by Ivy Nelson
He watched as two of the guards stood at the edge of the driveway to keep the press back while the other two went to the door. They escorted Isabelle out of the house and into Lance’s car.
“Let the first SUV pull out then fall in behind them. We’ll follow in the second one. We’ve already got another vehicle on its way to sit and keep an eye on things. They’re sixty seconds out.”
Lance nodded and restarted his engine.
“I’m so pissed and scared at the same time,” Isabelle said as she pulled her seatbelt on. “Thank you for rescuing me.”
He squeezed the girl’s shoulder as he watched the first SUV back out of the driveway and pull to the stop sign.
“It’s the least I could do. I feel like I caused this.”
“Nonsense. You didn’t ask the question or film it and you certainly didn’t leak it.”
“No but they got your membership information from somewhere. It still seems most logical that it came from some kind of digital intrusion that I haven’t tracked yet.”
Isabelle smiled. “Well hopefully your lady friend can help with that. Though I don’t think she likes me very much.”
Lance winced. He’d hoped Marissa hadn’t been so obvious about it.
“Marissa has… issues with a lot of women and doesn’t trust them easily. It’s not that she doesn’t like you. She just doesn’t know you very well and her instinct is to be bitchy at first.”
Isabelle cocked her head to one side as she looked at him. “Sounds like you know her well.”
He nodded as he followed the SUV and watched in his mirror as the second one stayed close behind them. From what he could tell, the press wasn’t following but it seemed unlikely that someone hadn’t picked up their tail. He hoped the guards had a plan for that.
“I knew her very well for a number of years. But that’s in the past.”
She gave him a skeptical look and he flashed her a stern glare. It didn’t faze her.
“How soon until Garrett lands?” he asked, changing the subject.
“I think his plane took off an hour before I called you so probably not more than two hours.”
He nodded.
“I like your glasses,” she said after a moment of silence. “I don’t see you in them very often.”
“Didn’t want to leave you hanging while I took time to put in my contacts. I wear them at night a lot when I’m working on a project but for public appearances and such I usually go with the contacts. Marissa always preferred my glasses too.”
Damn it. Now that she was back, he couldn’t keep her out of his head for more than a minute.
The SUV ahead of him turned into a parking garage so Lance followed. The SUV behind him kept going. They went up two levels where they parked next to two more black SUVs.
“Mind leaving your car here? We can send someone for it later.”
Lance nodded and got out while the bodyguard opened Isabelle’s door. They got into the back of one of the SUVs and all three pulled out and went in different directions.
“From what we could tell we only picked up one follow car so it should be easy enough to lose them. Russell is waiting on us at the club.”
Lance nodded and Isabelle lifted her phone to her ear.
“It’s OK, Shelby. Just have security stay near the entrances and exits. I won’t be coming in today but I’m available by phone and Mr. Novak is sending someone in to look after things.”
“Sounds like some of the crew from the house went to the hotel,” she said when she ended her call.
“It was a reasonable guess on their part that would be where you’re headed, and it’s unlikely they know the location of Solitaire yet.”
She shuddered. “I don’t like that you said yet.”
Lance stared out his window. He hated that too.
At the club, Isabelle gave them both hugs and went upstairs saying she wanted to lie down. Lance called Marissa.
‘We’re at Solitaire,” he said. “Do you feel comfortable coming on your own or should I send a car?”
“I’m good. I feel better having my own wheels. Listen. I think we need to shut your entire system down and just rebuild it from scratch. New encryption, new layers of protection. Just start fresh.”
“No. We still don’t even know how this leaked and if I just wipe everything, I may never know. Besides, you of all people know that malware or whatever RAT they might have used could still stick around. The only way to guarantee it didn’t, would be a total new build from the ground up. That means new servers, new equipment, all new code. It would take months.”
She sighed. “I know. But it would guarantee that your friends weren’t in danger.”
“Except it won’t. Because we have no idea what information they accessed. Quit trying to do something other than the job we hired you to do.”
She huffed. “That’s not what I… You know what. Never mind. You’re right. I’m on my way.” The call disconnected and he tossed his phone on the table in front of him.
It slid the length of the table and Russell caught it, pushing it back to him.
“Maybe don’t take her head off every time you talk to her.”
“Stay out of this, Russell. You’re the reason I have to interact with her anyway.”
Russell chuckled. “Fair enough. Though just so we’re clear. I would have recommended her even if I knew she was your ex. She’s good and you know it.”
Lance did know it. That didn’t mean he wasn’t frustrated by the situation.
“Did you get in touch with any of the other board members?”
“Yeah. Holly and Eli are still upstairs. Hunter stayed at the hotel last night, so I think he’s looking after things there. Patrick and Austin went to Denver last night and are on their way back. We’ll have everyone but Samuel here by the party tonight and I’m hoping Samuel shows. I don’t like not being in contact with him.”
Lance pulled off his glasses and rubbed his eyes where a headache was developing. “Me either. I sent up the bat signal but so far nothing. I’m worried.”
“Well I’m going to get out of your hair and touch base with the security team I dispatched. Try to keep your blood pressure down. We need you around here.”
