I shake my head, fuming. “I know it isn’t you. Is she still waiting?” I snap.
“Yes. She’s at Asiate. I promise that’s what your calendar says on my end.”
“It’s okay, Madison. Call Lilith and let her know I’m on the way.”
I suddenly catch a headache and rub my left temple. It’s stress. It happens whenever shit goes awry. I’m also aware I’m too young to feel like this. I’m further aware that my work is the cause.
This is the fourth time in six weeks a meeting has been changed as random shit popped up on my calendar. Mason, our director of software development, detected hacking but couldn’t identify the culprit. I suspect Orion has something to do with it. A man’s brother shouldn’t be the one sticking the knife in his back. I wish things were different between us, but they aren’t.
I’ve never briefed Madison on the hacking. Mason and I agreed to keep it to ourselves until we knew more. That’s why, as I rush through the hotel lobby, I’m waiting for him to answer my call.
“Hey, boss,” he says as if his day is going a lot better than mine.
I step out into the overcast day. The gray atmosphere echoes my mood. “Somebody’s been fucking with my calendar again.”
He gives a long sigh. “Well, it can’t be Orion.”
“Why’s that?” I ask, waving at James, my driver.
“Because I’m in his world, Herc. Orion couldn’t tweet while shitting without me knowing about it.”
“Then who the fuck is it?” I roar.
Shit. I take a quick glance at the lady who just stopped to stand beside me. She smells nice, and her nearness feels good. Losing my shit in front of an attractive woman is a bad look. Fortunately, the back door to my SUV opens, and I hop in.
“I don’t know yet.” Mason sounds defeated. “I’m beginning to think darker forces are at work.”
The door closes.
“On second thought, Mason—James…” I steal another glance at the woman. It’s as if she's looking me in the eye through the tinted glass. My heart constricts. My gut tightens too. The uncomfortable but surprisingly pleasant feeling forces me to look away from her.
“Yes, Herc?” James says.
I rip my undirected gaze from beyond the windshield. “I need to get to the Mandarin fast.”
“Got it.”
She was beautiful. And her presence has left a lingering effect in my crotch. But she’s quickly out of sight and in my past as my vehicle drives off.
I readjust my position, trying to make myself more comfortable, and return to my phone call. “Mason, is the brain safe?”
“The brain is like Fort Knox.”
“Why isn’t the server with my calendar on it Fort Knox too?”
His pause is a fraction too long.
“Mason?” I ask.
“Because we’re using GIT’s Killer Firewall on the brain. We have to if we want to protect what’s important.”
I squeeze my eyes closed tight. I’ve been avoiding this conversation. “Shit.”
“Herc, if you want to keep our sectors secure in today’s environment, we need it. If I’d waited for you to see the light, our infrastructure would be a free-for-all. GIT can’t even hack into their own software without causing major destruction on their end. Their Killer Firewall has reduced global and domestic security breaches by—”
“All right,” I bark. “You can stop trying to sell me on it. I know the statistics.”
It hurts my head even worse to hear the truth. Personally, I have no problem with the Groves being number one in software development, probably because they have someone as talented as Paisley Grove developing their products.I wonder what she’s doing these days.I haven’t heard anything from or about Paisley since high school, and she never responded to the text I sent her on graduation day. I figured she didn’t want to have anything to do with me.
