard?

  Dropping into a chair at the table, Shea rested her forehead in her hands. What to do? What was Aaron going to do? He knew, there was no doubt about it. He’d known when he’d come to the back door, he’d known Saturday night.

  Her skin chilled. Was that why he’d thought she’d know more about the jewellery? Did he suspect that maybe Cole had hacked into other places? Cripes, how far was this going?

  Dropping her hands to the table, she bit her lip. There was only one thing for it. She had to go and see Aaron, find out what he planned to do about Cole’s attempted hacking. And she had to do it before Cole got home from school so when she dragged him around to apologise to Aaron and explain himself, she’d know what they were facing.

  Hopefully not the cops.

  Though surely he’d have done it by now? Surely he wouldn’t have kissed her on Saturday night? Surely…

  But ‘surely’ wasn’t an answer. She needed an answer. She needed to know what she - and Cole - were facing.

  Not to mention that Cole had gone off in a snit. She could have handled it better, tried to reason with him instead of going off the deep end, but hell… Times like this she missed her parents, wished they were alive, that they could advise her. But then if they’d been alive she wouldn’t be bringing up her teenage brother and making a cock-up of it.

  Face it, she told herself bitterly, it’s not like you’re setting him a good example, is it? Not to mention teaching him how to fake it, tell falsehoods, con people.

  Tears pricked her eyes, that feeling of hopelessness suddenly weighing her down. Damn it, this was her fault. If she hadn’t dragged him into this kind of thing maybe he’d have been more careful with other people’s business.

  Then again, he’d always been too smart for his own good.

  Wiping her hand under one eye, she stood up and turned around just as the back door opened and Cole entered. He took one look at her and his already unhappy expression deepened.

  Closing the distance swiftly between them, he hugged her. “I’m sorry, Shea. This is my fault.”

  “No.” She hugged him back. “No, this is on both of us.”

  “I tried to hack his computer, you didn’t.”

  “Still partly my fault.”

  Cole pulled back to look at her searchingly. “What do you mean?”

  “Nothing.” She gave him another hug, glanced at the clock. “You need to pedal fast, boyo, or you’ll be late for school.”

  “Will you be all right?”

  “Fine. It’ll all be fine.”

  “I’m sorry, Shea. I can be such a dick sometimes.”

  She laughed, rubbing his arm. “You think I’m going to argue that?”

  His grin was sheepish. “We good, sis?”

  “We’re good.”

  He gave her a friendly thump on the arm. “Okay then. I better go.”

  She gave him a thump back. “So go.” As he walked out, his expression a little happier, she called out, “And be good or I’ll kick your arse!”

  “Gotta catch me first!”

  The door shut behind him and she smiled. The kid might be a total dick at times but he had a good heart - along with a busy mind that was constantly trying to probe where it shouldn’t.

  Smile fading, she turned and surveyed the cats who lay in various positions around the kitchen. “It’s time I bearded the wolf in his den, kids. Wish me luck.”

  After showering quickly, she slid on a pale pink dress with a ruffled hem that fluttered around her knees and low-heeled court shoes. Bundling her hair up into a plastic clasp behind her head, she surveyed her appearance. Hopefully she came across as a responsible adult in charge of a teenager who…who had tried to hack into Wells Security.

  With a groan she grabbed the house keys, walked out the back door, locked it behind her and strode around to the front door of Wells Security. Pushing it open, she walked into the cool, neutral-toned office.

  Raymond sat behind the reception desk typing away on a computer, Ryan leaning over his shoulder watching something on the screen. Was it the same computer Cole had tried to hack? Exactly what computer system had Cole attempted? If only she knew more about computers.

  Raymond levelled a look at her.

  Ryan levelled a look at her.

  Raymond smiled slightly, Ryan didn’t.

  “Can I help you, Miss Winters?” Raymond asked.

  Arms folded, Ryan waited in silence.

  Acutely aware of him, Shea addressed Raymond as the easier of the two. “I’m wondering if I could talk to Aaron.”

  “Sorry, no.”

  Both men continued to watch her, Raymond still smiling, Ryan with a dead-pan expression that was unnerving.

  “He’s not here?” Shea queried.

  “No,” Raymond replied.

  Damn. “When will he be back?”

  Before Raymond could answer, Ryan interrupted quietly, “Is something wrong?”

  Yes. Very wrong. “No. I just wanted to have a word with him.”

  “Can I help you?”

  That was unexpected. “Thanks, but no.” Moving to the door, she reached out for the handle, stopped and chewed her lip before glancing back over her shoulder. “He’ll be back today, won’t he?”

