“Oh, your doorman wouldn’t let me up.”
She laughed, turning to the doorman. “Frank, he’s fine. Enzo Gallo, okay? Add him to my list?”
“Sure thing, Ms. Moss.” Frank, an older guy that was very stingy with access to the elevators, was Moss’s favorite doorman.
“So again, what are you doing here?”
“I’m your security. I’m going to walk you to and from work and take you to lunch so I can collect my paycheck from your brother. And cheer you up.”
Impulsively, India wrapped her arms around his waist, and he hugged her back, kissing her on the top of the head. “Thank you,” she whispered.
So she went into work like her brother wasn’t about to die, and Sean looked at her with a little more concern in his eyes than usual, but with no hugging. He stopped nagging her about the coffeemaker, though. She dove into her hack, losing herself in that to distract herself from the reality of the news about Moss. And she ate lunch every day with Sean and Enzo, a little unsure of why Sean kept coming along with them but unable to stop inviting him because together, the two men were like her anchor. They were all that was keeping her from spinning off into insanity.
It was more than a week before she finally got a call from her brother, although the texts updating her on his status had continued. He was being held in a hospital in an undisclosed location while they investigated the threats against his life.
“Has Enzo been taking care of you?” Really? That was his first question?
“You can tell your lackey to stand down, Moss. I’m fine. What I want to know is, how are you?”
Moss was quiet for a moment. “I’m okay, little sister. It does fucking hurt, though. You know your plan for me to make my glorious exit from the agency? I think the time has come.”
She let out a shaky breath but took his cue, turning the conversation away from his injuries, which she suspected must have been more extensive than he was letting on. “Moss Agency? Like when we were kids? You told Enzo about it when you hired him.”
“Yep. Enzo would be our first employee. We do high-end corporate security. You go white hat. I go into private industry. There might be some questionable jobs if they pay well, but all for the good guys.”
“Me, white hat. Such a strange concept,” she said, smiling.
“How’s your little project? Can we start after that? Give me a little time to heal up while you wait on me hand and foot.”
“I have a feeling you’re a bitch of a patient, so you can woo a cute nurse into doing that. It’s good. It’s done. Just looking for my exit.” She fiddled with a pen and looked around her office, thinking about how much she’d miss this place. She’d miss teasing Sean Blackstone, mostly, and her friendship with Heather.
“I don’t know if I get that plan at all. Why did your guys put you at risk by having you on site?” Moss had been grumbling about this from day one. Usually, India’s crew would have abandoned this hack or would have found a way into the network remotely. But India had wanted to test her chops in the field, had wondered if she could blend seamlessly into a workplace and get things done. She wanted to be like her parents and brother, and she didn’t know how to explain that to him.
“It was the easiest option,” she said instead. “Don’t worry. Everyone here thinks I’m an idiot. And I didn’t even have to try.”
Moss sighed. “You’re not an idiot. You’re so fucking smart that it’s scary, and you’re incredible at what you do, Indie. I don’t want you to think that your family didn’t respect that. None of us could even come close to the kinds of things you can do. You don’t have to be what I am. You shouldn’t be what I am because I’m pretty damaged.”
“I love you, big brother.” This was her way of acknowledging how his words made her feel. She blinked back the tears that threatened. “You heal up and get back home. We’ll buy that building and be neighbors and irritate the hell out of each other.” There was a sound, and she glanced up to see Sean walking in from his office. “I’ll see you soon,” she said, signing off, meeting Sean’s intriguing gray-green eyes.
“Your brother?” he asked, and she nodded. “Is he doing better?”
“He sounds better, recovering. Thanks.” The conversation still made India feel awkward, and she wasn’t sure why. Half of her wanted to wrap herself around Sean and claim him as her own, while the other half wanted to run. Sean didn’t know what she was and wouldn’t be at all interested in her if he did. He liked his ditzy, submissive secretary. Not the real India Moss. He knew nothing about the real India Moss, not even her last name.
She really needed him to fire her so that she could disappear from his life. Her temp gig wasn’t even close to ending and Sean seemed intent on keeping her on staff, no matter how poorly she made the coffee. It was like he enjoyed her ineptitude, which was weird. Would she have to work here until the woman on maternity leave got back, to cover her trail?
The urge to touch Sean was stronger every day. He stopped by her desk often, standing out of reach, looking awkward, like he wasn’t a total ladies’ man, like he didn’t know how to behave around women. India liked awkward Sean better.
Enzo was still stopping by, though after that lunch date at the Mexican restaurant, he had dropped all pretense of being her fake boyfriend. Sean thought Enzo was friends with her brother and checking up on her. Enzo no longer had to touch her, kiss her. Even if he had been faking it, it gutted India. She wanted his hands all over her, and she wanted Sean to watch. Clearly, she needed to get out of this job and over to her favorite club, where she could find a man to play with.
In her haze of lust, it took her a moment to realize that Sean seemed more agitated than usual.
“Is everything all right with you?”
“There’s been a security breach. A hack.” India’s heart pounded. She had never been on site, speaking to one of her victims as her work was discovered before, and it was having a rather intense effect on her nerves.
“What?” She was trying to sound shocked, even though she knew everything there was to know about the breach. She had orchestrated the breach.
He raked his hands through his hair, sighing. “This could mean my head. If that happens, the company will probably get into the hands of my uncles, so basically everyone is fucked. All the employees, everyone.”
