Page 38

CY

I dropped a wad of a thousand hardcreds on Maddox’s desk without a word. He looked up at me, and I saw the smallest grin twitch at the corner of his mouth, but he didn’t say anything as he tucked the money into his drawer.

“You hear back from Akira?”

I nodded. “Says he’s working on getting us a meeting at the Den. No date yet.”

“She’s in the lounge if you think you can control yourself.”

I flipped him off and walked into the shared workspace.

She was sprawled out on the couch, her Vysor glowing, flashes of light marking the shift in her view.

She didn’t even acknowledge me—not that I’d expected her to.

She was deep in the data. But it was interesting, how her Flux pulsed beneath her skin, like it was moving through cyberspace with her.

No one else would have noticed, but I could feel it.

Her whole body pulsed with that power she kept wrapped up so tight, and the way her field flooded the space between us had my mind—once again—racing back to that night, when I’d felt it while I was between her thighs and had been too much of a dumbass to recognize it.

As she lay there, her legs twitched, the edge of her baggy pants riding lower, and I could just see the shape of her hip bone pressing against the soft expanse of her stomach, the flesh there warm and inviting.

A hint of a neon green thong peeked out, and I wanted nothing more than to snag the fluorescent fabric with my teeth, drag it down, and sink into that void of ecstasy with my tongue.

Like she could suddenly read my depraved thoughts, she sat up and yanked off the Vysor, her face marked with frustration—not annoyance.

“Find anything useful?” I asked.

Those violet eyes snapped up. She really hadn’t realized I was there. I was about to lecture her on the importance of situational awareness when I reminded myself—she wasn’t my junior, wasn’t an agent. Just a contractor that tasted like heaven.

“No. My AI wasn’t able to decipher it. It’s not based on any known language.”

“Well then, what’s the next move? Doesn’t seem likely it’s just gibberish with no meaning.”

She shook her head, fingers twirling a section of her long hair.

“I said I couldn’t decipher it, not that it wasn’t decipherable.

I knew someone at Elysium who was an expert in advanced translation and linguistics.

He specialized in human-to-digital communication, was the tech lead on the latest universal translator model.

If anyone in the world has built an AI that could tell us what this was, it’d be him. ”

“So what are we waiting for?”

“He’s…likely not going to respond to an offer from POM.”

“What, Mr. Cunning Linguist doesn’t need money?”

Her face screwed up at my comment. “He’s the heir apparent to Yamamoto Industries. Even though he tries to distance himself, he wouldn’t work for one of his father’s direct competitors.”

“Well, that’s no issue. He won’t be working for POM—he’ll be working for you.”

“What?”

“You said you knew him at university? Are we talking in the biblical sense? Hell, we might be able to get him to do the analysis for free if you would just fuc—”

She hurled a pillow at me and hit me square in the face.

“Hiromi’s not—” She paused with an exaggerated huff. “It was never like that.”

“Oh, I get it. A crush, huh? Never went anywhere. Well, put your big girl panties on, because you’re setting up a vid with this guy. Now.”

She was blushing, and I knew I’d been right. The thought of her with a schoolgirl crush on some rich boy had my Flux pulsing in a way I didn’t entirely expect—and didn’t like. Why the fuck did I care?

She stormed off, slamming the door to a private call room.

A few moments later, she stormed back.

“He wants to meet.”

“Good. I’ll need an hour to get you ready.”

“Get me ready? What are you, my fairy godmother?”

“I thought someone in your line of work would understand the value of protection.”

“I’m not going to sleep with him.”

“Wish you would. His pay’s coming out of my bonus. Wish it was coming out of you.”

“You need to stop thinking about me coming, Cy.”

I had nothing to say to that, and she knew it. I grabbed her arm and dragged her back toward Maddox’s desk. She could have this round.

As long as she kept looking at me.