Page 24 of Seductive Architect (Grunts of Vanguard #2)

I paced down the hallway to the door, checked the peephole, and then paced back to the dining room.

Half an hour late. I ran through every scenario.

Supervillain kidnapping. Likely. Discovered by rogue operatives of a clandestine government agency?

Plausible. Abducted by aliens to study our species? Not likely, but I couldn’t rule it out.

Did I lose one of my two remaining allies?

Pounding at the door. They had found me.

“I’m not going down without a fight.” With a flick of the wrist, the new and improved suit rolled along my hand and forearm.

Instead of working on the HeroApp?, I spent company time developing new toys.

If Prism stood on the other side of the door, I had a new host of gadgets to fight him off.

Holding up my hand, I admired the sleek black d esign.

I almost chuckled at the irony that Hole, of all the supers out there, had been the inspiration.

I’d have to thank him next time we traded blows.

The palm glowed, ready to mow down whoever they sent to take me in. I’d be worth more to them alive. I also spent half the day scouring the assassin’s database, and so far, nobody had taken out a bounty on my head. Though I wasn’t surprised to see who had a bounty— The door flung open.

“Janet!” My heart thumped. “What the hell?”

She scurried inside, shutting the door. “You should really lock this? You never know what amazing and gorgeous people are going to show up.”

It wasn’t the super soldiers or the senator that unsettled me to where I forgot to lock the door. Of all the elements, my distrust of Connie had rocked my world. It wasn’t just paranoia. Connie knew everything. Every password. Every fear. She knew me .

My suit vanished, nestling itself back into my watch.

“You’re late.”

“Your note—” She threw her hands up in the air. “Who gives directions like that?”

When the locks were secure, I led her into the great room. “What was hard about it? East on 7 th Ave. West on East Ave. The 17 train to Bellmont and then the 16 to Ward. And then?—”

“Fire escape to the roof?” She jabbed a finger against my sternum. “When you had me crawling through the junkyard, I said screw it and got a taxi.”

I paused when I figured out she wore all black. Black jeans. Black turtleneck. She even had on black winter gloves. “This is a meetup. We’re not stealing jewels from the museum.”

She tore off the gloves, throwing them onto the kitchen table.

She didn’t hide her irritation as she crossed her arms over her chest. I had never invited somebody from the office to my house.

Despite Wyatt’s begging to play video games, I liked having a barrier between my personal and professional life.

Kiki would say it was another way for me to keep the people I care about at arm’s length. I wouldn’t argue with her.

“Well?”

“Well, what?”

Janet let out an exasperated sigh. “Are you going to offer me a beverage? A cheese plate? I could really go for sliders right now.”

I walked over to the fridge and opened the door. She followed, resting her head on my shoulder. Boundaries? What are those?

“Wow.”

She pointed at the row of water bottles. Four wide. Four deep. Each in a tidy row. She emphasized why I didn’t invite people into my house. Connie never commented on my need for neat and orderly Tupperware. I snatched a bottle, passing it over my head.

“Okay, enough lallygagging. We need to get?—”

I shoved a hand over her mouth. “I need to show you something.” She licked my palm until I let go. Why Janet? Why couldn’t this malevolent mastermind have left me the alien or the nice guy? Hell, I’d take Arthur right about now. No. I got stuck with a woman who just licked my hand.

“You’re nasty,” I said.

I walked into the living room, standing in front of the door to the Dead Zone. It was the only place I trusted to talk. With Connie’s allegiance in question, here we could speak candidly without her eavesdropping.

I opened the door and pushed her through. On the other side, I shut the door, turning the hydraulic lock until I heard a loud hiss. The downstairs neighbors must have thought I was the nosiest man alive.

“What is this place?”

“It’s a Dead Zone. No electronic signals in or out. We are completely cut off from the digital world.”

“Why do we need to—” She spotted the wall. “Whoa.”

“Connie’s been compromised,” I blurted.

“Connie? My girl? She helped me land a date with the security guard. Did you know he has a troll collection?” Her eyebrows waggled. “I can’t wait to rub his?—”

“I’m positive.” I stood in front of the wall. “Senator McAfee met with Ricardo to discuss his super-soldier program. Then Hudson appears shortly after. But there’s been a plot twist. The senator is Prism.”

“The human rainbow?”

I nodded. “Hudson beat the snot out of him. I caught a glimpse of his face.”

“So, he’s behind whatever happened to Arthur?”

I shook my head. I pointed to the senator’s photo and traced the red string back to a blank sheet of paper with no image.

“There’s no way he figured out how to manipulate Connie.

I doubt he’d know how to mind control the office.

Let’s be honest, he’s kind of an idiot, and how he won the vote is an entirely different conversation. ”

“Okay, so the senator is a henchman. Does that mean Ricardo is a bad guy?” She let out a low growl. “If he hurts Arthur, I’ll?—”

“Calm down.” I believed her. They might squabble at every opportunity, but they’d go above and beyond to save the other. I didn’t understand their relationship, but I knew she’d kill for him.

Janet’s face softened for a second. “Arthur’s strong. He’ll be okay. Right?”

I didn’t have an answer to that question. Instead, I focused on the previous. “The only thing Ricardo is responsible for right now is creating a super soldier.”

“Hudson,” she said. “Your boyfriend. ”

She said it to get under my skin, but after he spent the night… maybe? People said they had complicated relationships. Did they date a machine designed to kill? Or did they have the ability to read his thoughts? Next time I hear somebody say it, I’d have to resist the urge to laugh.

“Yes. Hudson. The super soldier.”

“Did Ricardo make him?”

“Maybe?”

“Huh.”

She unscrewed the cap on her water and took a long chug. I watched as she carefully screwed on the cap, giving it an extra twist for good measure. She wouldn’t speak until I asked. Working with Janet would be the ultimate test of my patience.

I caved. “What?”

“Oh, nothing.” She reached out, flicking a pushpin. “For a man who spends all his time researching the world’s mysteries, you do an awful lot of speculating.”

“What? No. I?—”

“Who does Prism work for? Who has gotten their hands on Connie? Why was Arthur at the docks? Why haven’t we been affected? Most importantly, who made your robotic sex toy, and can I get one?”

I pouted. Janet had a tendency of being right. At the start of this, it had all been speculation. At least now we had the right questions. Hudson couldn’t remember anything before the mail room, and Connie, I’m not sure I’d trust her answer. This night would require more field work.

“He’s not a sex toy.”

“So, you haven’t shagged him?” Janet made the accusation, hoping I’d confess. I focused on the wall, willing the blood down. It was no use. My cheeks turned red. Even now, the thought of him kissing my neck made the hairs stand on end.

“That’s what I thought.” Janet patted me on the back. “Glad to see you’ve found somebody you connect with.”

For a moment, I thought it had been a backhanded compliment.

When her hand squeezed my shoulder, giving me a jostle, I realized she had been sincere.

It made me uncomfortable. The last time I had grown attached to somebody, the other shoe dropped, and I was worse off than when I started.

Hudson left me wanting to scream from the rooftops, and that made me nervous.

“Thanks.”

As I eyed Janet, I couldn’t help but chuckle. Of all the people in Vanguard, I didn’t expect a team-up with a woman who body-slammed Wyatt for touching her troll dolls.

“What?”

I should have sent her home. Safer for both of us. But I needed her here. Needed someone.

I stared at the wall. “I’m glad you’re here. ”

“Of course you are.” She pulled the mystery man off the board. Pinning him in the center, and grabbed for a pushpin with a red string. “You need me to fix your mistakes. Did nobody show you how to make a conspiracy board?”

I already regretted giving her a compliment.