When they were alone in her office, there were no secrets in her brown eyes. Only anger.
Lots and lots of anger.
It probably made him an asshole, but she was hot as hell.
He wasn’t stupid enough to say so out loud. The woman held his future in his hands. He watched her carefully.
“What the fuck were you thinking, starting a fight in my bar?” Even her raspy voice fit the image of a vengeful goddess, the kind you saw in comic books and vids and great tattoos.
He swallowed hard but met her gaze steadily. “He insulted my sister.”
Holding her gaze was harder than he expected, she was that pissed. Last night, he’d wondered how she gained and held the title of the Jack.
Now he understood.
“I don’t fucking care if he was talking shit about your mother. You come to me asking for a favor, and you fucking brawl in my business? Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kick your ass out now and ban you from the bar.”
“I gave you several hundred reasons yesterday.” He stepped closer.
Outrage flared in her eyes when he invaded her space. Outrage, anger, and a hint of something that might be attraction, but that couldn’t be right. Could it? Because he was pretty sure the same emotion was mirrored in his eyes.
She snorted. “Oh no. I earned those credits listening to your sob story. I don’t owe you anything else.”
She didn’t back down, not physically. Despite the blazing tension between them, Ash could tell the instant she disengaged.
Fuck! He’d blown his chance.
She confirmed it seconds later. “Get out, Mr. Cutter. And don’t bother coming back tomorrow night.”
Chapter13
Ash enteredTremaine headquarters on autopilot. He acknowledged other employees he knew, but his mind was elsewhere.
He’d fucked up. Big time. Now he had to figure out how to fix it.
The first thing he needed was information, and there was only one place in the building where he could find what he needed.
Instead of taking the route that would lead to his room, he took a familiar, circuitous detour. After traversing several floors and dark corridors, Ash stood in front of an active but forgotten computer tucked away in the heart of the building.
He’d discovered it early on, after his escape attempt had ended with him confined to the building. Exploring every inch of Tremaine headquarters, he’d met countless people and, one day, he’d encountered a computer terminal no one used. Forgotten but not decommissioned, he’d never have looked twice at it if he’d still had his port. Over the years, he’d dug deeper and deeper into the Tremaine system.
Into Tremaine secrets.
Unease skittered down his back. The last time he’d retrieved information from this terminal... Well, nothing good had come of it. Though he had been able to help Dizzie when he used it to hack into a satellite.
Was this a good idea?He shifted on his feet and stared at the terminal.
Probably not. But he couldn’t think of anything else to do. Or of anyone else who could help him.
Shrugging off the indecision, he laced his fingers together and stretched his arms overhead. Releasing the stretch, he wiggled his fingers. He needed to be loose for this.
Loose and fast.
He never dared stay too long in the system. Too much time would be dangerous for him and his sister.
As ready as he could be, Ash laid his hands on the keyboard... and had no idea where to start. Normally he spent his time rummaging through hidden secrets of the Tremaine system. Or skimming money off the top of rich guys’ accounts and funneling it to untraceable credit chips. But he wasn’t interested in either of those things today.
The Jack. That’s who he really wanted—needed—to know more about. But where to start the search when he only had a title and not a proper name?
