Page 15 of Edge of Secrets (The Edge Trilogy #2)

“He’s a genius when it comes to cybersecurity,” Bruce went on, warming to his subject.

“His biggest client is the U.S. government—they love his stuff. He’s made a fortune designing stuff for them.

But everything’s always so damn serious.

National security. Terrorist threats. Blood and guts.

Something frivolous like a video game drives the poor guy nuts.

He’ll feel better about it once the money starts pouring in.

He likes money just fine. You just keep coming up with those brilliant ideas, and he’ll calm down. Everything will be great. Trust me.”

“Okay,” I said cautiously. “I’m taking you at your word.”

Bruce circled the table. “You can take it to the bank,” he said as he sat down next to me. “So let me just tell you what I need from you right away, okay?”

We worked for the better part of an hour, detailing and prioritizing the texts that I needed to churn out first. I was pleasantly surprised to realize that this work might actually be fun.

A hell of a lot better than paralegaling and typing up legal briefs all night long.

I could even get a bit excited about it, even if I was probably going to have to skip pesky little details like, say, sleep, to keep up with Bruce’s schedule.

He needed what would amount to about twelve hours of work by tomorrow afternoon, and I had a long waitressing shift cutting right into the middle of it.

I would be required to warp time and space in order to fulfill my professional obligations. So what else was new.

He started to wrap things up, but I held up my hand. “Wait a second. Doesn’t any of this stuff need to be signed off by your brother?”

“No,” Bruce said forcefully. “Ignore him. Suit yourself. But work fast, because I’ve got programmers and graphic artists working on the sixth level, and we need to catch up with the texts.

” He looked over his shoulder with exaggerated caution, and dropped a gallant kiss on my hand.

“Our unprofessional secret,” he whispered.

I was laughing when the door opened.

I pulled my hand back when I saw Duncan standing there, looking thunderous. “What the hell is going on in here?” he demanded.

“Work, Duncan,” Bruce’s voice was heavy with practiced patience.

“It didn’t look like work,” Duncan said.

My hackles went up at his tone, but Bruce just glanced from me to Duncan and back again with a thoughtful frown. “Hey,” he said. “Duncan. Did I tell you lately about the new girl I’m seeing?”

“No,” Duncan said brusquely. “It’s not relevant. Nor do I particularly care at the moment. Since we’re working. Tell me later.”

“Her name’s Melissa,” Bruce went on, ignoring him. “She’s a knockout. I’ve got to introduce you. Oh, and she’s a poetry fan. The romantic literary type. Speaking of which, Nell, maybe you could give me a little advice.” Bruce slanted me a sly smile.

I crossed my arms, wary of a trap. “What kind of advice?”

“Well, like I said, Melissa loves poetry, and I want to impress her. What would be a good poem for me to memorize? To, ah, you know, melt her?”

“That depends entirely on her tastes,” I said. “But before I recommend anything at all, tell me one thing. What’s your ultimate purpose in this exercise?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Bruce said, with a roguish wink.

“No, not necessarily,” I said. “If you mean to genuinely court this woman, then I caution you against presenting yourself as other than who you really are, because she’ll just be disappointed when she realizes the truth. Which she will. Don’t fool yourself.”

“I’m not a total Neanderthal, Nell,” Bruce said, looking faintly miffed.

“How nice for you. But if, on the other hand, you’re not serious, and you mean to simply use this woman to, uh ...”

“Slake his animal lust?” Duncan offered.

“Yes, exactly—to slake your animal lust, leaving her crushed and embittered—then you’re a dirty dog, and you don’t deserve my help.

Either way, I don’t want to participate in your wicked little games.

Don’t ask me for seduction advice, Bruce.

Read some actual poetry yourself, for real.

Expand your horizons. Take a night class.

Go to the public library. I wish you luck.

More to the point, I wish Melissa luck.”

I slapped the file closed, and looked at him sternly over the lenses of my glasses.

Bruce stared at me for a second, then started to laugh. “You’ll do,” he said. “You’re perfect for this wacko place.”

“Thank you for sharing your opinion,” Duncan said. “That’ll be all. Get lost, Bruce.”

Bruce choked off his laughter. “Uh, yeah. I’ll just let you guys, uh, work your stuff out, then. Bye.”

He left the room, still snorting with muffled laughter. The door clicked shut.

The luxurious conference room was so quiet.

Faraway city sounds came into focus, floating up from the street.

