Page 55 of Twice the Rivalry

He lost his shocked expression and smirked at her. “Well I guess I can cross ‘fucking a rich heiress’ off my bucket list now,” he mocked.

She rolled her eyes and flipped him off. “And I’m finally able to cross off ‘fucking an asshole’,” she tossed him back. “Now, can we get back to this please?”

“Kitten, I’ll never let you near my ass,” he told her. “But yes, we can. So you’re stinking rich, and you choose to still work despite the fact that you don’t need to. And you don’t think he was after your money then. But what about now?”

“If he was going to try that he would have by now,” she said confidently. “Forrest was never patient, and I doubt he’s blown through all the money in his trust. Especially not if he was in prison. And if he’s working for the criminal underworld, it stands to reason he has more money coming in, even if he did go through it.”

Code sobered and nodded. “That makes sense. So we’ll scratch off money as a motive. What about when the two of you worked together in Tijuana?”

“That was a goddamn mess,” she groaned, rubbing her eyes as she recalled it. “We got there first, and when they finally arrived, and I saw him, it was clear from the way he glared and told everyone I was the reason he was disowned, that he had never forgiven me. Not that I gave a shit. I made the statement that I hoped he had learned from his mistakes, because I didn’t work with amateurs.”

Code snickered. “Bet that pissed him off.”

She smiled coyly. “It did indeed. He tried to lunge at me, but Jag knocked him down flat on his ass. Was a damn good sight. Still, I tried to mend some fences with him when we all met later to discuss our strategies. Waited until it was done and everyone was going back to their rooms at the inn we were staying at before we headed into the jungle, and then I went to talk to him. It didn’t go well. He made it clear he never forgave me, and he never would. I had effectively ruined his life. I made it worse when I told him that he needed to grow up. He wasn’t a spoiled little rich boy anymore, and whether he liked it or not, we were going to have to work together on the job we were on, so it was time to put on his big boy pants and go over it.”

“Clearly you’ve always been a ball buster,” Code drawled.

“I have, so best be remembering that, caveman,” she said pointedly. “Anyway, that was the beginning of the end for him.”

“You figured he was going to do something stupid and checked in on him,” he mused.

“Not until a couple of days later, after all the complaints and incidents between their team and ours. But after our first run-in I set up safeguards, so that I would know if he decided to be sneaky and look at shit he wasn’t supposed to. And I’m glad I did, because that was how I found out what was really going on with him and them.”

“So, what, you built a trigger that alerted you if anyone tried, or did you make it specific to him?”

She shook her head. “I had some that were for anyone, but anything related to the mission I had it set up to be triggered by him or his team.”

“And how did you know for sure it was him and not someone else?” Code asked, slowly straightening.

Glitch stared at him as the pieces clicked into place. “Shit,” she hissed, spinning around and quickly logging back into her system, her fingers flying over the keys. “Shit, shit, shit,” she repeated. “How the hell did this not occur to me before?”

She felt Code sliding up behind her, watching over her shoulder, and she had a brief moment where her mind tried to focus in on him, but she wrenched it back and ignored him. She just wished he didn’t smell so damn good. Or that he she didn’t know what all the muscles pressing against her shoulder as he leaned forward felt like under her hands. No, no, she scolded herself. She needed to focus.

“Care to share?” Code asked her. “Or is this one of those exercises where I’m supposed to read your mind?”

“The reason I knew it was him hacking my system was because he uses a particular line of code that not many hackers use anymore. It’s outdated, but it’s also easily hidden within newer strings so it’s not easily detectable. When I set up my filters, I used that particular string of code as a criteria so I would know for sure it was him,” she explained briskly. “And since he’s not the kind of guy to learn from his mistakes and change his habits, he’s probably still using it. So all I need to do is put out a search for that line of code, and I’ll get an alert any time he uses it.”

“It could help us track where he and his team are,” Code agreed. “Good catch,” he added, putting a hand on the back of her neck and giving it a quick, hard squeeze.

Cue her desire roaring back to life, she thought as she worked to keep the moan from escaping her mouth. Her nipples hardened in response, and she had to force herself to keep her fingers moving, though they were much slower than before. Damn it, the man was seriously messing with her concentration. “Thanks,” she muttered. He let go and moved back to his side of the room, giving her a brief reprieve to suck in a steadying breath.

When she finally finished setting up the alert, and a few other safeguards just in case he did suddenly get wise that she had ways to find him, she sat back and stretched her arms over her head. Feeling accomplished, she stood. “I’m done for the night, and I’m going to bed. Try to keep the screaming down to a minimum when one of the club girls tries to find that tiny dick of yours.”

He gave her a placid look. “I’d think by now you’d know if anyone was screaming, it wouldn’t be because they couldn’t find my dick, kitten. Or have you already forgotten how hard you came all over it? How your pussy was clamping down so tight around it you practically cut off all circulation?” he drawled. Slowly he stood and advanced on her. “Or, maybe, you’re just trying to bait me into giving you another chance to feel me inside you again?”

She held her ground, but her body heated at his words and the images they brought to mind. Her core went damp with arousal, and her heart pounded a little harder in her chest. “I think you’re the one who’s wishing, caveman,” she returned, tilting her head back to look up at him when he stood in front of her, his body brushing hers.

He gave a low chuckle, his hand coming up and cupping the side of her neck, brushing his thumb lightly over the pulse point in her throat. She had to fight hard not to react, but a small shiver still made its way down her spine, making him give her a slow, smug smile. It hit her square in the gut, and another flood of arousal washed over her. Damn it, at this rate, she was going to have to get herself off with the vibrator or she’d do something stupid like jump him again. A very stupid mistake that she couldn’t allow to happen.

“You need another lesson in begging, kitten, you know where to find me,” he said in a low, taunting voice.

“I never beg, caveman,” she returned in the same tone. “Best remember that.” Then she forced herself to pull away, turn around, and walk out of the room. But even as she made her way up the stairs, she had the grim realization that staying away from Code was not going to be easy.

The man was under her skin, and she was going to have to find a way to dig him out - and fast - before she did something stupid like sleep with him again.

CHAPTERTWENTY-EIGHT

SLIP

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