Page 154 of Stand: Part One

“Of course, I was!” Daniel shouted back. “But then…”

“But what?!”

An audible sigh full of exhaustion and hesitation filled the air. “Toward the end of the night, one of the buyers got sick in the viewing room. He was throwing up blood all over the place and then started seizing on the floor. He fucking died. And the whole thing probably cost us about twenty minutes to assess if we were all next or if it was just Ronald. It could just be a coincidence but considering what happened with you around the same time, I’m just not sure.”

Sighs, groans, and curses quickly overwhelmed the room, Daniel still trying to shout over everyone to quiet them down.

“Look, I don’t know how they managed to hack our auction last night, but they did. We’re doing everything we can to handle it.”

Holy shit. Someone hacked Darren’s auctions? I didn’t know if he was referring to the one I’d been a part of or if this was something different, but either way, this was huge.

Darren sighed with frustration. “Fucking hell. We’re going to have to rebuild a whole new security system.”

“It’s already being prepared, and Anton and his team are working around the clock to figure out what happened,” Scott added.

“Good. I want to be informed the second they know something,” Darren said.

Carefully backtracking into the hallway, my mind raced over what it all meant. Whoever managed to circumvent that firewall had to be one hell of a hacker to pull that off.

Matt hadn’t mentioned anything about the auction or any other plans, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he had found a way to disrupt it. I wondered what kind of implications this would have.

An approaching guard had me moving my feet again, back into the room as if I hadn’t heard a damn thing. Grabbing a Frisbee out of Camaro’s toy trunk in the sunroom across the hall, I quickly headed for the door leading into the backyard.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Darren’s hard voice came from the parlor.

Ah, fuck.

Stopping in place, I turned my head to find him sitting at a large round table with Scott and four other men, weapons and maps laid out all across the surface. Clearly, Daniel had hung up.

“I was just going to play with Camaro outside for a bit,” I answered innocently. “Maybe go see the horses if Camaro can keep her shit together.” Last time had been a total fucking disaster, and I did not need a repeat of that.

Darren studied me for a moment, his eyes darkening with disapproval.

“No,” he said dismissively, and turned his attention back to the maps and papers on the table.

I stood there stunned.

No?

“What? Why the hell not?”

He didn’t even acknowledge me with a response. Just continued his discussions like I was no longer there.

I continued to stand in the doorway, slightly dumbfounded at Darren’s quick dismissal. My thoughts shifted to the last time I had argued with him after being denied outside access.

It hadn’t gone well for me then, and my fear of the basement was still affecting my confidence, especially when my arsenal was low on ammunition for reasoning or emotion for the occasion. Darren was clearly already in a bad mood, and my wants were childish at best.

I almost considered turning away to sulk in the library when Sid’s voice suddenly snuck into my head.

Drive the fucking car, Jaden.

I could feel my shoulders squaring up as liquid steel started to straighten my spine. I drove that fucking car the other night when I fucked him in that club. I drove that fucking car when I manipulated him this morning into taking me here. And now, I would damn well drive it again.

Placing the Frisbee down on the nearby couch, I carefully made my way over to him, noticing how his eyes stayed planted on the maps while two of the men continued their conversation with Scott. When I was close enough, I slowly wrapped my arms around Darren’s shoulders and leaned my mouth to his ear.

“Please,” I whispered, my plea coming off as sweet and sultry as I could manage. I felt his shoulders tense while his back leaned into my chest. “A change of scenery doesn’t really help when you’re still stuck inside.” My hands traveled over his muscled shoulders and across the expanse of his chest, my touch slow and deliberate. “And I’ve been cooped up for so long,” I drawled, letting my breath tickle the back of his ear and along his neck. I watched as his right hand clenched into a tight fist, his chest expanding into my touch.

“A storm is coming,” he finally said. “I don’t want you getting caught in the middle of it.”