The Jack was the kind of woman you lost your soul to.
Ash shook his head and banished that daydream. That was the problem. He’d already sold his soul to the Tremaine Corporation. If even the tiniest bit of it was salvageable... well, that part belonged to Hope.
“Ready for those drinks?” Mendez ambled over when Ash logged off.
Ash shook his head. “Can’t. Something came up,” he said. He’d received an email an hour ago demanding his presence in the executive suite. Not wanting to draw unwanted attention to his arrangement with Portia, he’d ignored it in order to finish his shift.
Of course, Mendez took that as an invitation to give him more shit. “Ooh, is it your hot lady friend?”
More like the Ice Queen. “I wish. A work thing.”
“Shit. What’s wrong? Something happen on shift?” Now he looked alarmed, the opposite of what Ash had wanted.
“No. It’s probably nothing.” Trying to lighten the mood, he added, “I probably screwed something up.”
Mendez put his hand on Ash’s shoulder and applied pressure until he looked at him. “Don’t even joke about that. I’ve seen what they’ve done to hackers who screw up.” He shuddered. “It’s not pretty.”
Ash already knew that. He’d screwed up once and those memories haunted him. The punishment hadn’t been physical. Security had explained in excruciating detail what would happen to Hope if he stepped out of line again.
“Maybe it’s gotten better under Tremaine’s daughter?” Ash aimed for a super casual tone.
“I haven’t heard anything,” Mendez said. “You gotta wonder, is nothing happening or is it so bad no one can talk about it?”
Ash grimaced. He’d had those same thoughts even before he’d been called into Portia’s office. “Well, that courier sure hasn’t disappeared. Maybe that’s a good sign.”
Mendez sputtered a laugh. “Shit. She’s banging that investor. I’d bang him too if I thought it would save me from the wrath of Portia Tremaine.”
Ash stared at him for a second then burst out laughing. He was gasping for air by the time he got it under control. “Damn. I didn’t peg you for a romantic, Mendez.”
“I call them like I see ’em,” he said, even as he flipped Ash off again.
The newsies were selling Dizzie and Killian as the love story of the century. Every damn broadcast was full of comparisons to the great love stories—Romeo and Juliet, Bogey and Bacall, Buffy and Spike.
Ash didn’t know what part of the reporting was true and what wasn’t, but it sounded like one hell of a fairy tale. The kind that made you wish you believed in happy-ever-afters. Stupid fools.
Mendez had a funny look on his face. Ash had missed something. “What?”
“You all right? You spaced out for a minute there.”
“Yeah, fine. Just, you know, late nights.”
“You dog!” Mendez bumped his shoulder.
Ash didn’t have a chance to respond. The doors to the room flew open and a pair of Tremaine Security guards stepped through.
“Ash Cutter. You need to come with us.”
Next to him, Mendez stiffened.
“What’s the problem?” Ash asked, trying to keep his cool.
The guard shrugged. “Ms. Tremaine wants to see you.”
The entire room gasped. Ash hoped it was about the super-secret project she’d assigned him, the one he couldn’t tell anybody about. No wonder everyone thought he was in trouble.
Ash consciously steeled his spine. “Ready when you are.” He injected as much I’m-not-worried into his voice as he could.
He had to believe it was only because he’d ignored her summons. Anything else... he swallowed hard. Anything else would be catastrophic.
