Chapter 3
“Absolutely not.”
I kept typing while the voice message transcription software ran across my second monitor.
Across from me, three different security feeds rolled in real time from separate client properties while lines of code flashed steadily on the main screen.
“Kasen.” Kash sounded irritated already. “I wasn’t askin’.”
“And I said no.”
“You still mad about the last time?”
I finally leaned back in my chair and adjusted my glasses. “You had me bypass federal encryption to access your wife’s hidden photo vault because you thought she was cheating.”
“She was hiding shit.”
“She was planning a surprise gender reveal.”
Silence.
Then—“And she shot me for it.”
I rubbed my forehead slowly. “Because you ruined it.”
“She shot me in my chest.”
“You survived.”
“That’s not the fuckin’ point.”
Honestly, nothing about Kash and Angel’s relationship made sense to me.
Nothing.
This man had seen Angel on vacation, became obsessed, kidnapped her, married her without her consent, and now they had a one-year-old daughter together plus a son on the way.
And the craziest part? Angel loved him right back.
Last month Kash walked into my office bleeding through a designer button-up talking about some:
“She only shot me cause she emotional.”
Emotional.
Like that justified getting ventilated in their kitchen.
“You helping me or not?” Kash asked.
“No.”
“I’ll pay triple.”
“That’s not the issue.”
“Then what is?”
I looked out through the glass wall of my office toward the rest of Czar Tech.
Employees moved through the building quietly while holographic security layouts rotated across mounted screens. The entire floor smelled like coffee, electronics, and money.
A million-dollar company built off paranoia and somehow my client list included cartel leaders with abandonment issues.
“You shouldn’t be breaking into your wife’s phone every time she gets mad at you,” I said flatly.
“She blocked me.”
“That sounds intentional.”
“She took my daughter with her.”
“She probably went to Target.”
“She left for six hours.”
I groaned. “Do you hear yourself?”
“No.” Kash paused. “Because I’m outside her God sister house right now.”
This nigga.
“Go home.”
“No.”
“Kash.”
“She called me unstable.”
“You are unstable.”
“I bought her a Maybach.”
“That doesn’t fix instability.”
“She liked it.”
I sighed heavily and muted myself for a second while one of my employees knocked lightly against the open office door.
“Mr. Reed, the Hargrave contract came through.”
“Send it to legal first.”
“Yes sir.”
The door shut again.
I unmuted the call just in time to hear Kash muttering curses under his breath in Spanish.
“You know,” I said carefully, “most people communicate in relationships.”
“I communicate.”
“No. You surveil.”
“That’s basically the same thing.”
“It absolutely is not.”
Kash went quiet for a second before speaking again.
“She thinks I don’t trust her.”
“You don’t.”
“I trust her with my life.”
“That’s different.”
Because it was. Kash trusted Angel’s loyalty, her safety. What he didn’t trust was losing access to her again.
Big difference.
“She married me,” he said finally, voice lower now.
“You kidnapped her.” I reminded him.
“And now she my wife.”
I closed my eyes briefly.
Stockholm syndrome really needed new PR.
“You know she threatened to stab me in my sleep yesterday?” Kash added casually.
“What did you do.”
“I accidentally told her mama about the pregnancy before she could.”
There it was.
I leaned back in my chair again. “So once again, you created your own problem.”
“She looked cute mad though.”
“Seek help.”
“She already said she’ll kill my therapist.”
That actually made me laugh a little.
Kash immediately caught it too. “There go a laugh. Damn. Thought your ass forgot how.”
“I laugh.”
“No the fuck you don’t.”
“I do.”
“You smile like a disappointed substitute teacher.”
I ignored that.
My monitor pinged softly with another notification then.
STUDIO 7: SYSTEM UPDATE COMPLETED.
For some reason my eyes lingered on the name for half a second longer than necessary.
Kash noticed the silence immediately.
“What you looking at.”
“Nothing.”
“You got quiet.”
“I’m working.”
“You finally get some pussy?”
I almost choked on air. “…What.”
“You heard me.”
“No.”
“Damn.”
“Kash.”
“You too rich to still be acting celibate voluntarily.”
“It’s not voluntary.”
The second the words left my mouth, silence hit the line.
I froze.
Kash froze.
Then— “NIGGA WHAT?” Kash yelled so loud I had to pull the phone away from my ear. “YOU A VIRGIN?!”
“Kash—”
“At your grown ass age?”
“I’m hanging up.”
“No the fuck you not.” I could practically hear him sitting up somewhere. “Hold on. Wait wait wait. You serious?”
I stared at the ceiling for a second. “Unfortunately.”
“Unfortunately is insane.” He started laughing loud as hell. “Nigga you built like a final boss character and ain’t never cracked nothin’?”
“I don’t like the way you phrased that.”
“Oh this just made my day.”
I muted myself briefly because one of my analysts walked into my office holding a tablet.
“Firewall migration completed for the Bennett account,” she said.
“Good. Schedule penetration testing tomorrow morning.”
“Yes sir.”
The door closed again.
The second I unmuted, Kash was still going.
“So what happened? You religious?”
“No.”
“You were ugly as fuck in high school?”
I frowned. “No.”
“You got performance anxiety?”
“I’m ending this call.”
“Nah wait.” He was cackling now. “You just never wanted random women?”
“Yes.”
“Awww.” He sounded genuinely touched now. “That’s kinda beautiful actually.”
“You’re making this weird.”
“Nah you know what this mean though?”
“What.”
“The first woman that get ahold of you gone destroy your life.”
Silence.
Because unfortunately I already knew that and my brain immediately betrayed me by picturing curly red hair, tattoos, glossed lips, and a pretty mouth.
Absolutely not.
