Page 32 of Deadly Forever

“I agree, but we have to figure out how,” James said, turning his attention back to Maverick. “Does someone want to explain to me what the boy wonder is doing here?”

“I prefer being Batman to Robin,” Maverick said, never lifting his eyes from the screen. “I’m the hero, not the sidekick.”

“I’m going to kick you in the side if you don’t tell me what’s happening,” James threatened. In truth, he liked the young man despite his personality quirks. Maverick was a lot for any man to take when frustration was threatening to overwhelm him, though.

Maverick made a strange sound as he finally dragged his eyes away from the computer monitor. Instead of focusing on James, though, he beamed when he saw Mandy. For her part, she merely raised her eyebrows as she continued eating her ice cream cone.

“Is that sprinkles?”

Mandy nodded.

“I love sprinkles,” Mavericks said. He was in his early twenties and still lived with his mother so he had a youthful quality that often made Mandy giggle. He was desperate for respect … and a girlfriend … but the realities of a harsh world hadn’t yet made jaded him. She liked that about him. “I wish I was that ice cream cone so you could lick me.”

Of course, he was also a horny kid who desperately needed to get some.

“Don’t make me thump you,” James warned, extending a finger. “We’ve been over this. She’s my wife. That means she’s mine. If your tongue gets anywhere near her, I’m going to cut it off.”

Maverick made an exaggerated “well, duh” face. “You’re such a killjoy, Papa Smurf.”

James scowled. “I don’t even know what that nickname is supposed to mean. Why am I Papa Smurf?”

“Because Smurfs are blue and you’re giving me blue balls by having a hot wife and not letting me spend time with her,” Maverick shot back, seemingly unbothered by James’ warning growl. “As for why I’m here, though, you’ve been hacked.”

James stilled, the need to smack Maverick around warring with the sobering news that someone was trying to breach their security system. “I don’t understand,” he said after a beat. “You said that wasn’t possible.”

“Okay, let me be clearer,” Maverick said. “Someone tried to hack you. They didn’t get any information, but they made it through two layers of firewalls before my system shut them out.”

“How many firewalls are there?” Mandy asked, her eyes wide.

“Eight,” Maverick answered. “I don’t do anything halfway.” He waggled his eyebrows in an attempt to flirt. “That goes for everything I do … which I’m certain you would enjoy if you give me a chance.”

“That did it.” James made to move in Maverick’s direction, mayhem flitting across his face, but Grady stopped him by extending an arm. “Get out of the way! I’m going to kill him. He finally crossed the line.”

“You can’t kill him until he figures out who is trying to hack our system,” Grady countered, his pragmatic side taking over. “He’s the brains of this operation, after all.”

James made a disgusted face. “How sad is that?”

“Very,” Grady said. “As of now, no one got in. We’re trying to figure out who tried to get in and why. We need him to do that.”

“I guess,” James grumbled as he rubbed the back of his head. “Stop flirting with my wife, though. I don’t like it.”

“Then get an uglier wife,” Maverick suggested, blasé.

Mandy smiled as the men returned to their verbal interplay, happily licking her ice cream cone, but her eyes were pulled to the front door of the office when she heard the bell over the door chime. She almost choked on her sprinkles when she recognized the girl standing in the doorway.

“Darcy?”

James jerked his head in that direction. “Well, I wasn’t expecting this.”