  This time Raymond just watched her while Ryan strode up to her - glided almost, his booted feet not even whispering across the carpet. Stopping in front of her, he studied her face. “Are you sure I can’t help?”

  A little flustered, she shook her head. “No. No, it’s fine.”

  Those dark eyes scanned her features. Cripes, the man had the gaze of a ha
wk, a silent predator that would be on a person before they knew it.

  Aaron had a similar way about him but it was more contained, controlled, and he didn’t have the hint of cruelty in his eyes that Ryan did, the brooding air, the danger that seeped from his very pores.

  “I have to go.” She pushed at the door.

  “Wait.”

  She stopped.

  Ryan walked through the door at the back of the reception.

  Raymond leaned back in his chair to see what he was doing before returning his attention to Shea. “Had any harassing calls?”

  “Nope.”

  “Threatening letters? Emails?”

  “Geez, no. Should I be getting them?”

  “Just checking.” He searched her gaze intently. “When was the last time you got a call?”

  “Awhile ago.” It was amazing she didn’t get struck by lightening at the rate she was racking up the sins of lying.

  “Aaron is the best in the business. You got trouble, he will get you out of it.”

  Last thing she was worried about right then was someone playing silly buggers on the phone. “I don’t have trouble, honestly.” Yet. Give it a short time and she’d be up to her ears in it with his boss.

  Hmm.” He gave her a last searching scrutiny before resuming typing.

  Fidgeting, Shea waited. After several moments Ryan reappeared holding a piece of paper which he handed to her. “Aaron’s waiting for you.”

  “You said he wasn’t here.”

  “He’s not. He’s at home. That’s his address.” Reaching past her, Ryan opened the door. “He’s waiting.”

  “He is?” Shea was surprised.

  “I rang him.”

  “Oh. Okay.” Flicking the paper with a finger, she smiled. “Thanks. I appreciate it.”

  Silently he nodded, continuing to patiently hold the door open.

  Taking the hint, she left.

  Walking back to the house, she studied the paper with his address written on it in bold masculine script. Ryan had a surprisingly nice hand. She’d have thought his writing would be impatient slashes, not contained, but then again the man was contained, like a tightly coiled spring just waiting to explode all over someone.

  She pitied the poor bastard who caused a security breach and ended up facing Ryan. Pity was something she didn’t equate with the brooding, dark-eyed man.

  Sure as hell she hoped Aaron was more merciful. Right now she felt like she was walking uncertain ground. Nothing for it but to face him.

  His house was in a quiet street. The houses were neither too big nor too small, just average homes with nice yards and big trees. The outside of his house was as orderly as the man himself, with a neat no-fuss yard of a small amount of lawn and a paved path to the letterbox at the gate, roses along the front fence, and a garden bed of purple daisies each side of the two steps leading up to the veranda.

  Parking the car in the driveway in front of the closed garage, Shea gave herself a quick pep talk to steady her nerves before going up the veranda steps. She almost jumped in surprise to find Aaron in the doorway waiting, his ankles crossed, one broad shoulder against the doorframe, arms folded over his chest making his biceps bulge. Waiting for her, just as Ryan had said.

  But this Aaron was so far removed from the man she was used to seeing. Gone were the jeans, white shirt, black suit jacket and boots. Instead he wore bone-coloured board shorts, pale blue t-shirt and a pair of thongs. The t-shirt hugged his chest and shoulders, showing off the well-defined muscles beneath. The shorts hugged lean hips but didn’t hide the strength of his thighs.

  Though his appearance was relaxed there was still an air of alertness about him as he straightened and stood aside. “Come in.”

  Wondering if it would be wiser to talk on the veranda, she hesitated. “Um…well, maybe it’d be better to-”

  “Inside.” Nicely said, but there was a distinct air of quiet assurance that he fully expected her to obey.

  She’d have been annoyed if she wasn’t so worried, so instead of arguing for the pure hell of it she stepped past him.

  Worried she might be, but she was conscious of the breadth of his chest as she passed, the faint smell of plain soap and deodorant, that unique scent that seemed a part of him. The warmth of his body was almost palpable as her shoulder brushed his shirt.

  Closing the door behind them, he flicked on the lock before coming up beside her, one big hand in the small of her back guiding her down the wide hallway and into a kitchen.

  Still without a word, he steered her over to the kitchen table, drew out a chair and sat her down before pulling out the chair right next to her, which was surprising as she’d expected him to sit opposite. Instead, he turned the chair to face her and sat down, resting one elbow on the table.

