by Tara Oakes
“Not so fast,” Aleksei stands, withdrawing his gun. “You’re free to leave, but Raven will be staying here with me. We have some unfinished business to tend to.”
Exactly what I expected. “You know I can’t let that happen.”
He smirks. “You know you don’t have much of a choice, Agent Prewitt. I have no desire to murder an FBI agent, but please don’t think I won’t if pressed to do it. We made our deal. Your government has what it wants. Leave while you still can.”
I take a deep breath. “There’s one more thing my government wants.”
The barrel of his gun doesn’t move.
“The entire reason why I came to Europe was to apprehend a hacker that goes by the code name Raven. My mission hasn’t changed. She is a wanted fugitive. I’ll be bringing her in to answer for her cyber crimes. She was the one who stole those secrets, including many from my own department. That cannot go unpunished. She will be facing time for it. I guarantee you that. Whatever revenge you seek against her, please know it will be coming her way, just in a different form.”
Raven sits up, startled at hearing this information first hand. “You? You!”
I know she’s feeling another slice of betrayal right now. Just as Aleksei had betrayed her, so am I, even if my reasons for doing so are more noble.
“I think I’m quite comfortable with taking care of justice myself, thank you,” he quips back, not impressed with my offer.
That’s alright. I never expected him to bite the hook without a little bait. “One billion dollars. On top of what you already have. Consider it a reward for turning in an internationally wanted fugitive. Along with amnesty for yourself.”
I don’t know who’s more stunned, Raven or Aleksei.
He doesn’t answer. “You’re pulling something. I know it.”
Thanks to Chris’ efforts, I have proof to backup my claims, because they are actually one hundred percent legitimate.
“I can put you in contact with the Bureau Chief, to validate the offer. However, it’s only on the table for another minute. I’ve already sent an encrypted message during the currency transfer to a local team of agents, giving our location. They should be here shortly to retrieve the fugitive. The only question is, will they be taking in one or two?” I firmly threaten.
“You know I’ll shoot her and you before anyone steps through that door.” He’s dead serious.
I knew that walking into this. There was absolutely no way that Raven would be able to make it through this alive unless I did what I did. Sure he would have taken the extra billion for her regardless, but then he would have still put a bullet in her head as soon as the second wire transfer was complete. I knew that I would need a very creative way out of this mess if I wanted to get both her and her parents to safety.
This was the only way that made sense.
“Thirty seconds left, Aleksei. Take the offer. You’ll be a rich man and even get to see her carried away in cuffs. She’s looking at about sixty-five years to life for treason and cyber crimes.” I make the offer one last time.
Raven jumps to her feet and tries to make a run for it, only to be caught by Martin, Aleksei’s goon.
“You son of a bitch! I trusted you! I—I even loved you! How could you do this to me?” Raven screams while trying to kick out of Martin’s hold.
These words would have been very appropriate for Aleksei, but they are meant for me. It was a risk I had to take, knowing she would see this as a betrayal.
Unknowingly, Raven has just given Aleksei the one piece of retribution that I couldn’t offer him myself, to make him agree to the bargain.
For however badly he wanted to inflict pain on her, he didn’t need to. I did it for him. His revenge is now satisfied.
“Deal.”
EPILGOUE
SIX MONTHS LATER
BEAU
“Fantastic. Thank you for the information. Yes, sir.” I place the phone receiver back on the cradle and breathe easy.
Finally.
It’s been six months that I’ve been waiting for this news. But, however long I’ve been waiting, I know there’s one person who’s been waiting longer.
There’s no need to keep this from her any longer. I’m just happy I’m the one who gets to tell her.
“Hey Prewitt! You got that profile I left on your desk?” Agent Harrison calls out.
Tom is a decent enough guy. “Yup. I’ll take it home and look over it tonight. Let you know what I think about it in the morning.”
Harrison nods and continues along to his own desk farther down in the lab. He’s good at what he does, but I’m better. He knows it and I know it, but when you essentially work in a basement with the same people day in and day out, you learn not to get caught up on things like that.
Thanks to my promotion a few months back after turning Raven in and securing the state secrets that she had stolen on behalf of Aleksei, I’m now the youngest Field Chief this department has ever had. I’ve tried not to let it go to my head though. I still think of every one of these agents as a teammate and not an employee.
Even the new girl. She’s not even out of the Academy yet and just logging in some extra hours here before graduation as a way to advance her credentials.
Normally, someone in that position wouldn’t be allowed to set foot in a lab like this without top secret clearance, but we made a special exception.
“Hey,” I call to her as she’s studying the computer screen in front of her. “I’ve got news.”
“Yes sir?” She greets me according to protocol.
God, I fucking love it when she calls me sir. Makes my dick jump every time.
“I just heard from International Relations. The verdict’s been handed down,” I pass along the news I’ve just learned by phone.
Her fingers immediately stop typing. I can tell she’s too afraid to ask.
