Thirty-Three
THIRTY-THREE
HARKIN
Lifetime - Chris Grey
T he water cascades down her body, and steam billows over the fogged-up glass enclosure. Her hands trace against her skin, scrubbing the sweat and cum from it. Mine ache to take their place, but we don’t have time for a second round this morning. I lean heavily into the doorjamb, enjoying the view while caffeinating my system to get through the rest of the day. I’ve been dreading this moment. Stepping into the sterile clinic for her procedure is bound to draw up old memories of the days I was stuck in the hospital after the accident.
Keira's surgery couldn’t have been more ill-timed, falling only days before the job. But it gives me a better excuse to keep her from the excitement. If Domenico demands her presence, it’s not an option. She’ll need to rest, and I’m debating taking the cameras off her plate, even though I know she’ll fight me on it. I can do everything on my own with my system, but he wanted her roped in for his sick amusement.
The water cuts off, and she steps out, noticing me for the first time. Her eyebrow quirks and her beautiful face lights up when I take my time staring down at her naked body.
“Back to your old ways, I see,” she taunts before covering my view.
“Can’t blame a man for enjoying the view when it’s perfection.”
“Oh, and we’re laying it on thick.” She smiles into the mirror at me behind her.
“How are you feeling about today?” I ask, setting my coffee cup beside her on the counter. I draw her hair to the side, taking in her freshly showered scent when my nose runs along her neck before kissing her temple.
She leans back into me, giving me her weight and trusting me to support her. It’s the little things like this that show me just how much she does. Her shoulders heave, and her eyes drop to the sink.
“I think I’m more nervous about this than the job in a few days. I hate that I’ll be weak from the donation, but I know it’s worth it.”
“Nothing’s going to happen to you. You know I’d never let it. And in three days, we can put all of this behind us and start living again.”
Laughing, she turns in my arms to look up at me. “I don’t even know what that looks like anymore. I need to get a job.”
“You don’t need to get a job,” I reassure her. However, it’s my way of keeping her close.
“I can’t not work, Harkin. I won’t stay cooped up inside your apartment. We’ve had this conversation before.”
“What about school?” I ask.
“School?”
“College. You could go and figure out what you want to do for the rest of your life.”
She barks another laugh, patting me placatingly against the cheek. “I didn’t finish high school. What makes you think college is in the cards.”
She doesn’t see it. The genius is hidden deep down under years of self-preservation and keeping afloat. She could do anything she wanted with the proper support.
“You want to go to school? We’ll make it happen. If you want to find a career that doesn’t require it, great. You finally give in and let me chain you up in the apartment as my personal sex slave.” She slaps my chest at that last one as if I’m being ridiculous, but it sounds like the best option to me. I grip her chin, meeting her gaze. “The only thing I won’t let you do is work some dead-end job so that you have something to do.”
With a roll of her eyes, she shoves me away. “Let’s worry about all of that later. Now, get out and stop distracting me so I can finish getting ready. We can’t be late for check-in.”
My skin itches the longer it takes for a nurse to come out and update me on how Keira’s doing. It’s been an hour and a half, and I’m ready to take my girl and leave. Throwing the magazine, I was trying to distract myself with down on the table. I stand and start to pace the waiting room. It’s empty, save for the receptionist tucked behind the shielded window. They have ten more minutes before I push through those double doors, demanding answers.
My phone vibrates in my pocket, on silent to avoid the disapproving looks from the receptionist for it going off again. I pull it out and see the text from James.
All set here. How’s Keira?
Still waiting for an update. Stacey squared away?
Yeah, got a shiner for my efforts, but now I don’t have to worry.
Anything to report otherwise?
All’s quiet here. Keep me posted tomorrow.
Got it.
James left right after Keira was able to convince Stacey to leave. I’m unsure where he sent her, but it’s better that way. Now, he’s prepped and waiting to recover my father when I give him the go. Domenico can negate on his word all he wants after this. I’m done. And if my father finds himself in a similar situation in the future, I’ll be looking the other way.
“Mr. Greyson?” a woman in dark blue scrubs asks.
“Yes, that’s me.”
“Keira is out of the procedure. Everything went well. They’re taking her to the recovery room, where she’ll be able to wake up slowly as the anesthesia wears off. Once we get her situated, someone will come out to get you. It should only be another thirty minutes or so.”
“Okay, thank you.”
