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He licked his lips and kept walking, rounding my desk. I glanced at the closed door, my senses on fire. I’d been here before with assholes like him, locked classrooms, me all alone. Only this time, Fin wasn’t here to save me. I dropped my hand to the side of my keyboard and grabbed the steel letter opener and fisted the hilt.
The movement was lost on Arnold. He stilled at the edge of the desk and then took a slow step toward me. “You going to use that, Anna?”
“I just might.”
He took another step, forcing me to rise from my seat.
“Back the fuck off.”
“Or?” He took another step, coming to the close edge of the desk, within stabbing distance. But he didn’t come closer. Instead, he glanced at the notepad beside my keyboard. “Writing down algorithms?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“It is while you work for Mr. Salvatore,” he answered. “And codes, any commands.” He met my gaze. “And ideas you might have belong to him.”
I stiffened with the words. “You have your head so far upMr. Salvatore’sass you almost share the same set of lungs, don’t you?”
He flinched with words, and a twitch came from the corner of his eye. “You know I’m close to cracking your algo, don’t you?”
This time, I was the one who stepped closer. “Oh yeah? Good luck with that, buddy. You’ve just inspired me to make a whole new level of protection.”
That flinch came again before he stepped forward, closing the distance in the blink of an eye. I stepped backward until I hit the wall. My fist clamped around the hilt of the letter opener as he pushed against me, driving me against the wall. “You think because you’re fucking him, you’re indispensable? You’re not. We’re looking for that hard drive.I’mlooking for that hard drive. When I find it, then we’ll know the truth.”
This fucking guy…
“Who the fuck are you?” I whispered with my spine forced to the wall.
He just stared into my eyes, and for a second, hate raged. The kind of hate I didn’t understand until he spoke. “Didn’t anyone tell you? I’m Max’s brother.”
I froze.No, that can’t be right, I would’ve found it.“Brother?”
He smiled. “That’s right. Adopted, still, we were closer than blood.” He growled against me. “I don’t believe the events you gave about that night…and neither does Mr. Salvatore.”
I couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe. In my head, I was panicking, trying to put all the pieces together. Did Fin know? Was that the reason he was always here, always watching? Did he think I was in immediate danger from this guy?
My office door opened, drawing my gaze. In walked Dominic Salvatore, filling up the room and stealing the surrounding air. Just like he stole everything. He glanced at the asshole in front of me, then met my gaze. “Is there a problem?”
“Only that yourdogis getting a little too excited,” I spat.
There was no love lost between us. Not when he'd backed my father into a corner, one that drove him to contact the FBI and sent me to the damn island to meet him. Because of that, my world changed. It didn’t help that my father stole the Salvatore fortune to bargain with in exchange for my safety.
Look how that turned out.
“Archer,” Dominic murmured, never once leaving my gaze. “Thank you for your dedication. I can take it from here.”
From the corner of my eye, I caught the asshole shift his gaze to his master.
“Woof,” I whispered as the asshole scowled, then took a step backward.
I was done playing games, done with trying to pretend that I didn’t have anything other than an utter distaste for Dominic Salvatore and any other spineless fucking pig who did his bidding.
Like Fin?
The words rose in my head. No, not like Fin. His loyalty was by blood alone…and even that was waning. The asshole turned and left, closing the door with a loudthud.
“There were some problems this morning?” Dominic said carefully.
I stiffened, trying to comb my memory…this morning…this morning. My brain was a blur of code.
