By the time we settled in the five-star hotel, I had turned into a hangry ogre. It was such a deep-rooted hunger that even my own breathing annoyed me. I felt terrible for the poor gentleman who delivered my room service. I imagined I looked like a crazed psycho with how I took the tray and threw a cash tip at him before slamming the door.
Kaden had offered to stop and order food on the way to the hotel; however, at that point I just wanted to get out of the same space that he was in. His presence alone seemed to take all the oxygen out of the room and increase the temperature.
I hated the effect this man had on me. I was here for a reason. I just needed to stay focused. Kaden Romano may be breathtakingly beautiful with his tall, muscular frame and beautiful brown eyes, and a cock that I was certain had to be the size of an eggplant…
Dammit, Evelyn, focus! He works for the enemy. Kade plus me equals no way!
But I couldn’t help but hear the little voicein my head that told me I should get him out of my system.What’s wrong with sleeping with the enemy?
I knew that sleeping with him was a no-good, terrible, awful idea.
After eating as much food as my body could possibly hold and taking a shower, I finally felt like a normal human again. I let my team know that I had landed, which resulted in a video call with Badger, who proceeded to drill me with questions about Kade.
When I asked her how her classes went, her face turned pink. I tried to get her to explain, but all she would say was that there was a locker incident that she wanted to forget. And that she accidentally saw a client’s manhood. She refused to tell me who and refused to give me more details. I made a mental note to get it out of her eventually.
After hanging up with her, I finished my nightly routine and fell asleep to reruns of New Girl. Tomorrow would be one of the best days of my hacker life.
DEFCON, here I come!
I stood still in the lobby that connected to the crowded entry way of the conference. This had always been a dream of mine. DEFCON was a hacker’s Christmas. I would be surrounded by like-minded people who loved all things tech. It was the first time in I didn't know how long that I felt at home. The irony had not escaped me, being undercover and lying about my identity, but the core of my being felt at peace. Here, I could enjoy just being my geeky self instead of the girl who always felt like she didn’t belong.
I met Kade in the lobby of the hotel. He looked scrumptiousas per usual with a custom black suit paired with obviously expensive black dress shoes. I had opted for a simple black dress with black heels. I put my hair up into a twisted bun at the nape of my neck making me come off as professional but not overly done. If one didn’t know better, they would think we’d coordinated our outfits. Kade’s normally cool demeanor diminished for the briefest of moments when he took me in. His eyes darkened as his nostrils flared. The reaction was so quick I would have thought I was imagining it if had I not noticed the slight bulge in his trousers.
“Morning, Ms. Mowers.” He gave me a small smile and extended his arm out, instructing me to start walking.
“I thought I told you to call me Evelyn.” I rolled my eyes.
“Maybe I just like seeing you get riled up.”
I scoffed in response. “So does this mean I should call you sir or master?”
His eyes seemed like they would bug out of his sockets at my comment. Two could play this game. Two points for Evelyn and zero for Kade. I sashayed my hips while I walked in front of him, letting him get a good view of how the dress fit my curves.
After getting my name tag, I felt the heat from Kade’s chest on my back.
“Only good girls get to call me those names,” he whispered into my ear. His breath sent shivers down my spine.Touché, sir.
“G-man, what’s going on?” a tall blonde called out as he approached before I could give a comeback.
I was shocked to see the man embrace Kade in a bro-hug.
“Hey Kev, good to see you, man.” The smile that took over Kade’s face was breathtaking. Gone was the level-headed, stern CEO, and mafia Don, replaced with a light-hearted young man.
They exchanged some small talk before Kade motioned to me. “Evelyn, this is Kevin Stevenson. Head of cyber security and analytics at Gill Tech.”
I shook the man’s hand. “Pleasure to meet you.”
“Kev, this is Evelyn Mowers. Our newest member of the Hive. She is our Cyber Analytics and Hacking Specialist.”
Kevin gave me a little bow. “Nice to meet you as well, Ms. Mowers. I hope Ghost-Man over here isn’t giving you too much trouble.”
I schooled my expression, careful not to react outwardly, though I was screaming on the inside. Our intel before this mission clearly was not as detailed as it should have been. There had been some record that “Ghost” worked for RSS; however, the identity of who wasn’t provided. And now I knew. Kade was Ghost. The same Ghost that had been a constant pain my ass since I was a teenager.
Although Machine went by his nickname, Kade always asked to be called by his first or last name. I wondered why he didn’t use his nickname. Ghost was world-known. It was evident that the tech gurus here knew who he was. This interaction solidified that keeping my identity secret was even more crucial than before.
“No trouble.” I smiled as I tried to keep my answers short. I didn’t want to say the wrong thing.
Kevin must have picked up my social cue and resumed his conversation with Kade or, should I say, Ghost.
