by Violet Duke
At that, Drew’s laugh warmed affectionately. “Lia would have my hide too if that happened, believe me.”
Next to his biological brother Leo, his former sister-in-law turned foster sister Lia was his biggest fan and fiercest protector. Always had been. She’d been that way even before she’d convinced her foster family, the Spencers, to pull him out of the alcohol-soaked home he’d grown up in, not long after Leo had gone MIA in Afghanistan.
Hell, has it really been a decade already?
Being away at college the past couple of years seemed to have made time zoom past in flickering black and white blips.
Almost as if hearing his thoughts, Stan mused good-naturedly, “I still don’t understand the whole business about college degrees specializing in hacking, but more power to you.” Nodding at the various workers they passed as he led them across the casino floor over to the adjoining hotel lobby, he added with jolly admiration, “Frankly, the kind of things you young’uns can do on the internet these days makes this old brain of mine hurt. Took me years to figure out the sad computer basics I get by with today.”
“We each have our own unique skillsets,” returned Drew, with a shrug. “Trust me, it’d take far longer than a few years for me to learn how to deal with people the way you do.”
Stan regarded him with an even more impressed smile. “Modesty. I like that. Your mother brought you up right.”
It was an innocent enough saying. And though Drew was usually as good as the best poker-faced players in this joint at hiding his emotions, admittedly, that one made him flinch. Any mention of his mother usually did, rare as it was these days now that she was back in prison…for reasons other than just mis-parenting this time.
Thankfully, the momentary crack in his armor was thoroughly lost on Stan. The boisterous man just kept right on chatting, switching his conversational focus back over to Drew’s undergrad program, which was smack dab in the middle of Stan’s own native Texas. “I know damn-near every chef worth knowing in a fifty-mile radius of your university. When you head back there for your final term, you let me know if you ever want a nice place to take your special someone. I’ll be sure to make it happen.”
Special someone.
The idyllic phrase brought forth a vision of curious, soft blue eyes—forever laughing as far back as he could remember—and a sweet, gentle smile he knew firsthand could thaw even the hardest of hearts. Long, strawberry blonde hair she’d curl back behind her left ear whenever she was trying to find a solution to a problem, which had always been more often than not. And quietly stunning fairy-like features that to this day, still made him believe in Never Never Land and the existence of Celtic sirens.
Before the image of her face fully crystallized in his thoughts, however, he banished it back along with the other memories he didn’t let himself think about too often. It was a nice idea. Sort of like the novel he’d read on his ereader on the plane ride over here.
Entertaining, definitely. Memorable, sure.
But fanciful at best.
Even if Drew could somehow find the time for it, his life just wasn’t built for a ‘special someone.’ Not yet, anyway.
Maybe not ever.
“This is for you, son.” Stan slipped him a Hollywood handshake. “My way of saying thanks for delivering what your security firm promised and then some. Doesn’t happen too often here.”
Drew blinked at the shiny platinum keycard now sitting in the palm of his hand.
But the sight was barely registering. All he could think about then was the other two people in his life who had ever used that same proud timbre in their voice when they’d call him ‘son’ the way Stan just had. How long had it been since he’d called up his foster parents just to say hi? Months, maybe?
The guilt over that realization swamped his thoughts for a good half-minute before he remembered his surroundings and the extravagant gesture he eventually had the presence of mind to politely decline, “Thank you, but I already have a room reserved under Spencer Securities.”
“Not anymore,” replied Stan, matter-of-factly. “I cancelled that reservation soon after you saved me the first million. As you pointed out when you found the discrepancy in my online books earlier, I have a lot of suites lying around empty during the holidays. So I set you up in one of the ones I know we won’t be needing for a while. In fact, it’s yours as an added perk until school starts up for you again in January…if you’ll consider taking on another security project for me.”
At Drew’s surprised silence, Stan quickly continued his pitch like a politician in heat. “The job is right up your alley in cyber security. I want the best, and that’s you. After your little audition today, my security manager is already frothing at the mouth to get your help on some state-of-the-art upgrades he’s been wanting to implement. I already checked with your brothers and they said for a job this specific to your skillset, I can contract you directly if you’re interested. They actually told me to mention that part to you specifically.”
Drew had to grin over that last bit. The amount of money he made doing cyber jobs on the side for Spencer Securities was a neverending topic of debate between him and his brothers.
Basically, Drew never agreed to a job contract unless they agreed to pay him twenty-five cents to the dollar of what they would pay any other hacker, and in turn, they would grouse and grumble over his stubbornness, and try every tactic in the book to make him remove his ‘family discount’ before eventually giving up when Lia would inevitably step in. And side with him.
They both knew the brothers had never been good at saying no to the sister they adored to pieces.
Who just happened to be the inspiration for said discount to begin with.
Whenever the brothers similarly needed her unique expertise on jobs, she got into the exact same argument with them every time.
