I smiled, unable to contain the warmth spreading through me despite the chill in the room. “I love you, too.”
He smirked. “That’s a given.”
I laughed and he stole it by kissing me, his lips soft, his tongue caressing mine. He tangled a hand in my hair and wrapped his arm around me, lifting me off the floor. We kissed long and deep until I had to come up for air or pass out.
“One more thing.” He put me back on my feet.
“What’s that?”
“Promise me you’ll never wear this outfit for anyone else but me.”
I twirled a lock of hair around my index finger. “I don’t know if I can make such a wide-ranging promise.”
“Scarlett.” He ran his hands down my back and lightly smacked my ass. “We’ve talked about this.”
I bit my lip to hide my grin. “Fine. Only you.”
“Better.”
“You two lovebirds ready to see Gorepheus?”
“Please.” I crossed my arms over my chest to hide my breasts and try to fight off the chill.
Kennedy unbuttoned his shirt, stripped it off, and put it around my shoulders. His nipples hardened from the cold and I wanted to bite one just to see what he’d do.
The man stepped into the pool of light. “He’s in here. Follow me.”
Kennedy tucked me into his side and we followed the man. The room beyond was expansive, windowless, and empty.
We passed three sets of doors and, at the fourth, the man pushed through. We were bathed in light and warmth, the side room much more hospitable than the barren warehouse area where we’d been kept.
“Scarlett!” Carey shot up from his seat on a couch in the midst of several people and rushed over to me. He hugged me so hard, I had to pat him on his back viciously just to get away.
“My man Kennedy.” They hugged, but it was much more casual and less constricting than my treatment.
“I’m so glad you’re safe.” I huddled with the two of them. “What’s going on? What happened at the hotel?”
“They fucking got me with a dart gun, same as you. I didn’t know what happened until Chantilly told me what she’d seen on the video. God, I’m so fucking sorry. I would have run in and ripped his motherfucking head off.”
Kennedy held out his fist. “Pound it.”
“Right on.” Carey fist-bumped him. “But I was out. Apparently, we weren’t the only ones who figured out Fluffy’s death wasn’t a suicide.”
Laughter erupted from the small group Carey had been sitting with, some private joke among them. They acted like drugging and kidnapping were par for the course. Maybe it was for them.
“They’re going to let us go?” Kennedy asked.
“Yeah, as soon as they get Eric’s confession.” Carey squeezed my shoulder. “I really would have killed him with my bare hands.”
“It’s okay. Kennedy saved the day.”
“And I got the girl.” He pulled me into his side as Carey rolled his eyes.
“There’s no way I could beat that. You saved her from a knife-wielding maniac. I can’t compete.”
“Technically”—Charlotte’s Web had sneaked up behind us—“I saved her from the knife-wielding maniac, so I should get the girl.”
I squeaked as she pinched my ass when she walked by. I would have had words if we weren’t knee-deep in hackers with no qualms about violence to further their goals.
“Listen up. We got Eric Stiles’s confession. It’s ready to go live as soon as the rest of our plan is in place. Chantilly, you will escort the civilians back to their ever-so-secret warehouse hideaway that we’ve known about since they showed up there. Lynx, have you contacted the hired guns and told them to stand down?”
“Yep.” The burly guy who’d untied us spoke up. “We had to pay double, but they won’t take any more work from Rhone.”
“Fine. Quartz, where’s Rhone right now?”
A woman spoke up, her eyes glued to her laptop monitor. “Mansion on the river.”
“Lynx, you and I will handle the wet work. Quartz, you’re lookout. Everyone else, I want you working your channels to hype the upcoming Discord transmission.”
“Wait. Wet work?” I asked.
Charlotte’s Web glanced at me over her shoulder. “Lynx, get them out of here.”
“Got it.” The burly guy moved toward us and Kennedy tried to scoot me behind him.
“You’re going to kill them?”
Kennedy squeezed my hip. “Scarlett, I don’t think this is the time or the pl—”
I held my ground. “Wait, you can’t just execute people.”
