“Don’t,” I warn him because I know exactly what he’s going to say, and right now isn’t the time for that—I don’t know if it ever will be.
He raises a brow at me and then lets his shoulders sag, pulling his kit in front of him. “Fine, but you need to move.”
I give him one last steely look of warning before I step to the side and allow him access to Lexi.
Ty, West, Seb, and I stand around as we watch Luke touch both sides of her face. “What happened?”
“I tried to fix a floorboard, and the hammer split the wood and then the wood attacked me,” she answers, pointing to the cut on her eye that has now slowed in bleeding.
I hear him chuckle lightly and then he whispers something to her which has her relaxing. “It’ll need a couple of stitches.” He grabs some things out of his bag and starts wiping at the area, stopping when she gasps and asking if she’s okay.
Looks like he’s not as angry as he was. For all the broody front that he puts on, he’s basically a giant fucking teddy bear.
I don’t move an inch as he stitches her up, and all the while she sits there, taking the pain without having anything to numb the area. This in itself tells me that she’s no stranger to being hurt and in pain. The thought has my teeth clenching and that same muscle in my jaw ticking.
“You need to watch for a concussion over the next day or so, if you start to feel dizzy or you throw up, go to the hospital.” He stands and packs his stuff away.
“I can’t—”
He turns his face to hers, his eyes narrowing. “I said you need to go to the hospital. When I say it, I mean it and you listen. Got it?”
She nods her head slowly as a smile starts to spread across his face. “Got it, Caveman.”
He snorts and rolls his eyes, turning around and packing up his stuff before moving away.
“Gran’s freaking out,” Seb announces. “I suppose we should get you home.”
“I’ll take her,” I say, all too eagerly.
“No you won’t, I want you in my office,” Ty growls, spinning around and walking away.
I turn to watch him and then look back at Lexi. “Thanks for this, Evan. I really appreciate it.” Her voice is small, and when she stands and wobbles, I go to catch her but West gets there first.
I want to rip his hands off her. No, I want to rip his hands from his body so that he can never touch her again. Shit.
Shaking my head, I offer her a smile and nod before I turn away. Because if I don’t walk away now, I’m afraid I’d get in too deep with her, and that’s the last thing I need. Not because of her past, but because I haven’t even known her for two months and already I want to wrap her in a protective bubble. I want to hold her, I want to make her mine. But I can’t.
Fuck! Why did she have to come here?
I push her out of my mind as I walk over the mats and to the office, opening the door and stepping inside.
“What were you thinking?” Ty thunders as soon as I’ve closed the office door behind me. “An ex-con? Really, Evan?”
I open my mouth as I step forward, ready to defend not only myself, but Lexi too.
When did I start to feel the need to defend her?
I shake my head, trying to get the image of her face out of my mind, but it’s no use, no matter what I do, she seems to be there. It’s only getting worse the more I see her and the more I speak to her.
“I…”
“I can’t believe you would do something like this. Our family is on this compound.” He sits down and leans back in his office chair, his hands coming up on his head, the muscles dancing in his arms as he tenses.
“You didn’t see how scared she was when—”
“Who cares!” he roars, standing up and slapping his hands on the desk. My gaze follows his chair and I raise a brow as it bangs off the wall. Ty rarely gets like this; sure he gets worked up and shouts, but not like this. He never lets his anger overtake him.
This would be where I would normally step back and hold my hands up while telling him that I shouldn’t have done it. Not anymore; I’m sick and tired of pleasing everyone else, of making sure that I haven’t upset them.
My own anger surges through me and I step forward, gripping the back of the chair that sits opposite his desk, my knuckles turning white from the force.
“I do,” I grit out through clenched teeth. “I fucking care.”
“What?” he asks, a frown on his face and a sneer pulling up the side of his lips. “You… care?”
Do I care? It’s a loaded question, one that I probably shouldn’t be admitting, to myself or him, but I can’t help it.
There was something about the look in her hazel eyes the first time I saw her that drew me in. The way she’s so awkward and speaks before she thinks: I like it all. Shit! Do I like her, like her?
“Erm…” I worry my lip, moving my eyes from his and focusing on the filing cabinet that sits off to the side.
I shouldn’t be feeling like this; not after only having finished things with Geena recently. But then when I really think about it, what Geena and I had was never serious. Maybe in my mind it was, but not in hers.
To her I was an easy lay and someone that she could control.
“Jesus Christ,” Ty spits out, banging his flat palm on the desk and making me turn back to him. “What about Geena?”
“It’s over with Geena.” I raise a brow. “And let’s be honest, shall we?” I cross my arms over my chest. “None of you liked her—”
“We—”
“I don’t need to hear it,” I tell him, swiping my hand through the air. “I saw it for what it was. It may have been a year too late, but I saw it.”
Ty’s eyes fill with understanding and I know then that they all saw it too, but didn’t say anything to me. Why the hell would they let me be with her if they could see what she was doing?