Knowing that he had his brothers’ blessing to take this direct commission contract made Stan’s proposition a no-brainer. Drew could no doubt use the money since most of his sizeable savings was soon going to be funneled straight into his post-graduate plans, which, admittedly, no one in his family knew about—not even Lia—and his longtime handler at the Department of Defense had been kindly turning a blind-eye to.
Mostly because their interests were aligned on this particularly sensitive matter, and because these plans actually fit in perfectly with Drew’s upcoming full-fledged cyber security government fellowship in DC.
Not that the D.O.D. would ever admit to any knowledge of what he was doing, of course.
Plausible deniability.
Having this extra money could make or break everything he’d been putting in place for the past three years, and planning for closer to ten. Sure, he could hack into a local bank in as much time as it’d take to order a pizza to get the funds needed, but that would require him dirtying up the white hat he’d been wearing since he first started interning as a hacker for the D.O.D. a few years back—something he wasn’t willing to do. He’d never, not once, been tempted to become a black hat hacker, even though he was almost positive he’d never get caught.
His brother Leo had raised him better than that.
Drew held out his hand to Stan to formerly accept the contract. “I’ll take the job. And the suite as well, if you’re sure.” Turning his wrist to check the time, he added, “Just let me get checked in and grab a quick bite to eat first, then I’ll meet up with your security manager and get started right away. Say…about an hour?”
Stan clapped a big Texas-sized hand on Drew’s shoulder jovially with a laughing headshake. “Your brothers were right about you.”
Probably. But Drew was still semi-curious as to which delightfully noteworthy characteristic of his that Stan was referring to.
“They put down infinity-to-one odds that you’d forget tonight is Christmas Eve if I didn’t remind you.”
Christmas. Right. Gift-wrapped presents, bell-jingling elves, and lit-up trees with kids singing carols and waiting for reind
eer-drawn miracles.
He had forgotten. Not surprising, really, since it was a yearly tradition for him to do so. To him, like most holidays and his birthday, Christmas was just another day.
Stan’s grinning look turned thoughtful. “You know, your sister actually came on the phone when I’d mentioned the second job and said that if I could ‘persuade’ you to come home a little earlier tomorrow and stay in Arizona with them a few extra days after Christmas, she’d make sure Spencer Securities gives me first dibs on the newest surveillance gadget your brother Gabe just developed. Which is why, if you agree to her terms, in addition to your suite—already equipped with a hacker-worthy set-up with all the bells and whistles, of course—I’m prepared to cover all your meals, transportation, and entertainment during your entire ten-day stay until you need to head back to school for the Spring semester.”
Damn, that did sound infinitely better than holing up in his studio apartment back in San Antonio with the same old take-out menus to ring in the new year.
Looking like a man who already knew there was a big ole marlin at the end of his fishing line, Stan added, “Lia told me to tell you to bring enough clothes for at least three days.”
Of course she did.
“Which reminds me, thanks for not laughing in my face this morning when I kept stressing the importance of the deadline on the 27th for this first job. Apparently, I was the only one who didn’t know you’d only take half a day to finish what would have taken the other security firm I’d been with before Spencers nearly a week to get done.”
Drew had the good grace to not smile too widely at the reminder. He’d wondered why his room had been booked for four nights for such an easy contract. Then again, it was his brother Max’s stealthy MO to skim the surface of the client’s expectations before blowing them out of the water. The tactic usually landed them quick follow-up jobs.
Or in this case, both a follow-up job and a successful family shanghai.
Sneaky punks, the whole lot of them.
His family knew the whole Christmas season hoopla wasn’t his thing. Never had been. Truth be told, instead of filling him with ‘comfort and joy,’ the entire holiday just reminded him of all the things others had and he didn’t.
And all the things he’d once had but lost.
“Lia mentioned you booked a car rental tomorrow afternoon to get over there in time for dinner, but I can actually have a car ready for you in minutes if you want to head out tonight and surprise them before Christmas morning presents,” continued Stan, checking the time.
Oy. Pass.
“Actually, I’m too beat to drive tonight,” Drew replied, mostly-truthfully. “But how about first thing in the morning? It’s only a four-hour drive. So I’ll be there by lunchtime, which I’m sure Lia would be tickled pink over.” It’d be the first time he made it there before nightfall on Christmas day since he’d moved away for college.
“Consider it done.” Stan slapped the previously-returned platinum key card back into Drew’s hand. “Our best high roller’s spread will be sent up to your room in a bit, along with our top shelf in-room bar. I understand you turned twenty-one earlier this year?”
Drew nodded, almost forgetting that little factoid, too.
“But I’m assuming your…skillsets have made it so you’re not exactly a stranger to gambling?” It was more a knowing statement than a question.
He nodded again. Really, why lie at this point?
“Good. Then I don’t have to worry about you losing your shirt after I head home this evening.” Stan turned to wave over one of his staff members. “This is Alice, my floor manager. You let her know if you need anything at all. If you’re looking for…let’s say more personal amenities or entertainment, she can certainly arrange that for you as well.”
Drew smothered a laugh. Oh, if only the guys and Lia knew what sort of job perks he was being courted with right now.
