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Then Charlie angrily tidied up the room with the vacuum, the loud roar making me wish I hadn’t bothered with my prank. But I hadn’t made it easy for him. The larger sheets needed to be picked up by hand. Cue movie-made evil laugh; Netflix hugely influenced my education in this new life.
I blamed my feline instincts on my urge to bother him, but I also knew it was more than that. Winnie might think I was teasing him like a little boy teases a girl, but actually, I wastestinghim.
I hadn’t ever been close to men. My father was the only man I’d spent a lot of time with, and he had a short fuse. He didn’t forgive. And he didn’t touch me with affection.
Charlie was unlike any man I had ever known. He growled and shouted and cursed, but he always forgave me. I didn’t know if it was because he thought I was a stupid, ordinary cat instead of a familiar with a human soul, but it mattered to me that, even when I pushed him, he didn’t push back.
After the roar of the evil machine suddenly died and Charlie locked it away again, he strode back into the room, glaring at me. It only made him more handsome.
“You are such an annoying fucking cat. Get off before you break something.”
I flicked my tail but moved off the keyboard and sat on the desk instead.
He scratched my chin as he moved around the desk to sit in his chair, and I knew he forgave me, even if he didn’t voice it yet.
He typed and got settled into doing some—probably illegal—work. I didn’t understand it, the how’s and the why’s, but surprisingly, my old-fashioned sensibilities didn’t stop me from liking a man that was a thief.
Or a hacker, as Winnie called him.
He was the best man I had ever met. I didn’t know his reasons, and I couldn’t ask him, so I just enjoyed his company.
I meowed, having not had any attention for at least five minutes, and Charlie’s gaze swung to meet mine. He rolled his eyes, and I smiled internally because I knew he couldn’t stay angry at me.
“Don’t fucking do it again, Clawdicat,” he told me sternly before he picked me up and placed me on his lap.
While he opened his emails, he stroked my head, and I closed my eyes, loving the attention and the affection.
At that moment, being a cat seemed purrfect.
Then a mechanical chime from Charlie’s computer changed everything for both of us.
CHAPTER2
CHARLIE
It wasn’t about the money. Let me get that straight.
I mean, at first, it was. I used to be the go-to guy to find things. Lost items, people, rare prizes, whatever they wanted. I was good at it. Talented beyond all reason. I could find it, anything, and make tons of money for it. Which, at the time, I really needed. There was a thrill I got, which made it addictive. The adventure of seeking, the challenge, was unparalleled.
Problem was, the people paying me weren’t good people. Don’t get me wrong, some of them were just lost souls like me, some were damned funny, and others had family they protected with their lives.
But there was a reserved sign in the fiery depths of Hell for them when their actions inevitably caught up with them.
Being a hacker, a digital thief, meant I started getting pulled into shit I didn’t want to do by people who meant business.
After a struggle, I grew a pair of balls, cleaned my shit up, and changed my life. For the past two years, I’ve been legally hacking into company software and bank accounts and getting paid to do it.
And I’m so bored.
There wasn’t any thrill. No challenge. No camaraderie from a job well done. It was just me, at home, in my office.
Hell, half the reason I let Clawdia get away with the shit she pulled was because it entertained me. Added a bit of variety to the day.
So when an email from a stranger flashed into my inbox, requesting a tour around the world for a ridiculous amount of money, I salivated. It read:
Charlie,
We are a party of three males requesting that you assist us in our tour around this world. To pay you, we have set a budget of $100,000. We will also pay for all travel, accommodation, and meals on the trip for the four of us. The duration should be longer than one year, and except for a few specific locations, which we can discuss at a later date, we are happy for you to plan our travels. We will arrive tomorrow. We look forward to meeting you.
