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“And what do you plan to do once you have her?”
“Everything.” I’ve been playing this cat and mouse game for long enough. For over a year now, I’ve watched her and waited. I first saw her at a top-secret Joint Chiefs meeting. She was there with the FBI, her handler giving her the floor to answer questions about the new tech she’d discovered on one of her spying missions to China. I’d been mesmerized, my analytical mind utterly failing to function as I stared at her, at the way she moved, at the nervous fidget in her fingers as so many powerful people listened to her, at the way she spoke with confidence and strength.
I knew at that moment I’d met my match. But she wasn’t the sort who’d accept anything less than a worthy opponent. Just like I knew I had to have her, I also knew that winning her wasn’t going to be easy. Even so, I tried to get her on my team, sending Cass to make her offer after offer. She turned them down each time, just as I knew she would. With Ocean, there are no shortcuts. I have to show her who I am, what I can do, and why I’m the only man for her.
“‘Everything’ is a tall order.” Once the drone is in the hangar, Cass shuts down the controls.
“She deserves my best shot.” I turn back to my computer and quickly add video of the test flight into my personal server, then I go into the firewall and tinker with the code before backing out and shutting down.
Cass stands over my shoulder. “Is there a reason you left yet another pinhole in our security?”
I rise. “I think you know there is.”
“You realize those three women aren’t the only ones looking for a way into your files,” she chides. “You sure this is a good idea?”
“I’m aware, but I’m not too worried. Those three are the only ones who could find the breach, let alone exploit it. My breadcrumbs have been surgically precise.” I flip off the lights, and she walks at my side as we stroll toward the main house. “If anyone else shows up, I’ll know.”
“Maybe I should make another run at trying to get her on our team.” She pulls out her phone and clicks on a text from Daphne. A smile grows on her face.
“What?”
“She said the baby kicked.” She breaks into a full grin. “She can feel it, like the flutter of wings under her skin, she says.”
I glance out at the fading sun. “It’s late. Get home to her. We’ll do another test run tomorrow.”
“Sounds good.” She’s already speed-walking toward the east wing where the garage is. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
I can hear her dialing, then her voice fading down the hall. “You really felt it? Our baby? Oh my God, babe! I’m coming home now. Right now. I’m going to rub your feet, and then we can watch that show …”
Cass got her happily ever after three years back when she met Daphne. The two of them were inseparable from the moment they crossed paths–though there was some gunplay involved since Daphne was working for an enemy government at the time. Their sort of strong, enduring love was something I thought I’d never experience. All that changed when I met Ocean, when I looked into her eyes and saw my own soul reflected back at me.
My phone dings with an alert. I pull it out and open the tracking software I created specifically for monitoring Ocean’s activities. My heart beats a little faster as I follow their hacker through my system. She encounters a little trouble with the piece of the firewall I left intact, but after about five minutes of wrangling, she busts through and uses the tiny exploit I left behind to enter my server.
Sitting down on my couch, I cast the app onto my large screen, watching each moment as Ocean creeps closer and closer to me. She’s in there with her friends, all of them tiptoeing around my files.
I can feel her, sense her, and when I see them open the video from the drone trial, I know I have her.
Once they have what they came for, they quickly cover their tracks and back out of the exploit, leaving no trace they were ever there. With a few taps on my phone, I slam the firewall closed again. Then I click over to my app that’s locked into Ocean’s personal computer. I view her screen, watching as she starts checking flights that will bring her straight to me.
“This is it.” I can’t stop smiling. My trap is about to spring shut on Ocean. I’ll have her right where I want her, and I’ll show her we’re meant to be together.
All I have to do is wait for my sweet little spy to come prowling. When she does, she’smine.
3
OCEAN
“Iowe Buffy a favor now, and this ID is trash,” I tell Magic as I make my way out of the airport. I’m not mad about the ID. Even though Magic named me Anita Boobie. I know she didn’t come up with that name. That was Rebel’s doing, but Magic went along with it.
“You didn’t have to take your board thingy.”
“Her name is Wave. Someone could have stolen her.”
“You’d need a whole SWAT team to break into your warehouse.”
“I’d steal her,” I mutter. “You don’t know how badass she is.”
“That’s not saying much since you steal everything.”
