Page 18 of Misunderstood Hacker

8

Jessica

It had beena couple weeks since the night Brock and I had planned to go to the club.Since then, I had been staying in his room, and we had graduated from spanking to a flogger. He still struggled with tying me up, thinking it would bring back memories.It would take patience, and we would get there.I was more frustrated that we hadn’t had sex. He wanted to take his time. I thought men moved more quickly than this.

We were sitting in the kitchen having breakfast when a knock came from the door. Brock didn’t seem surprised to have company.I went to answer it and found Antonio on the other side.

I leaned in and gave him a hug, and he kissed me on the forehead like a sister. Since my boss was his brother, Antonio and I were pretty much like brother and sister.

“Good morning, Antonio.”

“Good morning, Queen and Brock.”

Brock walked over and pulled me from Antonio’s grasp.

“Patty is next in line, not me.” Patty had finally taken her place in line for the crown since meeting Sam. At least that was one less thing I had to worry about.I never wanted to go to Shialia again.There were too many bad memories of what happened to me there.

Antonio chuckled. “I know. I like seeing you get worked up. Are you almost ready?”

I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to be getting ready for. I’d barely left Blackwood Security since the car bomb, and nobody had come any closer to figuring out who had attacked me.

“Ready for what?”

Antonio gave Brock a strange look.

Brock ran his hand through his hair like he did when things bothered him. “Antonio is going to take you to Ross Enterprises for the day.”

I pulled back from Brock’s arms and did a little dance, excited to get out for the day and see my assistant in person. Once the news settled in, it dawned on me—Antonio was taking me.For the past two weeks, Brock had been by my side each day.Since we were working in the same building, we even ate lunch together.

“Why is Antonio taking me and not you?”

Brock fiddled with a folder lying on the white granite countertop before answering me. “I need to help Mia with a case. We’re flying out in an hour. If everything works out right, I will pick you up from work.”

I didn’t like his answer. “What do you mean if everything works out right? What are you going to work on?”

Brock looked over to Antonio. He just shrugged his shoulders, mumbled something about this not being his problem, and headed toward the couch in the living room.

I could tell Brock was trying to get the upper hand when he pulled me into his embrace. “Mia and I are going to help the FBI take down a member of a terrorist organization.Everything will work out, and we will be back before dinner.”

“Are you kidding me? I have a guard on my ass at all times, but it’s okay for you to go play with terrorists?”

I knew what Brock did for a living.I understood he worked for a mercenary company that also assisted the government. But Brock was the IT guru.

“Why are you going into the field? That’s not your area.”The idea of going to work was not as exciting anymore.If I worked out of Blackwood Security, I could find out how the op was going from the other team members.

“Since Sam is in Shialia, I’m in charge. I did plenty of groundwork when I was a Navy Seal. I can handle this. I want you to stay close to Antonio during the day, and I will try to pick you up from work.”

I was about to protest again when his phone started to ring.I could tell by the strained look on his face that he didn’t want to leave me, but he needed to pick up the phone.“Take the call.” I kissed him on the lips and headed to his bedroom to finish getting ready.

Working from Blackwood Security had put me behind on my daily responsibilities for Ross Enterprises.I was deep in concentration, looking over the latest project proposals Alex had sent me, when a knock at my door brought me out of my number haze. When I looked up, it was Sophie and Neal.

“Hey, Numbers Woman. What are you doing for lunch?” Sophie was amazed by how naturally numbers came to me, so she had nicknamed me Numbers Woman.

At the mention of lunch, my stomach growled and made me take notice of the clock. It was already a quarter past twelve. I wanted to go to lunch with them, but I didn’t want to make Brock upset by not listening about the whole bodyguard thing. The last attempt with the car bomb still had me on edge.

Neal must have noticed I was having a debate in my head. “Your grumpy bodyguard is pulling the car around. And your angry boss isn’t even here today. Let’s break you out of this place and hit your favorite diner.” The mention of Chubby’s Diner made my stomach growl again.

Once we were seated in the back booth at Chubby’s, I relaxed. It felt good to be around friends. It would have been nicer if Brock had been there instead of the too-quiet Antonio.The only word the man knew was no.

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