“We’re Discord. We do whatever the fuck we want.” The group erupted in “fuck yeah’s” in response to Charlotte’s Web.
“But—”
“He was going to rape you, kill you. Scarlett.” Kennedy gripped my elbow. “Come on. Let’s go.”
“Listen to your boyfriend, Scarlett.”
Something flittered around in my mind, an idea that might not work, but it was worth a shot. Kennedy tried to hustle me out the door as Lynx pushed Carey along.
“Wait, I have an idea. What if you could bring them to justice without having to kill them?”
“Where’s the fun in that?” Charlotte’s Web kept her back to me.
“But what if you got paid?”
“What are you talking about? Let’s just go.” Kennedy shook his head.
“Millions!” I yelled as the door closed.
“Wait!” Charlotte’s Web barked.
Lynx sighed and pulled the door open, pushing me back through.
She’d turned to me, hands on her hips. “What are you talking about?”
“Yeah.” Kennedy echoed, “What are you talking about?”
“You could be a federal whistle-blower.”
Half the room laughed, but Charlotte’s Web didn’t. “What do you mean?”
“While I was researching the intellectual property violations Rhone was alleging against Greenwood, I stumbled on a federal whistle-blower statute that was enacted in the 1990s during the dot-com boom. It grants federal immunity and millions of dollars to whistle-blowers who alert the government to just the sort of fraudulent practices Rhone was trying to run with this hack.”
Kennedy scratched his jaw. “I’ve actually heard of that.”
“But you’d have to turn Rhone in, and Eric, if you have any hope of gaining immunity and the cash.”
Charlotte’s Web narrowed her eyes and walked to stand in front of me, her nose only inches from mine. “Immunity? So you’re saying you want us to go legit?”
“I’m saying you can. You can erase your past crimes, whatever they may be, and start over.”
“I did it.” Carey chimed in.
I grabbed and squeezed his hand in silent thanks.
“But it’s not as fun, is it?” She turned her gaze to him.
“No, of course not. But I don’t have to look over my shoulder anymore.” He scanned the room. “I know all of you know what I mean. I don’t have to constantly worry that the feds will go to my family and try to get information on me. I don’t have to worry that a simple traffic stop will result in a sentence in a federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison. And, since we’re among friends, I’ll go ahead and tell you I still download movies and music illegally. So I’m a rebel, just not one with prison bars in his future.”
“Look.” Kennedy stepped forward. “She could really be onto something here. I’ll take it straight to my brother Lincoln at the U.S. Attorney’s Office. You’ll be given the fairest shake there is, because that guy is a hard-core, pain-in-the-ass stickler for federal procedure. Trust me.”
Charlotte’s Web pinned me with her dark eyes. “Why do you want to save them after what they did to you?”
I shook my head. “It’s not them I want to save. It’s you.”
Epilogue
Scarlett
Charlotte Morris a.k.a. Charlotte’s Web sat on the witness stand, her face serene as she recounted ho
w Frank Rhone and Eric Stiles hired her to break into their system, steal their algorithms, and make it appear as if Greenwood were behind the theft.
Lincoln Granade, Kennedy’s brother, took her through the details of her past with Discord and her present as a forthright citizen. Eric and Frank sat at their counsel table. I made a point never to look at them. I wouldn’t give them so much as a glance, not even when I was on the witness stand.
Kennedy watched his brother walk around the well, speaking to the judge more than to his witness. “He doesn’t seem like a man who’s going to get hitched in forty-eight hours,” Kennedy whispered in my ear. “I’d be vomiting, maybe running for the Canadian border. Something like that.”
I glared at him and he pulled me closer into his side.
“Why did you wear your hair up today?”
“Shh. I’m trying to watch a real lawyer do his job.” I smiled, knowing full well why I’d wrapped my hair up in a tight bun.
“I think you need to go to the bathroom.” His breath tickled my ear.
“No. I went before the session started.”
“Then I think you need a drink of water.”
“I think you need to be quiet before we get tossed out of the courtroom.” I glanced up to the bailiff, but he wasn’t paying us any attention.
