“That could be our in. It’s weirdly easy to nab someone in a room full of strangers, if you do it right,” Mac says.
There’s some silence after his revelation, and I consider that. He’d be surrounded by strangers at a launch party—I suppose that’s when it would be the least conspicuous to get close.
“I want to help!” Eleanor says. Mac cuts her a look, and she shrugs at him with one shoulder. “What? You said it was going to be a party. Guess what parties have: caterers. I can totally get in unnoticed.”
Looking suitably proud and impressed with her, a smile splits his face. “Damn right you can, darlin’.”
“I want to help, too,” Nicole says, her voice softer, but no less determined.
Dimitri swallows, looking at her with a scowl that would make me cower. She just lifts a brow and meets him head-on, daring him to say something. Clash of the frickin’ Titans.
“We’ll need all hands on deck,” Wesley says to Dimitri. “We need a team to nab him from the party, someone to question him, a team to go into SmarTech to access the network computer, someone to find and destroy the servers, and addin someone to take care of the extra security they’ll likely have due to the hype and inherent risks…”
“Even with Eleanor and Nicole, that’s… too many someone’s,” I say, watching out of the corner of my eye as Nicole goes to stand with Dimitri and they have some kind of silent exchange. “Just finding the right servers to destroy would take all of us.”
“We need more help,” Wesley realizes, sending me a meaningful look.
Dios,I feel like I’m in the man’s brain. I love it here.
“I’ll text Tío Felix. He promised to help,” I say, mostly for Dimitri’s benefit, who seems to tense up anytime mytío’sname comes up. “He wants the General gone just as much as we do.”
Wesley smiles at me, eyes shining with hope. “We can do this,” he says, and it’s an assurance that everyone takes to heart, but I know he meant that just for me. Him and me.Wedid it. Not to minimize what will likely be a bitch of a planning session as we hash out the logistics of finding the Gener-AI program and destroying it before it gets out, but we’ve done the hard part. We solved the puzzle. We’re halfway there.
I chew on my lip, squirming in my seat against a strong, sudden pulsing and pounding between my legs. We’re so close, I can feel it.
And now I’ve got an itch to scratch.
I lock in on Wesley, biting my lip. I’m so horny, I can feel my nipples pebbling against the loose material of my dress. Something about solving the puzzle with the man I love… When I look down, I realize I can see the outline of his dick in his pants, and I swallow the sudden wave of heat. He’s getting hard, too.
“Okay, everyone out,” I say. I feel the curiosity as everyone turns to look at me again.
Fuck. I can’t wait another minute. I start reaching for the hem of my dress, eyes hot on my man. “I mean, I guess you can stay if you want—but if you stay, you play. No spectators.”
Eleanor’s giggle cuts through the shocked silence.
Wesley’s eyes flash. “Everyone out!” he roars, reaching for me.
41
Wesley
A truce that comes with snacks
Madison’s eyes narrow when she sees the black bag in my hand. “You’re heading out to the meeting with Felix?” she asks, knowing the answer before I nod in confirmation. She moves into the open doorway, blocking my path with all five feet nothing of her, arms crossed and toe tapping in irritation. “If you think you’re going anywhere without me, you are coo-coo for Cocoa Puffs because he’smyTío, and I was the one who set up this meeting—”
I close the space between us, looming over her, and she cuts herself short when I circle her throat with my hand. “Shut up and get in the van,traviesita,” I jerk my chin towards the vehicle in the driveway behind her.“I’ll brief you on the way.”
Her grin turns into a laugh that bobs against my palm. I tighten my fingers, holding her still as I lean down to brush my lips over hers.
“Are you guys gonna rip your clothes off and have crazy hot nerd sex all over your laptops again?” Mac asks dryly behind me. We’re blocking his path.
“How dare you?” Madison shoots back. “I’d never have sex on a laptop. That’s how you get an STV.”
His brows snap down, not getting the joke.
I bark a laugh. “Sexually transmitted virus.”
Madison joins my laughter, and Mac shakes his head as he squeezes past us, muttering about how we’ve got a secret language. He’s halfway to the van when he stops and hoots into the air. “Oh! Like a computer virus! Ha! Good one, Mads.”
