“I believe Harper was targeted. That she was taken not because of whoyouare but because they wanted her for themselves. An unrequited love gone wrong. Someone coming out of the shadows to take what they wanted. Someone who had possibly tried in the past but was rejected by your daughter.”
I had an inkling this was the case; our minds, apparently, work the same way.
“Now, Harper knows who it was. She knows their name, what they look like, and how to get to them for prosecution. The only problem is, she isn’t talking.”
The senator nods again, and I peer back at Theo. He’s relaxed, as if this is something he handles off the cuff daily, rather than the hours and hours of research I’ve had to put into finding this information. Begrudgingly, I feel a sliver of respect creeping in for how he’s been put on the spot and is stepping up.
“We need her to talk,” Theo continues. “She doesn’t have any friends, and she shuts down therapists who try to help her. So, I propose another tactic. Harper needs to return to school to complete her education. I have the perfect setup in mind, with the perfect confidante who’ll get us the information we need. All I’m missing is the go-ahead from you, sir.”
“Harper’s over the age of eighteen. Why do you need my permission?” the senator asks, an eyebrow raised.
“Because I need to put her under a conservatorship, which means all of her freedom will be taken away,” Theo explains.
The senator sits up, spluttering, “Take her freedom away? Hasn’t she had enough done to her? No, I won’t allow it.”
“She won’t have her freedom taken away, Senator, she’ll justthinkit’s been taken. Everyone around her will believe it as well. It’ll be a fake conservatorship so we can place her where we need her until we can get the information.” Theo sits forward, leaning his arms on the table. “This isn’t an ideal situation, I get that, but if Harper wants a normal life without looking over her shoulders constantly, drastic measures need to be taken.”
The senator looks from Theo to me, to Frank, and then back to Theo. “Fine, but I don’t like it.”
“I didn’t expect you to, sir, but this is the best option we have in mind. This will also be on a need-to-know basis. Harper will be kept in the dark as much as you will be so we can keep her as safe as possible. Life is to continue as normal until we get her to talk.”
The senator stands, and we all follow suit. He buttons up his jacket and looks at Theo. “You'd better make sure you get what you need and my daughter doesn’t hate me at the end of this.” He gives one last look to Frank and a tilt of his head before he exits the room, leaving me confused as to where Theo is going with this and whether he’s ever going to tell me.
The door echoes around us as it closes, and I blow out a sigh of relief, which is short-lived when Frank shouts, “What the fuck happened to your face, Blake?”
I turn to look at him, his face a mask of anger, and I don’t blame him. I look like a complete mess.
“Sorry, sir. I had an incident this morning, and it won’t come off,” I reply, cheeks flaring under the green.
As much as I would love to get Theo into trouble, I’m not a snitch. Whatever’s going on between us is just that—between us.
“Make sure you cover it up, Blake. I’m not impressed,” he yells, his face going red with anger, and I nod, feeling two inches tall as hecontinues. “Theo, make sure you give your subordinates the code of conduct, and you”—he turns back to me—"don’t ever step foot into my conference room with no plan in place and a face covered in green… makeup again. Get out of my sight, the pair of you.”
Theo smiles, and I wince at Frank’s tone. This isn’t going well at all, and it’s entirely his fault.
I follow Theo out, and his swagger of confidence does nothing to appease the frantic thoughts swirling in my head shouting that it could have been a lot worse, and I could still get fired. My footsteps are quiet as we step out into the deserted hallway.
The breath is knocked out of me when I’m hauled against the wall, Theo’s hand slamming down above my head and his face inches from mine. “Watch it, firefly. I’ve already warned you once before not to mess with me, and what you did in there? Messing. With. Me.”
His eyes are cold, colder than I’ve ever seen them before, and a shiver settles over me. Theo’s breath is warm on my face as my breathing picks up, the scent of his cologne filling my nose and making my heart flip in my chest.
“You messed with me first, asshole,” I whisper-yell, our faces millimeters apart. “What? You can dish it, but you can’t take it, hmm?” I’m taunting the beast, I know I am, but I can’t help it. He brings out a different side of me when he’s like this—feral and unhinged.
Theo runs his nose up the side of my neck, breathing me in, and I feel like my heart’s about to burst out of my chest. “Oh, I can take it, firefly. Just don’t come crying to me when you lose everything, 'cause you'd best believe that’s where I’m going with this. I want you to suffer. I want you to know what it’s felt like foryearsto hate someone as much as I hate you.”
He draws back, and my eyes dart to his lips. A slight smirk pulls when he sees where my gaze went, and my eyes shoot back up to his.
“Already there,” I sneer, shifting closer. “I’ve hated you from the moment I laid eyes on you. You’ve been nothing but misery in my life.”
“You think you’re better than me?” he taunts, his thigh settling in between my legs and his chest brushing against mine.
“No, just smarter,” I quip, done with him and this conversation.
He growls. “You really like testing my patience, don’t you?”
“Good, now you know how I feel.”
He scoffs. “The last thing I ever want to know is how you feel.”
