Page 48 of Twice the Rivalry

So when he reached the bar, he put her firmly out of his mind and got to work, cursing the Prospect when he realized just how much damage he had done.

By the time he finished, it was hours later, but thankfully he had been able to get the register up and running quickly enough so people could pay. The issue was that the Prospect had also pulled another cable that disconnected the club’s security system in the bar, and had made it so that he had to do a full reset to get everything back online.

“I hope you’re making that Prospect do some shit labor for awhile,” he grumbled to Savage as they made their way back from the bar toward the clubhouse. “Which one was it, by the way?”

“Sam,” Savage told him, scowling. Sam was still relatively new around the club, and the kid wasn’t great at thinking things through. Code had his doubts that he would last much longer. He was starting to show how lazy he was, and none of them put up with laziness. But they would need a new Prospect to replace him, so he would probably have to stick around until another one arrived. “And yeah, I am,” Savage assured him with a smirk. “Got him in there cleaning those bathrooms from top to bottom, and then he needs to clean every square inch of the bar tonight after everyone leaves. He thought about whining, but must have thought better of it.”

Probably when he saw the look on Savage’s face, Code thought in amusement. Savage was not a man to piss off, and the Prospects knew it.

“Speaking of pains in the ass,” Savage suddenly said, pulling Code out of his thoughts. “How is yours? The two of you work out whatever it is that pisses you off about the other yet?”

It was Code’s turn to scowl. He had done well to stop thinking about Glitch while he was working, but now she was back in full force, and his dick instantly started to harden at the thought of what had transpired a few hours ago. “No,” he said darkly. “That woman runs her smart mouth and acts like she can’t do any wrong.”

“You know, if you two called a truce and focused on finding that Ghost team , she’d probably be out of here a hell of a lot faster,” Savage pointed out drily. “Instead of you two squabbling and doing things to piss each other off even more.” Then he chuckled. “Though, I would have paid to see her expression when she found her stuff on the top shelf of the pantry.”

Code smirked. Yeah, he left that little tidbit out when he told her where her stuff was. He’d have to check the cameras to watch, because it was probably worth it. “She probably got someone to give her a boost up to get it,” he reasoned, but then frowned at the thought of someone lifting her up and having her ass in their face when she did it. Jealousy prickled at him, but he quickly shut that down. What the hell did he have to be jealous about? After all, there was nothing between them, and what happened earlier wasn’t going to happen again.

“ I heard she threw a knife at your head,” Savage continued, sighing. “I probably should be pissed, but all I can think is that I’m grateful it wasn’t a gun. I don’t need to be patching bullet holes. I just hope the women don’t get any ideas.”

They reached the clubhouse, and headed up the stairs and inside. “Afraid that Royal is going to start throwing knives at you?” Code laughed with a wicked grin. “I’d pay to see that.”

Savage glared at him. “If she tries, I’ll know exactly where she got the suggestion from,” he warned, “and I won’t hesitate to kick your ass.” Then he turned and headed toward the couches, where his woman was sitting and talking to Esme and Scarlett. He didn’t see Steel or Harlow, so he had to assume the two of them were at home with Harley. Though, on further inspection of the room, he didn’t see Karissa or Glitch, and his gut told him that was not a good thing. Especially when he realized the twins weren’t around either.

Maybe they were down in the gym sparring again, he told himself as he made his way toward his office. When he reached it he found the door shut. When he opened it and walked in, anger roared right back to life as he realized what was in front of him.

The entire office was rearranged and redone. The new desk that Glitch had bought— he had been purposely ignoring and refusing to build—was now assembled and in place. It was U-shaped so it lined all three walls, was completely free of any clutter, and strategically organized. It set his teeth on edge. All of his monitors were in different positions and placed on the wall instead of on the arms he had had them on previously. Glitch’s set up was exactly the same and positioned directly behind him, her new chair also assembled.

The place looked fancy as shit, and he hated it. He didn’t want or need this, and once again, Glitch completely ignored that this wasn’t her space, and that she wasn’t going to be here forever. Anything he wanted apparently didn’t matter, and he wasn’t going to let that stand. He wanted to rip it all apart on principle, but he forced himself to set his things down on his side of the desk, take a deep breath, and then head out of his office to find Glitch.

As predicted, she was in the gym with Karissa and the twins, though from the look of things when he entered, they were just about done. He smirked when Wren managed to toss Glitch over her shoulder in a smooth move, making her land on the mats with a thud. Glitch grinned as she got to her feet. “Very good,” she praised Wren. “Let’s see if you can do it again.” She launched herself at Wren without any other warning. Wren was a bit surprised, but she still managed to do the smooth move again, sending Glitch flying.

He looked over at where Karissa and Win were sparring, doing much the same thing, and it seemed Win was just as adept as her sister. He knew this was important to the girls, so he choked back his temper and returned upstairs instead. He’d hold off on giving Glitch a piece of his mind. Instead, he headed back to his office and changed his area back to the way he liked it.

He barely got to work before Ink wandered in and gave a low whistle. “Damn, what happened in here? You finally decide to make it look like an actual office instead of a dungeon?”

“No,” Code snapped. “I didn’t do shit. Glitch decided to do this, and I’m fucking pissed.”

Ink was silent for a moment before he started to laugh. “I should have figured,” he finally said. “Still, this looks nice.”

Code glared at him. “No one touches my space,” he reminded him darkly. “And that includes short hackers with smart mouths and ideas that they can do whatever the hell they want.”

Ink grinned. “Damn, she’s really under your skin, isn’t she? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this worked up over a woman. You sure it’s all just anger and nothing else?” he asked.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Code demanded.

Ink shrugged. “We’ve all seen how many relationships around here have started out with people hating each other.”

“I don’t want a relationship with Glitch,” Code stated darkly. “Do I look insane?”

“Well, I mean, I wasn’t going to say it aloud, but since we’re talking about it out in the open,” Glitch said drily from behind Ink, alerting them both to her presence. “I have no interest in a relationship with you either, caveman. One, because you’re no prize yourself, and two, because I’m not interested in anything serious with anyone. But just so we’re clear, you’d be damn lucky if I ever decided to give you a shot.” Her eyes were heated as she glared at him.

He glared right back. “What the hell did you do to my office?” he demanded, completely ignoring her little speech.

“I made it functional,” she replied with a smug smile. “Compared to what you had in here before, it’s a thousand times better. You’re welcome.”

The audacity of this woman, he thought to himself darkly. It still astonished him sometimes. “Did it ever occur to you that I didn’t want it changed?” he questioned coldly. “That maybe I had things exactly how I wanted them, because this ismyoffice? Mine. Not yours. You are not here permanently, and that means you shouldn’t be changing shit without my permission. But you don’t care, do you? You’re so focused on yourself that the only thing that matters is what you want.”

Her eyes flashed with her own anger. “You’re an ungrateful ass is what you are,” she snarled. “I made this space comfortable and ergonomic, and instead of saying thank you, you’re bitching and complaining.”

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