Page 37 of Wicked Games
“I’d like to think so,” Lucien said. “I never spoke to Banks when Ryder was near, so he couldn’t have overheard anything in the background either.”
“He probably hacked the camera in your laptop so he could keep tabs on you every time you had it open.”
“That’s fucking creepy,” Dev said, with an exaggerated shiver. “It sounds like something the bastard would do though.”
“Yes, but I never had my laptop out either when Ryder visited my hotel, and I kept it locked in the safe in my hotel room when we took trips.”
“You had it open today,” I whispered, feeling sick to my stomach. If Percy were right, Banks, or whomever was spying on Lucien, would know we had reconnected.
Lucien lowered his hand from my neck to my thigh, squeezing it to reassure me. “Percy was just teasing or throwing ideas out there.”
“I wasn’t joking,” Percy said softly. “Sure, you mostly see those forms of stalking in television shows or movies, but the technology is real. Any decent hacker could do it.”
“Fuck,” Lucien said, rising to his feet. So much for allaying my fears. “Why would he do it?”
Percy and Deverish looked at each other for a few seconds before facing us once more.
“We’ve been talking about your situation too,” Percy said, looking at Deverish for encouragement. Dev nodded for him to continue. “I may not possess the stealthy skills that you two do, but what I have is my own superpower.” Deverish chuckled beside him. “Not that,” Percy admonished and rolled his eyes. “I see people.”
“Are they alive or dead?” Lucien wanted to know.
“Ha ha ha,” Percy said dryly. “I mean, I can read people, a crowd, or a situation. I’m better at it when I’m face-to-face, but I can get a feel for someone over the phone once I’m familiar with their tells.”
“Tells?” I asked.
“Peculiarities or quirks,” he clarified. “Weallhave them. In a crowded room, I can look at someone’s body language and tell it doesn’t jive with what they’re saying or how they’re saying it. For example, someone may speak loudly and seem gregarious until you notice their stiff posture or a tick of some kind like fidgety hands or licking their lips repeatedly. People don’t take me seriously because I’m fabulous and flamboyant. People erroneously believe with me, what they see is what they get.”
I realized just how wrong they were. Percy had layers and depth. His brash clothing choices could be part of his personality, part of his cover, or both. “I can see how people might make false assumptions about you based on outward appearances alone. Since they don’t see you as a threat of any kind; they let their guard down around you.”
“Indeed,” Percy said. “Total strangers say the most personal things both directly to me and around me.”
“It’s true,” Dev said, wearing a smirk. “You appear harmless and friendly.”
“I am those things, Dev,” Percy corrected, “but I also have a keen grasp on what’s going on around me.” When Dev snorted, Percy elbowed him. “Okay, so I misread you on occasion, and it caused us a lot of grief. I was afraid to believe in us, and I messed up.” Percy looked at Lucien. “I didn’t have sex with him.”
“Huh?” I asked then looked at Lucien. Him who? Dev thought Percy and Lucien had sex?
“Him who?” Lucien asked, echoing my thoughts.
“Don’t try to protect him, Lucky. I know Dev told you about the supposed cheating incident.”
“I found you sleeping in bed with another man.” Oddly, Dev didn’t sound accusatory; he sounded amused. “It was a natural assumption, pet.”
“Sleeping is the keyword, Dev.”
I looked at Lucien for answers, but he was too busy watching the show Dev and Percy were putting on to notice.
“I traveled for twenty-four hours straight so I could get home in time for your birthday. I had these big plans to take off my clothes and slip in the bed beside you and wake you up with soft kisses I would trail—”
“We get the point,” Lucien said. “I want to hear the rest of the story. I admit I didn’t expect the two of you to make up. I told Banks your freak accident was probably caused by Percy pushing you down a flight of stairs.”
“Stairs?” Dev asked him, sounding insulted. “You thought I clumsily fell down a flight of stairs? Is that what Banks told you?”
“Banks referred to it as a freak accident,” Lucien said. “When I pressed him further, he wouldn’t provide additional information. He turned the conversation to the job. After the failed recovery, I learned Percy was here also and made the comment about him pushing you down the stairs. I was only joking,” Lucien said to Percy, who winked at him.
“I have thought about it a time or two,” Percy said.
“Wait a minute,” I said loudly. “One damn story at a time. We started with Percy telling us about his superpowers, but before he could finish, Dev went off on a tangent about a supposed affair, and now we’re changing directions again to talk about Dev’s accident.”