Page 16 of Decoded
Lincoln, ever the pessimist, says, “Did you not get the contract signed? Were you late to the meeting, motherfucker?”
“I made it to the meeting. Got the contracts signed, then did the whole schmooze routine like a good little puppet.”
“Thank fuck,” Linc says. “So was your asshole greeting just because of the hangover you’re still nursing?”
“Hangover? You got drunk? Mr. Responsible? Mr. All Work and No Play?” Cam teases.
“I don’t have time for either of your shit right now, I need help with something.”
The line goes quiet for several moments. It’s not like me to ask for help. As the oldest, I tend to take on the problems and try to fix them without disrupting my family in the process. When Mom couldn’t take care of my brothers anymore, I stepped in. When my brothers and I needed an opportunity in our small town, I got our business started.
Cam’s teasing was officially over. “Shit. What’s wrong? What can we do?”
I take a second to consider how deep into detail I want to go regarding my situation with Anna. “I met this girl last night on the flight. Her name is Anna, and we spent the night together here in my room. This morning I had to leave for the meeting, but she was still sleeping and I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye or get her number. I need to find her.”
“Why do you need to find this girl, Keat? Did she steal from you?” Lincoln asks,
“What? No of course not,” I realize I’m immediately defensive of her, but also not entirely sure she didn’t steal from me. I didn’t even think of considering that as an option because there’s no way the Anna I met last night would do anything like that.
Camden’s voice takes on a different pitch, “Lincoln, has Keaton ever asked us to find information on any of his past hookups?”
“You know baby bro, I can’t recall him ever giving enough of a shit about them to so much as get their number. I wonder what’s different about this one.”
“I have a few of their numbers, asshole,” I mutter. Though, he kind of has a point.
“So tell us, Keaton, what’s different about this girl? What makes her special enough to seek out?” Lincoln presses, sounding ever the smug asshole he truly is.
“I can’t really get into it right now,” I dodge, “I just need help finding her.”
“Does Anna have a last name?” Camden asks.
Yeah, mine.
“I don’t know it,” I admit. “But like I said, we were on the same flight. Think we can somehow pull the logs to get her information?”
“Brother, we are a cybersecurity company. Our whole mission is to stop the kind of shit you just asked us to do,” Lincoln chastises.
“You don’t think I fucking know that?” I’m off the bed and pacing my room at this point. “I wouldn’t ask for this if it wasn’t important.”
“So, it’s imperative that you find this girl, to the point you’re asking us to do some illegal shit, but you can’t tell us why she’s so important to you?” Camden asks calmly, the mediator of our bunch.
My stomach is in knots. I feel like I’m trapped in one of those hourglasses where the sand is pouring down on me. Every second that passes without her is another grain drowning me in my grief. That grief turns into anger at my brothers for slowing this process down.
“Would the two of you stop dicking around and help me find my wife?”
Shit. I definitely didn’t mean to let that detail slip through, but here we fucking are, I guess.
“Your fucking what?” Lincoln shouts through the phone. “What the fuck do you mean by that?”
Camden once again tried to diffuse the conversation, “Umm, Keat, can you say that again?” He laughs, “Kinda sounded like you said your ‘wife’ there for a second.”
I groan and damn myself for losing my temper and confessing the secret I meant to keep until she was officially with me. Living in my house. Sleeping in my bed. Under me every night.
“I did. We kinda sorta got married last night.” I go over the details from the night before with my siblings. I smile through the pain when I think of the way her face lit up in that little chapel.
“Do you think Elvis is gonna marry us?” Anna giggles and it’s the cutest damn thing I’ve ever heard in my life.
“The king might be a bit busy, Baby, but if you want Elvis to marry us, I can see what we can do.”
