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“Relax, guys. It’s fine.” I blow out a breath and take a seat at the table as Evander takes the chair opposite me.
My eyes drift to the sofa for a second. But when I feel my skin heat again, I focus back on Evander.“So, what do you want to know?”
It’s as if my words open the floodgates. For the next half hour, Evander fires off question after question in rapid succession, barely giving me time to answer before he’s onto the next one.
“Jesus, breathe, E, before you pass out. Who knew our resident hacker was such a geek?” Slade teases.
“Hey! There’s nothing wrong with being a geek. I’m a geek.”
“And you can talk nerdy to me any time you like, baby,” Slade throws in, making me grin. The man is just too smooth.
“I tell you what. I’ve just sent the latest addition to the Abstract Seven series. It’s only in the beta stage right now, but if you want to take a look at it… You might see something I haven’t. I’m open to suggestions.”
Evander’s mouth drops open, but no sound comes out.
“Um… Evander?”
“Ah shit, she broke him. E man, snap out of it.” Jagger slaps him across the face.
“Ow! What the hell, why is violence always the answer with you two?” Evander snaps as he stands up.
When he looks at me, he smiles like I just gave him an acceptance letter to Hogwarts. “Seriously?! Send it to me. The guys have my email. Oh, and call me E. But are you sure you don’t mind me taking a look? I know these things are usually kept top secret for a reason.”
“I trust you, E. Besides, it’s not often I meet someone who loves the world I created as much as I do. Be prepared for random late-night calls and texts to bounce ideas off you.”
He swallows and nods. “This is the best day of my life.” He turns and leaves.
“Did that just happen?” I look up at Jagger, who is watching E’s retreating figure with a smile on his face.
“Apparently so.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Slade
“I need to head into town. Do you need anything?” Jagger asks as he strolls into the kitchen, dripping with sweat from his morning run.
I swallow my mouthful of cereal before taking my empty bowl over to the dishwasher and placing it inside. “I’ll come with you. We can take Astrid with us. She’s been working nonstop, so the woman could use a break.”
I still feel like a dick when I think about how badly I wrote her off as a spoiled rich kid who lived off her parents. She sure as hell could have been. From what I’ve been told, Astrid never needs to work another day in her life, and yet she works harder than most people I know.
“Sounds good. Where is she anyway?”
“She went over to the main house to see E about three hours ago.”
“Should we be worried about him?”
I shake my head. “I know he jokes around, but I don’t get that vibe from him. It’s more of a brother-sister thing than anything else. And since Astrid doesn’t have any siblings, and Ev misses his, it must be a novelty for them both.”
“Hell, if they want siblings, they can have mine,” Jagger offers with a grin.
He adores his sisters, but they do drive him insane.
“I’ll be sure to tell your sisters that.”
“They’ll never believe you. They think I’m a god.”
I shake my head and make my way to the door. His sisters love him, that much is true. But they pander to the man’s ego because it’s easier to keep him wrapped around their fingers. A brief flash of my sister’s face pops into my head, but I shake it off. Dawn made it clear where her loyalties lie when she disowned me the day I got arrested.
