Page 82 of Hard Wired

Chapter Twenty-Five

By the time Sylvie got home, she was an exhausted wreck. She’d spent hours poring over the code that she’d modified to trap the Syndicate’s hackers. With the help of her entire team, she’d created her decoy hard drive, slightly altering the Bennett Security data so that nothing sensitive would be compromised.

Even by her standards, she’d gotten an insane amount done. But she still had more to do tomorrow before she returned to Dominic’s house.

Despite all her anxiety about targeting the Syndicate, she still felt a thrill of eager anticipation to see him again. Not just to get naked with him, but to hold his hand and talk through everything they were both dealing with right now. She knew Dominic would listen. And he would share with her, too. Who would’ve thought he’d be so easy to talk to?

But Dominic was the same as he’d ever been. She was the one who’d been making unfair assumptions.

That made her wonder about other assumptions she’d been making. Including about her former best friend, Faith.

The birthday card was still sitting in her drawer, waiting to be opened.

Sylvie went through the door into the kitchen. Ethan was stirring a pot on the stove, and Luis was setting the table. Both men looked up and smiled as she came in. Between Dominic’s house and the long hours at work, it felt like forever since she’d seen them both.

“Ethan, you’re cooking? Did my birthday already come around again?”

Her cousin shrugged, but Luis barked a laugh. He’d worn his shoulder-length dark hair in a messy bun, and the sleeves of his white button-down were rolled up. “I’m the one who cooked. Ethan’s just standing there stirring and hoping to take the credit.”

“But I do make this part look good,” her cousin said, posing with the spoon, which was all the more comical given his pleated khakis and polo. Stylish, Ethan was not.

Luis had made spaghetti Bolognese. Sylvie threw together a salad, and the three of them sat down to eat.

“Ethan tells me you’ve had some drama lately. You met someone?”

“And she spent the night at his place.”

Sylvie passed the spaghetti. “I did meet someone.”

“Is he special?” Luis asked.

She felt the smile inching across her face. “Yeah. He is.” She thought about what she could say. “I feel good when I’m with him. Like I can say pretty much anything. We didn’t get along at first, but that’s because I didn’t want to give him a chance. But he’s won me over.”

Luis and Ethan were both grinning, exchanging an amused glance.

“Sounds familiar,” her cousin said. “So when do we get to meet him?” He bumped her foot under the table. “Or at least see a picture.”

Sylvie figured she could dig up a mug shot of Dominic pretty easily, but no way was she doing that. She wasn’t ready to reveal his identity to them yet. Not because she was embarrassed, but because it was all so new and uncertain at this point. And she didn’t want them to see Dominic’s past and make the same assumptions she had.

“I don’t know. Things are a little difficult right now. He has a lot going on.”

And she didn’t even know if Dominic would want to meet her family.

They liked each other, but was this just a fling that would end as soon as Dominic was out of danger?

That was completely setting aside the possibility of some sort of witness protection. He could be moving across the country, and she’d never see him again. She didn’t like to think that would happen, but it was far from unlikely.

“Actually, I’ve been thinking about my old friend Faith from high school. Ethan’s been bugging me to open a birthday card she sent me. I think I should go ahead and do it.” She got up and went over to the drawer where she’d left the envelope.

When she turned around, Ethan was rolling his eyes. “Now that’s a deliberate change of subject. But I’ll allow it. Go ahead and open your letter.”

She sat back down at the table, cradling the envelope in her hands. Using the tip of her finger, she carefully pried the envelope open along the top. She didn’t want to tear the paper where Faith had drawn the balloons. She couldn’t even say why. It just seemed like she should leave them intact, since Faith had taken the time to draw them.

The front of the card was a typical birthday message, a sweet one rather than the beginning of a joke. She opened it, and there was only Faith’s handwritten message inside. As if her friend had chosen this card specifically to let her own voice speak, without the interference of words written by some impersonal card company.

Dear Sylvie,

I know it’s been a really long time, and I probably don’t even deserve a response from you. So don’t feel like you owe me one. I just wanted to say I still think of you. I’ve never stopped, not since you left.

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