Page 102 of Pressure

God it was basically the same offer Lance had made her. But she was genuinely curious about who was on the inside working against Solitaire. Who could want them shut down or hurt?

"I guess I'll say yes then since I quit my job in Chicago."

Eli chuckled. "Very good. Do you want to come here and work or can you access our systems remotely?"

"While I've got you on the phone, I wondered if I could talk to you about my membership. I enrolled in the house sub program but um..."

Eli was quiet as she trailed off. Finally, he cleared his throat and said. "If you still want to be a member, we would love to have you. You can either have another Dom take over your training or you can withdraw from the program. If dues are a problem, we can find another scholarship for you."

She blew out a breath. "I'll pay the dues. Lance is the only one I could ever..." she faltered.

"I completely understand. Does that mean we'll see you this weekend?"

"Let's take it one day at a time. I'll access your files and start working right away."

It was nearly three in the morning before Marissa finally told herself to go to bed. She'd spent all evening pouring over files and background information. She wasn't an investigator, she was a hacker. Eli hadn't explicitly asked her to hack into their members lives but he'd hinted that he would look the other way if she had cause to dig a little deeper into someone's background.

It was petty, but she'd gone for Jodie first. She was a Los Angeles native who went to Caltech and had a Graphic Design degree. Not exactly a hacker type but going to a place like Cal Tech you kind of couldn't help but hang out with those types.

It disturbed her that the girl had no social media footprint. If she were a graphic designer, she would have to advertise somehow, wouldn't she?

Ultimately, she'd set the girl's files aside knowing she was being petty and jealous. Lance hadn't slept with her, that much she knew.

Now, as she was going to bed, her attention was drawn back to the girl and her last encounter before she was kicked out.“You’ll regret the day you came back into his life.”

Not into his life,backinto his life. The woman knew she was Lance’s ex and they’d never shared that information. Damn it. Her fingers flew across the keys as she tried to worm her way back into the dark web chat forum.

It wasn't there.

Had someone wiped it?

There had to be traces somewhere.

But her eyes were red from the strain and she knew she had to close them for a few hours, or she wouldn't get anywhere.

Despite knowing better, her brain fucked with her all night long, and she dreamed of Jodie and Lance in bed together.

By the time she woke four hours later, she was pissed and ready to fight.

By the end of Wednesday, she was getting nowhere with Jodie and she knew she had to move on to other members and finish the job Eli had hired her for.

Her phone lit up as she rubbed at her eyes.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Marissa, it's Austin. You going to be at the club this weekend?"

"Eli told you he rehired me?"

"Something like that. I also noticed you paid dues and withdrew from the house sub program. All the cabins are free if you want to rent one and stay on site."

She smiled. "Thanks. I'll think about it. I really do want to come hang out and people watch some more."

Austin gave a hum. "I'm sure that's not all you want to do."

Marissa shook her head. "I don't think anything else is on the table right now."

"Let me know if you want Patrick to pick you up in his jet."

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