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Chapter Twelve
Despite my late bedtime, I shot out of bed like a cannon the next morning. The events of the night before had filled me with a new sense of urgency and I was raring to go as soon as I left my bed. I needed to get to work and dive headfirst into the dark and seedy world of hacking to get Cooper the answers he needed. Now that I knew the reasons behind his request, I was fully on board and eager to get to the bottom of the mystery.
I got outside before remembering that I had no ride. Cherry Bomb was still stuck across town at the office, and my clunker car had died about a week before. I now had the money to get it fixed, but hadn’t bothered yet. My phone rang as I was standing on the front stoop.
It was Cooper.
“Hello?” I answered on the second ring.
“Good morning. My driver will be there shortly. There was a pile-up on the freeway and he is running late. Come to my office when you arrive.”
“Okay.”
He hung up and I looked at my phone, wondering what mood he would be in once I arrived. His manner on the phone seemed so distant from the very intimate situation of last night. I sighed. That was Cooper, though. It was like being in a game of tug-o-war. He k
new how to pull me close and then something seemed to pull me away again.
I waited on the steps of my apartment for a few more minutes and then, as promised, a town car pulled up to take me downtown to the office.
The elevator ride up to Cooper’s office reminded me that I still had no idea why he and Tessa had been skulking around after hours. I knew I’d promised Cooper that I would trust him once he told me who Angela McKinnon was, and he’d held up his end of the bargain, so I knew it wouldn’t be wise to start poking around for information about Tessa. At least, not to him. I would have to figure that out on my own.
Maybe Bryce would have an idea why they were meeting. He was still working at Spotlight and had been there long enough to have the pulse on the other employees within the company.
I made a mental note to call him up and ask him about it once things settled down.
I stepped off the elevator and made my way towards Cooper’s office, cringing as his assistant, Kimberly came into view when I rounded the corner. She’d always been such a pain in the ass towards me. Secretly, I figured it was because she wanted to keep Cooper all to herself, and saw me as a threat, but I was determined not to let her rattle me.
“Good morning, Kimberly. Mr. Brighton is expecting me,” I said, using the sweetest voice I could muster.
She gave me a pinched smile and punched a button on her phone.
I took that as my dismissal and went to sit in the small waiting area. I was there less than a minute before Cooper’s door opened and he appeared.
If possible, he looked even more delectable than I’d ever seen him before. He was wearing a dark gray suit with a navy tie against his stark white shirt. The fabric melded to him perfectly, enhancing the hard lines of his toned body. It had barely been twenty-four hours since we were down one floor, fucking like crazy in my office, and yet, I felt like it had been years since I’d had the pleasure of running my hands all along his perfect body.
I clasped my hands together and told myself to get it together as I followed him into his office.
“Thank you for sending the driver,” I said as I sat in one of the chairs across from his desk.
He unbuttoned his lower button and sat down. “Of course. Can I ask what happened to your bike’s seat? I noticed last night that it was covered in duct tape.”
I cocked an eyebrow at his question, unsure why he was asking. After everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours, that’s what he wanted to talk about?
“It has some tears. I’m going to get it replaced as soon as I can.”
He eyed me as if he knew I was holding back. “Tears? The rest of your bike is in immaculate condition. I find it hard to believe there are tears.”
I rolled my eyes. “For fuck’s sake, Cooper, if you must know, my d-bag ex-boyfriend thought it would be funny to carve the word whore into the seat. I didn’t want to look at it, and I didn’t have the money to fix it, so that’s why it’s taped up. Happy?”
“Not even remotely. What’s this guy’s name?”
“Why?”
“Allison, just tell me his name,” Cooper repeated.
His eyes were steely and had the look I’d seen so many times before. I wasn’t going to win this argument.
“His name is Marx Harrison.”