Stan would definitely be getting that ass-kicking from Lia.
“Errr, that won’t be necessary, Stan, but thank you,” Drew declined politely. “I appreciate the generous offer though.”
“Do me a favor and show your appreciation by not cleaning us out too bad tonight,” Stan returned in a jovial, but altogether serious tone. “In the spirit of transparency, I do need to admit that you’re already on our team’s radar and they’ll be monitoring your winnings until you leave.” With an unapologetic lift of his shoulders, he clarified further, “Sorry to profile you but we have security files on known-geniuses in the U.S. for good reason.”
Smart man.
“I’ll probably only spend an hour or two down here gambling, tops,” assured Drew, already calculating how much damage he could do in that short time.
“Alice, make sure to have the bartenders make his drinks nice and strong,” instructed Stan as he gave Drew a parting thump on his back. “And put him on our best tables. Might as well draw a crowd while he’s taking us to the cleaners.”
Gotta respect a man who makes both lemon shots and lemonade when a ‘known genius’ hands him lemons.
“Alrighty then, I’m headed home to my grandkids. Merry Christmas, Drew.”
Right. The C-word again.
It was on the tip of his tongue to just bounce the phrase right back.
Two words.
Four syllables.
…Nope.
He just couldn’t do it, not even as a standard holiday auto-reply.
“Have a good night, Stan.”
CHAPTER THREE
He still wasn’t in his room.
Well, so much for her one-hour deadline.
And her dignity, for that matter, seeing as how this was actually the second one-hour deadline she’d given herself following the last one.
Maybe I could break into his room and wait for him inside…
For any other normal college girl, that would be a ludicrous flight of fancy easily dismissed as impossible rather than merely improbable. Not so for Skylar.
Working for the Spencer brothers at their security firm over in Cactus Creek all through high school had armed her with some…unique work experience she’d had to get creative in describing when she’d updated her resume to look for a part-time job in Washington after starting her undergrad program at UW Tacoma this past fall.
Lock-picking = problem solving
Safe-cracking = quality control
Since the guys spent a lot of their time not just developing and installing their state-of-the-art security systems, but testing them and their competitors’ systems as well, learning the fine art of breaking and entering without triggering alarms sort of came with the territory.
Good times.
Sure, she probably should have spent her after-school hours and summers doing work closer to her social welfare major, but she’d taken to it like a fish addicted to water, reasoning that there just might be an organization one day looking for a social worker with a bit of ninja spy skills on the side.
Thankfully for her, throughout her entire time working there, despite the three brothers’ brilliance in all areas of recon and surveillance, they’d somehow remained utterly clueless about her long-held crush on their foster brother Drew.
The same could not be said for the lone female of the Spencer siblings, however. Lia, their adopted sister, was without a doubt even more fiercely protective of Drew than the guys were, largely because he was the younger brother of her first husband Leo, who had tragically gone missing in action in the war not long after they’d gotten married.
Skylar didn’t know all the details about how Drew had become the Spencer family’s youngest foster child over a decade ago, but she could only imagine the worst, based on the tortured emotions she used to see cloud Lia’s eyes whenever Drew would withdraw a bit at the first sign of excessive familial affection back when he was still living with them in Arizona, or the unmitigated rage Lia did a lousy job hiding whenever anyone made the mistake of mentioning his incarcerated mother.
Tr
uth be told, with Lia being the ferocious mama lioness she was where Drew was concerned, it was actually quite the compliment that she seemed to approve of Skylar’s crush on Drew.
Seriously, it had taken Lia all of five seconds to figure it all out a few years back, during a family conference call they’d been having with him one day in the office, after which, she’d helped convince the guys that Skylar’s flushed cheeks were due to a mysterious allergic reaction to the printer toner.
Thus began the guys’ overprotective rule that Skylar not be allowed to come within ten feet of any printers—even the inkjet ones that had no toner, just to be safe. That was also around the time that Lia had started casually bringing up weekly updates on how Drew was doing in his cyber security undergrad program over in Texas, whenever Skylar was in earshot.
The woman was a paragon.
In fact, after Skylar had called to notify everyone that her flight had become grounded in Vegas tonight, it came as absolutely no surprise when she received a text from Lia just minutes later with Drew’s room number at the hotel.
…Followed by an all-caps, not-so-subtle follow-up text informing Skylar that the sofa in said hotel room had a pull-out bed, which Lia expected to hear all about from Drew bright and early tomorrow morning, at which time, any signs of extremely sated lack of sleep on his part would be regarded with supreme suspicion, and result in an unapologetic call to the ‘proper authorities.’
Meaning, of course, the Spencer brothers, who would assuredly launch a full-blown investigation on Skylar and Drew to make sure that ‘what happens in Vegas’ damn well wouldn’t stay in Vegas.
Yeah…if the thrilling highlight of her grand plan to come here tonight wasn’t simply to spend the night just talking with Drew, that scary-ass threat from Lia would’ve certainly done the trick.