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His face brightens more when he sees Kri and Shep. “Oh, good. You two are here. By the way, congratulations on getting the temporary guardianship extended.”
Kri and Shep became guardians to a fifteen-year-old orphan named Valerie Franco, a recent client. I guess they’re on their way to becoming one big, happy family.
How sweet.
Kri’s concerned face softens. “Thanks, Boss.”
Boss taps his hand on the doorjamb. “You two should join us in the conference room. Tomer, Klein, come on. Now.”
“Big Al is exceptionally chipper, considering Redleg was hacked,” Kri whispers as she and Shep depart, jumping at Boss’s order.
Having heard his name, Tomer lets his focus stray from his task long enough to give me a sharp glare. I read it loud and clear:He wants to have a meetingnowof all times?
Like Tomer, I don’t feel like complying with Boss’s demands.
He made us wait for more than three hours while he wined and dined my replacement— or so I assume— and now he wants us to join him at the crick of his finger while we’re working frantically to un-fuck the clusterfuck?
The urge to disobey him grows exponentially. He probably wants to do some bullshit introduction with the new guy.
Screw that.
I don’t mean to come off like a whiner, but I’m not in the mood to play nice. Was it too much to ask for a day or two to lick my wounds?
Diving into my task, I quickly lose track of time. No matter what Peggy said about stopping our efforts, we need to fix this shit.
A handful of minutes later, Boss must get tired of waiting for us because he storms into the office. “You two have a fucking hearing problem I need to know about?”
“It’s not the time for—” Tomer starts, only to be cut off.
“I didn’t ask what time it is. Let’s go. Now.”
His tone leaves no room for arguing, and in all honesty, we knew we were taking our lives into our hands by ignoring him.
Reluctantly, Tomer files out behind Boss. After exhaling all my frustrations and scratching my hands roughly over my scalp, I grab my laptop and follow suit.
The laptop feels like a security blanket. I probably won’t need it for the introductory meeting, but it feels safer to bring it with me. Plus, I’ll be ready to show them what we’ve been dealing with all morning.
When I approach the open conference room doors, Big Al’s booming voice announces, “I found them. Take your seats.”
Still agitated, Tomer protests, “Boss, this isn’t the time for a meeting. Did you not hear me? We’ve been hacked.”
A feminine voice chirps, “I know. I did it.”
My steps faltering, I attempt to identify the woman who just admitted to infiltrating our network. Once I enter the room, my feet shuffle to an abrupt stop.
The woman who rocked my world this weekend and left without a trace is staring at me, grinning and licking her lips. She’s the picture of innocence, but I know she’s not.
Not even close.
A zing of excitement streaks through me, but it’s quickly replaced with shock and awe.
And I mean that expression in the way the military refers to a massive bombing campaign. It’s as if a string of B-52 bomber jets have flown over Redleg HQ and dropped a shitload of cluster bombs directly on top of us.
“Mia?” I ask, my voice shaky.
In the chaos of the day, I’d nearly forgotten about her, but faced with her again, I’m struck by those captivating green eyes and luscious red hair. Hair that looked so fucking good wrapped around my wrist when I slammed into her from behind. The corner of my mouth twitches as a smile threatens to spread.
Despite the shitty day, it feels so damn good to see her again. I thought she was gone forever. Hell, part of me thought I dreamed her up to escape the grim reality of my life.
