Page 8 of Crush & Byte
“What’s the endgame, Byte?We bring her back to Riviera Beach and put her up in an apartment?She can’t come to the compound unless we claim her and I’m pretty Goddamned sure she’s not going to want that after talking to us for a whole five minutes.”I took another pull of my beer.I was starting to feel more than a little buzzed.We still had another few hours before we landed and I needed to let my head clear before we picked her up in Castle Rock at the Iron Tzars compound.“She’ll get bored and leave pretty Goddamned quick when she realizes we’re keeping secrets.”
Byte rolled his eyes.“Like I said.No one said this was supposed to be an actual relationship.We’re gonna show the woman a good time and have a good time.Even if there’s no sex involved.We’re taking her on a quest.I have no doubt we’ll enjoy ourselves as much as she does.”
“You talk like you’ve spoken to her longer than a five-minute video call.”
“Nope.But I’ve dug into her life, and I like the picture that information painted.”
I stared at him.“At any point during this situation you could have said something.”I didn’t ask him when he’d done it because we’d both been on the computer since we disconnected the call.Byte could multitask even better than I could.He routinely worked on three or four projects at a time.Having a running search on anything he wanted in the background would be no more than an afterthought.
He grinned.“Yep.I could have.”
“And why didn’t you?”I raised an eyebrow.
Instantly, his demeanor changed.Byte’s voice got quiet, the way it did when he actually gave a shit about something.“You ever think maybe Grandma’s just tired of knowing we’re still fucking around with club whores and not trying to find someone to spend the rest of our lives with?You know.Like Rocket and Lemon.”He frowned.“Only not like Rocket and Lemon because Lemon scares me, but maybe like Bullet and Cecilia.Or Falcon and Gina.Gina makes Falcon smile and he’s less of an asshole now.Maybe she wants us to have something -- someone-- who’s ours.”
“Spare me the Hallmark channel, Byte.”
He snorted.“You’re the one pining over her already.”
“I’m not pining --”
“Bro, you watched her video call on repeat three fuckin’ times.”
I felt my face get hot.“I didn’t --”
Byte chuckled.“Don’t worry.I won’t tell.But I see you, big brother.”
“Fucker.”I wanted to throw something at him but settled for draining the rest of my beer instead.He was right, and it pissed me off.Also pissed me off he didn’t seem concerned about what he was suggesting.
“Even if Maggie wants us to keep her,” I said, “we can’t just force her into the club.It’s not like patching in a stray.”
Byte leaned forward, elbows on knees.“It’s not about the club, Crush.It’s about us.”His voice was weirdly gentle.“When’s the last time you cared about anything that wasn’t blood or business?”
I stared at the window, watching the blue-black sky slip by.“It doesn’t matter.”
“It does.”Byte wouldn’t let it go.“Maggie thinks she’s found someone who can take us both on and come out the other side alive.That’s why she picked River.”
“She’s not a toy, Byte.And I guarantee you, River has no idea what Maggie’s set her up for.Do you honestly think she’s not going to balk hard at having sex with both of us?”
“I bet she’s tougher than you think.”Byte sounded more confident than I’d heard him in years with regard to sex.Usually he simply followed my lead, admitting he had no idea how to read a woman’s body language and, after the horrible fiasco with Gina, Byte didn’t want to take a chance on accidentally hurting a woman because he was absorbed in his own pleasure and ignored something important.
I narrowed my gaze at him.“You seem pretty fuckin’ confident about this, Byte.You.The man who swears he can’t understand other people’s feelings and emotions.You believe you know this woman you’ve had a five-minute conversation with would be willing to fuck both of us.You’re a hundred percent sure of that.”It wasn’t a question.
“When you know, you know.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I also hacked into her ereader and found all the romance and erotica she reads.Multiple times.She’s really into what they call reverse harem romances.Lots of books with multiple partners.”He grinned.
“Fuckin’ hell,” I muttered.“Byte.You know that just because someone likes reading something or watching something doesn’t mean they actually want to do it, right?”
“No, I don’t know that.I say it shows her open-mindedness.”Byte stuck his chin up, challenging logic.
“Fine,” I said, “let’s say Maggie is matchmaking.Why us?”
Byte shrugged.“She trusts us.We’re the only ones in the club she hasn’t tried to manipulate in the last decade.”No one knew it but me and Byte, but with her CIA ties, she knew everything about everyone in Grim Road, even though none of the missions -- or the people -- in Grim Road ever existed on the record.It was all out of love, though.She loved me and Byte and she knew Grim Road was our chosen family.
I barked a laugh.“You think she doesn’t manipulate us?”
