“Holy shit, that’s it,” he mumbled, his brain already turning over the possibilities. “I haven’t been able to break through her firewalls, but if I let her break through mine, it might give me enough time to get a bead on her location.”
“If she’s as good as you say she is, we could be taking a huge risk,” Chase said. “But sounds like it might be our only option.”
“So how do we mitigate?” Zander asked.
“Why does it have to be one of Jay’s computers?”
“What did you say?” Jay whipped his head around, his eyes coming to an abrupt stop on Davis at the end of the table.
The teen’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything. I—”
“Fuck sorry, kid. Say it again,” Grant ordered, and hazel peepers blown wide, Davis sat up straighter in his chair.
“I was just wondering why we had to use one of Jay’s computers to set the trap. Becca wants Jonas Johnson, right? So why not find herthroughhim?”
“Fucking hell!” Jay shot out of his chair, stalked his way to the far end of the table, and pulling Davis up by a two-handed grip on his oversized sweatshirt, he crushed the stunned kid in a bear hug.
The answer had been there all along, right in front of him, and too blind to see, he hadn’t realized he’d been coming at Becca from the wrong fucking direction. She didn’t want him. She’d made herself clear. As far as she was concerned, he could go screw himself—with a double-edged sword.
Johnson? Yeah, he was another fucking matter altogether—and for whatever reason—he mattered to her.
The solution to finding the woman he loved was laughable in its simplicity.
Basic, so God damn basic, he couldn’t control the jumble of emotions bubbling up from the pit of his stomach, and they tore past his throat with a velocity that weakened his knees.
Give her what she wants.
He heaved for air, doubling over as his giddy cackles punched a hole between his ribs. Hands braced against his knees, he snorted and wheezed until his eyes were leaking, and Davis had resorted to patting him on the back.
Give her what she wants.
Fucking hell, he’d give her what she wanted. On a silver fucking platter. And if it cost him his head in exchange, he’d die a happy man knowing she was safe with his people. The people who had his back. The people who’d risk everything for a stranger. Who’d risk everything to protect the world from those who would destroy it.
Shit! He couldn’t stop, and soon enough, he heard peals of laughter ring out around him.
“Oh fuck,” Chase snorted. “He’s finally cracked.”
“We broke him,” Cody wheezed.
“Mother—” Zander sputtered. “Fucker.”
“I need a…I need a drink.” Adam stuttered.
“Shit! My ribs are killing me,” Grant moaned.
“You put those out of alignment again, Eve’s going to kick your ass.” Jamie slapped his hand to his chest when a new round of snickers echoed around the room. “Stop, my liver can’t take this shit,” he groaned, making them laugh even harder.
Jeff barked, his tail wagging as he rushed from person to person, looking to grab some attention and get in on the fun.
“What the fuck are you dickheads doing in here?” Gray demanded, barging into the room and setting off a chain reaction of hoots and hollers that drove her right back out, but not before she flipped them the finger and called them assholes.
Holy God! Jay wiped his hand over his face. He needed that. Needed to release the pent-up stress of the last few days. Hell, he’d needed to release the pent-up stress of the last few months. He took a deep breath. And then another. And another.
When he had his shit somewhat under his control, he clapped a red-faced Davis on the shoulder, and grinning from ear to ear, he gave credit where credit was due. “You, my young friend, are a fucking genius.”
CHAPTERTHIRTY-FIVE
“You need a drink.”Jamie took note of the half-eaten bowls of cereal cluttering Jay’s workstation as he handed him a glass of rum. “And a fucking break. When was the last time you slept?”
