The Price of Secrecy

by The Price of Secrecy [Evernight] (mobi)

  “These are beautiful,” she said. “Much more inviting than the metallic gray.”

  He grinned. “They are, but I don’t mind the color gray.”

  “Yes, I figured as much. Are the doors to your office really metal?”

  He was saved from answering when they entered Merrick’s temporary office, just inside the entrance to the department. Merrick was bent over a laptop, but straightened up as Dominic and Angela walked in. Dominic didn’t miss the appreciative glance Merrick gave Angela. He couldn’t blame the man. She was stunning, but Dominic was a jealous man. Merrick’s reaction was enough to make him wonder if it wasn’t time to take a chance again on dating an employee?

  “Merrick Anderson, Angela Davidson. She’s the first person on your new team.”

  Merrick stood and shook her hand. “Welcome. I’m glad to have someone here at last.”

  “You and Merrick will have the honor of setting the bar high for the rest of them to follow,” said Dominic as he pulled a chair over. “Have a seat. Merrick and I are going to explain why we need this team.”

  Angela took a seat, and Dominic sat close to her on purpose. She didn’t seem to mind, but Merrick gave him an odd look. Too bad. Dominic had never made excuses for the way he pursued women, and Merrick certainly knew that about him by now. Even if he didn’t break his own self-imposed rule not to date Angela, he sure didn’t want to watch Merrick pursue her.

  This girl excited him, and he wanted desperately to peek underneath the surface and see if the passion in those eyes extended to her sex life. It would be difficult to keep that desire in check.

  He cleared his throat and faced her. “There are twelve of us scattered throughout the US who are essentially looking for the same thing. The bastards responsible for the Tommy Twister virus. We’re also trying to hack into The Madeline Project and either shut it down for good, or take back control of it.”

  The admiration in her dark eyes made his dick twitch. “I read about all of you online. You call yourselves the Weathermen. Very clever.”

  He grinned. “Thank you. We started out looking for user names that were common on message boards about weather control that were set up in the early part in this century. It wasn’t until one of Ace Easton’s analysts who worked on his PR websites, tracking user names to keep trolls off them, transferred to his hacker team and found the correlation we had all missed.”

  Dominic didn’t think it was necessary to tell her why Harper Mathews had been forced onto that team. He didn’t want her thinking Ace was a jerk. Far from it. The man was seriously in love, and he and Harper were getting married in five months. “Once there, she noticed a lot of the same names she’d tracked in her former role. The systems are separate, for obvious reasons.”

  “So she never had the chance to search for them on the same places his hacker team had access to when she was an analyst.”

  “Exactly, but all of us missed that possible connection, not only Ace. So now we have teams working on tracking names across the systems. We literally have thousands of names among the twelve of us, so what we need now are people who can do something with all that information. It’s time to track them back to their source, and that’s where you and Merrick come in.”

  “Dominic and the other Weathermen have each created new departments like this one,” said Merrick, “I’m heading up this one, but until we hire more people, I’m still phasing out my IT work for the company.”

  “That means you and I will be working closely on setting up the databases, and working out the system bugs,” said Dominic. “Merrick will be available, of course, but I need him to bridge both positions for a while yet until I find someone to replace him, which won’t be easy. At the same time I need to find more people with your skills.”

  “Thank you for the vote of confidence.”

  He rose, so she did, too. “I have no reason to believe you won’t do a stellar job. Let me show you to your new office and we’ll let Merrick get back to work.”

  Merrick rose and stuck out his hand again. “I look forward to working with you, Angela.”

  She shook his hand once more. “Thank you. Same here.”

  Dominic led her down the hall to an empty office, and she whistled as they stepped inside. “This is really nice.”

  “Merrick will be moving to an office closer to this one soon. His current temporary office will be a storeroom once he does.”

  “It’s really beautiful. Such a peaceful atmosphere to work in.”

  “The entire department looks like this.”

  “I suppose I assumed the entire company was decorated like your office.”

  He swallowed. “The doors are for protection, you understand.” He hoped she never had to understand first hand why he had outfitted his office in that way. “You weren’t expecting to have a bright, cheery space to work in?”

  “I wasn’t sure what to expect.”

  He moved closer, and when she didn’t flinch or back away, his damn cock jumped to attention again. What did you think would happen, genius? “From me, or from the job?”

  “Both.”

  “I appreciate your candor.” He let his gaze travel over her face once more. This close, he could see the depth of emotion in her eyes, and it took his breath away. He was in very deep shit here. He shouldn’t have let his dick do the thinking earlier, but he really did need someone exactly like her. He needed an entire department with Angela’s skills.

  He took a deep breath and tried to clear his head. “I have an administrative assistant for the department as well. She’s already in my employ, and will transfer to this department on Monday, so I’d like that to be your start date, too.”

  “That would be great. Thank you.”

  It was only Wednesday. He couldn’t handle not seeing her until then, but what excuse could he give her that would be legit? It would take HR a few days to get her paperwork ready. There was really no reason to keep her in the building any longer, unless he gave her a tour. Unfortunately, there was no time for that today. He was booked solid with meetings and more interviews the remainder of the day.

