In Max.
In me.
And I fucking hate it.
Because the moment your mother sees something, it stops being hypothetical. It stops being contained and becomes real.
And the moment it becomes real, it becomes mine to lose.
The Ass Hat Trying to Creep Through My Back Door
Max
It’s two in the morning when my work phone shrieks to life, ripping me out of the deepest sleep I’ve had since landing in Canada.
Possibly ever.
For half a second, I’m convinced I’m dreaming. That alarm only goes off when something is seriously wrong. Something must be going on with the servers at work and the alarm is telling me that ignoring it isn’t an option.
Especially when I’m the only one who has proper access to fix it.
My eyes snap open as I scramble across the bed, pulse pounding. Eli is awake beside me just as fast, his body going rigid, every line of him suddenly on.
“What the hell—” he asks, pushing upright. “Should I be grabbing a fire extinguisher…or a weapon?”
But I do love how this man snaps into protective mode so easily.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, panicking. “I didn’t realize I had my phone in here with me.”
“That thing sounds like the world’s ending,” he says, rubbing a hand down his face, eyes still heavy with sleep.
“I know, I know—I just need to—” I fumble blindly, finally spotting my phone on the nightstand. The screen is lit up in angry red.
FULL SYSTEM ALERT.
Not a glitch. Not a test.
Adrenaline hits me so hard I’m wide awake. I jump up fast, blankets twisting around my legs as I swipe the screen.
“You can’t leave it until morning? Hand it off to someone, I don’t know, in the same country?”
“Oh no,” I breathe. “No, no, no.”
“What?” Eli asks. “You can’t leave it until morning or you can’t hand it off to anyone.”
“No one can handle this but me” I say, swinging my legs out of bed. “It’s my servers at work and someone’s trying to get in.”
“Max, it’s two in the morning,” he says carefully, like maybe I’ve lost my mind.
“That’s when they try most. When they assume we’re not paying attention.” I snap. “I’ve gotta handle this.”
I don’t wait for a response. I grab my phone and bolt for one of Eli’s other guest rooms I turned into a temporary workspace the second I arrived. My laptop is already open on the desk, charger plugged in, waiting for the next emergency.
Eli follows. Watching me drop into the chair and wake the screen.
The dashboard loads and my stomach drops.
“Oh, absolutely not! Who the hell is out here trying to touch my servers like this? Who is this ass hat trying to creep in through my back door!”
