Dizzie glared at him. “Youtook me home,” she snapped. “Of course, they think I’m one of your girlfriends.”
“It’s not my fault they’re camped out at my house.” He put his hands on her hips and pulled her closer. She didn’t resist, but she didn’t fall into his arms either.
She sneered. “Right. It’s not your fault that you’re hot, rich, and single.”
Killian smiled. She thought he was hot. Ridiculous given the situation, but he didn’t care.
“Get that stupid grin off your face, Killian. This is serious.” She punched him in the shoulder. His wounded shoulder. He bit back a wince. He didn’t want her to freak out again.
He tried to tone down the smile. “You’re right. Super serious. But I don’t understand how he hacked your implants.” He nodded toward her hands.
She followed his gaze. “What are you—oh. No, not these,” she said, wiggling her fingers. “These.” She pointed toward her eyes.
“He hacked youreyeballs?” Saying that out loud made him queasy.
“My optical implants, yeah. It was…disturbing.”
Killian shuddered. He’d seen a lot of gross stuff in his life—hell, after the accident, his mangled leg was one of the worst—but he’d always had a special thing about eyeballs. He didn’t want to know any more. But he had to. “How?”
She shrugged. “He didn’t say. And it was hard to ask.”
Her explanation included flashing text, satellites, and being led to the warehouse. Killian didn’t know whether to be impressed or horrified. “You’re sure you don’t know who’s doing this?”
“I would have told you. Probably.”
“Do you have any enemies or a stalker?” Was that how she’d come to the bomber’s attention? Was the mystery hacker responsible for all of this?
She laughed.
He hadn’t heard her laugh before.
It was earthy and husky and, with her eyes closed and her head tilted back, it was the most natural he’d ever seen her. Dizzie’s laugh reached deep inside and affected him like no one else had.
That was silly. It was probably relief from the tension breaking.
And that was probably a lie.
When she finally stopped laughing, it took her a second to catch her breath. “That’s ridiculous. Why would you say that? You’re the one who probably has a stalker. All those girlfriends. And all the newsies.”
The jealousy in her voice sent a flare of satisfaction through him. He shook his head. “No stalkers.” Not in years.
Using his hands on her hips, he tugged her down onto his lap.
She resisted initially, then let her weight barely rest on his leg.
He missed the way she’d melted against him. She’d been so responsive. He forced those memories away. Not the time.
Ignoring how stiffly she sat on his lap, Killian recapped what they knew. “Let’s review the last two days.” He held up one finger. “You were chosen to deliver the bomb.”
“That wasn’t my fault!”
She almost bolted, but he anchored her in place with a restraining hand. Dizzie settled, but didn’t fully relax.
“One, the delivered bomb,” he said quickly. “Two, he contacted me while you were in custody. Three, he hacked youreyesafter you left my house.”
He paused and she nodded. Good, she was following his line of reasoning.
“Four, he led you to a hacker’s hideout. All that hacking? Sounds like a stalker to me.”
