Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 128812 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 644(@200wpm)___ 515(@250wpm)___ 429(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128812 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 644(@200wpm)___ 515(@250wpm)___ 429(@300wpm)
I'm once again reminded of the height difference as his head angles slightly downward.
I swallow against the lump in my throat as he reaches his hand up and places it over my heart. The cool touch works its way through me, comforting rather than shocking my system.
"I didn't know that you didn't know," he whispers.
My first instinct is to lean into the compassion he's trying to show me, but instead, I take a step back, instant regret filling me at the sadness in his eyes.
"Thank you," I say, my tone flat, an attempt at trying to sound unbothered.
My hands are shaking by the time I close myself inside my bedroom.
Chapter 13
Zayne
"You don't think that's a little excessive?"
I look down at him, arms still extended over my head as I pull the box our laptop is in out of the dropped ceiling.
"Not even a little," I say as I place the box on the coffee table.
I look over at Zeus as I open the box and pull the laptop out.
His familiar scowl draws his lips into a flat line, and I'm not the least bit annoyed with it. Angry, dangerous men have always been my thing, and I know it has everything to do with our interactions as teens. Or maybe I'm just a glutton for punishment.
Who knows, and right now isn't the time for an existential crisis regarding my choice in men and how it may have affected other decisions in my life.
He's decked out again in full camo, something expected from the guys we're meeting, and as weird as it looks now for a man I know who wore nothing but the best designer clothes growing up, it actually suits him. I don't open my mouth to voice it, however, because I know he wouldn't see it as a compliment for the job we're doing, but rather a strike against his actual character, not the man he's portraying.
"Do you honestly think they didn't have a peek through the windows last night before that guy knocked on the door?"
He grunts, an irritated sound much too similar to the noise he makes when he comes.
I clear my throat, hating that I can't control my thoughts when he's around.
"We should cover them," I say, looking away and opening the laptop.
We have one more video call with our team before we dive into the real aspects of this job. I'm not the least bit surprised when he drops down beside me on the sofa, but keeps several inches of distance between us this time.
Yesterday was a fluke, and I knew when it happened that he simply miscalculated the distance. That didn't stop me from spending too much time analyzing and creating shit in my head, though.
"I'm not putting cardboard or hanging fucking blankets over the windows," he mutters, eyes straight ahead because looking in my direction when he speaks would probably be too intimate for him.
"The house would be more believable if we did," I say, logging into the computer. "Anyway, a lot of these people think the government watches you through electronics."
"They do," he snaps, but in a way that makes me think he's privy to the knowledge and less like he believes in a conspiracy theory.
"That's why the computer stays in the ceiling. In the box that prevents someone with a scanner from knowing of its existence."
"Everyone has a fucking computer," he mumbles.
"Most do, yes, but they don't have this one that costs like two thousand dollars."
"It's closer to five."
We both snap our heads toward the video call that has apparently gone live. Hemlock and Casper are on the screen, no Kincaid this time, but I know the man puts full faith in his team.
I grin at Casper for his correction.
"Only the best for Cerberus," I say.
"Exactly," Casper agrees.
"As I was saying," I continue. "The redneck fuckers are more likely to buy a two-hundred-dollar computer and use the other money to buy guns and ammo. It's a bright red flag if we have mismatched dinner plates and expensive tech in the house. It doesn't fit our backstory."
"And since you aren't infiltrating this group as an accountant or a hacker, it has to stay hidden," Casper clarifies.
"We're having this call before you head to the diner," Hemlock says, moving the meeting along.
"Right," Casper agrees. "I went through the pictures you sent of the documents you were handed last night, and I can't see any code or hidden meaning behind being given them."
"What we do know is that a lot of like-minded people hang out at The Garage, so it's not as 'public' as we'd like," Hemlock says.
"What we were able to do was cut the power to the building last night and wire it for sound," Casper explains.
"The power going out won't send up a red flag for these paranoid motherfuckers?" Zeus asks.