My brain can never shut the hell up, so my mind immediately says that the only real way to keep her safe is to keep her by my side. My cock chimes in with anor beneath meand that’s when I force myself to get up. Staring at the brick exterior of the English department for the next hour and a half is not the best use of my time. After a long, hot shower and a mug of coffee, I sit back down and get to work.
My dad is a hacker in our family’s Bratva, and where my older brother took after our mom with the musical talent, I took after our dad and fell in love with computers. They’ve always made sense to me, even when I wished they didn’t. Some things you can’t unsee, and the more you dig around, the more you find. Before my cousins and I were born, our dads spent two years trying to find our Aunt Alina. She’d been kidnapped and kept prisoner by a nasty son of a bitch. My dad used his skills to infiltrate one of their auctions. My mom was up for sale, and as soon as he saw her he fell hard and made damn sure he was the one who bought her that night. A few years ago I found my dad’s files, and the images will haunt me till the day I die.
After I saw the photos of my mom, the ones where she’s obviously drugged and scared to death, I couldn’t let it go, soI kept digging. The dark web is rife with the worst kinds of assholes, and, no surprise to anyone, sex trafficking is a huge market that thrives in the dark. I know it’s not our Bratva’s concern. I know we have our own shit to deal with, but I can’t seem to be able to shut my computer off and walk away, not when I’m in the position to do something to stop it. No one in my family knows about my secret projects, about the rings I’ve found, the anonymous tips I’ve given to the FBI, or the number of women I’ve been able to help. I don’t want anyone to know, and I cover my tracks so no one ever will. It’s safer this way. If I ever do fuck up, it’ll be my ass on the line and no one else’s.
While I wait for Savanna’s class to end, I work on tracking a guy who’s been eluding me for weeks. He’s clever, always erasing his tracks, but I know there will be a time when he’ll fuck up, and when he does, I’ll be waiting. I already have a large file with more than enough proof to put him in prison for the rest of his life. As soon as I have his real identity and physical location, I’ll be sending it to Agent Jackson. He heads up the human trafficking task force, and I’m guessing my emails both infuriate and intrigue him. There’s no clean way for him to track me, and I know it must drive him crazy, but I did enough research on him to know that at the end of the day he won’t give a fuck. He wants to take these bastards down as much as I do, and he’ll do it any way he can.
No matter how many emails I send him, it never feels like enough, but at least it’s something. Even saving just one person makes it worth the sleepless nights and the images that haunt me when I do manage to fall asleep.
When exactly ninety minutes have passed, all my attention goes back to the large monitor on my right. The other two screens I use are still filled with shit I’d rather not think about, and when I see Savanna exit the large building, she’s the exact distraction I’m in need of.
“Careful,” I whisper when I see her look down, not noticing the guy headed right towards her. They collide, and my jaw tenses when I see him reach out and grab onto her arm. I’m not mad that he keeps her from falling. I’m mad that he lets the touch linger for far longer than necessary as he smiles down at her.
“Keep walking, dickhead,” I tell him, even though I know he can’t hear me. Savanna looks up and smiles. When I don’t see her dimple, the tension in my shoulders relaxes a little. She’s not giving him her full smile. It’s her polite one, the one she uses on guys who don’t interest her.
My own mouth breaks out into a relieved smile. Savanna and I first met when Sasha tricked me into meeting the three of them for supper one night. I saw her again at their wedding, and even though Cindy swears she’s interested in me, I have a hard time believing it. Savanna is the kind of gorgeous that’s intimidating, but if that’s all it was, I could get over it. I could put aside my shyness and desire to stay in the background and ask her out, but she’s so much more than that. She’s brilliant and funny and sweet and the kind of woman who’s as comfortable in a pair of sweats as she is in a bridesmaid’s dress and heels. In other words, she’s perfect and far too good for me.
That doesn’t mean I want some dickhole pawing at her, though. I may not feel worthy of her, and I might be dragging my feet as far as seeing her again, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want her. It doesn’t mean I don’t already consider her mine.
“That’s right, baby. Keep walking,” I say to the screen, watching as she gives the guy a friendly wave and then turns her back and jogs down the sidewalk towards her next class.
Keeping her in sight, I pull up another camera, making sure the guy keeps walking. He gives one last look at my girl, and then shakes his head in defeat and starts walking in the opposite direction. I stop spying on him when I see him smile at anothergirl, his interest clearly already on someone else. Convinced he’s not a threat, I close the screen and maximize the one that’s showing Savanna.
The rest of my day is spent following this same routine. Me tracking her movements from camera to camera as she goes to her lectures and then working on my own stuff while she’s in class. Unbeknownst to her, we have lunch together, just like we do every day. I grin and enjoy my sandwich while watching her wolf down two slices of pizza from a small kiosk on campus. Then it’s back to class for her and back to work for me.
