Shit. That could be a problem.
“I’m surprised you don’t have a computer like this.” He tried to make the comment sound like casual conversation, not a fishing expedition.
“Who says I don’t?”
Well, that told him precisely nothing.
Deciding that was a problem for later, Ash pushed those worries away and pulled up a furniture site. Still standing over his shoulder, she didn’t say anything as he scrolled through desks and then chairs.
What he really wanted was his old port chair, the one that he’d been forced to leave at the warehouse. It was perfectly worn in, exceptionally comfortable. He could work in it for hours. If he still had a port.
Port chairs were out, though. Portia had made that clear in their first meeting. Asking her again would likely just make her mad. Working quickly, unnerved by her presence, he compiled a list of possible chairs and a couple of desks that would work. “I emailed you the equipment list and pieces that the company probably already has, either in one of the computer rooms or in surplus.” Would she balk at being forced to choose his furniture or was that the level of micromanaging she wanted?
The soft chime from her computer let him know it had arrived. Ash looked up to meet her gaze.
She gave nothing away. “Very well. I’ll review and ensure you get a more suitable desk. We need to get to work.” Her smile was sharp and cold.
Ash shivered, thankful when she returned to her desk.
Chapter10
Ash showedup to visit Hope after hours. He’d made it through his cybersecurity shift—it looked like he would be doing double duty while working for Portia—and all he wanted was to see his baby sister. A visit would ground him. Remind him why he was taking all these risks.
Apparently, Portia had kept her word. They frowned a little and reminded him about visiting hours, but no one stopped him when he walked down the hallway that led to Hope’s room.
He stopped outside her door and took a deep breath. He loved his sister, but every visit was so damn painful. The girl in his memories was vibrant and alive. The girl in the hospital bed... was not. Five years in a coma hadn’t been kind.
Mentally preparing himself to see her took longer each visit. Gluing the pieces of his heart back together after each visit was harder and harder.
Ash had decided a long time ago to keep things cheerful for her—not that he always succeeded. The doctors had told him that she could hear everything he said. If she could hear him, he didn’t want to be sad or angry.
He pasted on a smile and pushed open the door. The door closed quietly behind him and he dragged a chair to the side of her bed. The beeps of the machinery surrounding her provided the soundtrack to these visits. A melody as comforting as it was painful.
His heart ached seeing his little sister so still. She’d been a lively eighteen the night that everything had gone to hell. Lack of movement and the hospital’s carefully controlled nutrition had removed her curves, turning her thin and bony, her muscles slack with disuse.
Ash pressed the knuckles against his eyes, preventing the tears from escaping. He wanted his sister back. Back from the Tremaines. Back from the living nightmare of this coma.
He gently took Hope’s too-thin hand.
“Hi, Hope. I miss you.” He leaned close. Every visit began the same way: letting her know he was here, telling her that he loved her. After that, it was pretty much whatever was on his mind.
“A lot’s happened since I last saw you.” He’d kept her up to date with what had happened at Tremaine Corporation, careful to omit his role.
“I met Portia Tremaine,” he said. “She’s as terrifying as she looks on screen. She wants my help to catch whoever helped her father’s assistant try to bring the company down. But she won’t give me access to my port, which sucks.”
It was a struggle to keep his conversations light and high-level, but Ash suspected that the company recorded his visits. He would, in their place. Telling Hope about his role in the bombing would be idiotic.
“I met a girl.”
Holy. Shit.
He hadn’t intended to tell Hope about meeting the new Jack, but it felt right.
“A woman, really. She’s pretty amazing, and I don’t even know her name.”
It had always been easy to talk to Hope. Now was no different. “She owns her own business and is well-respected in her field.” And feared, but he didn’t want to make it easy for the Tremaine Corporation to identify her.
“She’s hot, too.” He blushed admitting that to his sister. “And a badass.”
