Page 14 of Command and Control: GHOST Operative

That sneaky son of a—

That’s how he knew when to come into my condo today. He could see exactly when I was occupied and took full advantage.

I smile to myself—because I’m clearly not the only one who has a problem—as I set everything up, adjusting the camera on the laptop in front of me to the most flattering angle before tugging the neckline of my dress lower and shoving my tits up a little higher. It might not help my cause any, but a nice pair of boobs sure as heck never hurt anything.

Then I click record.

5

DEFIANCE, OBSTINANCE, AND A PINK VIBRATOR

VINCENT

THAT TOOK WAY longer than it should have.

Shoving my way into the tiny condo I’ll call home for the next handful of days, I deposit my bag of food onto the desk before going into the bedroom. I've been awake for over twenty-four hours and, even though I can, I don’t want to sleep on the floor.

Dropping the rest of my bags onto the carpet, I start opening packages, tearing into the box of the self-inflating air mattress first. Once I have it spread out, plugged in, and inflating, I move on to the sheets. The air mattress has a fuzzy coating on the top so I could sleep on it as it is, but again, I don't really feel like it. This trip is aggravating enough as it is, I should at least be comfortable while I sleep.

Once the sheets are in place, and I’ve covered them with a fleece blanket and pillows— completing my little respite from the thorn across the lot—I leave the room and close the door. Sleep will have to wait a little longer.

Food is next. Like sleep, I haven't had any in overtwenty-four hours. Partly because I've been too busy getting shit in order, and partly to show I can. This trip isn't just about proving something to my team. Deep down, I recognize it's about proving something to myself.

I was in a dark place the day Julieanne showed up on my computer screen. Questioning everything. If GHOST served any real purpose. If the world was already too fucked-up to be saved.

But then she smiled at me, and I realized I had bigger problems to deal with. Because I almost hired her on the spot. Not because I thought she'd be good for the team, but because I wanted her to smile at me again.

No one had smiled at me in years. Maybe not even since—

I scrub one hand over my face, rubbing roughly at my beard like I can wipe away the thoughts—the memories—trying to creep in. They only make everything worse, and I can't let that happen.

They only came that close because I'm tired and hungry. Once I eat and take a quick nap I'll be fine again. Refocused on the woman who fucked everything up instead of the woman who always made everything better.

Dropping into the desk chair, I kick off my boots before pulling out the burger and fries I settled on. I haven’t eaten a meal like this in years—shit gets harder to maintain as you age—but it was quick and easy to grab and, considering it's the first calories I've consumed in over a day, I can probably afford the splurge. Unwrapping one end of the paper around the burger, I take a bite. Even though it’s only half-hot, it’s still good as hell, so I swallow quickly and take another bite before waking up my system.

I try to anyway. All four of the screens in front of me remain black.

Continuing to chew through the bite in my mouth, I quickly check all the cords, making sure everything is properly linked.

Still black.

I drop my dinner to crawl around on the floor like a dog, making sure the plugs are secure in the outlets. Everything looks fine.

Everything except the fucking black screens still staring back at me.

I tap the keyboard, but still nothing. Shoving enough of the burger into my mouth I can hold it with my teeth, I free up both hands and fall back on the standard control-alt-delete. All four monitors light up, the screens flashing white for a split-second before displaying a shockingly familiar scene. I spin in the chair, looking behind me even though I don't need to confirm it’s the same thing I’m seeing.

Swinging back to the monitor, I lift one hand to wave in front of the camera even though it's obviously not a live feed since I'm not sitting in the chair on the screen.

But before I can try to figure out what's going on, someone elseis.

The burger still pinched between my teeth drops to my lap as Julieanne slides into the same chair I'm parked in now. It’s so much like that first time, I don’t even blink as she smiles at me, looking every bit as sweet and soft as she did that day over six months ago.

Only this time I know she’s not nearly as sweet as she looks. And fuck if that doesn’t make me lean even closer, drinking her in like I’ll never see her again.

The dark curls of her hair fall past her shoulders to frame her perfect tits, openly displayed by the low cut of her dress. The thing is practically indecent and has my mouth watering. It also has me smirking. She didn't wear it for her date with doughboy last night, which proves she wasn't really into him.

But she's wearing it for me.

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