“Are you alone?” AJ was a rambler...a rare trait for an elite hacker, and he didn’t have time for it right now.
“What the hell does that mat—”
“Are you alone?” Wes repeated.
“Geez. Yes. I’m alone.” She scowled at him when he stayed silent, shoving her raven curls back from her forehead. “If you think I’m picking up this phone and showing you my place like some virtual real estate agent, you can go to hell. You’re the one wasting my time right now.”
Oh well. Worth a try. “Is this line clean?”
She crossed her arms over her black T-shirt. “That’s why you picked it, isn’t it?”
Fair point.
“I need your help.”
AJ laughed. “You’re joking, right? Why would I help the evil mastermind who fucked over my former boss and my current sexual obsession?”
Wes let his surprise show. Last he’d heard, the boss was up close and personal with Emma Mathison, a former Whitfield Industries employee and the original suspect for the hack that had landed Wes in prison. “You and Max, huh? How’s his girlfriend taking that?”
“Ew. No. I worked for Max, you perv. It was never like that between us. Liam is my boyfrie—my sex toy,” she corrected, but not fast enough.
The fact that she’d quit working for Max intrigued him, but the Cybercore connection was a total blindside. Her screwing the CEO would have been...less than ideal on its own, but the fact she obviously considered Liam Kearney more than a fling did not bode well for his mission.
“Not to mention, I’m the one who caught your ass.”
Oh. And there was that.
Wes forced himself to maintain a casual tone. “Yeah. You really fucked that one up. Consider this your chance to atone.”
She leaned toward the screen, a Cheshire cat smile curving her lips. “For a man who’s not supposed to be anywhere near the internet, I’d think you’d want to watch how you talk to me right now. One press of a button, and I can have you back on Terminal Island so fast your head would spin.”
“Really, AJ?” His voice was laced with irritation. “Isn’t all this behind us? You tried to hack Whitfield Industries, and I caught you fair and square. I know that pisses you off, and that putting me away for this breach feels like revenge, but do me a solid and put the bloodlust aside for a second. Think it through. How’d you find me? Was it just a little too easy to connect the dots? And did the path lead straight to me?”
She glared at him, and he knew he had her.
“You know I’m better than that,” he said simply. “I wouldn’t have caught you if I wasn’t.”
AJ crossed her arms. “You called me sloppy.”
His words rushed back to him, the ones he’d said to Max Whitfield five years ago.
She’s got skills, but she’s impulsive. Lets her ego get in the way of her work. That’s how I caught her. She’s talented, yeah, but she’s fucking sloppy, and sloppy gets you caught. If you’re not careful, you’re going to end up bailing her out instead of the other way around. You need a hacker, not a hack.
Not the most flattering assessment, he had to admit. Wes scratched his bearded jaw. “I didn’t know you were with him when he called me.”
Her frown deepened. “Try again.”
“It was a bad day.”
“Thanks for the oversimplified recap, dickwad.”
“It was a bad day for me,” he clarified, figuring he owed her at least that. “Jesse had sunk everything we had into scoring Whitfield Industries as a client.”
One big client, Jesse had insisted. Once one mega-corp takes us seriously, the others will have no choice but to follow suit. You’ll see.
He’d been right, too. But AJ had almost fucked it all up.
“Our contract was one week old when you burrowed through our defenses.” Wes shook his head. “You were almost all the way in before I even noticed you. The first real test of my tech, and you were this damn close to breaching it.”
Because Wes hadn’t been watching. Not like he should have been. No, he’d been too preoccupied with revenge. With showing Vivienne what a colossal mistake she’d made, leaving him before he’d had a chance to prove his worth.
But if Soteria Security was successful? That would be hard evidence he was destined for more than landscaping and manual labor. Proof that unlike his father, he could take care of a family. Proof that unlike his mother, Viv’s money had nothing to do with why he wanted to be with her.
And AJ’s elegant hack had almost cost him the contract. Which would have cost him his company. And his company was all he’d had left. It had never been AJ he’d been angry at. She’d just been convenient. A stand-in for the woman who’d breached his heart and taken everything.
“I was mad at Vi—” He bit back her name just in time. “—at someone else, and I took it out on you.” His jaw tightened. “And the truth is, the only person I should have been mad at was myself. I’m the one who didn’t do my job, and I didn’t want Whitfield to know it. I shouldn’t have said what I did.”
It was as close to sorry as he was willing to get, considering she’d landed him in the pen.
AJ stared at him, and he could see her seeing too much. Reading between the lines. It felt like shit to let her, but what choice did he have? And he might not know her, but he’d studied her—and her hacking style—in the years since well enough to know that the driving need to prove himself against all comers was a motivation this woman understood.
AJ lifted her brows and leaned back in her chair. “Well, this just got uncomfortably honest.”
Her version of apology accepted.
Wes exhaled with relief. “Yeah, well. I’m on kind of a tight schedule here. I need to know exactly what led you to me. Someone laid that trap you found, and you’re going to help me take the bastard down.”
“Remind me again why I’m going to do that?”
“Because besides me, you’re the best, AJ. And I need the best.”