I stared out at the darkening cityscape, tongue-tied and intensely nervous to be alone with him.

Bruce seemed like a good guy, and his enthusiasm was heartening, but I was afraid Duncan was going to be a problem.

I simply didn’t have the kind of self-confidence it took to ignore his disapproval, as Bruce had suggested.

That took brash nerve, and I was coming up short on that quality with Snake Eyes circling me.

I needed all of my brash nerve just to walk out my apartment door every morning.

I didn’t have any left to spare for wrangling sexy, difficult men.

For God’s sake, I could barely bring myself to talk to the guy.

Well, whatever. If this didn’t work out, I would be no worse off than before.

Time to go home, heat up something from the freezer, write some epic poetry about goblins, demons, and holy quests. There were worse night jobs. I’d knew, having done a lot of them already.

I cleared my throat. “Well. I have a whole lot of writing to do, so I’ll just, um, be on my?—”

“Don’t go yet. We need to talk.”

My heart thumped. “We do? About what?”

“I’m sorry I was rude,” he said, his tone gruff. “My brother was driving me nuts.”

The apology took me completely by surprise. “I could see that,” I offered tentatively.

“I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”

“That’s true. You definitely shouldn’t have,” I agreed swiftly.

A smile came and went on his face, so quickly, I wondered if I’d imagined it. “The whole situation just makes me so goddamn nervous,” he said.

I cleared my throat. “What situation is that?”

He shrugged. “This project. This game. I design security software, and specialized data-sorting and analysis programs. I’m extremely good at that.

I understand what they’re good for, how to make them stand out, who to market them to, what they’re willing to pay.

Then Bruce bounces in with his big, shiny idea.

I couldn’t talk him out of it, and God knows where he would’ve gone for the money if I’d refused. ”

He stopped and turned to look out the window, shaking his head.

I took the opportunity to study his gorgeous profile. The slanting sunlight and shadows in the dim room accentuated the harsh angles and planes of his face. I wished I could draw like Vivi. He’d be an amazing subject.

“And now?” I prompted.

“I don’t know shit about video games. So I don’t like the situation I find myself in. At a total disadvantage.” His voice was clipped. “This is not my scene, you understand? I am not the playful, lighthearted type. I like to have my facts in a row. No surprises. Minimized uncertainty.”

“Strip steak sandwich,” I said softly. “And apple crumb pie with vanilla ice cream. Forget the fudge brownie.”

He shrugged. “I guess it’s probably the same phenomenon.”

I perched on the edge of the table, clasping my hands. “Well, consider this,” I said. “The soup changes every single day, and you’ve bravely tried a new one every time.”

“Yeah, but I’ve already ascertained that they’re all pretty good. That’s a minimal risk which has already been assessed and factored in beforehand.” He took a step closer to me. “I didn’t come to the Sunset Grill for lunch today.”

“I know. We missed you.” My voice felt breathless at his proximity. “There was a very nice curried chickpea stew that you could’ve tried.”

One step closer and I could smell his aftershave. His face was in shadow now, backlit by the glow of the buildings outside. He had a gorgeous silhouette.

“I don’t actually hate your ideas,” he said. “Not at all. I’m sorry I was such a pain in the ass. I just automatically contradict everything my brother says. It’s a programmed reflex, and it has nothing to do with you, or your abilities.”

“Thanks for telling me,” I said. “I get that. And he shouldn’t tease you. Any man who runs his own business knows about taking risks. What’s Bruce risking? He’s using your business as a springboard. You’re the one putting everything on the line.”

In the startled silence that followed, I was embarrassed by my own vehemence. After all, the weird Burke family dynamics were none of my damn business.

I couldn’t see his face, but I sensed that he was smiling. “Thank you for saying that,” he said. “I appreciate your understanding.”

The hairs rose on my arms as he came closer. I could smell the fresh, crisp scent of his shirt. I stared up at his inscrutable silhouette. “You’re welcome,” I whispered.

“I spoke to Detective Lanaghan today,” he said.

I jolted back. Detective Denise Lanaghan was the investigating officer for Lucia’s case. Hearing her name spoken in this context was jarring. “You did what? Why on earth?”

“I wanted to see what progress they were making on the case,” he said.

His voice sounded so casual—like he had every right to rifle through the most painful details of my life. My shock was quickly replaced by anger. “I imagine you wanted to check and see if my story was just so much paranoid bullshit, right?”