Lance nodded and leaned into the heel of his hand. “Thanks, Russell.”
When his friend and fellow Dom was gone, he slid his glasses on again and pulled out his laptop to scour for anything that would indicate what kind of story news agencies were running with.
7
Marissa kicked one leg into the chair next to her at the conference table as her other foot bounced up and down on the floor. They had been digging through illegally accessed news agency e-mails for three hours. So far it looked like papers were doing initial research into Solitaire. They knew someone had accessed city records that showed where Solitaire had first obtained permits for remodeling and construction on the property and a private business license.
One particularly savvy reporter had dug up the speculation of a reporter in New York from several months ago about Patrick Sutton—now Yates, Austin Yates, and Hunter Novak being members of the club. Hunter was famous for his elaborate kink parties in Vegas and he never tried to hide his membership. Nothing was ever confirmed and interest in Patrick died when it turned out he wasn’t going to prison for stealing millions of dollars’ worth of diamonds.
These people had seriously interesting lives.
“Jesus Marissa. You’re shaking the entire table.”
“Shit, sorry.” She forced her leg to stop shaking and went back to typing as she dug through yet another e-mail string.
“What else do you want me to look for?” she asked as she shifted in her seat. Her ass was going numb.
“Can we shift focus to Garrett? He’ll be here soon, and I want to know how much damage control he’s going to need to do in D.C.”
“Got it. I’ll start with Capitol Hill gossip blogs. They eat this shit up, and if our leaker really wants to fuck with your
guy, they’ll definitely send the video to them.”
She stood and hiked one leg onto the table and leaned into it, trying to stretch her hips and legs. Lance pulled his glasses off and stared. “Good to see you’re still nice and flexible,” he said with a wicked grin. She lowered her leg and picked up a pen, hurling it at his head.
“Don’t be a perv. I will hurt you,” she said.
He raised his hands. “Just making an observation, Kitten.”
Her heart skipped a beat at the sound of her old nickname on his lips. Being here was really fucking with her head.
“Sorry,” he muttered when he realized what he’d called her.
She shook her head. “It’s cool. Um. Garrett. Right. Getting on it.”
As she was pulling up the home page of a D.C. gossip site, the subject of her searches burst through the door. “Is Isabelle OK? I had seven missed calls from her and then nothing. No texts, no updates. I had to get briefed by one of Russell’s security teams. Where is she?”
Marissa thought he looked frantic and angry.
Lance pushed back from the table and stood, going to him to pat his shoulder. “She’s upstairs. She’s fine. We asked her to stop using her phone until we figure out what got leaked and how.”
“I’m going to check on her but when I come back, I want details, Lance. All of them.”
Marissa swallowed as she watched the exchange. Garrett was as intense a Dom as Lance, Eli, and the others seemed to be. The amount of alpha energy that hung in the air with just the two of them was intense. She couldn’t imagine what it must be like to be in a room with all of them.
Patrick and Hunter had both seemed a bit more on the playful side but were still intense and she hadn’t met any of the others yet. How many were there?
Garrett turned as if he was just now noticing her. “You must be Marissa. I promise I’m not always this rude. I’ll properly introduce myself when I get back.”
Marissa waved her hand. “Don’t worry about it. Sounds like you have a lot on your plate.”
He nodded and turned to stalk from the room.
“Why do I get the feeling Isabelle is about to be in trouble?” she said when Garrett was gone.
Lance chuckled. “She’s not. Though if I hadn’t told him why she wasn’t updating him that might be a different story.”
She nodded. “Makes sense. Are all of you so damn intense?”
“I’ve been told we are. I don’t think it’s all Dom energy. A lot of the subs are just as intense. Many of our members have high-stress jobs that require intensity and they come here to blow off steam and channel that into something a little more fun. You know what it’s like to be amongst a group of extremely powerful people who also get off on power exchange.” He shrugged. “I’m honestly surprised you stayed away all these years. You used to crave that energy.”
She closed her eyes. In some ways she still did. Discovering her inner switch that allowed her to dominate certain types of submissive men had helped, but she definitely leaned more to the submissive side of the slash. “It hasn’t been easy,” she finally admitted. “I’m not gonna lie. I’m looking forward to the party tonight. You still don’t want to cancel do you?”
He shook his head. “Not so last minute. There’s a chance we’ll close down next weekend while we reevaluate, but we try not to cancel. A lot of people plan their schedules around trips here and some only get to come into town once a month. That’s the drawback to us not seeking local members. Isabelle is kind of the odd duck there. She found us by accident and applied.”
Marissa lifted an eyebrow. “Seriously, Lance. Why didn’t you tell me that sooner?”
His forehead wrinkled. “Tell you what?”
“You just said Isabelle found you by accident and applied. That kind of seems fishy to me. How is an application and website as secure as yours something you stumble onto by accident? I already know you’re not indexed in search engines.”
She watched as he went pale. “Fuck,” he whispered.
“You don’t think she could be the one pulling strings, do you?”
His head shake was violent. “No. And you won’t even raise a whiff of that suggestion to anyone else. Clear?”
