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“No, it’s not. What’s going on? Something is off. I’m not working for the government, am I?”Right in for the kill, Goddamnit Rhys.
The man loosened his tie, bending down to gather a few papers, trying to avoid the question but answering anyway. “Look, Rhys. Just give them what they want. After Thursday, well… you won’t have to worry about anything, ok?”
“What does thatmean? Did they threaten you? Did they come in here? Fuck, they did. Or was it Owen?” Rhys looked around, his eyes falling on me almost as if he expected me to do something but I was a little lost for words, especially since there was a different conclusion that I was making.
In any other situation, Rhys’ advisor would have said that everything would have gone back to normal after he handed over the program. But he didn’t say that. He said that Rhys wouldn’t have to worry about anything after that. And in my line of work, that usually translated to—you can’t worry if you’re dead.
I pulled Rhys behind me, stretching out to my full height as I glared down at the advisor. “Who is Hawk International?” The advisor shrieked but I wasn’t here to play games. Rhys’ life was at stake. “Tell me.”
“They’re an overseas company. Not really legal or anything but they’ve been looking for someone to create a statistical program. They recruited Rhys and-”
“How long have you known?” I watched his eyes flash with fear, his entire body trembling. The fucker had known from the start but as a selfish human being, had cherished his life more than Rhys’. And now Rhys had to deal with trying to stay alive. There were no other questions to ask as we exited the room, Rhys two steps ahead of me. “Rhys, hold up.Rhys.”
He slipped into the passenger’s seat, anxiously waiting for me to get in the car. It wasn’t even two seconds after we got home that Rhys raced inside, bypassing Gianni, Dmitri, and Paval, making a beeline for his office.
I was still calling after him, all of us rushing to his office to see what was so goddamn important. He hadn’t said one word in the car and now I was fucking worried that something had set him off. Rhys knelt on the ground and rolled back the rug in full view of all of us, put in a code, and then ripped the door open. Inside were three small USB disks and a stack of handwritten formulas. Rhys stared at it for a few seconds before letting out a deep breath and grabbing the documents and disks and pushing past us once again.
“What the fuck is he doing?” Gianni whispered and I just shrugged, trying to swipe him but Rhys was a slippery, determined motherfucker as he rushed into the living room and set everything in the fireplace. His movements were short and frantic, a box of matches procured from the coffee table. The next thing I knew was the entire pile of papers was in flames, Rhys sitting back with a tight smile on his face. “Rhys, what did you do?”
“There’s nothing to steal if they don’t have the numbers.” He stood up, the adrenaline wearing off as his lids drooped. “Now there’s no reason to come after me.”
Fuck.I bit my tongue, trying to reign in my fear for Rhys’ safety as Dmitri decided to explain just how much worse Rhys had made this. “Love, you realize that you are the last copy of those numbers? Sure, you destroyed all the paperwork but there’s someone who can recreate that. Right?” The realization slowly dawned on him. “You’ve moved the target from that safe to you, Rhys. You haven’t eliminated the problem. You’ve made it worse.”
The weight of Rhys’ actions had made the job a little trickier but not impossible. “We can’t stay here,” I declared. “Grab a bag, Rhys. Let’s move.”
“What about the dinner at my parents’?”
As much as I wanted to say forget it, we all knew that Rhys not showing up would cause a completely different but equally annoying issue. “We’ll cross that bridge in a few hours. Right now? This is the absoluteworstplace to stay if everyone wants that information.”
Chapter thirty-three
RHYS
The ride to their house had been silent, none of them making an effort to say anything as Dmitri unlocked the front door and let me wander into the living room. I wasn’t in shock as I moved to the large windows, lifted the blinds, and then began pacing along their living room floor. In an attempt to make things better, I had made themso much worse.They—whoevertheywere—weren’t going to follow us here, were they?
Damnit, Rhys? Really?I was smarter than half the people in my city, had degrees most people would die for, money that most people could only dream of, and yet I had done something as stupid as making thingsmoredangerous. What should have been the start of a new relationship had turned into them protecting me from the shit I had gotten tangled in from my own stupidity. Although meeting Owen hadn’t been coincidental, it had been my own stupid ass that had fallen for his antics, thinking that I was in so much love that I invited him into my house.
A house that was no longer safe to stay at.
Someone dragged me into a hug that I didn’t fight, whispering words in my ear that I could barely hear. I was too far into my head as I pondered my next steps. The program hadn’t been published anywhere and 90% of the data was now gone. All of my formulas were cryptic at best and in different pieces so that until my presentation if anyone did get a hold of something, it wouldn’t mean anything. The only puzzle piece left wasme.
When I finally pulled myself out of my funk, my eyes ran around the room to find a clock. “Oh, we have to get ready for dinner.” I tried to pull away from the man holding me, Gianni laughing as I fought the restraints but he wasn’t letting me go.
Valentyn was poised against the wall in the foyer, Dmitri standing next to him as Paval stared at me, confused. I knew that I was the problem, that I had upended their life but I was trying to get over my own drawbacks to make this easier.
“What? I’m ok.” I nodded, more to myself than them.
Gianni placed a gentle kiss on my forehead. “No, you’re not. You’re trying to pretend that the problems in front of you don’t bother you and it’s going to break you.” He looked over at the two, sharing a silent conversation before he continued. “And I think it’s time for ice cream.”
Dmitri grabbed a pair of car keys from the hook and scooped Paval up as the kid frowned. “But it’s right before dinner!”
“Special treat,” Dmitri mumbled as he slipped out the front door, Valentyn following and leaving me in Gianni’s arms. I opened my mouth to protest the special attention he was giving me but he didn’t speak as he dragged me upstairs into a room. It was much darker than I would have thought his would have been as he laid me down on the bed and crawled onto the mattress after me, draping his body over mine. The only space between our chests was because he had propped himself up on his forearms, his face inches from mine.
Strangely, the shield he had just created gave me the safety I needed to come back to reality. It was as if his wide shoulders blocked out all the bad things in the world in a way that hugging me in the living room didn’t quite do.
Gianni tucked his head, running his nose along my cheek and jaw before replacing it with his lips. “Thought it might help get rid of whatever you’re thinking in that big brain of yours. You can’t keep pretending that these things aren’t happening because then you’ll have to deal with all of them at the same time later.”
I reached up to tangle my fingers in his shirt, wondering what it would feel like if there was just a little more blocking out the world. I tugged on his clothing, hoping that he got the message. A few seconds later, his arms moved around my head, the entire weight of his body pressed against mine as it pushed me farther into the mattress.
