“I’on know everything that happened when you left, because they were real discreet about it, but I know Ox was involved in whatever went down. I know that it’s because of him that you shut down on me, and I know it was bad. It had to be for you to feel like you couldn’t come to me with it. For you to feel like I wouldn’t have had your back.”
Feeling terrible for eavesdropping on her man, she quickly tiptoed down the hall until she found his office. Capri was sitting on the window ledge, scrolling through her phone, so Nahla took a seat in one of the chairs in front of Cannon’s desk.
As soon as she sat, Capri started venting about how annoying her brother was for not immediately hiring Mace. According to her, they really needed more staff, and Mace was the best option. Capri seemed to think they could really trust him, and she hated that her brother was so opposed to more manpower.
Nahla listened to her and contributed to the conversation haphazardly, but her mind was really on what she couldn’t help but overhear in the hallway.
Cannon didn’t want to talk about his past, because it was riddled with betrayal from someone he apparently trusted. Her heart ached for him because she knew firsthand how he protected the people he cared about. He didn’t deserve disloyalty. The part of the conversation she heard didn’t give her much, but she was going to tuck the name Ox in the back of her brain and ensure that she was paying full attention the next time she heard it.
Both women’s eyes flew to Cannon the moment he entered the office . . . alone. His jaw was tight, and his eyes were unreadable as he walked over to where Nahla sat and extended a hand toward her. She accepted it and stood, and Cannon surprised her by taking her seat and pulling her down on his lap.
He must have given up trying to keep the developments in their relationship a secret, since Capri had called them out on it. Capri must have been too preoccupied with Mace’s visit to even worry about witnessing their first public display of affection.
“Where is Mace?” Capri asked as Cannon wrapped his arms around Nahla.
Without hesitation, Cannon replied.
“Gone.”
Capri kissed her teeth. In a whining tone, she asked, “Butwhy, Cannon? We could really use him. Especially since you two have been booed up all month. Mace could be undercover, in Lyle, seeing what these people are up to, or?—”
“Cap,” Cannon said calmly. She didn’t let that stop her rant.
“What? Y’all just reunited after forever, and you just sent him away? You’re not?—”
“Cap,” Cannon repeated. This time, his tone held a slight warning.
Capri stopped talking but rolled her eyes hard and folded her arms.
Nahla shifted her body slightly so that she could see Cannon’s face. She wasn’t sure what she expected him to look like after his talk with Mace, but he didn’t look like the man she’d been shacked up with for the last month or so.
Underneath his silence and calm, there was that same heir of lethality that she sensed the day he took down those men in the hotel parking lot. The same danger she sensed in him when he showed up at her home unannounced and turned her world upside down.
“You okay?” she asked in a low tone.
She noticed his eyes soften at her words, and that helped her breathe a little easier. Cannon kissed her lips and nodded.
“I’m good. Let’s work.”
With that, he helped Nahla to her feet then stood and went to sit at his desk. Positioned behind him were two wall-length bookcases with all types of stuff on them—unopened laptops, an array of flashlights, multiple labeled binders, books, cameras, and more.
Nahla watched as he turned toward his shelves and stared. After seconds passed, he grabbed one of the brand-new computers. He removed the device and its attachments from the box. He worked silently to set it up before saying to Nahla, “Let me see your laptop, La.” She went into her bag, retrieved it, and walked it over to him.
He instructed her to open her email account, and as she did so, he pulled a hard drive from his desk drawer and plugged it into the laptop he had just opened. Once Nahla had her email open, Cannon retrieved the encrypted email and downloaded itsattachments to the hard drive. He then removed the hard drive and scooted her computer out of the way.
She watched as he installed the hard drive into his new laptop and opened the attachments. Once he was done, he said, “Aight, this device has no internet or Bluetooth connections and no cloud syncing. Just in case this email is just a trap to gain access to you, we’re protected. This computer is secure and untraceable, so we can safely review the contents of this email on it.
“Okay,” Nahla said.
Capri just rolled her eyes and made her way behind the desk so that she could see too.
Once the attachments were fully downloaded, several folders appeared. Cannon opened up the first one, and they all scanned it. Silently. After a couple of minutes, he turned in his desk chair, causing both women to take a step back. He grabbed two more laptop boxes and got more hard drives.
“What are you doing now?” Capri asked.
“Working,” was all he said. Nahla and Capri just watched as he unpacked each device. He moved methodically and efficiently. It definitely didn’t seem like his first time doing all this.
Within minutes, he had the laptops arranged across his desk.
