Page 17 of Time Stops With You

“I wouldn’t, no. But that’s just me personally.”

That’s good enough for me. I put my hands down.

“What are you doing here in my home, Ronan Cullen?”

He speaks in a calm, measured tone. “Josiah, would you like to explain this or should I?”

My gaze swings between my brother and Cullen. On one hand, I want to tell this strange man not to talk to my brother. On the other hand, Josiah is staring at his shoes in a very guilty way and I have a feeling we’re the ones in the wrong.

“What did Josiah do?” I ask, bracing myself.

My brother’s head whips up. “I didn’t do anything… much.”

Oh no.

I inhale a shaky breath. “Define ‘much’.”

“Let me google it.” He pulls up his phone and acts like he’ll look it up in an online dictionary.

“That’s not what I meant and you know it.”

“Uh…” My brother squirms.

Mr. Cullen pulls his lips into his mouth.

Fed up of the silence, I snap, “Someone better start talking!”

“Nardi,” Josiah swallows hard, “it’s really not that big of a deal.”

I wave my hands back and forth. “Ah yes. Because some crazy rich guy…”

Cullen jumps. “Is she talking about me?”

“…parked all those fancy cars outside, walked up four flights of stairs…”

Cullen glances at the suit behind him and then mumbles to the floor, “I think she’s talking about me.”

“… and re-created a scene ofThe Godfatherin our shabby living room over somethingyoudid. And you call that ‘not a big deal’?”

Yes, I’m aware that Josiah has never seenThe Godfatherand has no context for what I’m comparing this moment to, but I’msure he can understand the heat in my voice. And I’m sure he can also tell that his excuse isn’t flying with me.

Turning to the stranger, I speak in as polite a tone as possible. “Sir, what did my brother do to bring you and your,” I gesture to the suits, “posse here?”

Cullen blinks a couple times as if he’s not sure how to answer that. I clear my throat forcefully and he locks eyes with me. The force of his gaze knocks me back a step. I’m riveted by the ghost-blue hue of his eyes. They’re like magical moonlight orbs stuck in his face. I’ve never seen eyes that color in my life.

“Ms. Davis, your brother broke into a billion-dollar simulation, introduced several lines of code that corrupted the database and nearly ruined a decade’s worth of confidential, government research.”

I blink, long and slow. “He didwhatnow?”

Josiah darts a look at me and quickly looks away.

“Is this… are you…” I struggle to make sense of it all while halfway to a full mental breakdown. “How is that possible? All he has is his phone. How did he break into that kind of program?”

“The IP address traced back to,” he flexes his fingers and opens a folder in his lap, “a Galilei Newton School for The Scientifically Gifted.”

My left eye starts twitching and I turn to Josiah with fire in my gaze. “You used the school computer to break into a billion-dollar simulation?”

If he were a dog, his tail would be between his legs. Josiah hunkers down until his neck is hiding inside his T-shirt. “It’s not my fault Cullen Tech has awful security measures.”

---