Chapter 9 #2
Kyle was probably right, and there was nothing new to learn, but she’d prefer to verify that for herself.
From this situation, it was clear that her siblings had grown arrogant.
Time and their tendency to underestimate Gus may have made them careless.
There might be something there. Some tiny clue that Kyle had missed.
She wouldn’t know unless she pored over it more in depth.
“You’re not paying me at all. The gardener is,” Kyle grumbled.
“And the gardener sent me here.”
Gus’s gaze bore a hole in the side of Kyle’s face. She may not have had Kira’s power to intimidate with merely a look, but she was no slouch. Especially when it came to humans.
Kyle suddenly became very still and quiet, pretending to be absorbed in whatever was on his headset.
“I could contact the gardener for you if you’d like,” Gus offered. It would be a waste of valuable time, but she’d do it. “I’m sure they’d be simply delighted to jump through your hoops.”
Kyle’s flinch was tiny.
The gardener, AKA her, paid him quite the tidy sum to be at their beck and call. He seemed to have forgotten that. Maybe it was time she reminded him in no uncertain terms just who held the power in this relationship.
“Yes, how about I do that. I’ll tell the gardener that you’d like them to relay their orders to you personally.”
Kyle’s response was a mumble.
“What was that? I couldn’t quite hear you.”
Kyle cleared his throat. “I said that’s not necessary. I’ll do it.”
Gus nodded slowly. “I thought that was what you said.”
She turned to go, already impatient to be onto her next task. She’d wasted enough time on Kyle. It might be time to reconsider his role in her organization. Surely, there was someone else on Titan with the skills and knowledge base to act as her accountant/occasional hacker.
“Send the file,” Gus ordered.
“I heard you the first time,” Kyle mumbled sulkily.
One side of Caius’s lips tilted upwards as Gus stopped to fix the man child with a disbelieving look.
“Also, inform me immediately when you find the other Tuann,” she gritted out.
Kyle lifted his headset half off his face, staring at her from under it. “You mean to send it to the gardener.”
Gus stared.
“That’s who requested it,” Kyle insisted, meeting her gaze with a stubbornness she found surprising given how weak willed he was normally. “Unless the gardener isn’t really your boss and you’re just an impostor pretending to be his emissary for some reason.”
His eyes narrowed as if he was giving serious consideration to that argument. He nodded once to himself, his hand drifting to the chair arm and the panic button she suspected his mom had installed on it.
This little shit.
“Of course. My mistake. You’re right,” Gus said with a strained smile. “If the gardener thinks I should have it, they’ll forward it to me.”
Kyle waited a beat before moving his hand away from the panic button. He glared at Gus one last time before dropping his helmet back into place.
Gus turned and strode out of the room, barely noticing as Caius followed.
This encounter had decided her. Kyle definitely had to go.
“That child’s arrogance will get him killed one day,” Caius observed.
“By human standards, Kyle is considered an adult.”
“He doesn’t act like one.”
“No,” Gus said even though she wasn’t sure she agreed with that assessment anymore. Kyle’s behavior in the last few minutes hadn’t been that of a child. He’d shown a cunning and deviousness that was more like what she’d expect from an adult.
It made her wonder if there was more to Kyle than she’d previously thought. If he, like Gus and Caius, wore a mask meant to make others underestimate him.
She pondered that question as they made their way back through the kitchen and into the main dining room where Anandra sat at a table, digging into the large plate of lasagna.
Kyle’s mom sat nearby, her face wreathed in a surprisingly gentle smile that disappeared as soon as Gus and Caius stepped into view.
“Finish your business?” Kyle’s mom asked, rising.
Anandra’s gaze followed her, his face brightening when he caught sight of them.
“For now,” Gus said, her tone still polite.
Caius sniffed experimentally. “What is that?”
“Lasagna. There’s just cheese in it though. No meat.” Kyle’s mom smiled at Gus as she said that. “Would you like some?”
“Please.” Caius nodded eagerly. “It’s been ages since I ate.”
Kyle’s mom raised her eyebrows at Gus. “What about you?”
“None for me, thank you. I have business to attend to.”
She wasn’t really a fan of leaving Caius and Anandra behind, but if she was going to implement her plan regarding Baran and get to the bottom of this thing with her siblings, she needed access to a computer she could trust. That meant a stop by her office.
Her real office. Not the one she worked out of from her home.
For all his faults, Kyle was her person. More importantly, he feared what the gardener would do should he betray them. He would protect these two in her stead.
Caius paused in the act of sitting down. “We’re going somewhere?”
“I’m going somewhere. You’re eating lasagna.”
After what happened with Kyle, did he really think she’d risk him ruining anything else?
Caius considered her with a slight scowl. “I’m not sure I like the idea of you going off on your own.”
“It’s a good thing I didn’t ask you then.” As if she needed his permission. “Stay here. Eat your food and gain strength. I’ll be back soon.”