Page 76 of Hate the Way You Lie (Hate 2)

Hours go by, looking at what seems like a whole lot of nothing.

My eyes start to cross and my thoughts begin to wander.

Fuck, this shit is pointless. The papers are not going to change no matter how many times I look at them. I keep pretending like the numbers are suddenly going to shift around to form a code like some magical Zodiac Academy shit, but that’s not the case.

Flipping open my father’s old laptop, I find a blue sticky note I don’t recall seeing the last time. Written in Rush’s handwriting is “Had Lya hack this folder we couldn’t get into, waiting on results from the inner encoded file.” Underneath that, I find another sticky note that says, “Access code: 5991R03T40C.” Even though I have trust issues, Lya seems as loyal as can be and her skills may lead us to something. She hates me at the moment, so I guarantee Rush lied and told her this little favor was for Tara or for finding Zayan.

A smirk lights my lips as I pull the sticky note off the screen.Please give me something.I type in the password, and I hold my breath until I see the open folder.

She really fucking did it. Rush spent days trying to hack into this folder before. Lya is a genius. I have no idea what she had to do to figure out this code, but I’m so fucking grateful for her. I look at the code one more time, wondering if it means anything or if it’s just random numbers and letters, but I don’t have time to focus on it.

I find two folders within the file. One labeled ‘Snakes,’ which I can guess holds the deepest, darkest secrets of so many people. The next is labeled ‘Accounts.’ Piquing my interest, I click on that folder.

Fucking password protected. Maybe that’s the inner encoded file Rush is waiting on? That would explain why he didn’t let me know he got into this file because there’s really no information without the extra password.

“What are you doing?” I jump at Rush’s voice. I didn’t hear the door open, he’s just that quiet.

My eyes snap to him. “Shit, man. You scared me.”

Leaning against the door frame, he smirks. “Didn’t mean to. Just came to find you since you weren’t outside Tara’s door playing guard dog like usual.”

“What time is it?” I ask, rubbing my hand down my face.

“Seven-thirty.” Well, fuck. I was hoping to return to my post against the wall before anyone woke up. Looking at him, he’s already dressed in his dark jeans and black t-shirt. He’s probably taking Tara to Star of India. She discussed with Rush how she wanted to go back, so I’m guessing that’s the plan for the day. As much as I don’t want her going, trying to tell her that is impossible. She’ll do what she wants no matter who stands in her way.

“I see you got into this folder.,” I announce.

“Yeah, Lya just got that to me yesterday. I haven’t had a chance to look into it further, though. Had other stuff to do.” He shrugs.Yeah, like making Tara come?

Shaking away the thoughts, I ask,“Can I get your help real quick?”

His brow quirks. “With what?” Pushing off the frame, Rush rounds the desk and looks over my shoulder.

“This folder inside is password-protected, and I can’t get into it. I see the note that says waiting on the inner encoded file. Did Lya give you the password for that?” I tilt the computer in his direction to show him the file.

“Nope, she didn’t give it to me. Said we had to wait to get that one.” He’s got a grin on his face like he knows something.

“So Lya got us into the main folder and didn’t bother hacking the others? She knew there were others that we would need to get into. Is she doing this to spite me?”

Rush chuckles in my ear. “She sure does like to mess with you.”

“I didn’t do anything to her,” I huff, rolling my eyes.

“You hurt her best friend, asshole. You’d do the same shit if someone hurt Reilly.” I would in a heartbeat, but not just Reilly. Rush, my mom, and Tara, too. Mess with any of them, and I’ll make it my life mission to fuck you up. Which is precisely what’s going to happen to Zayan when I lure him out of hiding.

Rush smacks my shoulder, giving it a squeeze. “I’ll mess with this later, I’ve gotta help my mom today, so I’m going to be taking off for a bit. Apparently, my brother is being a little shithead.”

“Oh. Is Reilly taking Tara to the restaurant then?” She won’t miss a chance to go. She loves that place and has been itching to return to her normal routine.

“Nah, he’s gotta get to the shop. I’m letting Viper take her today. I trust him to look after her. I’ll head up there after I get done with my business if I have to.” Viper is the only Snake I trust, but at this point, I’m trusting no one else besides Rush, Reilly, and myself with my wife.

“Absolutely not. If she goes today, she goes with one of us. If you two can’t, I’ll take her.”

Rush laughs manically. “Good luck getting her to agree to that.”

“She’ll agree, or she stays the fuck home,” I growl as Rush heads toward the door. Not like that would go over well for me if I told her the ultimatum. I should try a softer approach, but she’s also well aware that I’m an asshole, especially when it comes to her.

“Whatever you say, man.” Stopping in his tracks, he turns back to look at me. “If you’re going anywhere, I’d get a shower first. You look and smell like shit. Maybe she’ll be more willing to go with you if there’s not a threat of her suffocating to death in the car from your stinky ass.”

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