  Man in control of his destiny, his home, and pretty much everyone who signed on for his services. Whether in work or home clothes, there was no mistaking the intensity of his gaze as he studied her. “What’s wrong, Shea?”

  “Nothing. Something,” she corrected, placing the car keys on the table while wondering how fast his deep, calm tone would turn angry.

  No, Aaron wouldn’t get angry, he was way too in control for that. But wait, he had on Saturday night with her. Stay cool. This is for Cole.

  “Tell me.”

  No sense putting this off any longer. Taking a deep breath, she looked him right in the eyes. “I know what Cole did.”

  No answer, level gaze, pretty much what she expected.

  “He tried to hack into your computer system.”

  “He told you.”

  “In a way.”

  “You tricked him.” There was ghost of a smile playing at the edges of those masculine lips.

  “It’s what I’m good at.”

  No answer.

  “You came around the other day to see him, didn’t you?”

  “Yes.”

  “So why didn’t you speak to him when he came home?”

  There was a pause for a few seconds, his eyes darkening a little. “I was a little…distracted.”

  “By the phone calls?”

  “Partly.”

  Shea frowned. “You’re not the kind to get distracted.”

  “Surprises all the way around,” he murmured.

  He didn’t move a muscle, leaning back in the chair with one elbow on the table, his other arm back with his thumb hooked around the edge of the seat. He managed to appear both relaxed and alert, as though he could spring into action in seconds or slouch further down in the chair. Not one hint of expression crossed his face as he continued to regard her.

  “What are you going to do about Cole?”

  “What I think is right.”

  She clenched her teeth. “Tell me.”

  “What do you think I’m going to do?”

  “I don’t know, Aaron. You threatened me with the police the other night, what am I supposed to think?”

  Lifting his arm, he thoughtfully brushed his thumb back and forth along the edge of his lower lip.

  “Don’t do this,” Shea said, annoyed.

  One brow arched upwards.

  “Don’t pull this mysterious thinking crap. Just tell me straight out what’s going on inside that head of yours.”

  “Am I disturbing you?”

  “You know good and well you are.” Don’t antagonise him her cautious side warned. “Please don’t call in the cops.”

  “You think he should get away with it?”

  “No, I don’t. But if anyone is to blame it’s me, all right? Blame me.”

  He shook his head.

  “Aaron, please. He’s young. Please don’t destroy his life over some stupid thing he pulled.” A little desperate, she looked pleadingly at him. “Please.”

  No expression crossed that handsome face. For once she wished he’d show something, anything - anger, amusement, something she could read.

  Instead he rested the edge of his lightly cupped hand against his mouth.

/>   Oh yeah, that she could read. It was a pose she’d seen a couple of times, one he used when contemplating someone, watching them, evaluating them.

  After a full minute in which she fought not to start squirming under that intense regard, Aaron said, “You think I’ll ruin a young boy’s life because he was dumb enough to try hacking my system.”

  There was no doubting that honesty was the best policy with Aaron. She replied frankly, “I don’t know.”

  “No,” he responded quietly, “you don’t.”

  Another few seconds passed.

  “You’re not helping, Aaron. Please, just tell me what your intentions are.”

  “My intentions.” His gaze remained intense. “You’re correct in the plural, I have a few intentions.”

  Shit. Her heart dropped.

  “Here’s the deal, Shea. I’m going to tell you my intentions, and in return you are going to answer a few questions.”

  “Is this blackmail?”

  “Sharing information.”

  “Blackmail.”

  “Not at all. It’s not going to change my intentions.” Laying his forearm flat on the table, he continued to watch her. “It’s just that you won’t know all of them beforehand.”

  He had her there. “Fine,” she said a touch bitterly. “Forewarned is forearmed, right?”

  Unexpectedly, that same ghost of a smile twitched the corners of his lips. “So they say.”

  “Fine.” Folding her arms, she leaned back in the chair. “What are you going to do to Cole?”

  There was a knowing glint in his eyes as he regarded her posture. “Feeling defensive, Shea?”

  “I’m worried, okay? I’m not going to hide it.”

  “Fair enough.” Dropping his hand from his mouth, he re-hooked his thumb on the seat of the chair beneath his thigh. “I’m going to have a chat to Cole about the harm to his future if he continues down the pathway he’s taking, however lightly it seems now. I’m going to discuss privacy issues, show him some examples of what has happened to people who have disregarded it, show him what has happened to their lives, how it’s affected those around them.” For the first time his eyes softened. “Just a talk, Shea. I’m not going to destroy his life, but I am going to make sure he doesn’t do it himself.”