“We knew it would only push you away,” he says, almost as if he’d read my mind. “You know what it’s like, Evan; you tell someone that the person they’re with is no good for them and all you do is push them closer to that person.”
I nod my head in understanding but can’t help the anger that flows through my veins. “You still could have said something. I trust you all more than anyone.”
He moves around the desk, coming to a stop in front of me. “She was warned,” he says simply.
“Warned?” My head rears back. “What the fuck do you mean, warned?”
His shoulders sag and his head whips to the side when the office door opens and Kay steps inside, her eyes widening when she takes us in.
“Sorry, I’ll—”
“No, sweetheart, you’re fine,” Ty tells her, holding his hand out to her.
She walks toward us, smiling gently at me before letting Ty put his arm around her shoulders.
“Yeah,” he says when he turns back to face me. “Luke saw the way she was speaking to you, how you’d let her, how she’d put you down constantly, so he told her to back off.”
I step back, my body starting to shake as I realize what he’s saying. “What are you talking about?”
“Evan,” Kay calls softly, her brow furrowing. “We were just looking out for you.”
I stare at them both like they have several heads. Have I stepped into another universe? One where things are back to front and upside down?
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I whisper. “It’s just the way she talks.”
Why the hell am I defending her now?
“No, sweetie.” Kay steps forward, her hand landing on my arm gently. “It wasn’t. We all heard the arguments, the ones where she would call you all those names and blame you for everything.”
“No…” I shake my head emphatically.
“It’s okay,” she says, stepping closer to me. My eyes connect with hers and I see the sorrow reflected back at me. She knows exactly what it’s like. “You’re out of it now.”
“I… I…” I swallow against the lump forming
in my throat and turn my gaze to Ty’s, hating the pity that is shining toward me. “I need to get out of here.”
Spinning around, I practically run out of there. I run away from what they’re saying, what they’re thinking, but most of all, I’m running away from myself.
“Are you ready for this?” Seb asks as he gets in the passenger seat, his hair tied back at the base of his neck.
“Yep,” I say, popping the p.
My eyes veer off toward the house as West exits, his head thrown back as he laughs at something. No sooner is he out of the house and walking down the path does Lexi come to a stop in the open door.
Her eyes zone in on me; she lifts her hand in a wave, but all I can manage to do is nod my head in reply.
I have to distance myself from her; things are getting too complicated in my own head, and as much as I want to say that her being an ex-con is pushing me away, it’s not.
“That girl,” West says, chuckling as he slides in the back on the car and leans forward. “She doesn’t even realize what she’s saying half of the time.”
I ignore him, my eyes still fixated on Lexi and her lip as she worries it. I can see the apprehension on her face as she looks down at us.
“I know,” Seb answers. “She’s kinda growing on me.”
“No shit.” West’s brows fly up on his forehead. “Never would have guessed with how you ignore her most of the time.”
Seb shrugs and pats his hand on the dash, signaling me to pull away from the sidewalk. My foot hits the gas pedal and I speed out of there, heading out of town and to the location where the meeting is.
My head’s not in the game, and it needs to be, especially for this meeting with Darrell.
“Did you check the car?” Seb asks.
“Yeah.” I nod, taking a left. “Nothing on here apart from my own stuff. There was nothing in your gran’s house either.”
“Good,” West answers. “Last thing we need is Gran on his radar.”
I nod in agreement and come to a stop at a red light. “What will happen at the meeting?”
Seb turns around to face West, a silent conversation going on between them before he turns back to me. “There’ll be a test.” I raise a brow in silent question. “He’ll get you to do something for him so that he knows he can trust you.”
“But you don’t know what?” I ask, pushing down on the gas pedal and taking a right; only a couple of miles from the industrial estate now.
“No one knows until he says what he wants from you.” Seb clears his throat. “But be prepared because it won’t be anything… legal.”
I shrug, not letting it bother me. Darrell is looking for a computer expert, and not your average kind of computer expert, but a really good one. I know I can do whatever he throws at me without a doubt, I just have to be able to put on the front that Seb and West seem to put on as soon as we drive into the industrial estate.
“We’ve kept it simple,” West starts. “We told the truth about how we know each other. It’s better to base a lie on truths—less chance of being caught out then.”
I come to a stop outside of the warehouse that Seb points to.
“The only thing he doesn’t know is that you work for MAC, but then no one knows that. I mean shit, we didn’t even know it at first.”
I smirk, knowing that I’m a ghost in the cyber world. People will have heard about me and the skills that I have. They may even have stories about seeing me or meeting me. But nine times out of ten they’re lies.
“Ready?” I ask, already pulling the handle on my door and pushing it open.
I step out, Seb and West not far behind me as I scan the building and swipe my arm twice across my belt to start recording what happens from here on out.
All conversations are recorded in my car with a swipe of my hand underneath my steering wheel, this is the “on the go” version.
Seb pulls the door open and we all step inside; both of them are searched: their cell phones and weapons left at the door in a safe box.
They turn around when it’s my turn, watching as I’m searched by the woman who looks more like a man than I do. The muscles on her arms have my eyes widening. She could probably crush me to death in a matter of seconds.
