Chapter 46
Lydia
When I opened my eyes, I smiled. Perhaps in a romantic story or movie, we’d be entangled in each other’s arms and legs, but this was us…
Well, me. Daniel was sleeping flat on his stomach with one arm off the bed, and I was on my side, facing him.
I liked it—being close but still having the space to breathe.
It was nice falling asleep in his arms, though.
And he was getting better at that scalp massage thing he did, which made me wonder what else he could make me feel.
I’d never had sex with anyone that I trusted before. I was always on guard, wary, careful, aware of everything happening around me. I never truly let go and enjoyed it without worrying that I’d be vulnerable to some kind of attack. I wanted to feel that with Daniel, and I was starting to.
A shudder went down my back at the memory of how his tongue moved around mine and what it felt like to lick and bite his lip.
I was in his arms, at his mercy, and I felt good.
I didn’t think about what I would need to do to get down when he carried me if something happened, or where to run if he turned on me in the bedroom, or how to hurt him when he held me close in the bed.
I got up to brush my teeth and wash myself in the most luxurious shower I had ever been in.
He was still sleeping when I got out, so I grabbed another t-shirt from his closet and wore it over my bra and underwear before going to the kitchen to figure out the coffee situation.
I wasn’t going to try to understand the machine on his countertop, so I made a simple cup of instant coffee with sugar and milk, and checked my phone.
I had a notification about a new download and a message from Terry.
?? New app on your phone - it’s a mirror of what’s on your laptop, completely safe. You can talk to Kernel that way
I frowned. There was no way Terry wasn’t monitoring it. Shouldn’t he have mentioned that he’s watching, or did he assume I would already know that? Or did he not trust me?
?? Thanks, Terry. Is it on Daniel’s phone, too? I want him to see and talk to him if he wants to.
?? Of course. It’s on mine too.
Right. I tried to push away the thought that maybe he had hoped I’d talk to Kernel, thinking it was private, but there was no way he thought I’d be that stupid.
I opened the app and sent my only contact a message.
> I want to know who hired you to use Mason Corp’s algorithms.
Ten minutes later, I finished my coffee, and my phone pinged.
> Hi, Angel. They hired me to hack into the military. It was my idea to use Mason Corp’s tech. I will find them for you, but it’ll take time.
I swerved back and forth on the stool, took a deep breath, and hit the call button on Kernel’s profile photo of a little corn kernel. I realized then that mine was a scythe.
He answered instantly. “Lydia,” he whispered.
“Why did they hire you? What were they after?”
“The first time, it was to steal something. I gave them the information they needed to get in and out of the facility. The second time, it was to monitor communications and make sure they were safe to sell whatever they stole. I needed your boyfriend’s algorithms for that.”
I didn’t like his tone.
“Is this going to be a problem, Kernel? Me being with Daniel?”
He paused and exhaled in a loud huff. “No. At least not in the way you think. I’d be worried about anyone close to you. After all these years searching, I can’t let anyone hurt you.”
I let his words settle for a moment, waiting to see if my instincts shouted LIAR, but it sounded like the truth.
“Okay. What did they steal?”
“A device with coded data. Either they didn’t need me to hack it or they didn’t want me to know what it was. Either way, they didn’t let me anywhere near it.”
“So, your hack with Daniel’s tech—what happened?”
“The military was able to track the location of the device after they stole it, which I could have blocked if my client let me see it…” He sighed.
“I found communication on an op in-progress to intercept the device on-route to the buyer, and transmitted everything to my client. They still have the device, so I’m guessing they succeeded in stopping the military. ”
“Yes, they did. Two soldiers died.”
“You’re mad at me.”
“Yes.”
“I’ll find him, the client. I’ll find out who he is and bring him to you.”
An idea simmered to the surface in my mind. “Good. I want something else, too. If you really want to help me. Not just to make amends, but to be my friend. Are we friends, Kernel?”
“Anything, Angel.”
I wasn’t sure what I thought about that nickname. I knew he meant Angel of Death, which, if I was honest with myself, I kind of liked. Would Daniel give me a nickname? Should I give him one? I couldn’t even call him ‘Danny’—it sounded too weird to me.
I shook my head and focused on Kernel.
“Mark Langford, Condukt CEO. Find information I can use against him.”
“Can you tell me why?”
I thought about my next words, what it would mean to Kernel and how it would affect his response. If he was truly obsessed with me, truly believed he owed me so much…
“Because he hurt my friend, because he’s my enemy, and because I think he hired two men to rape and kill me.” And Becca, but Kernel wouldn’t care about that.
“What? Did they—”
“I’m fine, Kernel. Living up to my nickname.” I did kill one of them, so that counts.
I could hear his breath hitch. “Do you want me to bring him down?”
“No. I want to do that myself. I just need information. Real information. Don’t plant anything incriminating.”
“I’ll serve his ass to you on a platter.”
I hung up and smiled. This would be interesting.
?? You’re terrifying.
Terry’s message somehow made me feel even better. Good, I wanted to be terrifying. I wanted to finally feel that, despite my size, I could protect myself and the people I cared about, that I could do some damage because I had the right friends and ideas.