Page 8 of The Perfect Lie
Davian must have sensed my insecurity because I was in his arms before the tears began to spill. “I know what you’re thinking, princess. No one, not even Rui Salko, can penetrate these walls. He may have hacked our system, but we have other safeguards in place for this very reason. He’ll never be able to find you. I promise.”
~5~
Davian
I shouldn’t ever be in this position. Just like before, I felt like I’d failed Reyna once again.How the fuck did Salko hack the system?He must have some really intelligent geeks working for him. At least I had one thing going for me. Salko didn’t have Patton. With Patton’s computer knowledge, there was a safeguard in place to send Salko on a wild goose chase. Nothing was foolproof, and there was still a slight chance that Salko would find Reyna. But we were prepared for any perils or danger headed our way. And with the security we had outside these walls, we would see any threat coming our way within a three-block radius.
Reminded that I was holding Reyna in my arms, I felt her body shake. “Shh… princess. Everything will be okay.”
“I’m scared, Davian.”
“I know, baby.” Holding her at arm’s length, I bent my knees until my eyes met hers. “Do you trust me?”
Nodding her head up and down, she couldn’t be more scared as I watched her lips tremble. “What are you going to do?”
“Everything possible to keep that bastard away from you.” My blood pressure spiked, knowing there was the possibility of Salko getting to her. No matter how slim, it still existed. If Salko got to her again, I would literally go insane. No way could I be held responsible for what I might do if I lost her again.
I took Reyna by the hand and led her to my desk on the other side of the computer room, away from Patton's seat. I was glad that Kenzi followed close behind. She was right about the server, and even though I preferred to keep her in the dark about what was going on, her growing curiosity would be unrelenting.
Taking a chair from an unoccupied workstation, I pulled Reyna onto my lap and gestured for Kenzi to take a seat in the chair beside us. “Let’s see what we can find out about the situation with Giles Curtis and your mom.”
Reyna adjusted her position on my lap by moving her sweet ass closer to my groin. All thoughts of the task at hand went out the door. If she continued moving the way she was, there was no way I would be able to type the information on the keyboard, let alone concentrate on the data once it popped up on the screen. Maybe having her sit on my lap wasn’t the brightest idea I had, but damn if I didn’t like the way she felt. Weaving every fiber of my willpower not to take her now into a secure knot, I looked behind me at Patton for assistance since he could clearly see my dilemma based on his “you’re in trouble now” shit-eating grin.
Patton read my thoughts and pushed away from his desk. He kept his head lowered to hide his enjoyment of my predicament while he wrapped his hands around the chair’s back and pushed it toward me. “I believe you want this,” he smirked, unable to keep his laughter at bay.Asshole.
I needed to find a way to avoid an awkward situation as the chair slowly drifted my way. Patting my hand on Reyna’s ass, I was able to get her attention. “I’ll be right back.”
“Is everything okay, Davian?” Confusion was written across her face, and I didn’t have the heart to tell her that her sexy ass was a distraction without it coming across as a bad thing.
“Everything is good, princess.” I was lying through my teeth. Hopefully, the beginning of my erection wasn’t noticeable as I stood
When Reyna settled in the chair, I kissed the top of her head and headed to the entrance, careful to keep my back towards her. My impending erection wasn’t something I wanted to make known, especially with Kenzi sitting beside her. I turned my head briefly to make sure she was good, only to find Patton practically rolling on the floor at my expense. If it weren’t for another pressing matter, I would have whomped his ass.
∞
When I returned to the computer area after taking five minutes to gather myself, all eyes were on me like I had grown a set of horns. Shaking my head, I blew it off and moved to where Reyna sat with her hands knotted in her lap. When I left, she was fine, but now I wasn’t so sure. Patton sat between Reyna and Kenzi, rubbing his chin in confusion. I wasn’t a stranger to this reaction, having seen it on him more than once. Patton rarely got rattled, but there was no doubt he was downright stumped.
Whatever had them unsettled concerned me. As I stood behind Reyna, no words could describe how I felt when I looked at the computer screen. Seeing the timestamp, I realized the news headline was posted less than thirty minutes ago.Man turns up dead while in the custody of US officials. Cross Enterprises has been implicated in connection with the murder of Giles Curtis and the deaths of two innocent bystanders.How could this even happen? Looking over to Patton, I ran my hands through my hair, exhibiting the same confusion. “Is this even real?”
“I don’t think it’s fake,” Patton asserted. “But I do think the information is fucked up.” Patton’s theory did nothing to ease my anger. How the hell could anyone believe that Cross Enterprises could have anything to do with Giles Curtis’ death?
Looking toward Reyna, she wasn’t moving. Her eyes were focused on the computer screen, staring at the photo of her father. She was in shock. Placing my hands on the chair’s arms, I spun her toward me, pulled her gently off the chair, and walked away from the computer. Once we were far enough away from the screen, I pulled her close to me. “I’m sorry, princess. I know it was hard for you to see your dad like that.”
“He’s dead. He is really dead. I didn’t even get the chance to know him. I should feel sad or something, but I don’t feel anything. Who could have done this? How could they think Cross Enterprises had something to do with this?”
“I don’t know, but we’ll find out. I promise.” Kissing the top of her head, I looked over her shoulder to Patton. “We need to put this shit to rest before it gets out of hand. Contact the reporter for an exclusive interview.” My blood was boiling to the point. Soon I would need blood pressure medication to get it under control. I wasn’t sure what Salko’s game was, but no way in hell could I jeopardize Cross Enterprises' reputation. I worked so hard to get the company where it was today. If investors found out about this, or the shareholders, I could be out of business in six months.
“Davian, I don’t think that is a good idea.” Patton pushed away from the desk, looking like he was going to erupt any moment. “We need to take a different approach. This is exactly the thing Salko is depending on. You’ll leave yourself exposed to him, and that isn’t good for you or Reyna.”
Just like always, Patton was right, but damn if I didn’t want to get ahead of this before it got out of hand. Irritated and pissed, I looked over to Patton offensively with an evil glare. “I don’t care what you do, but I want this shit taken care of.”
Reyna wrapped her hand around my arm to gain my attention. “Davian, do you think Rui had something to do with my father’s death?” Reyna’s expression was one of confusion. I didn’t answer her. Seeing only fire, I grabbed her hand and led her out of the computer room.
Just the mention of his name had my blood boiling. I needed an outlet far away from the bullshit going on in this room. Salko wasn’t even here, but he managed to control every aspect of my and Reyna’s lives. First, Gwen, then the arrests of Reyna’s parents, and now this. The worst part was that Reyna didn’t know the real reason behind her father’s death. Curtis double-crossed Salko by taking his precious diamonds.
Call it what it was, but everything was coming to a head. I was a selfish bastard. There was only one way to tame the anger building up inside me, and that was being buried deep inside Reyna. I pulled Reyna's hand a little harder than I should have as we ascended the stairs. I felt her tug against my grasp, but didn’t bother to turn around until I heard her voice. “Davian, slow down. What is going on?”
I ignored her question and moved with a vengeance to our shared bedroom. Only after I had locked us inside did I released her hand. Concern and confusion were splashed across her face when I turned to face her. Placing my lips close against her ear, I tugged gently on her lobe. “Take off your clothes, princess.”
