Page 274 of The Black Trilogy

“No, it’s sunk in now. I’ll be fine.” She gave him a sheepish smile. “It’s not the first time this has happened.”

Luke closed his eyes, struggling to hold back his true thoughts, none of which were polite. “What more do you need to do with the pictures?”

“Just zoom in on certain parts and clean them up.”

“Do you want me to do it?”

“No, I’ll manage.”

Luke kept a careful eye as Mack opened the files again. She did what she had to without further incident, but he suspected she was putting a brave face on things. He couldn’t help glimpsing more of the gruesome images, and his appetite deserted him come dinnertime.

After spending so much time looking for Emmy, Luke and Mack both had work to catch up on. Two days passed in a blur of emails, programming, and meetings. Apart from a quick visit to Lower Foxford to check Tia hadn’t destroyed his house again, Luke spent all his spare time with Mack.

On Thursday evening, they ate a delicious meal of beef stroganoff, courtesy of Ruth, and after coffee, they hacked into the servers of a well-known dating website. After spending an hour or two reading who’d messaged who, they fired off a polite email suggesting the company update their security, signed Loki and Diablo.

“I can’t believe that guy sent a photo of himself dressed in that rubber outfit.”

Luke shuddered, wishing he could un-see the overweight man stuffed into the gimp costume. “And I can’t believe she agreed to meet him for a date.”

“And that guy who tried to sue the website when he burnt himself... What was he thinking?”

“Exactly. He really should have worn an apron when he tried to cook his date a bacon sandwich.”

Good food and a broken firewall—every hacker’s dream. Despite the money, the cars, and the made-to-measure suits, Luke was a geek at heart, and he’d finally met his soul mate.

Mack lingered outside his door as they headed for bed, and it took all his self-control not to invite her in. What would she say if he did? Apart from the near kiss in the control room after Emmy came back, she’d kept him firmly in the friend zone. He tried to see her the same way, but every time she bit that bottom lip or arched her back as she stretched, blood flowed straight to his little head. Life with Mack was hard, but without her? That didn’t bear thinking about.

“What do you want for dinner?” Luke asked Mack the next afternoon. His last meeting had dragged on for hours, and all he’d eaten since lunch was a packet of digestive biscuits.

“I don’t know. It’s Ruth’s day off, so we’re on our own.”

“In that case, why don’t we go out to eat? Call it a late celebration of Emmy’s return.”

“Why not? As long as we don’t have chocolate for dessert. I ate most of that box of candy you bought me while I upgraded the secondary database this afternoon.”

“You didn’t save me any?”

“I left the Turkish delight.”

Fantastic. The only ones he didn’t like. “Thanks.”

“I’ll make it up to you.”

Oh, she’d better. “How about Japanese?”

“I love Japanese. There’s a great place in Kensington.”

He smiled at her. “Give me the name, and I’ll make a reservation.

“Perfect.”

Yes, she was.

CHAPTER 46

“I THINK I drank too much sake,” Mack giggled as Luke helped her back into the car after dinner.

He made sure he stood behind her as her skirt rode up. Not just for his viewing pleasure, but because he didn’t want anyone getting an eyeful but him. His own throat burned—he’d been matching her shot for shot.

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