Page 31 of One Rule

“Fine.” Pulling back enough that I can see her face, she pouts her lips and bats her lashes. Both acts are subtle and coquettish, but what I adore the most is how for a second she watches my mouth with rapt hunger. How her hazel eyes darken before she gives her head a small shake before wrapping the two-toned evergreen tie around her slim fingers. Now I’m the one being yanked, pulled until I’m forced to bend without fully releasing her, and our faces are inches apart. Her exhale is my inhale; I follow her every movement as if it were my religion, and the way her lips curve into a sweet smile before kissing my cheek. “I’m sorry, Captain Grumps. Promise to be on my best behavior today.”

Motherfuck, my cock is solid as a rock the second her soft mouth touches my skin, but the way I throb at her soft tone and the use of a nickname I’ve come to love has me stepping away. Not by much, Just enough that I’m not digging my cock into her abdomen, even with heels she’s petite in comparison to my six-four frame.

“Feel better?”

“A little.”

“Want to tell me why you looked so stressed when I walked in?” I ask, and immediately Liliana begins to tense, but I tsk. “Quit that or I’ll send you home.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

I pinch her chin. “Try me.”

“You’re being mean today, Micah.” My reply to that is an arched brow. “It’s probably nothing, but—”

“Does it have something to do with the programs you’re running?” My eyes leave her face and look over her shoulder, trying to make sense of the fast binary code now running across each of her screens. And while I’m not an expert in this field, I do understand what she’s doing right now is outside our protocol. “What did you find, rebel?”

“That’s the problem. Nothing.” Pulling away from me, she walks back around her desk and leans over to get a better read of the screen while I follow. I’m standing just a few feet from her, eyes trailing down her back while my chest expands on a deep breath.Fuck, she gorgeous. Smells so good.“…this is all too clean. Even while running our scans and enforcing firewalls or even a simple maintenance upgrade, there’s always a trace of human error.” That pulls me from my thoughts and I focus on her words, but more importantly, where she’s pointing. Different areas on each monitor are in bright red, the sequences flying across while she tuts. “Nothing is ever this clean. Be it someone hit the wrong key then backspaced or an employee visited a website they shouldn’t be on during company hours, a trail is always left behind indicating the source, but your systems are running as if out of the box. A first-time set up vs years of data.”

“What are you thinking?”

“Someone cleaned the servers recently, but was smart enough to erase their walkthrough. I can’t find any log-ins.” Looking back at me from over her shoulders, she purses her lips. “It’s frustrating the hell out of me to figure it out, but I will. There’s always a pathway.”

“What do you need from me?” If there’s someone in this world I trust, it’s Liliana. She’d never betray me. So I’ll let her hunt while I watch her back—kill whoever tries to stop her because I don’t believe in coincidences.

A theft at her mother’s condo.

Two idiots on my ship attempting to do the same.

Her father declined Diaz of a huge real estate deal.

“I need control of your servers for a few hours tonight. No one can be here or touch anything.”

“Done. Is that a new program?”

“It’s mine. I built it.” A blush spreads across the apple of her cheeks. “Thought about using it as part of my final project, but I’m not sure. Jeremy thinks I need to focus on removing and retrieving files as that’s something my professor—”

“Fuck that.”My gorgeous little genius.“I believe in it.”

“Really? Just like that?” She gives me a look that holds surprise, but I simply bop her nose with the tip of a finger.Silly girl.“What if I’m wrong or—”

“I trust you.”

“You do?”

“Always.”

Tension drains from her and she turns to face me, her smile sweet. “Thank you so much for saying that, Micah. I was worried you’d think I was overstepping or making something up. I’d never do anything to hurt you or Royce Cruise Lines—never—but after we talked, something about it kept bugging me.” A dainty hand raises and her slim fingers reach for my hand, giving it a squeeze. “Whatever is going on, I’ll help you stop it.”

And because I can’t help myself, I give a short tug and the hand still gripping mine moves her back into my personal space. I don’t hug her this time, but I do lower my lips and place a kiss to her forehead, lingering a bit so I can breathe her in. So sweet. A decadent cake.

“Do what you must. You have my backing.” I speak against her fragrant skin. “Guards will be here to secure the building while you work.”

“I’ll be here late tonight. Past midnight, though.”

“And I’ll make sure our dinner is delivered at six. Finish what you’re doing now and go home and rest, it’s going to be a long night.” Turning before she can protest; I walk away but then pause near her doorway. Remembering something. “Can you get a hold of Lionel before you leave? Ask him to come by after two if possible.”

“I can’t.” She sounds surprised.

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