Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
CAL
W ith my job, I sometimes had to stay up for forty-eight hours straight. I sometimes didn’t get to shower for twice as long as that. I’d done a few days without food and slept out in the rain because that was the safest place to be. But no night in the history of the time since I’d owned Optium had I had a night as tough as last night.
A person could temporarily satiate hunger with thirst, and eventually, they would stop noticing the body odor. But trying to tamp down desire and push aside want, that was damn near impossible.
Sleep was elusive, and when I did manage to doze off, I had sex dreams. I hadn’t had a sex dream since I was a teen, but that night made up for it in spades. When I was awake, all I could think about was Sabrina’s touch and the feel of her in my arms while sitting on my lap. Which just led to having sex dreams, jerking off, and repeating. The only solution was to take cold showers repeatedly in an attempt to purge.
I stepped out of the cold shower, wrapped one towel around my waist, and dried my hair with another. It was time to face the day, and I was dreading it. I had to go out there and act the same way I’d been acting for the last ten years—as if I didn’t give a shit.
But the ranch was big enough I could probably avoid Sabrina all day if I tried. A man could hope. My dick needed a break.
Dressed, I made my way downstairs and into the kitchen to seek out coffee. When I walked by Sabrina’s room, her door was closed, so maybe she was still sleeping. It was fairly early.
Mom and Mrs. Claudia were in the kitchen, and biscuits and gravy were on the stove. Things were looking up already. Rod was at the island, chowing down. He put his hand up for a high five while shoveling food into his mouth with the other hand.
“Can I get some of that?” I asked, pointing to Rod’s plate.
“Coming right up,” Mrs. Claudia said, then seconds later slid a heap of goodness in front of me.
“What’s on the agenda for the day?” I asked, glancing at the hallway to see if anyone was coming. If I ate fast, I might get outside without seeing her. Yeah, I was a coward.
“They’re bringing in the cows who are ready to birth,” said Mom.
“I can help with that.” I nodded.
“They already left,” Rod said.
“I can catch up with them,” I told him.
He gave me a whatever look.
My heart skittered when I heard someone come down the hall but sighed with relief when Brynna came around the corner. She swiped a biscuit as she poured coffee into a mug.
“Hey, thought I’d come by today and see how your work’s going.” I smiled at my sister.
“Nope. I am in the middle of a project, and I don’t want any interruptions. If you interrupt me, I will scar you with a hot iron.” She gave me the stink eye.
“A no, thank you would have sufficed.” I stabbed my fork into a biscuit.
My mom stopped in front of me, wiping her hands with a towel. “What’s going on here? Is your arm bugging you?” She eyed where the bullet had grazed me.
“Nothing is going on, and no, my arm is fine. It’s practically healed. I’m just ready to get out there and do some work.”
My mother narrowed her eyes. “So if your arm is fine, then what was keeping you up last night? You took several showers. I assumed you were working out some aches.”
“What are you talking about?” I feigned innocence.
“This house has old pipes. I heard them rumbling off and on all night.” She quirked a brow.
Brynna snickered. “I bet I can guess what’s going on.” She wiggled her brows at me.
“I’m still stiff and sore from Peru.” I shrugged. My face, my arm, and even the road rash were healing nicely. The bruises were fading.
“Yeah, that’s it. Stiff from Peru.” Brynna snorted and raised her coffee mug to me.
Mom returned her attention to me. “Why don’t you just take it easy today?”
“Because I can’t just be idle. I need to be doing something, and weren’t you the one always asking me to come home? I think even once you said there were things I could do here that needed attention. Well, here I am. And I want to do something.” I turned to Rod. “What are you doing today?”
He placed his fork on the table next to his clean plate and wiped his mouth. “I’m going to school. You can come with me if you want, but I’m not sure how that would fly with the other adults.” He took a drink of something that looked suspiciously like coffee. “But you should probably stay here with people your own age.” He got up and put his dishes in the sink, then snatched up a backpack by the door before exiting.
“He’ll be back at four if you want to play then,” Brynna said with a laugh. “You are so pathetic.”
“Don’t I know it,” I said sourly. “I’m going to ride out to the herd and help with the heifers.” I returned my focus to breakfast.
“Nope,” Paul said, coming into the kitchen, carrying his laptop. “Looks like the second wave of attacks has been launched.” He put the laptop on the counter and swiveled it so I could see the screen:
“Security CEO Jeopardizes Client’s Life.”
The article proceeded to break down what had happened in Peru. Logically, I knew I hadn’t put the asset in danger, and things could go sideways when assets didn’t always follow the rules. I’d taken a bullet to the shoulder as proof. And the asset had come out unscathed.
I looked up at Paul. “Okay, we figured the Peru stuff would get some attention. Put out the press release like we talked about, and let’s move on.”
“Already did that.” Paul pointed at the laptop. “Click on another one of the open tabs.”
Four were open. The first was the article I was looking at. I clicked the second.
“Early Reviews of Optium’s Safety App ProtectedLove Are Positive. Is It Because They’re Bought and They’re Bots?”
“Wow, I bet that writer thinks he’s clever with his play on words.” That headline required an eye roll. I clicked the third tab.
Optium’s Matchmaker Ruse Exposed.
If they are dating, then why is Sabrina Holloway trying to adopt a child and be a single parent?
I pointed at the screen. “Utter lies. Let’s see if we can sue or something.”
Paul shook his head. “I was just talking with Sabrina. While some of the information isn’t correct, most of the article is factual. The article names the agency she’s working with and even shows some of the private documents Sabrina completed with them. Which we can totally go after them for because of HIPPA and privacy laws. But the adoption agency has already put out a statement they were hacked, and now lots of their customers are scared and panicking. This article might have single-handedly put them out of business.”
“You meant the hack did that.” Sabrina is trying to adopt a kid? I wasn’t sure what to make of that.
“They were hacked for the purpose of this article. You and I know it. And mostly people don’t care, but it’s being used to discredit both you and that presser we did in Dallas. It also sparked a conversation on talk shows about singles adopting kids. And as to be expected, some people in the comments admire Sabrina, and others are tearing her to pieces.”
I brushed my hand over my chin as I worked to find the next step.
“There’s another tab,” Paul said.
And by the look on his face, I knew this wasn’t going to be good either. I clicked the tab and was instantly greeted with a picture of Travis at a poker table. The lighting was poor, the image grainy, his cards were on the table, his fingers were on his cards, and a lot of chips were beside him. The picture made Travis look...
My mom came up behind me. “Oh, that is not a good picture of Travis. It makes him look smarmy. Deceitful.”
“Crooked,” I said. Sabrina had to be feeling like she was drowning:
“Professional Gambler Travis Holloway’s Estate Being Investigated for Tax Evasion.”
“This isn’t good.” I stood, ready to go to her.
Paul put out his hand. “She’s really upset and said she needs some time to herself. She’ll come downstairs when she’s ready to see people.”
So much for avoiding her. Soon I would find myself pacing outside her door, anxious to see how she was holding up. And here I’d spent the night cold showering, all while her life was unraveling.