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“Damn it, Tara,” he said, tugging on his hair. “You have no idea what you’ve started with your actions.”
She canted her head. “You seem tense.”
He frowned at her. “That’s because I am tense.”
Because of her.
“I can see that.” She reached out to touch his face, but he jerked away. “When’s the last time you—”
“Stop it. Stop acting like you care about when I last laughed or went to a movie,” he said, his tone leaving no room for argument. “I’m fine.”
She shrugged, but otherwise ignored him.
“Let’s focus on what really matters. Soltese is pissed that you got past my security measures. If we don’t fix it and make his house impenetrable, he’ll leave the company. And take all his high-profile buddies with him,” he said.
She laughed. “I fail to see how this is my problem.”
She took a step to the left, and he mirrored her in case she ran for it. He couldn’t run fast ever since the IED explosion that had nearly killed him, but he could damn well keep her where he wanted. “Oh, did I fail to mention he’ll also be pressing charges against you if we don’t fix this?”
“How would he know who I am?”
“How do you think?” He caught her arm, his grip firm. “We’ve had every single high-tech person we can possibly think of try to get past the security system I set up. Everyone has failed. Everyone except you.”
She pursed her lips. They’d never been so damn kissable. “So what? I can’t help it that I’m smarter than the average thief,” she said.
“You’re going to help me figure out what went wrong. You’re going to tell me what you did to get past my system—then help me prevent it from happening again.” He let go of her. “In doing so, you’ll be freed of all charges, and you won’t go to jail.”
“Fuck you.”
He scoffed. “Wow. Big-girl words. The Tara I knew wouldn’t have said that.”
“The Tara you knew grew up a long time ago.”
“If you’d grown up, you wouldn’t be in this house right now,” he replied.
She stomped her foot. “Who do you think you are, anyway?”
“Tonight? I’m your enemy and your captor.”
She glanced around him. “The same one who protects assholes who kill, devastate, and control the world simply because they have a lot of zeroes in their bank account.”
He snorted. “Yeah? How many zeroes did I see in yours? Seven?”
She shoved his shoulder. He didn’t move. “That’s not fair and you know it. I didn’t want any of it. Not at that cost.” She broke off and turned her head, swallowing hard. “I assure you, I wanted more out of life than money.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…well, you know.” He dragged his hands down his face and cursed inwardly. “Look, it’s easy. Once you’re done helping me fix the code, you’ll be free to continue robbing people and playing Robin Hood. Though we’d rather you stay away from Shillings clients from now on.”
“No second chances, huh? No get out of jail free card?”
“Second chances are a waste of time.” He stepped back, taking care to make sure he didn’t put too much pressure on his left leg. It still hurt if he stood too long, and he’d been standing for hours now. “And you’re getting out of jail free after you help us.”
She rolled her eyes. “Second chances are a waste of time,” she mimicked, deepening her voice. “You sound so serious. God. What happened to you?”
Ignoring her question, he made a sweeping gesture with his hand. “Ladies first.”
“Do I get to go home now?”
He rubbed his jaw. “Hell no. You’ll stay with me in my heavily secured house until we figure out a solution.” He frowned at her. “You’ll be under my custody twenty-four-seven.”
