Chapter Twenty-Three An Offer He Can’t Refuse
West
“How did it go?” Joseph asks when we return.
Diana is seated next to him. I pretend not to notice the way they stop holding hands the moment Adelina and I walk through the doors, peeling apart from whatever intense conversation they were having. They looked close enough to kiss. Or fight. It’s really hard to tell with those two.
“We found his brother,” I say. “He also works for Berruci. I made him an offer and—”
“He didn’t bite,” Adelina informs, disgruntled.
“Actually, I believe what he said was that he’d think about it.”
Joseph grumbles incoherently under his breath, anxiously combing his fingers through his brown curls. I can read the room well enough to know that the crew is starting to warp beneath the pressure.
“Everyone, relax,” I say. “It’s a good sign.”
Diana frowns, her elegantly shaped eyebrows and sharp cheekbones adding to her already severe air. “How is this a good sign? What if he tells Berruci that you approached him?”
“He won’t.”
“How can you be so sure?” Adelina asks.
Why do I feel like I’m being interrogated?
Diana and Adelina would make an excellent bad cop/badder cop duo.
“You saw the look in his eyes,” I tell her.
“There’s no love lost between them. Allistair and Elliot are in over their heads and are in desperate need of a way out. He’ll see that we’re his only option.”
“And if he doesn’t?”
“If we don’t hear back from him within twenty-four hours, we’ll figure something out.”
Beside me, Adelina’s phone rings in her pocket. Not a phone call, but the alarm she’s set. She hastily cancels it and, with a few quick swipes of her thumb, reschedules her insurance text. I won’t lie—it kind of stings that she doesn’t trust me yet, though I can’t exactly fault her either.
Adelina yawns. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to stress about this in the privacy of my room. Goodnight, everyone.”
I watch her go, amused by the way she trudges off. My gaze must linger for a little too long, because Diana clocks it and rolls her eyes.
“Close your mouth,” she says, “you look stupid.”
The first thing I do when I get upstairs is indulge in a hot shower.
The hotel’s old pipes creak and groan when I step under the spray, the buildup of steam fogging the mirrors and clinging to the tile walls of the small bathroom.
It’s easy to let my mind wander, a hundred different thoughts racing through my head.
I wonder how Jack is doing. This is the longest I’ve been away from her since we moved to California.
Her babysitter has been dutifully sending me daily messages along with brief clips of Jack at dinnertime, but it’s not the same.
I’m eager to return, which is all the more reason to wrap this job up as soon as possible.
The rest of the crew is right to be concerned about Allistair, but I’m confident.
As the mastermind behind this entire operation, I took a calculated risk.
Having a man on the inside will give us access to Berruci in more ways than one.
Why put ourselves in harm’s way just to get a glimpse of what he’s got downstairs when we’ve got a pissed-off employee and a key to the palace?
Ten billion dollars and the chance to avenge his brother should be more than enough incentive.
If Michael were still around and someone offered me this kind of deal, I wouldn’t even hesitate.
After toweling off and slipping into a pair of joggers and a heavily wrinkled shirt from the bottom of my suitcase, I contemplate ordering some takeout. I haven’t had the chance to eat tonight, and for a moment, I wonder if Adelina hasn’t either. I’ve just opened my side of the joint doorway when—
Her side swings open too.
Adelina blinks up at me. “You do know that the room comes with an ironing board, right?”
“Go easy on me. I’ve been living out of my suitcase for weeks.” I lean casually against the doorframe. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“My shower isn’t working,” she says with a huff. “I tried calling the front desk, but nobody’s answering.”
“Want me to try giving them a call?”
“No, it’s fine. Can I just borrow yours instead?”
“Sure, help yourself.”
Adelina squints at me skeptically. “Really? No lewd comments about wanting to join me? I practically lined that one up for you.”
I chuckle. “I’m a flirt, not a creep. I know where to draw the line.”
“Much appreciated,” she says with a sweet smile. It will never cease to amaze me just how much her face brightens when she lets it. “Let me grab my towel.”
She doubles back and disappears around the corner, offering me a glimpse into the mayhem that is her room.
There are papers scattered everywhere, scribbled with what I can only assume are draft lines of code.
Scraps pepper her bedside table, the floor and the corner writing desk.
I can’t even begin to scratch the surface of what her process must be like, but one thing is clear—she’s been working overtime.
“How’s your program been coming along?” I ask.
“Not bad.”
“Will it be ready in time?”
“Definitely. All you’ll have to do is plug it in, and the program will take care of the rest.”
“So what’s all this, then?” I ask, gesturing to the trail the tornado left behind when Adelina finally reappears.
“I’ve been working through different versions trying to get out all the bugs,” she says sheepishly.
“The program has to identify, copy and upload all relevant information while forcing a server connection, and only has seconds to do it…not to mention I’m trying to get its upload speed under a minute. ”
“Upload speed?”
“Even with a direct injection into the domain controller, the virus needs time to take hold. If I can get it under thirty seconds, it’ll be perfect.”
“I’m sure you can do it.”
“Are you always so optimistic?”
“I’ve seen what you can do, Adelina. Why wouldn’t I be?”
I find myself leaning toward her, unable—or perhaps unwilling—to escape her orbit. She doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to leave either, judging by the way her heated gaze flits from my eyes to settle on my lips.
“Have you thought about it?” she whispers. She’s referring to when she asked me to kiss her in the car.
“I have,” I reply. “Do you still want me to?”
“I do.”
My heart hammers against the inside of my chest. “Me too.”
“Then why haven’t you done it yet?”
“Because I’m worried,” I murmur.
Adelina laughs softly. “What? That it’ll ruin our friendship?”
“Ah, so you admit we are friends.”
She pushes against my chest, though without any real force. “You’re impossible.”
I’m not sure if it’s her proximity or the heat of her palm through my shirt or the light floral scent I catch from her hair that sends my mind into a tailspin.
My body reacts of its own accord, an arm lassoing her waist to pull her tight against me.
I grasp her chin in my free hand and tilt her head up for the perfect angle—but I don’t dare make my move.
“You don’t understand,” I mutter, dangerously close to losing all sense of control. “I’m worried that I won’t be able to have enough.”