“No she won’t,” I said flatly.
“She?”
I closed my eyes instantly. “…Goodbye Kash.”
“NIGGA THERE’S A SHE?—”
I hung up immediately.
My office went quiet again except for the hum of electronics and distant keyboard clicks from outside the glass walls.
Then my phone buzzed.
Cash App Notification: $50,000 Received.
Memo: just send me her location she took her nipple rings out that has the locator in them.
I stared at the screen for a full five seconds. Then locked my phone without responding. This nigga needed prison and therapy simultaneously.
Hours passed after that.
Meetings.
Contracts.
Security audits.
By the time I finally left Czar Tech, the sky outside was dark and my shoulders ached from sitting too long.
I loosened the collar of my black button-up while walking through the parking garage toward my truck.
Cooking sounded good tonight, something simple that wouldn’t take all night.
Steak maybe.
Rice and vegetables.
I stopped at one of the higher-end grocery stores near downtown HighVille and grabbed a basket on my way inside.
The store was mostly quiet this late. Soft music playing overhead. Couples wandering aisles. Rich people buying overpriced fruit.
I moved automatically through the produce section grabbing what I needed before heading toward the meat counter.
Then I heard it.
“…Because if one more man tells me smiling burns calories, I’m fighting.”
My head turned before I could stop it and there Sevyn stood. She was near the refrigerated drinks section in gray leggings and an oversized cropped hoodie with her curls piled messily on top of her head.
No makeup this time or barely any and somehow she looked even prettier.
Her phone was pressed between her shoulder and ear while she tossed green juice bottles into her basket with visible irritation.
“I don’t care if he was flirting Steph. That’s weird.” She paused. “No because why are men in pilates classes at seven in the morning growling during stretches?”
I looked down immediately to avoid being caught staring but it was too late. Her eyes lifted and met mine and widened slightly in recognition.
For a second neither of us moved. Then slowly… A smile spread across her mouth.
“Well look who it is,” she said, still staring directly at me. “Hold on Steph, the cyber security man just appeared in front of me like Batman.”
Her smile caught me off guard enough that I forgot what I was reaching for.
“…Batman?” I repeated.
“Tall. Mysterious. Appears randomly.” She shrugged. “Close enough.”
The woman on her phone started talking loud enough that I could hear faint yelling through the speaker.
“That him? The fine one with glasses?”
Sevyn rolled her eyes immediately. “Girl bye.”
I looked away before my face could betray me.
She pulled the phone from her ear. “Lemme call you back.”
“Don’t flirt with that man and forget we got brunch tomorrow!”
“I hate you,” Sevyn muttered before hanging up.
Silence settled for a second after that then she broke it.
“You shop here?” she asked casually, adjusting the basket on her arm.
“Sometimes.”
“Mhm.” Her eyes dragged slowly over me. “You look less scary outside work.”
“I looked scary at work?”
“A little.”
I frowned slightly. “Why.”
“You was walking around my studio like the FBI.”
“That’s my job.”
“That’s exactly what the FBI would say.”
I exhaled a quiet laugh before I could stop it.
Her eyes lit up immediately.
“There it go again,” she said.
“What.”
“The little laugh.”
I looked away.
Why did she notice things like that?
“You buying ingredients or just walking around looking intimidating?” she asked.
“Ingredients.”
“What you cooking?”
“Steak.”
“Oh you can cook?”
“Yes.”
“Damn.” She looked genuinely impressed. “A tech man that cook? You raising the market.”
“I think the market is fine.”
“No it’s not.” She started counting on her fingers. “Men can’t communicate. Can’t dress. Half of them got dirty bathroom sinks. One told me women shouldn’t lift weights because it makes us aggressive.”
“That doesn’t even make sense.”
“THANK YOU.”
I found myself smiling slightly again and that seemed to make her smile widen.
This wasn’t helping my mental state in this moment.
“Studio doing good?” I asked.
Her entire face softened instantly.
“Yeah.” Pride slipped into her voice naturally. “Classes been booking out faster than I expected.”
“That’s good.”
“I had to hire two more instructors.”
“That’s really good.”
She looked at me for a second like she was trying to figure out if I genuinely meant it.
I did.
“You always this serious?” she asked softly.
“I’m not serious.”
Her eyebrows lifted immediately. “Kasen.”
“What.”
“You standing here built like security for the president.”
I looked down at myself.
I had on a black button up with black slacks and a black fitted cap.
“…This is comfortable.”
“It’s terrifying.”
I almost smiled again.
“See there you go.” She pointed at me dramatically. “You secretly got personality.”
“I would hope so.”
“Mmm. Jury still out.”
We stood there another second longer than necessary before she glanced down at the ice cream section.
“I should probably finish shopping before I buy stuff I don’t need.”
“That’s usually how grocery stores work.”
“Okayyy sarcasm.”
“I wasn’t being sarcastic.”
“That’s even worse.”
I shook my head slightly.
Then she started backing away slowly with her basket. “Well Batman, enjoy your steak.”
“You too.”
“And Kasen?”
I looked back at her.
“That cologne still doing wonders for your life.”
My brain completely short-circuited.
Again.
By the time I recovered enough to respond, she was already walking away smiling to herself.
I stood there staring after her longer than I should have then finally forced myself to move again.
Twenty minutes later I loaded the groceries into my truck and climbed inside. The interior stayed quiet except for the low hum of the engine while I sat there staring out the windshield for a second.
Then I grabbed my phone.
Opened my messages.
Wolf:
You still hiding from civilization Saturday?
I typed back before I could change my mind.
I’ll be there Saturday.
Three dots appeared instantly.
Wolf:
OH THIS ABOUT A WOMAN
I locked my phone without answering because I was never going to hear the end of this.