Chapter 4 #2
She narrowed her eyes. “Because I’m female, I should get in the kitchen?”
“That’s not— No. It’s not like that.”
Heaving a sigh, she crossed her arms, fighting the heat and attraction rising under her skin. “What do they need me for? I’m trying to keep half the Midwest from going down and they need me to do the dishes?”
He winced at the venom in her voice. “It’s not about that. You’ll see.”
She exhaled through her nose, biting off a thousand sharp replies waiting on her tongue. Whatever this was, it better be worth interrupting her work. The faster she finished, the sooner she could get out of here.
Get away from Liam.
She backed out of the system, saving files as she went. When she pushed away from the desk, he stepped out of her way, but her arm brushed his.
With a huff of anger, she swept by him, refusing to acknowledge the jolt that came from that simple, soft stroke of his arm against hers.
She wasn’t totally sure where the kitchen was located in this huge mansion, but she followed the scent of coffee floating on the air currents. To her relief, Liam’s too-familiar footsteps moved in the opposite direction.
When she entered the enormous space, Sophie was talking with a woman so polished and beautiful that she made Elin feel like a grubby tech nerd.
Sophie rushed forward. “Elin, this is Kennedy. She works with the team, organizing intel, operations and about a thousand other things we couldn’t live without.”
She drifted closer, unsure if she should shake Kennedy’s hand. Then the woman extended hers, a warm smile on her face.
“I’m honored to meet somebody with your skills.”
“Thanks. Just doing my job.”
“From what I hear from Dante, you don’t just do the job, you redefine it.”
Feeling a little taken aback by the praise, she looked around at the expansive—expensive—kitchen.
The space made her look past the cold military-grade furniture in the computer lab where she’d spent all her time.
Now she could really see what Dante was talking about when he told her the place was seized from a wealthy owner.
“I hate to be so abrupt, but what did you need me for?”
Sophie’s laugh bounced off the high ceilings, and her eyes gleamed with what Elin could only call mischief. “We’d like to show you something downstairs.”
She looked out the big windows at the lawn. A gazebo and surrounding landscaping looked like it was straight out of a fairytale book. “Aren’t we already downstairs?”
“In the basement.”
Elin issued a little laugh. “Should I be worried about you taking me to the basement? I thought I was doing a good job. I didn’t expect to be chained to the wall and tortured.”
“No, it’s nothing like that!” Kennedy’s words seemed to echo Liam’s so closely that Elin’s stomach sank a degree. Just how close was he to this blonde goddess?
The woman leaned closer to whisper, “Dante and Con won’t be happy with us if they find out what we’re up to. So it’s just between us.”
Realization struck. Kennedy and Dante were together.
And Elin was crazy for caring for even a millisecond that Liam might have ties to another woman.
They led her through a door and down a flight of stairs. The basement was massive, the space wide open. Standing in the middle, she turned in a circle.
“What’s over there?” She pointed to a door.
“The shooting range.”
Her brows lifted. “Okay,” she said in a slow drawl. “Why are we here again?”
“Because we found something we want you to see.”
They led her to the far corner. She looked on as Kennedy ran her fingertip along the smooth concrete wall. Then she stopped and pressed inward.
The wall split on three sides to form a door. Kennedy threw her a grin and pushed it inward.
The scent of dust and cold wafted out, but contrary to her polished exterior, Kennedy wasn’t a bit prissy or afraid. She stepped in and snapped on a light.
“Wow.” Elin encountered a lot of odd things in her life as a hacker, but the sight of a secret room was more surprising than she could ever imagine.
“Is this a…gaming room?” There was a blackjack table, a roulette wheel and several slot machines along one wall. On the opposite side of the space, a bar dominated the wall.
Sophie nodded. “And there’s a wine cellar too. Through that door.” She waved toward an old oak door.
“This is amazing.” The dust particles floating around her face made her nose itch. “And dusty.”
Sophie wrinkled her nose. “It needs a good cleaning. Then we want to surprise the team by bringing them here.”
Her eyes widened. “They don’t know it exists?”
“No! That’s the exciting part. We know something they don’t.” She and Kennedy shared a laugh that showed Elin they were close friends.
And Elin was an outsider. “Well…this is all really nice and I’m sure the team will be thrilled at the discovery, but my work is done. I’ll be gone.”
Sophie’s pointed glance at Kennedy made the air shift. Kennedy answered with a small, knowing smile and left the room in silence, designer boot heels clicking softly against the concrete floor.
She hated being cornered. Ever since the day a uniformed man had shown up at her door to tell her Liam was gone, something inside her had learned to run first and breathe later.
Elin folded her arms. “What is this?”
Sophie’s dark gaze held hers. “I brought you here thinking it might make you want to stay.”
“Stay?” She almost choked on the word. “For what?”
If she said Liam, Elin would run.
Sophie’s brows pinched and the glimmer in her eyes changed, telling Elin she would not like this.
“There’s another threat.”
So this wasn’t about Liam. But was a threat better?
Sophie went on. “Here’s the problem. Twelve people around the globe are babysitting bombs for Cipher. We need to find those people.”
She rocked on her feet, stunned by the knowledge that mass destruction could befall the world any moment.
“The guys know about this?”
“Of course. But we need your help.”
She issued a short laugh. “So you’re telling me we literally have to save the world?”
Sophie nodded.
Elin took a step toward the bar. “I hope this alcohol is still consumable. Because I’m gonna need a drink.”