Page 51 of Tied

“On these, you’ll find everything you need to know about Charlie and the data he works with,” I say, pointing to the laptops. “We actually run a similar database for our operation in here.”

I ignore her condescending side-eye and walk over to the desk, forcing her to come with me.

“How come you never considered a life outside of crime?” she asks out of the blue as I’m about to open the first laptop. “I mean, it seems like you’re pretty smart and resourceful yourself—why make the same mistake your dad did?”

I glance at her from the side. This is not the conversation I want to have right now.

“You’re about to earn fifty thousand dollars for spending one evening with a guy and hacking into his computer,” I remind her. “Have you ever seen a regular job posting with that kind of hourly rate?”

“Touché,” she responds—and much to my surprise, she winks at me before her focus moves to the laptop. “Let’s get to it, then.”

Her interest and will to comply baffles me a little, to say the least, but I decide that it’s better to take advantage of it while I can instead of questioning her. If this turns out to be her first step into a life on the dark side, then there’s very little I can do about it, no matter how bad I might feel about being the one who pulled her there. In fact, it might be for the better if she comes into contact with that hidden side of herself now because she will definitely need it.

I pull a second chair over to the desk so Riley can sit next to me as I get her ready for what’s to come. But just as I’m about to sit down next to her, my phone starts ringing—and it’s not just any phone. It’s the small palm that I keep with me at all times, even though it hardly ever rings. But when it does ring, I know it’s important.

Because it’s them.

But why the fuck are they calling now? They could not have picked a worse time.

Riley notices the ringing, too, and regards me with a puzzled look as if to say Are you going to answer that?

I wish I could just ignore it because, no, I don’t want to answer this call. But I have to because they never call without an urgent reason—and if I miss their call, there’s no way for me call them back. This connection is a one-way street.

“Excuse me,” I say as I turn away to head for the door.

Riley’s surprised gasp as she’s pulled up with me reminds me of the cuffs that connect the two of us.

Fuck. Seriously, fuck this.

I hurry to produce the little key from my pants pocket and unlock the cuff around her wrist, only to connect it to the radiator next to the door. She protests with a loud sigh, but doesn’t move her arm away.

“Is this really—”

“Yes,” I cut her off. “No funny business! I’ll be right back.”

She opens her mouth to speak, but whatever it is she has to say gets lost under the sound of the door closing behind me as I flee the room.

---