Page 83 of Rise of the King (Checkmate 5)

“You look beautiful today, by the way.”

“Shut up.” I tighten my arms against my chest and study the blue skies outside. I’m wearing denim cutoffs and flip flops. My hair is in a messy pony, and my nail polish is chipped. “It’s hot as hell out, and my nails are chipped.”

“So?”

“I have boob sweat.”

“Yeah?” Grinning, he reaches across and tugs my hand from my tight grip until I release it with a grunt. “I have ball sweat, so it’s kinda the same, no?”

“You’re disgusting.”

Lifting my hand to his lips, he charms the ice away from my heart and grins. “And my highly tuned investigative skills lead me to think maybe you’re nervous. What are you nervous about, Sophia Solomon, the Wise and Peaceful? What’s got you rattled?”

“Nothing. I don’t get rattled.”

“Rarely,” he amends. “Yourarelyget rattled. But this is one of those times.” He slows at the end of the street and flips on his right turn signal. “Are you nervous I might die?”

“No.”

“Are you nervousyoumight die?”

“No.”

“But you are nervous.” Playfully, he separates my fingers and draws one between his lips. He watches the road but sucks my finger and nips the end. “Are you nervous to meet my brother? He’s pretty cool, and you’re adorable. He’ll love you.”

“No.”

My squeaking voice betrays me. I was fine going to meet them today as Sophia Solomon, the random chick who might need a little help setting up a security system because she’s scared to live alone. But now I’m going as Sophia, Jay’s sorta-girlfriend.

“I killed you, Jay.” I tug my hand from his and twine them in my lap. “It was me who wrote ‘deceased’ on your files and made you a new identity. It was me who took you away; it was me who put you in a lot of dangerous situations you didn’t have to be in.”

“He won’t be mad at you, babe.”

“I’m not nervous to meet him,” I repeat. “I’m kinda nervous to blow our cover, though.”

“We’re stronger as a team, Soph. All of us. Opening this today doesn’t mean announcing to the world that Jay Bishop lives. It just means telling Kane that I’m here and that I’ve got his back.” He drives through the single set of traffic lights in town and heads toward the building Kane has set up as his security company’s home base.

Kane chose what might have been the original town hall. Brick, utilitarian, two-story, though the second story is loft-style, and a massive clocktower protrudes from the top. Everything about the building says old and heritage-listed, but the top-of-the-line secure perimeter they have says something else. The sensors that span the whole block and the garage built onto the back say expensive and impenetrable.

And yet… I climbed his walls just as easily as he climbed the local PD’s firewalls.

When this is all over, I might appoint myself head of cybersecurity and fix these yahoos up before someone smarter – like me – comes along and plants viruses all over the place.

“I’m gonna pull back a block, then we’re gonna have to walk it.”

“Jay!”

“We can’t drive up, babe. This has got to be done…delicately, ya know? Barging in won’t really do my brother any favors.” Pulling into the parking lot attached to the park in the center of town, Jay switches the engine off and nervously reseats his beanie. Leaning forward for a kiss, he mumbles, “It’d be super cool if you waited here.”

Scoffing, I push his puckered lips away and climb out of my side. I don’t grab my bag. Everything I need is tucked into the back of my shorts or at home where I should have tied Jay to a steel beam. “You don’t get to play that game, John. You made your choice, so now we–”

“John?” He closes his door and beeps the car locked. Walking around to my side, he takes my hand and leads me toward the sidewalk. We’re just a regular couple out for a walk in the middle of a summer day. He’s wearing a beanie, but there’s nothing suspicious going on here. “My name’s John now?”

“Did you know the sensors they have are keyword-sensitive?”

He lifts an inquisitive brow.

“They’re motion-activated, too,” I continue. “But seeing as we’re in the middle of town, they’re going to be tripped all day long, which makes them useless to watch around the clock. But new tech now means they can key in some particular trigger words that might interest them.”

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