Page 63 of Forbidden Access

He grunted.

“It’ll be okay,” she repeated, thinking he was scared, even though it was very unlike him. In all the time she’d known him, he’d never shown any sign of fear.

“That’s not what I’m afraid of,” he said quietly.

“What then?” She frowned. Was something else bothering him?

“I don’t want to be another disappointment.”

What was he talking about?

“I want to be there for you, Rose. Do you think that’s possible? After all this is over… do you think we can build a life together?”

Her breath caught in her throat. “Damian, now isn’t the time?—”

“If I make it?—”

“You’re going to make it. Don’t be silly. Twenty-four hours and you’ll be in the clear.”

He nodded, a distant look in his eyes. The armored vehicle ate up the miles. They were crossing a long causeway over grey-blue water—the color of Damian’s eyes—whipped up by the storm.

Her heart soared. He wanted to be with her, wanted to make a life together. That was huge. Even though they’d only known each other for just over a week, they’d been through so much. She knew one should never fall in love during times of crises—it put a false sense of urgency on everything. What they felt now might be enhanced by the situation they were in.

Still, she knew she wanted to be with him, so she didn’t care about that. At the very least, they could see where this led. They owed each other that much.

“It’s in the corporate website,” he whispered, as the wheels drummed over the joins in the road.

Thorn shook her head, not understanding. “What is?”

“The code.”

Her heart skipped a beat. “You mean the code for the software update?”

He gave a tight nod. “I hid it in one of the files on the server used to house the website. It’s called footer.css. No one ever updates the footer style sheet.”

That was clever. Thorn didn’t know what a footer style sheet was, but she could guess it was part of the website, probably the bottom section that contained the information about the company. That information never changed and so was never updated. He’d hidden the code in plain sight.

“Remember your promise.” His gaze was earnest. “If anything happens to me?—”

“Nothing is going to happen to you.”

“You don’t know that.” The look on his face made her wince.

“I do know that. You’re going to get to make your announcement. The upgrade will go ahead.”

“Promise me, Thorn.” His eyes were hard, silver slits.

“I promise,” she whispered.

Things happened fast once they got to the hotel. The armored vehicle dipped into an underground parking lot, and flanked by a group of Blackthorn Security operatives, Damian was ushered into the elevator and taken up to the suite.

“Thorn, a word.”

It was Pat Burke, her boss.

“Yes, sir.” Together, they took the stairs up to the hotel lobby.

“Good work,” he said as they walked toward the bar. “Quick thinking in Las Piedras. What the hell happened there?”

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