  “Let me walk you out.” Pete or any of his assistants could handle that, but he didn’t want to let her go yet.

  “Thank you. I’m so excited about this.”

  “I’m glad you are. We need people who are enthusiastic, and who want to nail those bastards as much as each of us do.”

  “How old were you when you moved underground?”

  It was a common question people asked each other still, all these years later. He led her into the elevator since it was ten floors down to the lobby from this one. “I was thirty-four, and I was here seven years ago, before things got really bad up there. How about you?”

  “I was twenty. Six years ago I transferred to the university here in town to finish my undergrad degree.”

  The doors closed. They were the only two in the car, and it was so damn tempting to kiss her that he was in physical pain. This had been a terrible mistake. “I still remember so much,” he said. “The smell of real grass, the sound of crickets at night, and most of all the feel of actual sunshine on my skin.”

  She looked at him for long moments, and time stopped. How the fuck was he going to keep away from this woman? What had he done to himself?

  “Same here,” she said. “There’s no wind here. That’s what I find so hard to get used to. It makes me feel claustrophobic at times, even all these years later.”

  The doors opened and three people got on from accounting. Dominic knew them all, and they exchanged small talk until the three got off two floors down. Then he and Angela were alone once more with five floors still to go. Why did these things seem fast only when you weren’t in a hurry?

  “I miss the strangest little things,” she said, her voice all breathy and warm. “Gazing at the real stars at night, and what snow feels like when it lands on your bare skin. I miss walking through fields, and the smell in the air when rain is coming. They can’t fake
any of that underground.”

  “No. Especially not when they keep it a constant seventy-two degrees during the day, and fifty-eight degrees at night.”

  She smiled, but there was a sadness in her eyes that he wanted to erase. “One season is all we need. I hate that stupid slogan. It sounds like propaganda.”

  He couldn’t help but chuckle. “It is propaganda. Make no mistake about it. When construction began on these cities in 2072, the architects couldn’t figure out how to change the seasons without adding billions of dollars to the cost. So instead the governments have spent that same amount of money in advertising, trying to convince people that they no longer need leaves that change color in the fall, or snow.”

  They reached the lobby, and Dominic walked toward the doors with her, nodding to Tess at the desk. He followed Angela out onto the pavement. “Did you walk here?”

  “No, I took the tram. I live about a half hour away, but that won’t be a problem. I’ll be on time each morning.”

  He smiled. “I’m not worried about that. I have your email address so I’ll send you the information you’ll need for Monday morning.”

  “You can text it to me if you’d like. Do you have my phone number?” She took out her phone and handed it to him. What was he supposed to do? Refuse to exchange numbers? That would seem rude. After he put his number in her phone and hers in his, he handed her phone back to her. She stuck out her hand. “Thank you again. Really. I am just thrilled about this.”

  Her enthusiasm was contagious, and it also told him he’d made the right decision in hiring her, despite the fact that it would kill him not to be able to touch her or kiss her. Skills and a work ethic were great, but positive people kept morale up, and they were easy to work with. He shook her hand, hanging onto it much longer than necessary. “You are very welcome. I’m sure we’ll do amazing things together.”

  Could he sound any more suggestive if he tried? He finally released her hand. “Unfortunately I have to get back. I have a meeting.”

  “Of—of course. I’ll see you Monday.”

  “Monday it is.” Dominic turned around and went back inside before he said fuck it all to the meetings and interviews, and instead went back to Angela’s place with her. He was actually sweating, and he hoped no one took a close look at his crotch. His dick was rock hard and throbbing now. Shit. This was going to make for a very long day.

  Chapter Three

  Angela missed her stop on the tram because she’d been daydreaming about fucking Dominic. She had to walk an extra ten minutes to backtrack, and nearly got run over by the tram going in the opposite direction because she was too close the tracks and didn’t notice until the conductor blew his horn.

  The tram connected various neighborhoods in CentralWest and ran on electricity. Some cities didn’t have them and instead people used scooters, but Angela liked being able to hop on it at any stop and be on the other side of town in just over an hour. Plus it was free. Not that she’d need to worry about money now. The job ad had included the starting salary, and it was far more than she had ever hoped to make in her chosen field.

  She had a job, and it was perfect for her, but that wasn’t what had her walking along, ignoring everything around her. Her new boss was the most drop-dead gorgeous man she’d ever seen, and she knew he found her attractive. It had been written all over his face, and in the comments he’d made.

  You can’t go there.

  Angela kicked at a loose piece of cobblestone as she neared her apartment building. It was true. She didn’t dare do anything about her lust. It was too risky, but how the hell was she supposed to control it? The man was seriously sexy in a dangerous, edgy way. She’d be working closely with him, which meant there was no way to avoid being with him all day.

  She sat down on one of the benches in the courtyard of her complex and stared at the fake sky. Had this been a huge mistake? This was her dream job. The one she’d fantasized about all through school. It was tailor-made for her, and she’d be an idiot not to take it.

