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I lean in and kiss the corner of her lips. Just to fuck with him and his sniveling son, who I know is watching us.
“You’re not even part of this,” Alfie continues, growing a head of steam. “You’re simply some scum she picked off the bottom of her heel. Georgia, please come with me. We need to discuss this immediately.”
“Alfie, while I appreciate your concern, I am a grown woman capable of making my own decisions. I was not going to marry Ezra. I’ve told you both that repeatedly. There is nothing more to discuss. It’s done.”
“My darling girl, you have to know how dangerous what you’ve done is for yourself and Monroe. He is using you. How can you not see that? Look at him.” He waves a hand up and down in front of me. “It is incumbent upon me to act on this. Your father wouldn’t have it any other way.”
His overestimation of his own self-worth and his underestimation of mine will ultimately lead to his downfall. It always does. Hubris is the ultimate deadly sin. “We’ll be sure to worry about that between now and never.”
“My son is twice what you are.”
Really? Does he even know his son? “I just had the pleasure of meeting Edwin,” I say. “I agree, he seems like quite the guy. A bit of a drunk, sloppy with his secrets, and definitely uncouth if you ask me, but what would I know?”
Alfie shifts his weight, not liking the comment about secrets, and edges in toward Georgia as if he’s about to grab her and run. I give him a dangerous look he does not mistake.
He shakes his head in dismay. “Georgia, please be rational with this. I can help you. It’s not too late to make your father proud.”
Georgia bristles, and I can see the hurt that flashes through her eyes. “I like to think my father would want me to be happy. Hence why he didn’t stipulate who I had to be married to in his will.”
“Regardless,” I continue deliberately. “I’d watch the way you speak to my wife, if you have any sense at all.”
Alfie tries to be the tough guy, but he doesn’t intimidate me, and he knows it. “Are you threatening me?”
“Threatening you? No. Telling you? Yes. I won’t allow you to intentionally manipulate her by pulling on her big heartstrings.”
I stole his little ruby for myself, and men don’t like it when other men steal their treasure. He thought he was entitled to something he wasn’t, and Georgia officially flipped the tables on him and Ezra, and they’re not happy about it.
I get it. We fucked with their schemes.
Maybe Alfie’s motives come from a place of concern for her and the company. But maybe not. Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean I’ll let him speak to her like she’s a five-year-old in need of a time-out and make her feel guilty about her father when she already feels guilty enough.
Georgia clears her throat. “Well, as I was saying before, I can’t have dinner with you tonight because Lenox and I are dining together. Tomorrow morning is still fine though, if you’d like to meet briefly before breakfast. Have a good evening.”
I place my hand on the small of her back and proceed to follow her as she strolls off. After we’re about twenty feet from them, she turns and places a piece of cheese in my mouth. She smirks at me as I chew. “That was the most words I’ve ever heard you string together.”
“I’ll need tea with honey for sure.”
She laughs, her head flying back. “Stop! Your sarcasm is killing me.”
“Aw, Georgie, but you’re so cute when you regurgitate your alcohol.”
She smacks my shoulder, but there is no hiding her smile. “Thank you. For all of that. I’ve never seen him that upset with me before, but I suppose I’m not shocked given the circumstances.”
“It’s what I’m here for.”
She sobers. “Right. I have more people to meet with if you’re okay with that.”
I nod and pan my hand for her to lead the way, and then I spend the rest of the evening following her around like a besotted puppy, quiet and loyally by her side. She charms easily, everyone she meets and talks to is eating out of the palm of her hand. I listen to small comments here and there, discussions of products and software that will revolutionize information security and keep hackers out.
I don’t smirk, but the urge is there.
Nothing keeps hackers out because we’re persistent and patient and rarely sleep. Not to mention, no system is foolproof, or in this case, hacker-proof. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. For myself, I’m not a black-hat hacker. I don’t penetrate systems to bring them down or hold them for ransom. I do it for a challenge, and occasionally, depending on the company, I anonymously send them the details of how I broke in so they can patch the software or fix the vulnerability.
It’s almost ironic that Georgia and I married.
She’s the queen, and I’m her antihero.
Not evil enough to be considered a villain, but morally gray enough that I have my own notions of right versus wrong and am dangerous enough that you don’t want to cross me. I don’t fight fair. Especially when people I care about are involved.