She gave him a hard look, the kind that said she was trying to figure out if he was bullshitting her or not.
“Look, clock’s ticking here. What do you want? A show of good faith?”
His fingers flew over the keys, preparing an offering that no hacker worth her keyboard could refuse.
It was the biggest gamble of his life, putting his fate in enemy hands, but there was no alternative. He wasn’t going back to jail.
Desperate times, he assured himself as he hit the enter key on Viv’s laptop, deploying the nuclear option.
A moment later, AJ’s eyes widened. “No way.”
He could hear the quick staccato of keystrokes as she verified the gift he’d just given her. “Did you just...was I just granted carte blanche access to Soteria Security? Why the hell would you do this?”
“Because I was framed. And considering you’re the one who followed the evidence that led to me in the first place, I figure you’re my quickest route to freedom. Thanks to you, I don’t have a lot of equipment at my disposal to get to the bottom of this, which means I’m in the market for a contractor.”
Her gaze was shrewd as she stared into the camera. “This is a paying gig?”
“You clear my name, I’ll meet your going rate. You don’t, you get nothing.” Mostly because if she didn’t, his assets would remain frozen indefinitely.
“Okay, hold up. Let me see if I’ve got this right. Not only are you going to pay me, you’ve given me a free pass into the inner workings of the best cybersecurity firm in the business and you’re telling me that someone framed you?”
“Yes.”
“Cash, computers and conspiracy theories.” She leaned forward and her face took up the entire screen. “You know those are like, three of my favorite things in the world, right?”
He did. Because Wes made it a point to know everything abou
t people who had the ability to destroy him. “So you’re in?”
“Oh, I’m in. I’m all the way in.”
Wes took his first easy breath since AJ had answered his call. One good thing about hackers, they were always jonesing for a bigger target, a better takedown, which meant their loyalty could be malleable, if the price was right. “Have a look around. Check Soteria’s original assessment of the hack on Whitfield Industries against your own. Let me know if anything rings any bells. I’ll be in touch.”
“Sure. Whatever.” Her attention was already back on her computer screen, and the rhythmic click of the keyboard let him know she was digging into her present with the gusto that made her such an ace hacker in the first place.
“Before you go, I need a secure connection that will keep any heat off me and my current location.” He could have done it himself, but why waste the time?
“God. If I’d known you were so needy, I wouldn’t have agreed to take your money.” A couple more clicks of her keyboard and he had what he needed. “If this is for porn, I’m going to be so grossed out. And next time you call me, put on a shirt.”
Wes lifted his head at the rebuke, wondering why the idea that had just struck hadn’t occurred to him earlier. “Yeah, about my current wardrobe situation...”
With a few curt instructions for AJ, Wes disconnected the video chat, and used his shiny new untraceable internet access to pull up the latest about Soteria Security. According to several news sites, there was a press conference starting in about an hour, and everyone was all atwitter at the prospect of watching Jesse Hastings announce the future of the company now that his scummy ex-partner was out of the picture.
Which gave said scummy ex-partner just the right amount of time to try to convince the building’s concierge to loan the stranger squatting in Vivienne Grant’s apartment some tools. Wes glanced at his ankle monitor, then over at Vivienne’s Roomba docking station.
He needed a screwdriver.
CHAPTER EIGHT
IT WAS LATE afternoon when Vivienne stepped tentatively into the men’s department at Neiman Marcus in Beverly Hills.
She’d filed everything that needed filing before noon and spent the rest of the time looking for reasons not to go back to her place. And then she’d remembered that Wes had nothing but the suit he’d walked out of prison in. And he really needed to start wearing more than boxer briefs to bed if this roommate situation was going to continue. That was how she’d ended up in the T-shirt section, wondering if XL was big enough for his shoulders, and debating the merits of crew necks versus V-necks. And the fact she cared at all was so stupid that she—
Something brushed against her purse, and she whirled around at the slight movement of the strap to find Jesse Hastings tucking his phone into the breast pocket of his stylish navy suit.
“Jesse!”
He looked almost angry for a moment, but it gave way to a smile. “Vivienne.”
She stepped woodenly toward him, exchanging de rigueur air-kisses with her former classmate and Wes’s business partner. Also former, she reminded herself, and the familiar churn of guilt turned over in her stomach.
“Fancy meeting you in Neiman’s men’s department. What are you doing here?”
“Nothing.” The lie came out too sharp. “Just, ah, running some errands,” she prevaricated, pushing her hair behind her ear. “My dad. His birthday is coming up so, yeah, I thought he could use a new tie.”
“That’s funny. I thought your dad’s birthday was in January.”
Vivienne started. Her father’s birthday was in January, but she couldn’t think why Jesse would know that specific piece of trivia. The two men had never even met.
“I like to stay ahead of things,” she offered. “If I’m not four months early, I’m late.”
It felt like a long time before Jesse nodded. “You’ve always been very...proactive.”
The adjective choice struck her as odd, but she couldn’t say why.
“How are you holding up, anyway? You know, with Wes in jail and everything?”
Vivienne didn’t let herself flinch at the question. So, he hadn’t heard Wes was out yet. And he definitely hadn’t heard she was the reason.