“Do I need to go full screamer? Is that what it will take to get you out of here?”
I pinched his leg. “We’re here to support Charlotte. Can you not be good for a little while longer?”
“Fine.” He slumped back against the wooden pew.
“Let’s take a short recess before we continue. Ms. Morris, you may step down.” The judge stood and retreated to her chambers.
“Score.” Kennedy entwined his fingers with mine and pulled me to my feet.
We stepped into the middle aisle, and I turned toward the front of the courtroom, where Charlotte and Lincoln were talking.
“Nope.” Kennedy pulled me away, toward the hallway.
“Kennedy!” I whispered, but he ignored me and kept walking, my hand firmly in his. Pink bloomed in my cheeks, and a rush of adrenaline coursed through me.
We hurried past a couple of jury deliberation rooms, but then he stopped and pulled me into one. He flipped off the lights and turned the lock on the door. We could see into the hallway through the side panes of glass, but no one could see into the darkened room where we were.
“Get on the table.”
“No, we can’t.” I reached to click the lock back over, but he seized my wrist.
“Assume the position, Scarlett.” He laughed and walked me to the long conference table.
My breathing sped up and excitement built inside me. “We’ll get caught.”
“That makes it even hotter. Bend over.” He put my palms flat on the table and pressed his erection against my ass. “Are you wearing the garters I like?” He slid his hands under my skirt and groaned. “Yes, yes, you are.”
“This will result in disbarment,” I protested as he slid my skirt up and rested it on my hips.
He pushed my panties to the side and sank two fingers inside me. I moaned and bent all the way over, pressing my breasts into the table.
“Fuck yes.” He pulsed his fingers in and out of me a few times, then withdrew. His belt buckle jangled, and then I felt his tip at my entrance. “Getting disbarred for this is worth it.” He pushed inside me and covered my mouth with his palm mid-moan.
He bit my back through my shirt and reached around to grip my breast, kneading it as he fucked me in short, strong strokes. Our skin slapped as people walked past in the hallway, but the sound must not have carried, because no one gave a second glance to our room. I pushed back into him and went up on my tiptoes in my heels.
“You know it drives me crazy when you do your hair like this.” He gripped my bun and dug his fingers in, searching for the elastic so he could flip it up and off.
I craned my neck around as he got the band loose and my hair fell around me. “Do you know how long I worked to get it like that?”
He thrusted harder and grabbed a handful. “I don’t know, but I do so love messing it up.”
“Asshole,” I said on a breathy exhale.
“Is that an offer?” He reached around my thigh and stroked my clit.
I bit my forearm to muffle my sounds as he rubbed back and forth across my nub, sending every spark of heat in my body to the one spot between my thighs.
“Closer. I need you closer.” He pulled my hair and I pushed up until I lay my head back on his shoulder.
He kissed me, messy and hard as our bodies moved against each other at a quickening pace. More people walked by. Kennedy was right. The thrill of getting caught had me climbing higher faster.
“You like that?” He bit my neck and I arched my back, feeling him slide in and out to the same rhythm as his fingers on my clit.
“Yes, perfect. Don’t stop.”
“I couldn’t stop even if the judge walked in.”
“Oh my God, Kennedy.” The tension built in my hips and I had trouble catching my breath.
“Naughty girl. That turned you on more, didn’t it.” He licked my neck. “Me, too.”
“I’m close.” I ground back onto him.
He shoved up hard and stilled, letting me work his cock the way I wanted. “That’s it. I’m going to blow if you keep doing that.”
“I’m coming.” I said the words right as my pussy constricted and the pleasure hit me, sending me into orbit.
I must have been noisy because he clapped his hand over my mouth again and gave another hard thrust deep inside me. He grunted his release as I dragged my nails down the wooden table, my legs going weak as my orgasm rolled through me. He pumped a few more times and then relaxed as I floated down from my high.
He lowered me to the table and patted my ass before pulling my skirt back into place.
“Now I do have to go the bathroom.”
“See, you should have listened to me earlier.”
I kicked my foot up and pegged him in the shin.
“Ow. Damn.” He hopped back.