“Life sentence in a hard labor camp,” I’m pleased to tell her.
Her eyes close.
Aleksei’s trial was quick. As soon as the Bureau informed China of the cyber attacks he had ordered to gain sensitive information to be used against them, they had acted quickly and harshly.
Thanks in part to some hidden software I had implanted during the wire transfers from my negotiations with him, whenever he logged into those accounts, a signal would be sent wirelessly. Kind of like a tracking device for criminal masterminds.
He was picked up in Singapore barely two days after I had last seen him.
The Chinese authorities were all the more pleased to drag his ass in and put him on trial for his crimes. As a plea bargain, Raven was granted full immunity and asylum in exchange for her affidavits against Aleksei.
The asylum entitled her to stay in the United States with her parents, who were also relocated and given new identities.
“Thank God,” the new intern exhales. “I—I really need to get this finished. Is there anything else, sir?”
There it goes again! Cock twitched.
Too bad she won’t agree to call me sir at home. I asked her to once, and she nearly ripped my balls off.
“No. That’s it. Just wanted to be the first to tell you. I’ll see you at home, babe. By the way, your ass looks fantastic in that skirt.” I turn to leave.
“Beau!” she hisses. “I told you. Not at work.”
“Marina. Work or not, if your ass looks great, I’m gonna tell you.” I don’t give her a chance to make a rebuttal.
It’s taken a little getting used to calling her Marina, but it seems fitting in a way. She’s a whole new person with a whole new future. It was her idea to go by her birth name, although, once in a while, she lets me call her Raven while I’m fucking her.
We’ve come a long way in the last few months. At first, she couldn’t understand why I did what I did by turning her in. It wasn’t until after they offered her immunity that she realized what I had arranged.
Years ago, when I had gotten jammed up and some stiff looking prick came into my cell a
nd made me an offer, it changed my life. It saved me. Otherwise, I could very well have ended up like Aleksei.
I didn’t want Raven, er, Marina, to end up like that either. I wanted her to be given a second chance just like I had. It’s up to her to decide what she does with that chance.
So far, it includes acing her exams and flying through the Academy, even doing an internship here on the side. She’s free to make her own choices, free from being under anyone’s thumb ever again.
Even mine.
The only place I want her under when it comes to me is in my bed, pinned under me and screaming out my name. Which I pretty much do on the daily now, so I guess you can say it’s a win-win situation for us both.
Whenever we’re out and some older couple asks us how we met, we always tell them that we met online.
It’s the truth after all.
Who says you can’t find love online?
We did.
BONUS CONTENT
LONDON
SIMON
I could watch this a million times.
I probably already have.
Yet, each time, I sit here and stare at my dream girl, the one that got away. It’s like I’m appreciating it for the first time.
I know nothing will ever come of the two of us. It’s just not meant to be, although I’ll continue to put her up on a pedestal that no other woman will ever come close to. I have her friendship, though, and I guess I’ll just have to settle for that.
It’s some small consolation that I know she’s in good hands.
That may have been one of the first things that attracted me to her. She was always in some sort of danger, always seemed to need my help.
She says she still needs me, just in other ways.
I’m one of the only true friends she has. Granted, I’m a friend who would give anything to fuck her into tomorrow, but a friends none-the-less.
I know she’s well taken care of on that front, too. Just watching this video surveillance is evidence enough of how she and her new man are hot for each other. I can’t help that it gets me hot just watching it.
The way I figure, it’s kind of like my consolation prize for giving her up so easily to him. I get to watch this little tape whenever I want, fantasizing about the woman of my dreams, imagining I’m the one she’s one her knees before, instead of Beau.
He’s a good guy, don’t get me wrong. I actually have grown to love the big gorilla like an older brother. And older brother I just happen to be insanely jealous of, in a good way.
Beau really stepped up and took care of Raven in a way no one else had been able to before. He got her out of the line of danger and set her up with a new life. One where she doesn’t have to worry about tomorrow. One where she doesn’t have to look over her shoulder constantly. One where she can be happy.
And, I’m happy for her.
I still have the bed sheets she slept on the last time she was here. I haven’t washed them yet. Instead. I saved them in an air tight bag, opening only to get a little whiff every once in a while to remind myself of her.
It’s sick. I know. I’m a freak and damn proud of it.
I’ll get to see them both again in a couple of months when I go to her FBI Academy graduation ceremony. It was sweet of them to invite me, although they probably did it just because they knew I’d crash it if they didn’t.
We’ve gone through some serious shit, the three of us. We’re like family now. Beau’s like my big brother, and Raven’s like my twin sister.
A twin sister I have an unhealthy obsession about fucking constantly.
Just one big happy family.
“Simon… Are you coming to bed or not?” A pouty voice calls from my bedroom.
Trudy, or Misty, or Sandy, or whatever the hell her name is, is clearly not happy that I’ve left.