“Crystal. I was just asking. Calm the fuck down.”
“Isabelle’s application came in around the time things went sideways for Patrick and Holly’s family,” Lance muttered to himself, ignoring her. His fingers flew and Marissa leaned back to watch him. She hated to admit how attractive she still found him. And watching him be so protective of Isabelle and the others at the club was kind of adorable. If only he’d been that protective of her and the potent dynamic they’d shared.
“Talk to me,” Garrett Oliver said as the door swung open.
Marissa jumped and nearly toppled out of her chair. She’d been so engrossed in watching Lance.
Lance didn’t respond and Garrett scowled.
“He’s chasing an idea. Give him ten.”
Lance flashed her a thumbs up and kept typing.
“Then you talk,” Garrett said, lowering himself into a chair near hers and rolling it closer. “How much does the press have?”
She walked him through the various communications she’d found and told him she was just getting started on D.C. media.
He shook his head. “I have people all over that. If it gets out in D.C. I’ll be getting a call from the White House press secretary or chief of staff or maybe both.”
She nodded. “Tell me about the reason you think this got leaked?”
He frowned. “How is that going to help you do your computer voodoo?’
Both eyebrows raised as she looked at him incredulously. “Voodoo? What I do is art.”
He shrugged. “Tell the witches in New Orleans that the magic they practice isn’t art. It wasn’t an insult, Miss Sullivan.”
Oh, he was smooth. No wonder he was successful in politics.
“Call me Marissa, please. And to answer your question, sometimes understanding motive can help me narrow down what kind of hacker I’m looking for. We’re a tight knit community, even those who do things that are less than legal—maybe especially that crew. The thing is, there are some jobs some of us won’t touch. If I can understand the motive, I can cross off some people. And I’ll have a better idea of who to talk to and what kinds of tactics to watch out for.”
Garrett nodded and dragged a hand through his hair.
"That makes sense. Where do I start?" He asked, more to himself than Lance or Marissa.
"If I'm honest, I'm still a little confused on the reasoning. But it started when my brother resurfaced and wanted to sabotage my business."
Marissa nodded and typed notes on her laptop.
"And what's your brother's name?"
Garrett leaned one arm on the table. "Legally I think it's still Maddox Oliver, but he also went by Maxwell Jameson."
Her fingers flew across the keys. "Thank you. And where does your brother live?"
"An urn in my closet at the moment."
Marissa's head flew up and her fingers stopped typing mid-word. Across the table from her, Lance smirked, though it was subtle.
"I'm so sorry. I'm such an ass. I had no idea he was dead," she stuttered.
Garrett waved his hand. "We had a strained relationship to put it mildly. He tried to blow up my Isabelle. My driver shot him in the head. It's something I'm coming to grips with."
Marissa nodded, still feeling like a complete ass. "I know a good therapist if you need one," she said, attempting to salvage the conversation.
Garrett smiled. "I appreciate it. So anyway, to answer your question, my brother is the one who came after me and harassed us, but we have our suspicions that someone else was pulling the strings."
Marissa stared at Lance. "I feel like this is information I should have had."
Garrett stood. "If you two are about to fight, I'm out."
Lance held up a hand. "Wait, please. I have some details for you."
&nb
sp; Turning to Marissa, he said, "I wasn't trying to keep anything from you. Not exactly. I wanted you looking at the code and our systems with completely unbiased eyes."
She huffed. He was right. It was better for her to have a first pass at inspecting his work knowing none of their suspicions.
"Fine. What details do you have for Garrett then?"
Lance motioned for Garrett to sit back down.
"Do you know how Isabelle found this place?"
Garrett scratched at the back of his neck and looked at the ceiling.
"If I remember right, some of her local lifestyle friends told her about it. That's what made her application appealing. We thought she could be a good source of local outreach without being too in your face about it."
Lance nodded. "Here's the problem. I don't know how she found our site or got referred. Once the application gets sent to someone and they click the link, that's what gets them into our secure network. It's not something you can just search for. I need to figure out who sent her the link and how they got it. If it was a current member, that's great. That's how referrals typically happen, but if it were a random thing... this could have been going on a lot longer. And just so we're clear, I'm not trying to say Isabelle is involved in anything. Just that her application or someone else's who just 'randomly' stumbled on our site, may have been carrying a RAT or malware or something."
"Fuck," Garrett swore. "So, we've had a problem for a lot longer than we thought."
Lance nodded, looking pained. Marissa fought the urge to propel her chair around the table and wrap an arm around him. Despite their differences and the way things ended, she did know he was an ethical hacker and programmer and never wanted innocent people harmed by the things he did. The problem for the two of them had always been in their definitions of the innocent.
"It's been what, almost a year since she applied?" Garrett asked.
Marissa was already in the club's application database, so she typed in Isabelle Alvarado.
"Looks like ten months according to the date on her application."
"A lot has happened since then. I'll talk to her and see what she remembers about how she got to the website. You're right, it could be something. That's when Eli and Patrick's diamond lab was burned down by Patrick's father and his goons."
