“Donottell me what to do,” I spat through clenched teeth, skirting around his outstretched hand to pace the room. “You lied?—”
“I didn’t,” he interrupted. “I embellished the truth, but I did not lie to you about my name. As horrible as this sounds, I had to protect myself.”
“From me?”
“From everyone.” He sighed, gesturing toward the conference table. “Give me five minutes, Waverly. You owe me after sneaking out of my bed.”
In Curaçao, my feelings for him developed so quicklythey overwhelmed me. Rather than face the fact I was falling for a virtual stranger, I ran. He may very well deserve an explanation for my abrupt exit, but there was something I needed more, despite my current pissed-off state. Answers. I’d never have closure without them.
The chair scraped along the floor as I pulled it out, dropping down in it with a huff. He took the one across from me, looking just as delicious as he did the night of our first date, except this time his tattooed arm was hidden underneath a long-sleeved, charcoal shirt.
“Shit, okay.” He tore his fingers through his dark locks, looking nervous for the first time since I stepped in the room. “First, let me give you some background information. I started Lachlan Industries in the basement of my childhood home when I was seventeen years old. It was supposed to be a way out from under my father’s thumb—and it was––but then it became much more than I ever imagined. Within two years, I made my first million. After that, everything sort of spiraled out of control.”
From the minute I spied the TAG Heuer watch adorning Kier’s wrist on the island, I knew his bank account had girth. Normally, it would’ve been a huge strike against him, considering the way my own family used their wealth as a get-out-of-jail-free card. But he’d been different. Other than our over-the-top first date, he didn’t throw cash around or use it to his advantage.
“My little start-up company exploded on the technology scene, developing mainly gaming software at first, until Sloane convinced me to spread our wings into robotics. We have offices in Ireland, London, and New York, but the back-and-forth was killing me, so I decided to move our main office to the States.”
“Can we skip to the part where you tell me why you’re here, Finn?Specifically, why did you convince my boss to set up this meeting?”
“Damn, that sounded good.” He hurried to clarify when I frowned. “Hearing my name on your lips.”
“Focus, O’Lachlan.” I snapped my fingers. “What do you want from me?”
“I want it all, Waverly, but that’ll have to wait until you trust me again. For now, I’ll settle for your help.”
Ignoring the first part of his declaration, I focused on the second. “Why would a tech company need the FBI?”
“Two years ago, we teamed up with a group of industry-leading engineers, orthopedic and neurosurgeons to work on developing the first fully brain-controlled prosthetic limbs for amputees.”
“Holy shit. That’s incredible.”
“Our technology has the potential to make a real difference for tens of thousands of people, maybe more. We’re in the beginning stages of testing the technology on actual people instead of computer models, which brings me to why I’m here. My head of security alerted me to a significant uptick in attacks against our computers' firewalls. I didn’t think much of it until the threats started.”
My body stiffened. “Threats?”
He rubbed a hand over his eyes. “Pictures of me, pictures of Sloane and the kids; all with a red X drawn over our faces.”
“When did this start happening?”
“Three weeks ago.”
Betrayal ran through my veins like an icy river. The pain of it slashing through my chest, like the sharp edge of a thousand knives slicing my skin all at once. I was bleeding out andfuckdid it hurt.
“You knew.”
“Knew what? What the hell are you talking about?”
“You played me.”
Pushing back from the table, I stood, ready to make my escape for the second time, but before I could make it to the door, his arms wound around my waist from behind, pulling me tight against his hard body.
“Not this time, Waverly.” He grunted when my Jimmy Choo’s connected with his shin. “You’re not running from me again. Settle down and tell me how you think I played you.”
“You knew I was a federal agent when you approached me on the beach, didn’t you? Jesus, were you even there on vacation?” I panted.
“Is that what you think?”
“Why else would you keep your identity a secret?”
