Page 2 of Finders Keep Her
I'm watching too, little fox, and your time is about up.
Chapter Two
ELLIE
Iglare at the computer screen. I can’t help the disappointment creeping in. He was supposed to be different, but clearly all men think with their dicks. I should know better. I huff a breath when a piece of hair falls into my face. I pull my hair tie off my wrist, tying my hair up, never taking my eyes off the screen, off him. It’s been that way from the beginning.
I've developed a strange new fascination. I’m not sure what to make of him or me at the moment. I don’t obsess over men. They’re gross. Okay, that's not entirely accurate. I don’t obsess over a man because I want them, and Ronan isn’t gross. I don’t understand my fascination with him.
In my profession, if you can call it that, men dominate. I’m one of the rare girls that come out to play and can keep up. Ever since I found my first computer, I’ve been obsessed with them, learning all the ins and outs so that I could be the best at what I do. I’m not there yet, but I’ve come far enough that I’m now on people's radar.
It started off first with me taking them apart and putting them back together. From there it had grown, much to my dad's protest. He hates technology all around. I’m sure that’s why I’mpartly obsessed with it. It was a no-no growing up. We lived off the grid.
Hell, once upon a time I didn’t exist. I was born in an underground bunker. Crazy, right? What’s crazier is the bunker is in the States, and there wasn’t even a war happening at the time. Well, here at least.
It wasn’t until my mom got sick that I got a taste for the rest of the world. My dad was desperate to save her when she fell ill. That meant venturing into a hospital, where we stayed for almost a year until we lost her.
While losing her had been a pain I wish no one else would ever have to experience, the time I spent with her that year in the outside world shaped the person I am today. It’s crazy how life works sometimes. My whole world had been ripped from me as a new one was emerging.
I watch as Ronan removes the chain and padlock from around the tall fence that wraps around the warehouse he lives in when he’s not staying at his family's farm. It’s not technically a farm with animals and so on, but that’s what the Marino family calls it. The property features extensive rolling hills and barns, the contents of which I likely don’t want to know. I’ve learned that the Marinos don’t take too kindly to people poking their nose into their business.
I still can’t believe I’ve gotten wrapped up with that family. I find one internet friend in a book group, and she ends up marrying into a high-ranking crime mob family. Go figure. I’m still not sure my bff’s husband, War, fully likes me. I know he doesn’t trust me, but that pretty much goes for anyone that’s around Tova.
Wait, is it still called a mob these days, or is it a Bratva or maybe a syndicate? Who knows. What I do know is they aren’t on the up and up, but who really is? Not to mention one of thebrothers, Z, as they call him, but Zero to me and the rest of the community I play in, is one of the best hackers in the world.
Pretty sure that’s the reason Ronan’s chain gate is electric. His whole warehouse is ready to go off the grid at the drop of a dime. He knows what Zero is capable of. He also has Zero to tell him how to protect himself from people, well, like me. It’s rather annoying, if you ask me. I hate when he drops off the map. My father would call it badass, but whatever.
I watch as Ronan gets back into his truck, pulling through the gate before getting out and putting the chain back on before he walks over to a breaker box, kicking on the electric fence.
I cringe thinking about how big of a shock you'd take if you touched the thing. It also has wired curved fencing on top that would shred anyone who tried to climb over. That warehouse is locked up as tight as a fucking prison.
I pull my feet up in my chair, resting my chin on my knee as I keep watching him. I don’t stop, not even when he finally pulls into his warehouse. He keeps the power on the grid and all the cameras online.
Zero had busted me on my light stalking of Ronan and told me to be careful, but he must not have told him, for some reason. It doesn’t make sense to me. The only explanation is that he must still be wrapped up in Cosima. The man has to hate me at this point. It’s not my fault that I’m best friends with his now wife and sister-in-law. When they ask me to do something for them, I do it. It’s girl code.
I mean I can’t say that his dislike for me is unwarranted. One of the asks might have come from Cosima when she and Zero were figuring their crap out. She asked me to get her out of the country and make sure Zero couldn’t contact her. Which I thought I’d done. Boy, was I wrong. The man had been three steps ahead of both of us. I still am in awe of the lengths he went to.
Don’t get me wrong. I found it rather annoying at the time but also a bit sweet how far he had gone to keep Cosima in his sights. If she wasn’t so in love with him and carrying his baby, I might have called him a psycho, but as Zero pointed out, I am no better than him.
Not true. I might not be better in regard to crossing lines about people’s privacy, as in Ronan’s, but clearly I was not better than him at my skills because he’d bested me.
I’ve been fascinated with Ronan from the moment I laid eyes on him. It’s driving me crazy that I don’t know why. When I wake up, he’s the first thing I think about and the last when I go to sleep. Not to mention the dreams. I groan, closing my laptop, not wanting my dirty mind to go there.
This can’t be right. I’ve never talked to the man before! I’ve seen him in person once—well, once that he’s aware of—but I’m starting to get the sense that he might be more conscious of me than I know.
“No.” I shake the thought from my head. There is no way, not to mention he went into a brothel tonight.
This was the first time I’d seen him venture toward other women in a sexual way. I worry my bottom lip between my teeth, hating the jealousy I feel. This is why you don’t get tangled up with men. Why can’t I just be asexual? That would make things so much easier. Then I wouldn’t be stalking a man who barely knows I exist.
Even if he did know about me, I’d likely freak him out. I’m strange; I get that. We all have our quirks. I mean, Ronan himself doesn’t have the best reputation. Word on the street—wait, do people still say "word on the street"? Doesn’t matter, well, kind of. I can’t go dropping the word on the street line and adding to my awkward weirdness.
The point is to blend in.
Anyhow, the things I've found on Ronan are scary. At least they should be. People are terrified of him. He's the one who is sent in to extract information out of people. I'd let him extract a few things from me. An orgasm or five comes to mind.
"Oh my God!" I growl at myself, falling back onto my bed.
A knock sounds on my door a moment before it's flung open.