“Yes Simon,” another voice joins in. Marta, that’s her name, I’m sure of it. “Come back to bed and show us again what Sexy Simon can do.”
The two of them giggle.
I breathe out and hit the power button on the main monitor screen that I’ve been watching, putting the video of Raven to sleep for the night. I’ll watch it again tomorrow, once I’ve satisfied these two beauties.
It’s a hard job, but someone’s got to do it.
And that someone is Sexy Simon, baby.
THE END
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As a special thank-you, please enjoy this sample of
ALL THE PRETTY LIGHTS
Book one in
The “A List” series
CHAPTER ONE
DAPHNE
Los Angeles
Twenty-six years old. Twenty. Six. Years. Old. And what do I have to show for it?
I’ll tell you what I have to show for it. I have a worn portfolio that has proven itself useless yet again, a pocket full of mascara stained tissues, broken dreams, and a first class return ticket to New York.
I sigh deeply and glance around through the bustling airport crowd, careful not to miss the overhead signs for my terminal. The small envelope icon is flashing on my phone screen as I check the time. Apparently I have thirteen minutes to board my plane and six new messages.
Quickening my pace, I make a sharp right turn, and BAM! There’s a snowstorm of fluttering, flapping papers with many of my portfolio sketches raining down around me when I crash into a rock hard body.
“Crap!” I fall to the ground, anxiously gathering the drawings like they actually mean something, when ironically, earlier this morning they’ve proved that they didn’t.
My vision begins blurring as I hear the light crumpling under my hand while collecting the pages.
“You alright?” An obviously bothered, slightly annoyed, voice asks from above me.
Am I alright? That’s a loaded question.
Everything I’ve been desperately working towards these last eight years has just been destroyed by the one person whose opinion could actually mean something in this business. I’m thousands of miles away from home, with no way to return except the ticket in hand to the flight that I will now, thanks to this latest catastrophe, miss.
“I—I’m fine. Thanks.” I try my best to sniffle back the tears threatening to escape my tightly closed eyelids as I inhale deeply.
“Here. You missed these,” The same deep voice draws my attention to a small pile of my work held in his large hands as he crouches down to help me with it. I can’t help but notice the low vibrations laced through his words. What is that? Amusement? Do I amuse him?
“Thanks,” I snatch the sheets from him a touch more forcefully than I’d planned.
The three or four design renderings are added to my portfolio and I slam the leather cover shut with a harsh slapping sound.
A pair of shiny brown leather shoes that look to be worth more than the entire contents of my apartment, peak in the corner of my eye.
“You should really slow down,” he offers while grabbing a hold of my elbow, helping to lift me up. Well, the word help is an understatement in this case. I’m brought to my feet in record time as this guy practically picks me up to plant me back on my heels.
I gather my bearings, holding tight to my portfolio so it doesn’t fall again. Shit! I’m never going to make my flight now! “I—I’ll try to remember that. Thanks again, gotta go!”
Leaving the sexy-voiced, sadistically amused Good Samaritan behind, I make a mad dash to the gate for my flight, convinced that my perfect day will now be topped off appropriately by me being stuck behind, here, in Los Angeles, with no way to get back home.
As I reach the counter, out of breath and disoriented, the smartly dressed woman behind the tall grey counter lifts the phone receiver in her hand close to her cherry red lips.
“Attention, ladies and gentlemen. We regret to inform you that flight number 1049, direct service from Los Angeles to New York City, will be delayed by at least forty minutes due to adverse weather conditions.”
I nearly double over while catching my breath, processing her announcement. I haven’t missed the flight! I’m not too late! Finally, something is going right for me. An empty nearby chair calls to me as I rest from my quick sprint. Suddenly that treadmill in my bedroom is looking like something other than just a piece of furniture that is used as a resting place for my jackets.
The electronic board above the nearby counter changes, with my departure time now reflecting the woman’s forty-minute warning.
Thank God! I’d been too nervous to eat anything all day with my future as a fashion designer hanging in the balance. Now, with all hopes of any sort of career in the industry all but destroyed, I think it’s safe to indulge in a little comfort food to take the sting off things, and I have just enough time to grab something before takeoff.
Who cares about fitting in a size four sample size anymore? I certainly have no reason to. Starting Monday morning, the only thing I’ll have to worry about fitting into will be a waitressing uniform. Or, maybe, a secretary’s skirt and jacket?
Who the hell am I kidding? I’ll be moping around in sweats and pajamas for at least a couple days before I can even bring myself to become a sellout and take the first available job I can find.
Thanks to a pretty decent paying design job last month, I have enough to cover another month’s rent and a big, greasy hamburger. My stomach grumbles loudly as I eye the food stand across the terminal, deciding on whether or not I’m going to go through with it. After a moment, I decide that I am.
By the time I return to the waiting area for my gate almost every seat is taken with impatient passengers. Tired people of all ages, some even sleeping, wait to be called to board the plane that from what I can see through the large nearby windows, has yet to even arrive.