“It’s been a long time since Wes and I were together,” she lied.
“Well sure, but that doesn’t change the fact that you’d never do anything to hurt him. Right?”
Vivienne’s stomach dropped as her mind cataloged the multitude of her offenses against the man she’d once loved. “Right,” she agreed weakly. Shame ate at her. Seeing Jesse was a stark reminder that Wes’s life wasn’t the only one she’d ruined when she’d chosen blackmail over telling the truth.
“And after what he did...” Jesse trailed off, shook his head. “It’s okay to feel betrayed. I’m still in shock myself.”
“You think he did it?” Guilt oozed through her chest, black and sticky. Wes had already lost so much. Viv hated to think he’d lost his best friend, too. Because of her. Because of her cowardice.
“I mean, I don’t want to, but it all fits. Still, Soteria was his baby.”
Viv flinched, ignoring the squeeze in her abdomen at the choice of words.
“I’m as sick about it as you are. But I can’t give up without a fight. Especially not after the big press conference this morning. Paperwork’s all gone through. I’m officially the bigwig in charge of Soteria Security.”
The announcement blindsided her, and her gut ached for Wes.
Jesse’s friendly smile dimmed. “You don’t look happy for me.”
“Just a little taken aback. Congratulations, Jesse. Truly.”
“Thanks. That means a lot, coming from you. As my first official act as CEO, I’ve got a meeting at Whitfield Industries this afternoon.” Jesse straightened his tie. “Hoping I can convince Max to see reason and keep Soteria on his payroll, now that the guilty party is behind bars. You work for him.” His eyes narrowed slightly. “How do you like my chances?”
He hadn’t heard she’d quit, either. And for reasons she couldn’t explain, now didn’t feel like the time to volunteer that information. “I’ve always found Max to be a reasonable man,” Viv offered, a little off balance at the whole exchange.
“Well, I hope you’re right. If I can keep even a few high-profile clients, then maybe I can stay solvent enough to take the company public. Wes would have wanted that.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Despite everything, we were friends. Wes dedicated everything he had to Soteria Security. The least I can do is keep it afloat.”
Vivienne had shot a hole right through the hull of Wes’s dream, and this was the result. Jesse was doing everything he could to right the sinking ship. And now it was up to Vivienne to prove Wes’s innocence and put everything back to normal.
“Are you heading back to Whitfield? I can give you a ride back to the office if you want.”
“Oh. Thank you. That’s really sweet of you, but I actually... I have a doctor’s appointment in an hour. So...”
She could have sworn his gaze dropped to her stomach, and a shiver slid through her.
“Nothing serious, I hope.”
Viv shook her head. “Just a checkup.”
“I see.” Jesse’s expression cleared and he took a step back. “Then I’ll leave you to it. It was good seeing you, Viv.” He reached out, gave her shoulder a friendly squeeze. “If you ever need to talk about Wes, about what he did, you know where to find me.”
Vivienne forced a smile as he left, trying to shake off the weird vibes of their interaction. She’d known Jesse for years, and he’d never made her uncomfortable before. Obviously, her guilty conscience was tainting everything, from interactions with old friends to Wes’s whole life. Still, she watched until Jesse disappeared from view before she turned in the opposite direction and walked directly out of the store. She needed to get out of there be
fore she ran into anyone else she knew.
* * *
An hour and a half later, Vivienne walked into her condo, hands laden with take-out bags. The Thai food she’d promised, because she knew it was Wes’s favorite. Which felt like the least she could do, under the circumstances. She made a quick stop in the kitchen to set the burden on the counter, before she continued into the living room.
Wes stood up abruptly at her arrival, stepping in front of the coffee table. To her dismay, he was still bare chested. And as if that wasn’t enough on its own, his dark hair was shower damp and his lean hips were swathed in nothing but a white towel.
She really should have bought a couple of those T-shirts before she’d fled the department store. Viv dropped her gaze from the delectable sight under the guise of hunting through her purse for her phone. “I know that they confiscated your razor in the clink, but you could have opened the pack in the bathroom.”
“This is what unemployed people do, Vivienne. They grow beards.”
She glanced up as her hand closed around her device, and she checked to make sure she hadn’t missed any calls about Wes’s case. “And clothes? Do unemployed people not wear clothes?” She set her bag on the couch and toed off her shoes.
“My wardrobe has been seized by the US Government.” Wes crossed his arms, and she did her best not to notice all his muscles, or the way they flexed beneath his damp skin.
“I bribed your door guy to take the only suit I own to the dry cleaner with my last hundred bucks. And my unmentionables are currently in the dryer.”
More guilt, this time over her aborted shopping mission, swirled in her gut, but she tamped it down. She’d gotten him out of jail. And let him stay here. And she was going to make sure that she got the charges dropped so that he—
Her train of thought was disrupted by a soft, familiar whir.
Vivienne watched with astonishment as her Roomba appeared from the direction of the bathroom, chugging its way down the hall and back toward the couch, where it stopped as abruptly as if someone had ordered it to. Wes’s ankle monitor sat atop it, its green light flashing rhythmically.
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