“Deserved it.” I stood and tried to finger-comb my hair.
“I did deserve it.” He wrapped his arms around me and nuzzled into my hair. “You’re not mad, are you?”
“For getting off in a federal courthouse?” I tilted my head back and kissed him. “Never.”
“That’s my girl.”
“Maybe we could do it again?”
“Right now? I’m good, baby. But not that good. Maybe if you hadn’t already taken advantage of me in my office this morning right under Faye’s nose, then I could.”
I bit my lip, remembering how I’d been on my knees under his desk. “That was fun.”
“You’re a bad influence.”
I widened my eyes in mock amazement. “Me?”
He smacked my ass again. “Yes, you.”
“Come on.” I pulled him out the door.
After cleaning up in the bathrooms, we returned to the courtroom. Charlotte and Lincoln were speaking quietly at the back.
“It’s going great. You make an excellent witness.” I put my arm around Charlotte.
She smirked and returned my side hug, but not without letting her palm drift down to my ass.
Kennedy smacked the back of her hand. “Mine.”
Lincoln, the elder Granade brother, pinched the bridge of his nose and bowed his head, letting his dark hair fall over the scar running through his eyebrow. “This is more like being a high school teacher than a prosecutor.”
“Cheer up. At least you get to lay claim to the biggest whistle-blower case south of the Mason–Dixon.” Kennedy punched him in the arm. “You ready for the big day this weekend?”
Charlotte coughed into her palm to cover as she said, “Breeder.”
“I don’t want to talk about that right now. The defense is set to put their witnesses on the stand.” Lincoln glanced up, his green eyes focusing on something at my back. “Hang
on. They want to talk.” He strode past, his frame taller and broader than Kennedy’s, though not by much.
“I’m not much for men, but like I’ve been saying, he might make me switch teams.” Charlotte licked her lips as Lincoln met with the lead defense attorney and engaged in a whisper conference.
“Have you seen his fiancée?” Kennedy asked, but before he gave her a chance to answer, he continued, “She’s a looker, and she would claw your eyes out if she heard you talking about her man.”
“She sounds more interesting by the second.” Charlotte purred like a cat, the sound realistic in an unnerving way.
I had to agree with Kennedy. “Trust me. Evan is, for lack of a better term, a bad bitch. You don’t want to mess with her.” In the times I’d met her over the past few months, she’d certainly made an impression. She and Caroline, Wash’s girlfriend, and I had formed a little “Granade Girls” club, as Kennedy called it. And I was all set to be Evan’s bridesmaid on Saturday when she married Lincoln.
“Hey, what did I miss?” Carey walked in and straightened his black skinny tie. His dirty blond hair had grown long and shaggy, making him look even younger.
“Nothing. Well, except Charlotte’s amazing testimony. She’s taking one for the team.”
“Yeah, Lynx texted me earlier, asking how it was going. I told him all seemed to be on track since Charlotte hasn’t gotten cuffed and stuffed yet.” He grinned and elbowed her.
“Not funny. Being around all this law enforcement”—she glanced to the bailiff—“makes me itch.”
“They aren’t so bad.” Carey shrugged. “Lincoln’s a fed and he’s doing you a solid.”
“Doing me a solid. Mmm.” Charlotte purred again, and we fell into the necessarily awkward silence.
Lincoln strolled back over to us. “They want a deal.”
“No.” Charlotte crossed her arms over her chest, black and green ink snaking from beneath her shirtsleeves.
“I haven’t even told you what the deal is yet.”
“If it means they walk, I don’t want it.” Charlotte’s earlier banter was gone, and steel lined her voice. “They killed Fluffy. They tried to kill you both, not to mention what else that piece-of-shit Eric tried to do to you.”
I stiffened. Since everything had happened, I’d awoken a few times in the night, crying and shaking. Kennedy was always there, wiping my tears and promising me I was safe. I hadn’t had one of the night terrors in a few weeks, and hoped they were done for good. But I wanted Eric put away. Just thinking of him gave me the creeps.
Total D*ck (Bad Bitch #3) Page 18
