“I can’t exactly help you with your problem without a laptop,” I hiss.
He grins. Full on.
Holy crap, he shouldn’t do that. That smile transforms his rugged face to something dangerously beautiful. I can’texplain it. But the sight shoots through me, pebbling my nipples and softening my thighs. It’s a good thing he’s usually so grumpy. That grin should be outlawed. Or somehow captured for all time and used as the ultimate marketing tool.
The elevator door opens. Wait a minute. Where’s the keypad?
He presses his watch. “I’ll take you to Malice Media either tonight or tomorrow, if you’re a good girl all day and don’t cause me any problems. The elevator only works from my watch right now, so don’t spend hours trying to find a hidden keypad. There isn’t one.”
“Well, that’s dangerous,” I mutter, fully planning on causing him every problem I can find. The condescending bonehead. “What if there’s a fire?”
“Don’t start one,” he warns. “My men will get you out, but your ass isn’t ready for another beating.”
Oh, he did not. “I thought we had an agreement? Is this just a punishment?”
“We have an agreement and this is a punishment for wrecking my car. Behave yourself and you get freedom. Disobey me and you end up reading all day, which frankly, is good for you.”
I can’t come up with a bad enough threat that’ll make him think twice, so I don’t say anything. Then I glance at the sofa. “What about the dog? He needs to go out.”
“Wynd will fetch him every three hours for some outside time. You’ll stay inside.”
I look around the spacious cage. “Where are you going, anyway?” Damn it. I don’t care.
He studies me for a hard second. “I have a meeting with the owners of the three other social media companies.”
I gape. “You what?”
“There’s a fifth player on the board, and we need to take them out now. Plus, I want to know if anybody else is involved.” He steps into the elevator, turning to stare at me. “Do you know anything about the new player?”
“Just that there is one,” I admit. “I haven’t been able to trace them back to any of the social media upstarts.”
He runs a hand through his thick hair. “Neither have we. Also, early this morning, I hit back at TimeGem Moments with a fire to their main hub, Aquarius Social with a malware attack, and Hologrid Hub with a small explosion in Alexei’s bar. Figured I’d make a statement.”
My chin drops. “You attacked all three of them?”
He lifts a shoulder. “Barely. Just enough to let everyone know I could, and once I find out who’s shooting missiles at me, then I’ll take them out completely. I’m not sure it’s one of them.”
“I want to be there. I’m the rightful owner of TimeGem.” I hope there’s a badass suit in that room down the hall.
“No.” He steps inside, presses something on the wall, and the door rolls closed. Jerk. What an asshole. I quickly survey the entire penthouse and find no electronics. Fine. If he thinks he can keep me here, he has totally underestimated me. He wants to punish me? That was a stupid move. I won’t accept that.
My heart is getting involved and only his dick is. I know he’s not a keeper. I will not spin daydreams about a guy who is just fucking me out of his system.
Jerk.
For three hours, I scour the place for what I need and then strip a couple of cords from lamps before plopping on the sofa with the latest Lexi Blake spy story. I lovethose Masters and Mercenaries. The elevator door, predictably, opens.
Wynd moves inside, his gaze seeking. “Truth be told, I wasn’t sure you wouldn’t try to burn the place down.” He has a nice Gaelic accent that’s thicker than Justice’s, though his voice isn’t as deep.
I sit up and place the book on the table. “I don’t trust how efficient you’d be about saving me and the dog.” There’s no reason to be civil.
Wynd smiles and shoves a hand through his dark hair. “That’s not kind.” He whistles.
Leo looks up from the adjacent leather chair.
“Come on, boy,” Wynd says. “Let’s go chase a bird or two.”
Leo stands and stretches before hopping down.