  She’d been serving coffee in the local Internet café for years, begging the universe for an opportunity like this. If she turned it down, she would never find another position like it. Not in this city, and she couldn’t move, even if she could afford to.

  No. This was the job she’d waited for, and it was hers now. She’d just have to deal with Mr. Perfect and tamp down her horniness, the same way she’d been doing most of her adult life.

  She was in her apartment when her phone chirped with an incoming text. Thinking it was Lesli, her BFF, wanting to know how the interview had gone, she unlocked the screen without looking at the ID and nearly dropped her phone. The text was from Dominic.

  Looking forward to Monday, although it’s too far away. HR is on the fifth floor and they’ll be expecting you at 8:30. You already know how we dress. No need to bring office supplies but you may bring personal items for your desk. HR will walk you through completion of your paperwork and provide you with access badges, and then will escort you to your new department. The department’s administrative assistant, Trish Bowling, will orient you to your laptop and our system, plus help you with anything else you need to start work that afternoon. I will meet you in the department at 11:30 to take you to lunch, and then I’ve cleared the afternoon so we can get started. Call or text if you need me for anything else before Monday. Dominic.

  Lunch? He was taking her to lunch and then spending the entire afternoon with her?

  Looking forward to Monday, although it’s too far away.

  He’d actually written that. She looked again just to be sure.

  Fuck. Shit. She couldn’t do this. No freaking way could she do this. She didn’t have that kind of willpower. The man was too damn hot.

  It took her fifteen minutes to compose a return text that didn’t make her sound like a giggling schoolgirl. Even after she sent it, she wanted to edit it. Finally, Angela placed her phone in a drawer and walked into the spare bedroom.

  She’d set it up as a workout room even though the complex had a fitness center, because she didn’t like to workout in front of others. It was time to put on some music and kick-box her way into oblivion. Or at least into forgetting Dominic’s sexy dark eyes, or how that suit had looked on him.

  ****

  Angela woke Thursday morning and thought she’d slept through her alarm. Then she remembered she’d quit her job yesterday afternoon and didn’t have to work in the Internet café ever again. So what was that damn noise?

  She finally remembered about her phone. Opening the nightstand drawer, she pulled it out to find no fewer than twenty text messages from Lesli, the latest one a few seconds ago. Shit. She’d totally forgotten about letting her best friend know she’d landed the job.

  Angela called her. “Sorry. My phone was in a drawer. It’s a long story.”

  “Finally. I almost stopped by your place instead of going to work to make sure you weren’t dead.”

  “I have so much to tell you.”

  “Did you get the damn job or not?”

  “Yes. I start Monday.”

  “Excellent! We’ll go out tonight and celebrate. Then you can spill your guts.”

  “It’s a deal.”

  “Gotta run. Later.”

  Angela spent the rest of the day vacillating between thinking about Dominic, and catching up on all the things she’d neglected the past few years, including reading for pleasure instead of for a class. She felt lazy but content curled up in her favorite chair with a novel, sipping lemonade and snacking on crackers and peanut butter.

  By the evening she was restless and more than ready to have a girls’ night out with Lesli. She and Lesli had met in high school, had attended the same university together before being forced underground, and had then attended the university in town.

  Lesli had graduated with a degree in fashion merchandising four years ago and worked as a buyer for the only haute couture clothing designer in CentralWest. It was a cushy job that pai
d her enough to afford to treat Angela to dinner and drinks once or twice a month. But tonight, finally, Angela was paying.

  Lesli protested. “But you haven’t started your new job yet.”

  They had managed to grab their favorite table at The Red Dog Saloon, and Angela had ordered them a pitcher of margaritas and a plate of beer cheese dip and tortilla chips. The hell with eating well tonight. This was a celebration, after all.

  “I’m fine. In less than one week I’ll be making more money than you do.”

  “Good, because you owe me like three years’ worth of nights out.”

  They clinked water glasses and toasted Angela’s new job. Lesli leaned close. “All right. Why was your phone in a drawer?”

  Angela took another sip of water. She glanced around but didn’t see anyone she recognized. Still, if someone who worked for him overheard her … but she didn’t want to be paranoid this evening. She wanted to enjoy her time with her best friend. As long as she was careful what she said, it wouldn’t matter who overheard her. “You’ve heard of Dominic Greco, of course.”

  “Who hasn’t? So did you interview with him, or with an underling?”

  “With the man himself.”

  “Wow. What’s he like?”

  “Fucking gorgeous.”

  “No shit. I can see that in the photos online. But what is he like to talk to?”

  Their drinks and appetizer arrived, so they opened their menus and ordered dinner. Then once their server was gone, Lesli asked again what Dominic was like in person.

  “He’s polite, observant, and he needs to shave closer.”

  “Mmmm … I love a man with a shadow.”

  “I know, right? I couldn’t stop staring at it.”

  “So that’s it? His politeness and his face? That’s why you stuck your phone in a drawer and let me think you’d been kidnapped or something?”