Page 66 of The Refusal

Jo shakes her head. “Maybe it’s just a distraction, a lucky accident. Maybe they found a way in here and are just playing cat and mouse with us.”

Matt grumbles over the line. “Yeah. Maybe this was their plan all along. They knew they could get in here, and this is just the next stage in whatever it is they’re planning.”

Ireallydon’t like that idea. It’s like someone has got a noose around my neck.

Sonia purses her lips. “There are some well-known hackers in Hong Kong, you know, links to China, the gangs. Maybe there is something …” She tails off.

I stare out the window. Fabian’s comments about it being the Chinese pretending to be the Russians echoes in my head. That could also be why they picked Hong Kong: close to home, relatable.

“Good thought.”

“It could be because of something Fabian’s done in the past in China, Hong Kong even,” Jo adds.

Matt cracks his neck. “You know, maybe they were just trying to avoid our tracking code.”

Jo laughs. “Yeah, it’s always the simplest explanation.”

We’ve got lots of ideas, but it feels like we’re casting around with no concrete answers, and I bury my hands in my hair.

“We need to narrow it down.”

“I’ll chat to Fabian and see what he knows about the Chinese, if he’s been in any Chinese systems,” Jo says.

“I can look into hackers here in Hong Kong and China in more detail.” Eric, the third member of the team, nods from next to Sonia.

“I’ll start spreading that tracking code around every part of the system,” Matt adds.

At least we’re taking some action. All the staff here seem so good. I can’t believe any of them are involved in anything nefarious.

37

Janus

As we head up to my room, we both slump against the side of the elevator like we’re in a permanent curled-over-a-screen position. The mirrored wall behind Jo is reflecting a cascade of red curls, and I examine my sneakers as I flick my bracelet around my wrist. We’ve done a lot today, shut down some clear loopholes, I’ve talked to Hing Ko in detail about all the staff … but it still feels like we’re eons away from the root of the problem. Part of me had fantasies of sorting it all out day one and keeping Jo in bed for the other three, ridiculous though that clearly is.

“Food?” Jo says.

“Room service,” I say, a scowl twisting my face.

She raises an eyebrow at me as I stare at her pink lips. I watched her rub some kind of gel on her face this morning and paint the jet lag circles out from under her eyes, before making her eyelashes thick with mascara. Only the black lashes are still in evidence. I want to bury my face in her neck and inhale. The elevator judders to a halt, and we head down the thick gray carpet to my suite in silence. I hold the card on the panel on the door, and as soon as the door swings open, my hand lands on Jo’s hip and my lips find her jaw as I turn her into the wall and kick the door shut with my foot. She gives a shuddering exhale as my hands cup her face and my mouth finds hers; then my fingers are between us fumbling with the buttons of her jeans, her hands dropping to work over mine. When the last button gives in, my knees hit the floor and I tug the waistband over her hips, pausing to kiss her stomach, nibble at the edge of her briefs. Her sex is bare beneath the white lace, and I slow for a second to watch my thumb slide under the fabric, moving it back and forth over her silky smooth skin before pulling the material aside, opening her up as I nuzzle into her warmth.

My first taste makes me frantic, and a faltering “Oh, fuck” falls from her lips as her hands flutter and land in my hair. I wondered if she’d be as relaxed about this as she seems to be with everything else, but she’s pushing at her jeans in an attempt to widen her thighs and give me better access. And I’m all over her, messy, sliding my fingers down and into her, mouth anywhere I can get it, peeling her underwear and jeans down and off. Using the tip of my tongue, I flick her several times and her whole body twitches, nails digging into my scalp. I’m so hard I shift, trying to ease the pressure.

I press my tongue, sliding and rubbing as her sounds take on a more ragged edge. I ease up a bit; but I’m drunk on this, on her, on the sheer impossibility of her skin, on this secret time in Hong Kong, on finding her in my bed every morning. I could stay here with her and never go home, never go back to anything.

“Janus.”

The word is forced out of her on a sharp exhale. Even though we were joking when we talked about it earlier, this doesn’t feel like a game at all. When I was working minimum-wage jobs to earn enough money to struggle through college, even with my fantasies about the company, about what I would do when I “made it,” I lacked the imagination to come up with anything as good as this.

Jo pulls on my hair, desperate for more pressure where she wants it, and I stand and lift her in one movement, carrying her through to the bedroom as she wraps her legs around my waist and presses into my erection. I try to rub against her, catching her open lips with mine before collapsing forward onto the bed.

“You taste of me,” she whispers, and I groan.

A chocolate that’s been placed by the staff after turning down the bed rolls down from the pillow and I stretch over and pick it up in my teeth, holding it for her as we both bite down. As it melts, I move my head smearing the mess over her lips and chin, sweetness exploding on my tongue as I lick it off. My shirt comes off over my head while I’m propped on one arm; she undoes my jeans, and they come off with my shoes as she sits to peel her soft T-shirt off over her head. Having watched her dress this morning, I knew there wasn’t a bra under there—another reason I’ve been hard on and off all day. I lean forward on one hand and squeeze her bare breast with the other, nipple hardening against my palm. As she reaches between us, the feeling of her soft hand squeezing down my length makes my eyes roll into the back of my head.

“JesusChrist,” I say.

I drag my nose down her body, finding her wetness and parting her with my thumb and forefinger, pulling in a deep breath to try to slow myself down. Cool air seeps into my lungs.

---