We got Liv out of there just in time, it seemed like. She wasbarely conscious when we found her. A real fucking mess. We threw some loose black pants and a black hoodie on her swiftly, and Luke cradled her against his chest. The way he looked at her as if the world had cracked in two and left him beaten and broken got to me. I haven’t seen my brother look that broken in a long time. His pain pushed me to get us moving, get us out to safety. I may not care much about pink-haired bimbo, but it seems he does. And if she’s important to him, she’s important to me. No one even batted an eye as we carried a mostly unconscious girl out of a casino.Fucking bystanders. She started to become slightly more lucid as we drove home, at least enough so to walk with some assistance into the house. We all huddled on my couches; Celeste and Ali made everyone tea, and Ali started to explain what happened on her end. Which is why I’m currently loosing my fucking shit.
Picking up some glass statue that’s supposed to be an abstract figure or some shit, I hurl it at the wall. It shatters with a crash that slams through the silence of the room. Glass explodes, covering the wooden floor in shimmering shards.
“He dared touch what is mine!” I understand logically that this was the plan that I agreed to, but it doesn’t soothe the fire coiling inside me. “Ali is mine. I spent too long, waited patiently, paid the price to have her, and he thinks he can just fucking tou—”
“My love.” Ali’s smooth voice stops my rampage.
Her small hands land on my shoulder, pulling me into her. I tense immediately in her arms, still fueled by anger. But as she holds me to her body, I relent. My muscles relax and my fists unclench. Her scent—sugar tipped roses invade my senses and instantly calms me.
She’s here. She’s safe. She’s mine.
I sag into her embrace. The fact that she’d want to comfort me gives me a sense of perverse satisfaction—I’ve completelyensnared her. And now, I’m never letting her go. Not even in death.
“He thought Brody had sent me,” she whispers in my ear as her fingernails rake up and down my back hypnotically.
“Brody?” I ask, pulling back slightly to stare down at her.
She nods in agreement. “He told me to tell Brody not to send spies and that he was doing the best he could to hack your security system and get the evidence they need.”
I stare down at her blankly for a moment, processing what she said. Usually, my mind works methodically, black and white, point A to point B. Right now, it’s reeling.
“They’re trying to hack me to get evidence…” My eyes flick to meet Luke’s across the room. His dark eyes thin. He’s also thinking we can use this. “So, what if we leave them evidence to find?”
A slow smile spreads across my face as the idea fully forms. It should be simple enough.
“You’re amazing,” I growl as I grab the back of Ali’s neck and pull her into me. She lets out a small surprised gasp as our lips meet. I hungrily devour her, fueled with excitement of my forming plan.
Without another beat, I’m spinning on my heels and running up the stairs. Taking two at a time, I thunder toward my now unlocked office.
“Garett!” Luke roars as his feet follow my own upstairs.
I’m on the keyboards before he can reach me. Deleting, moving, shifting, reworking—putting everything in place. The smile across my face is that of a maniac, I’m certain. It reflects back at me through the glare of the screens in front of me, but I can’t seem to rein it in.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Luke asks as he comes to stand in the doorway. In my periphery, I see the girls beginning to make their way through the house as well on one of themonitors showing the house.
I have cameras, eyes, everywhere.
“Leaving Will the evidence he’s looking for in a place his cheap ass hackers can find it,” I mumble back at Luke as my fingers fly across the keyboard.
“Luke?” Celeste’s soft tone floats through the room.
“Explain,” Luke demands of me.
I can feel them all clustering around the doorway behind me, their eyes watching. I don’t like it. I prefer to be left alone in the shadows. Except with her—my Beauty. Her eyes on me are all I ever crave.
“I’m deleting all evidence of Celeste from anything, anywhere, involving us. Permanent delete. All feeds, all files, all geolocation data, everything—”
“You haven’t done that yet?!” Luke is annoyed. I know I should have but I’ve been busy. Stalking is a full-time job.
“And replacing it with,” I ignore him and continue explaining, “evidence that will lead to Brody. Rerouting security feeds to his IP; pictures of them in the club—“”
“Brody? The club?” Celeste asks as if she’s just now catching up.
Fuck, this girl and her cluelessness has me rolling my eyes in annoyance.
“Brody is Will’s friend that you two were dancing with at the club before Garett stepped in,” Luke explains.
“You mean when he threatened and used me?” Celeste snarks.
