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“Great. I’ll have someone to blow shit up with.” His fingers flew over the keyboard like magic. I was in awe. When I did stuff for Giulia, my fingers moved the same way, except it was just for show. I wasn’t actually able to do anything. Suddenly, a bright screen appeared with the story that was being written.
“This is it?”
“This is her current Reed Security story.”
“Will she know we’re looking at it?”
He shook his head. “No, I hacked her computer.”
I stepped closer to the screen, then reached out, thinking my hand might go right through the screen and out on her end. That would be so cool. Knight grabbed my hand, twisting it up behind my back. I screamed in pain as I fell to my knees.
“Ow! What are you doing?”
“Don’t. Touch. My stuff,” he growled in my ear, then released me with a harsh jerk. I fell forward into the computer table, barely catching myself. Standing, I stepped away from him, rotating my sore arm. At least he didn’t break it.
The door flung open and Cap strolled in, looking exactly like he did every day. However, some of the other characters were…not in their usual attire.
“What is this?” Derek asked. “I was just about to go on.”
I stared at him in his tights, but he wasn’t dressed like Superman. “Um…did I interrupt something?”
“Yes, I was about to audition for Kiss Me, Kate. I’m going for the lead role.”
“You’re going to be in a play?” I asked excitedly.
“Yes,” Claire huffed, shoving her way around him. “I assumed when he got in his tights this morning, we were about to have some sexy times.” Her eyes trailed up and down his body, and she sighed. “I guess I’ll have to wait until he’s done playing this other role.”
“What are we doing here?” Cap asked.
“I have hot wax warmed up at home!”
“I was in the middle of a pedicure!”
“Who’s going to trim my cat’s nails?”
The roar of men’s voices made it impossible to concentrate on the task at hand. I let out a loud whistle, impressed that I could do that. “Calm down!” I shouted, finally grabbing their attention. The room quieted as I stood in front of them all. I was their leader, their captain in battle. “Alright, I know everyone wants to use their downtime in their own ways,” I said, eyeing Chris as he walked on the heels of his feet since his toe separators made it difficult to walk.
He crossed his arms and glared at me. “Do you know how long it’s been since I had a pedicure? My ingrown toenail is killing me. And these a-holes never think to invite me along,” he said, gesturing to Hunter, who flamed bright red.
“Uh…anyway,” I said, sidestepping that landmine. “The reason I had you summoned was because Giulia is about to start work. As you can see, Hunter, Craig, and I are alive and well, proving that we are all living in Giulia’s book. Right now, she’s not working.”
“What’s that?” Jules asked, jerking his head at the screen.
I grinned, looking behind me. “That is our lives. Knight was able to hack into Giulia’s computer. We now have access to her work when she’s writing. I thought it was about time we took back control of our lives.”
“How are we supposed to do that?”
Just as I was about to tell him, words appeared on the screen. I felt something inside my body being tugged painfully. Suddenly, we were transported to the jungle and I was in bed with the woman I was meant to fall in love with. The same woman Giulia wanted to kill.
I felt my body working of its own accord. I kissed and nibbled at my woman, grinning to myself when I finally settled between her legs. It was finally going to happen. I was going to get laid for the first time ever on the page. But then I heard gunfire and groaned as Giulia wrenched me away from those beautiful legs. Suddenly, I was dressing instead of having sex.
“No, no, no!” I screamed internally. “This was not supposed to happen!”
I felt my lips moving as Giulia continued to write. I couldn’t let this happen. I had to fight it. I closed my eyes and screamed as loud as I could, fighting with everything in me to claw my way out of this reality.
I felt a bubble pop in my ears and when I opened my eyes, I was back in the Reed Security IT room. Everyone was staring at me incredulously.
“What just happened?” Cap whispered.