Page 24 of Hacker Betrayed

I didn't wait for her to take her words back as I ran my fingers through her hair and pulled her soft lips to mine. My tongue pushed against her lips, and she opened. Mia was perfect in every way. I just had to figure out a way to keep her.

CHAPTER8

Mia

Thursday afternoon, I slipped into the red leather booth at the back of the diner. My wound had completely healed, but the ache of living in Paxton's house and only kissing had left me needing more. Each night we sat in his reading room, and he read to me, which left me frustrated. His baritone voice went straight to my sex, and when he read those damn sex scenes I practically orgasmed on his lap.

At work, Brock had kept Eric or Wes with me on all assignments. We weren't any closer to finding who the hell killed Tabitha. The man she dated had vanished and there was no sign of him in her life. Meanwhile, Lucas was having the time of his life in Virginia at Zack's home. He'd talked to Donovan a few times. I hadn't talked to Donovan, but I'd spoken to my brother and my sister Lydia, who was supposed to be meeting me at the diner along with Kat and Rachelle.

"Hey!" Kat chirped as she slid in the seat across from me. "I can't believe I'm the first one here."

I smiled at my friend across the booth. Kat's red hair was up in a messy bun, and she had workout clothes on. Every Wednesday she taught self-defense at the women’s shelter.

"Rachelle's running a few minutes behind, and I expect my sister to show up fashionably late."

"So, you're talking to your family now?" Kat asked as she pulled out her phone and tapped the screen. "Sorry, Antonio was asking what to feed the kids. Back to my question. Do we like your sister?"

My brother and youngest sister weren't giving me the choice to stay away. They kept calling me and wanting to talk. Sebastian had even come over to the house a couple times for dinner when we had Paxton's brothers visiting. I hadn't met his sister yet. I wasn't even sure the last time I'd been to my own apartment. Every time I mentioned I was going to go home, he would come up with an excuse for me to stay with him. "She never did anything to me. I can't hold what my parents did against my siblings. All I know is I won't be dragged back into that world. And if anyone tries, I'll kill them in a heartbeat."

A smile spread across Kat's face. "Don't forget to call me. I'll have your six."

"I've told you, no planning murder in my diner," Joyce Buford, the owner of Chubby' s complained. "My guests don't need a lesson on dismembering bodies and feeding them to gators." She set down two milkshakes. She never let us order our own food. Joyce brought us what she felt we should eat. I wasn't going to complain about the basket of fries. She had a sixth sense about what we wanted.

"Now Joyce, we talked about this before. I don't need to chop the bodies up for the gators. They eat those guys whole. It's only for when I have to decompose a body in acid, and the price of acid has gone up with inflation.”

Joyce snorted as Kat grabbed a napkin and started to draw a cost comparison graph between gators and acid.

"Leave it to the billionaire to complain about the price of acid," Joyce pointed out.

Sometimes I forgot how rich the people around me were. Kat and her husband weren't the only billionaires in our group. My boss and his wife were billionaires, but none of them acted like they have tons of money. They also donated millions of dollars to different causes. I knew my boss took on cases for people who couldn't afford Blackwood Mercenary.

"The more I save cutting costs, the more I can donate," Kat shot back. Donovan's comment about me not truly being friends with Kat struck me, as it often had over the past few weeks. I'd since made an effort to spend more time with Kat. She was fun to be around, but I missed Tabitha. Guilt about the real Mia being alive weighed down on me. Donovan had shaken his head when I wanted to tell Eric she was alive. I needed to find out why her existence needed to be kept a secret.

Joyce grinned as she stepped to the side so Rachelle could slide into the booth next to Kat. "Sorry I'm late. Dr. Renolds was in my office demanding more funds for his staff. The damn man doesn't like the word no."

I'd met Kaeden a few times, and he seemed to be less serious the Quinton, but he would argue with his two brothers until they gave up and let him have his way. I'd thought one night when we played a simple game of Monopoly that he should have become a lawyer, because he was damn good at laying out a case. "My sister's late as well. I bet she won't be here for another twenty minutes."

Kat shrugged. "That's fine. Your sister not showing up on time gives us a chance to talk about how things are between you and Dr. Sexy."

"Frustrating." With each day we spent together I felt myself fall more for him. He rubbed my feet while we laid on the couch watching movies. A couple of times he’d come home with flowers because he thought they would brighten my day. "He's the perfect man. I'm waiting to figure out why he's single. How hasn't a woman swooped him up. Nobody is perfect, but I haven't found his flaw yet."

"He'll do something to make you mad. For example, he might leave the toilet seat up or brush his teeth too hard. You're in that honeymoon stage where nothing gets under your nerves." Rachelle smiled. "Don't get me wrong, I'm still in the honeymoon stage myself. In my eyes, Wes is the perfect man. The way he takes care of my son and me. He's helping with every aspect of our wedding. And I mean every aspect. The other day I had to put my foot down because he wanted to come to the bridal shop."

Rachelle and Wes were perfect for each other. I still loved how she bid on him at a charity auction. Even when things went badly for them, and I had to deal with Wes’s whiney ass at work for a couple weeks. The first time I saw Wes and Rachelle together, I'd joined the office pool and bet on Wes falling within a week for her. Their relationship had a couple bumps and it ended up taking three weeks, and Brock won the office bet. "The doctor cleared me this week. My accident was five weeks ago, but he still treats me like I'm going to break. I think it's all those damn romance novels he reads."

Kat’s hand stopped midair with a spoon full of ice cream and Reese’s. "Romance novels?"

I winced, not knowing if he wanted to keep his passion for erotic books a secret. "Please don't tell anyone, but the man has a room lined floor to ceiling with romance books. He reads to me every night."

"Wait. Are you talking mystery books with some sex or naked man chest books?" Rachelle asked.

"Naked man chest books." I glanced toward the door, feeling like there were eyes on me, before I turned back to Rachelle. "He's involved in some of the authors’ fan pages. He's having coffee with Lily Winters in a couple weeks."

Kat was bouncing in her seat. "She writes paranormal romance. Can you get the exact time and place of this meeting? I swear I won't interrupt his meeting. I'll wait, but you know how cool this is."

"Except he reads them to me every night and I'm so sexually frustrated."

Joyce chose that exact moment to walk back to the table with Rachelle's shake and another basket of fries. "Honey, jump on Amazon and order yourself a vibrator. If you order before two, you can get them same day. Don't forget the batteries."

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