“You’re good,” she says, her voice soft. I don’t know if that shocks me more than anything else ever has.
You tend to already associate a tone of voice when you see a person; that’s definitely not what I expected to come out of her mouth.
She watches me as I walk forward, standing beside Seb and West before we move toward a black door that sits off to the right.
They both have worried looks on their faces, and I know what they’re thinking—that we have no backup, no way of relaying this meeting. They really should have more faith in me because I don’t go anywhere without something to protect myself or record what goes on around me.
The door opens when we’re a couple of feet away from it, and another guard appears, only this time it’s a brute of a man.
He doesn’t make eye contact with any of us, instead he stands there like a sentinel.
“Boys!”
Clapping of hands has my attention moving to the middle of the room.
Darrell Le’Fraine.
His light-brown hair sticks up in all kinds of directions, and when he stands, my eyes widen. He’s smaller than I imagined, he can’t be much taller than Kitty and she’s only five foot two.
The brute moves aside, allowing us into the room as Darrell’s dirty-blue, beady eyes meet mine. His lips turn up into a grin as he steps around his large, glossy, black desk.
“You must be Evan,” he says, holding his hand out.
“I am,” I reply, placing my hand in his and shaking it as I keep my eyes connected to his.
He stares at me for several seconds before pulling away and stepping back behind his desk. “Sit,” he offers, waving his hand out toward the chairs that sit the other side of his desk.
I discreetly move my gaze to Seb and he subtly nods his head and sits beside me.
“So, these guys tell me that you’re the best in the business?”
“They do?” I ask, chuckling as my eyes wander around the room, taking it all in and compartmentalizing it. All of the walls are stark white, black picture frames containing nothing scattered on the walls and a black sculpture of a lion sitting in the middle of the wall. Gold accents shine through the black and I narrow my eyes at it.
I’m sure I’ve seen that somewhere before.
“I see you like my lion.”
“I…” I turn back to face Darrell. “I suppose if that’s your kind of thing.” I shrug.
He laughs. “It’s worth ten mil.”
I act uninterested as I stare at him, but inside I’m screaming “what the fuck?” Pushing down in the seat, I let my legs straighten out in front of me as my elbows rest on the sides of the chair.
“Are we here to talk business? Or to shoot the shit?” I ask, my voice sounding bored.
The atmosphere changes, and when I look back up at Darrell, I see his eyes narrowed and his mouth in a grim line.
“Look…” I start, sitting up and shrugging. “I’m a busy guy, I have several jobs on the table. All worth a lot more than that lion over there.” I hook my thumb toward the lion. “If you wanna drag this out then I’ll leave now and save you the trouble.”
Darrell’s brows rise on his forehead, his eyes skirting to Seb who sits next to me. “You said he’s the best?”
“He is,” he confirms.
“Good.” He nods his head several times before waving his arm to the brute who is still standing by the door. “Pass him the laptop.”
A couple of seconds later an open laptop is placed into my lap, the screen full of green code against a black background.
“Get me into the central bank.”
I raise a brow, knowing what he wants without having to ask. But I’m the smart one here, so I start typing away and ten minutes later, I’m standing
up and placing the laptop screen on the desk in front of him.
“Holy shit, you did it.”
“Of course, I did it,” I scoff. “That’s a warm up for me.”
He leans closer to the laptop and I see the tremor in his hand as he’s about to make a dash for the keyboard, but I’m quicker than him.
I pick it up, typing in the code and getting out of the system.
“What—”
“You asked me to get in the bank.” I raise a brow as I put the laptop back on the desk and walk toward the door. “You want money transferred, then I get a cut. Simple as that.”
I open the door, taking two steps back into the warehouse that is starkly different to the room we were just in. I know how to play him—to act bored and uninterested so that he’ll take the bait.
“You’ve got the job.”
I spin around and say, “Who said I wanted it?”
He laughs and points at me. “I think I like you.” He turns to Seb and West who still haven’t said a word. “You boys did good. Get him a device.”
“On it, boss.”
Darrell turns his gaze back to me. “I call, you come. That’s the deal and you get a twenty percent cut.”
“Twenty-five.”
He huffs out a breath. “Twenty-two and that’s my final offer.” He’s silent for a beat before he warns, “Don’t push me.”
I nod in agreement and walk across the dirty concrete floor before collecting my cell.
It’s been a few days since I managed to give myself a black eye, and I’ve had the worst headache since. To say that I was embarrassed with everyone knowing what I did and how I did it is an understatement.
Once I finally left, I could feel myself relaxing. I didn’t know who any of those people were, they had me on edge and afraid. No matter how much Evan said that they wouldn’t hurt me, it didn’t matter, because they were strangers and they didn’t seem too happy about me being there.
The day after “the floorboard incident,” as I’ve now dubbed it, Evan came to pick up Seb and West. I don’t know why I expected him to talk to me, to get out of the car and at least say hi, but he didn’t.
ReBoot (MAC Security Series Book 4) Page 15