Treachery

Luca

“I have bad news”

It’s never the phrase you want to hear from your attorney first thing on a Monday morning, but it doesn’t surprise me. I already know what the news is, had been standing right there caged against a wall by the asshole creating that news.

Part of me thinks that admitting to my forced date with Ta

Sadly, though, it would be my word against his. And despite having been at a party where over a hundred people saw us together, I know not one of them will be willing to admit I was there.

“Let me guess, the hearing has been rescheduled?”

Marjorie goes quiet for a few seconds, from shock, I assume. The bulldog attorney she used to be is now as dangerous as a newborn puppy.

Poor thing. She thought she was in good standing in her career. And that may have been true at one time, but not now after Ta

“Yes. How do you know that?”

It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell her what happened, but I bite the inside of my cheek instead. I won’t win this battle. Not with the way Ta

I wouldn’t be surprised to learn he has the judge in his pocket just like everybody else.

No. If I hope to win this at all, I’ll need to do so with the only thing he wants.

“Call it a hunch,” I answer as I zip up a duffel bag I’d stuffed full with enough clothes for my trip to Georgia.

The drive will take me a day, at least, and I’m not sure I’ll be able to do much with my father’s servers once I have them. But I have to try. It’s the only shot I have at not being destroyed.

There has to be somebody, besides Taylor, who can figure out my father’s encryption.

Those files mean life or death for me - stability or absolute ruin, and I’m not sure how I’ll find a person to help. I just pray I will.

Even without that, though, there are other ways to trap Ta

That’s the name of the game now.

My game.

The one I’ll play against him as expertly as he’s playing against me.

Either he gives me what I want, or I’ll take a bat to the servers, break them into so many goddamned pieces that the files will be lost forever.

But first, I need the servers. Which is why I’m going on this trip.

“Listen,” I say, phone wedged between my ear and my shoulder as I grab the last of what I’m taking and grunt while lifting the bag, “the hearing won’t happen. So don’t worry about it.”

Two days. It has to be enough time for me to get what I need and demand Ta

“How can you say that, Luca? He filed the Notice of Hearing this morning.”

He didn’t do shit. I’m sure Ta

Shaking myself of that imagery only because I refuse to spend even a second remembering just how his body looked in bed, I march through my small apartment to head to the front door.

“You know what? No. I’m not accepting this. He didn’t coordinate this hearing with me, and I’ll take care of the problem.”

Good luck with that, I think.

“I’ll take care of this, Luca. Why do you sound so out of breath?”

Wrenching my door open, I pause in the doorway. “I’m going out of town.”

“What?”

Marjorie’s voice spikes with panic, the sound rising an octave, so close to screeching that I’m really begi

“You can’t do that. What if we have to be in court on Wednesday?”

Tired of the conversation (because, really, what’s the point?) I grip the phone in one hand while jerking the strap of my bag higher up my shoulder.

“You said you’ll take care of it. I have faith in you.”

Hanging up before she has a chance to tear me a new one, I slam my door closed, lock it and storm toward the elevator.

Ten minutes later, I’m approaching my car, sunlight beaming down on my skin, the morning filled with the chipper chorus of birds in the trees competing with the sound of rush hour traffic on the roads surrounding my building.

I’m not even sure my car will make it to Georgia, and I know for a fact this will cost everything I have left in my bank account, but I have no other choice than to try.

Plus, the thought of being eight hundred miles away from Ta

I’ll be free.

On my home turf.

In a place he’ll never find me unless I want to be found.

It would be a lie to claim I’m not looking forward to the panic I expect to hear in his voice when he realizes just how fucking insane I am when it comes to this situation.

He’s holding money over my head, but I’m holding the files.

We’ll both be cornered in less than twenty-four hours, and I can almost taste the victory as I open the back door of my car to drop my bag on the seat, slam the door, and then climb behind the wheel in front.

Fuck you, Ta

Jamming my key in the ignition, I laugh. Probably because I’m truly insane at this point. Desperate. Enraged. Absolutely fucking nuts. But I laugh regardless and turn the key...only for my car to click once.

My gaze slams down to my key, brows tugging together as I turn it again. Another click. My interior lights flashing as I turn the key three more times.

No.

This is not freaking happening.

Not now.

Not when I need this piece of shit car to come to life and get me the hell out of this state.

Throwing my door open, I pull the latch to release the hood and stomp to the front of my car to stare down into an engine that makes as much sense to me as theoretical calculus.

My dad taught me a few tricks, though. He was a good man that never wanted his daughter stranded, so I think back to what he showed me, my fingers wiggling the co

Maybe the battery is dead.

I try to remember the last time I had the car serviced, this cheap ass clunker I bought from a used car lot the day after Clayton took everything from me.

It has to be the battery. I can’t afford a new one, plus the gas it will take to get to Georgia, but I’ll have to figure it out.

“Looks like you need some help.”

Spi

Dressed in a pair of grungy jeans that are loose over his hips and a white t-shirt that hugs a set of broad shoulders and thick chest, he leans against the side of the car next to me.