Page 11 of Secret Revenge

I was scared of what I would find if I looked around the room. But I had to get myself out of here, one way or another.

Preferably with some sort of object that had his fingerprints on it.

My eyes drifted to the man beside me and I let out a sigh of relief when I saw that he was still sleeping.

Then I made a little sound in my throat, as the sight of him unexpectedly tugged on my heartstrings.

Travis was curled up, pressed against me. His arms were wrapped around me as if we had passed out after a round of lovemaking. His soft brown curls fell angelically over his perfect face as I studied his sleeping form, taking in all of him instead of running out of the door like I was supposed to. I was tempted to trace the outline of his sharp jawline with my fingertips, but I stayed my hands. If he woke up, I might not be able to complete my mission.

My mission. To expose him. To destroy him. Because he was a terrible person who went to Calypso and hung out with potential serial killers.

Right.

Something caught my eye on the bedside table behind him. I looked closely, trying to make sure I was seeing what I thought I was seeing.

Victory.There, behind Travis was a glass. The glass he’d had a drink of water from. I remembered watching his hands wrap around it the night before. Tried not to think about those hands doing other things.

How could I have slept with this man?My rational brain was beginning to wake up as I recalled the list of crimes I was sure he had committed. The list of crimes his father had committed against people like me.

I tried to shove the aching desire to stay with him, to simply never go back to my old life, far down into my chest.

My thoughts were all over the place as my eyes returned to the beautiful man who was still passed out beside me. Of course,I had slept with him. What other choice did I have? I needed to find a way to catch him off guard so I could get his fingerprints. Every action I took last night was to help me get what I was looking for and nothing more.

I brushed away the thoughts trying to take hold, but they continued to surface. Leave it to my mind to betray me. My eyes closed unwillingly as the images of last night flashed in my mind.

I shuddered. Last night was the best sex I had ever had.

I had not had many partners who meant something to me, but I had definitely been sexually active. I’d dated men who felt more like sex friends than partners in an actual relationship because that was what the guys had wanted with me. With all of my experience, nothing had felt like what I had with Travis Ross after knowing him for just one night.

He was my enemy. I despised him and his family and everything they stood for. How could I have let myself share a bed with him and enjoy it?

It was perfect that I had slept at the edge of the bed. I slipped out of his embrace and rolled out of bed as quietly as I could, so I ran no risk of waking him up. I found my clothes, grimacing when I saw the state of them. I had nothing to wear home but thisveryrumpled, revealing red dress and nightclub heels.

Rushing, I grabbed my panties, stuffing them into my purse, slipped into my dress, and snatched my shoes from under a chair.I then reached into my purse, removing the Ziploc bag I had brought with me, and carefully picked up Travis’s glass with a paper towel to the rim to avoid leaving fingerprints of my own. That accomplished, I ran out of the penthouse, slowing my steps and trying to look normal in the hallway beyond.

To anyone watching, I looked like I was doing the walk of shame. Which was fine by me since “purely carnal one-night stand with irresistibly handsome billionaire” was actually not a bad cover story for my real mission.

I hailed a cab and was finally able to relax now that I was out of Travis’s reach. I ignored the part of me that ached at the thought and focused on my scoop.

All I had to do now was get this to Michael so that he could do his thing. Despite being younger than me, Michael was an incredible hacker. I was blown away by the extent of his skills. He could get into any system he wanted, no matter how tightly guarded it was, if you just gave him enough time to figure out how.

I had seen him do so on multiple occasions and I was still amazed by his abilities. He could have gotten rich off hacking if he wanted to, or become a rich tech bro, but he had no interest in doing that.

Just like me, Michael was determined to use his skills to dig up what the Ross brothers were hiding. We had ended up bonding over our goal of exposing corrupt, powerful people.

Like most people who were knowledgeable about hacking, Michael preferred to stay off the grid, leaving as few digital traces as possible. He had told me to never text or call him on the phone about what we were doing. So, I had to wait until I got to him in-person to share the exciting news of my success. I was so eager to take the next step and put this one behind me that I went straight to Michael’s place without stopping to change at my apartment, sweat-stained tiny red dress and all.

I paid my fare and climbed out of the cab in front of Michael’s place. I had just raised my hand to knock when the door opened to show Michael, a slim young black man, who looked like he had just woken up from sleep. I felt a little guilty about waking him.

Michael was not the textbook nerdy hacker. He did not wear big glasses and flannels, neither did he look sloppy or unkempt. He looked like the average, attractive guy on the street and he took care of himself. Now, even standing in his pajamas,clearly tired, Michael looked quite handsome. We had never had romantic chemistry, but I sure didn’t mind looking at him.

I smiled at him and walked in when he stepped aside. As I glanced around, I wondered if he ever had women over. I knew it was because of the stupid mistake I had made last night but it was something I was suddenly curious about. A man like him seemed like he could have plenty of interested women, but I never heard him talk about them.

“Where have you been?” Michael asked, sounding more concerned than frustrated. “You spent the entire night out. The only reason I didn’t panic was because I saw that you had left Calypso.”

I looked at him in surprise. “Are you tracking my location?”

His response was a deadpan look, like I should have known he would do that.