She’d probably get a good laugh out of how much I enjoy our days together. I’m watching her walk back to her sorority house when my phone vibrates and I see Damien’s name on my screen. The text is quick, nothing but a cheeseburger emoji and a question mark. Damien’s always found ways around his dyslexia, and it never ceases to amaze me at how inventive he can be. He thinks his brain is defective. I think he’s a goddamn genius. I respond with a thumbs up, the number one, and the hourglass emoji, letting him know I can meet him in an hour for supper. After he gives me a thumbs up, I set my phone aside and watch Savanna disappear into her sorority house.
I really need to sneak in there one night and set up a few more cameras. I’ve been reluctant to do it for obvious reasons. Getting caught sneaking into a sorority house to install hidden cameras is not a good look. I could get my ass out of it, but I’m not sure I’d ever be able to convince Savanna I’m not a perv who was just trying to see her naked. For the record, I really do want to see her naked, but I would never spy on her to do it. I’d much prefer if she willingly undresses in front of me.
Since it’s Monday, I stand up and stretch, knowing she won’t be leaving again tonight. Her study group meets at the Kappa house, and they always have Chinese delivered, so she won’t be leaving again until her class tomorrow morning at ten. Feelingconfident she’ll be safe, I leave my room and head down the hall to the home gym I set up. Wanting my own space, I’d moved out of my parents’ penthouse apartment, but I hadn’t gone far. My apartment is one floor below them, but it still gives me the freedom I’d been looking for. Stealing the money to buy the place had been so easy it almost made me feel guilty.
Almost.
I’m still grinning at the memory when I step on the treadmill that’s facing the floor-to-ceiling windows, giving me an amazing view of the city as I start my run. I push myself hard, because my job requires me to sit on my ass for long periods of time, and if I don’t have a physical outlet, I start to go a little crazy. After a grueling four miles, I force myself to sprint another half mile before allowing myself to call it quits. Sweat covers me and I have to towel off so I don’t drip all over the place as I grab a bottle of water and head for my shower.
By the time I pull my bike into the diner’s parking lot, I’m clean and starving. I park next to Damien’s motorcycle before pulling off my helmet and walking inside. We found this place about six months ago. We’d just finished handling a problem with one of our suppliers. Both of us had been pumped full of adrenaline, and after wiping off the blood, we’d decided we needed something to eat. This was the closest place we could find that was still open, and I can still remember exactly how good that cheeseburger had tasted. We’ve been coming here ever since.
Stepping inside, I’m greeted by the mouthwatering scent of very unhealthy food. This isn’t the kind of place you come to for a salad and veggie burger. Sasha’s wife would be appalled. I don’t know how she manages to remain a vegetarian when bacon exists. She has way more willpower than I do.
I spot Damien at our usual booth in the corner and quickly make my way over to him. The menu on the table is still folded,but even if his brain could untangle the very tiny script, it would be unnecessary. I read him the menu once, and that’s all it takes with him. His memory is impressive, and he usually only needs to hear something once before it’s locked in.
The worn, leather messenger bag I always carry around with me because I can’t tolerate being separated from my computer is slung across my chest, and I pull it off and set it down on the bench seat before scooting in after it. My fingers brush the soft leather bag—a long-ingrained habit that I’m guessing I’ll have for life.
As soon as I’m sitting, he grins and asks, “Did Savanna have a good day?”
I ignore my own menu and say, “She did, yeah. She was smiling when she left her educational psychology class, so I’m guessing her test went well.” I can’t help but grin, because as crazy as it sounds, I’m damn proud of my girl.
Damien grins. “Maybe one day you can let her know that you’ve been watching her nonstop for weeks.”
“Yeah, I’m sure she’d love that,” I say right as the waitress comes over to take our orders. We’ve seen her here before, and I can tell by the blush on her cheeks that she recognizes us. My family usually draws attention when out. Aside from our cousin Evgeny, who has to hide his tattoos under his clothes so he can fit in at the university as he studies to become a lawyer, we’re all very tatted up. Thanks to a bet I lost with our cousin Mia, I’m also sporting a nose ring that I’ve surprisingly grown to like and decided to keep.
Damien and I both order bacon double cheeseburgers with fries and Cokes, and when neither one of us makes any attempt to flirt, she tries to hide her disappointment as she takes the menus and leaves.
“So?” Damien asks, picking right back up where he’d left off. “You going to tell her one day?”
“I think the fact that I’m even doing it is sad enough. I’m not so sure I want to admit it out loud in front of her.”
Damien shrugs a shoulder and leans back. “She seemed pretty into you at the wedding. I’m not so sure she’d mind.”
