Page 28 of Wicked Heiress

“Stole a badge from a guard.”

Drake stopped at the door on our right and pressed his hand to the panel on the wall. “Good morning, boss,” Lovelace said, and the door clicked open. “Have you remembered to take your vitamins today?”

He sighed. “Not yet.”

“Would you like me to schedule a reminder?” Lovelace asked.

“No, I will remember.”

We entered the room, and he nodded at the massive supercomputer in front of us—endless rows of data storage devices with blinking lights. “This is Lovelace. Part of her, anyway. Some of the AI/DL data is on the cloud. The rest of the software is on data servers. Even if The Lucaya Group could breach this room, it wouldn’t do them any good.”

He shut the door behind us and locked it with his handprint. My eyes swept over the wall with dozens of flat-screen monitors. Numbers moved on them at an impressive pace, changing every second. I was an aerospace engineer. Drake wanted me to help him with a new aircraft he’d been trying to get off the ground. But it wasn’t a fixed position. Whatever Drake needed, I would be there for him.

He steered me to a glass room with scanners that shone red lasers on the walls. “I can’t trust anyone. Only family and The Knights. I have the media up my ass, the government breathing down my neck, and lunatics who think I’m trying to play God want me stopped.”

“People are afraid of AI.”

“They’ve been using it for years and don’t even know it.” He tipped his head back and laughed as we entered the glass room. “People are so fucking stupid.”

Drake was a genius. He’d coded his first program before his tenth birthday and graduated from college when he was nineteen.

Drake led me to a computer with a monitor that took up the entire desk. “If anything happens to me, I will activate the Battle King protocol. Lovelace will lock down all of my company’s buildings and homes. You’re the only person, other than Tate, with access to override the system.”

“What happens when you activate the Battle King protocol?”

“Whoever is in the building will be trapped temporarily. But it’s for their safety.”

“Can the police get inside?”

He shook his head. “No one in or out. So I need you to pay attention.” Drake’s fingers glided across the keyboard, his eyes on the giant monitor. “I’m going to take a retinal and hand scan. You will also need the deactivation codes.”

I stuffed my hands into my pockets and moved beside him, attempting to read something from his face. But he gave away nothing. “What are you not telling me, Drake?”

His jaw clenched. “I’m preparing you for the worst-case scenario.”

Chapter Seventeen

GRACE

My relationship with Cole had been strained over the past few days. I could tell he wasn’t happy with me hanging out with Rhys alone. But he didn’t protest when we went on another date.

I had a good time with Rhys. He made me laugh and smile. Whenever I was with him, I felt special. I liked both of them, which only complicated matters more. Eventually, I would leave with my father, and I wouldn’t see them.

This was temporary.

Still wearing a black bikini from earlier, I slipped into a spandex skirt and a pink tank top with chunky jeweled sandals. Willow Marshall had chosen everything in my closet, clothing that probably cost more than my dad made in a year.

I met Cole and Rhys in the great room. Cole stood with his hands shoved into his shorts pockets, glaring at Rhys. He wasn’t thrilled about us hooking up. God forbid anyone broke my grandfather’s rules.

“Am I in trouble?” I asked Cole.

He shook his head, slowly approaching me with his hand extended. “I’m taking you to the pier.”

“We’re taking you,” Rhys added.

I smiled so wide my face hurt as I stared up at him, wondering if the person I craved at the start of the summer had returned.

Ten minutes later, we arrived at the pier in Beacon Bay, which had games, rides, and concession stands. We walked down the boardwalk, and I drank in the saltiness of the bay, taking in my surroundings.

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