She disappears back behind the double doors, and I check my watch. This morning’s coffee is dwindling. I need another hit of caffeine, and I need to find it quickly. The clinic has a coffee cart in the lobby, and I order something for both of us.
“There she is. How are you feeling?” I ask when Keira’s eyes flutter open.
“Groggy. How did it go?”
“They said it went great. Nothing out of the ordinary, and we can leave as soon as you feel ready.”
Nodding, she closes her eyes, disappearing back into unconsciousness. It’s another hour before she’s discharged and secured in the SUV to get back to the apartment. She lets me all but carry her upstairs and back into bed. She won’t be leaving it until tomorrow at the earliest.
“Do you need anything?” I ask, tucking the blanket around her slumping body.
“Have you seen my phone?”
“It’s probably in your bag. I’ll go grab it.”
The phone in question has a missed call from an unknown number, but it’s the follow-up text from the same number that piques my curiosity. I take it with me to the kitchen to make Keira something to eat and drop it on the counter, but a nagging feeling to check and see if there’s more there won’t go away.
She didn’t save the number, but the text thread goes back days, and it’s not good. I rush from the kitchen, abandoning the food. The door slaps against the wall, and Keira jolts at the noise, sitting up against the headboard.
“What is it? What’s wrong?”
“Are you trying to get yourself killed?” I bite, stomping to the mattress to throw the phone in her lap.
Her eyes bug out when she sees what I left pulled up on the screen.
“You went through my texts?”
“That’s the least of our fucking problems. Do you even know who you’ve been scheming with?” I shout, and she cringes against the headboard.
That’s only until her eyes light with fire, and she tries to get up on her knees to take me on, face to face. She sucks in a pained breath at the shift, and my anger drains at the pain written all over her face. I move to help her, but she slaps my hands away, finding her balance.
“You don’t understand. I have the chance to keep him out of my life forever.”
“Sweetness.” I soften. “What if it’s him? You’re putting yourself in danger just by engaging with whoever this is. Did you even try to track it?”
Her eyes narrow and roll. “Of course I did. I weighed the options. It’s worth the risk.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You would have tried to talk me out of it.”
“You’re damn fucking right, I would have. This is idiotic.”
“Fine. It’s stupid, I know that. But I don’t care. You weren’t involved before; you don’t have to be involved now. Just let me handle it.”
My patience snaps. Shoving her back to the mattress, disregarding her cry of discomfort, I climb over her before gripping her chin in a tight hold.
“That’s not how this works, Keira. You don’t get to run off and make crazy decisions that put your life at risk. Not anymore.”
She tries to yank free from my grasp, but I refuse to let her go until she understands. If anything were to happen to her and I could have stopped it, I’d lose my fucking mind.
“You’re not going to call off this harebrained scheme, are you?”
“No.”
“Then we’re in this together.” I drop a kiss on her forehead and push off her soft body. “Now get some sleep, and we can figure this out later.”
She relaxes into the mattress and gives me a small nod. I’ll let her sleep for a few hours, but we’re on a time clock. The drop is tomorrow evening, and this new information could spin all our plans into a web that catches us all.
I don’t need her device to go through her phone, just the clone I made ages ago that sits tucked in my desk for times like these. I refuse to mindlessly follow someone who knows too much for my comfort. Keira doesn’t know who it is, but I have an idea. Regardless of how unlikely it might be, I need to check.
I open the phone and plug it into my computer. She said she tracked them but couldn’t find anything. It's not shocking if it’s a burner, but I have something up my sleeve that Keira wasn’t likely to think about. I open another browser, using my link to access the dark web, where I can search for her footprint.
Something else dawns on me, and I pop to another screen to run a diagnostic check on my system. She was gone by the time we started planning for the job. How would she have known about it? The code runs, and I pray to a God I don’t believe in that I wasn’t that careless and stupid.
The number doesn’t produce any leads. Keira was right with that one. I search the boards for jobs that could lead to a connection. When I spot it, I’m down a rabbit hole, and my system to the left freezes.
“Fuck!”
I switch gears, digging into the code where the hole now is, how she got in. She knows, and now she owes me an explanation.
I rip the cloned phone from the cord, disconnecting it to the computer, and type the number into my own burner. I don’t bother with a threatening text, going straight for a call. It rings and rings; the tone coming through isn’t from the US.
“Papa Pete’s Pizza, what can I get for you today?”
“Hello, Nikita.”