Uncontrollable Bachelor (Bachelor Tower Series), стр. 29
“Fuck, Jace. There was a damn good reason for my blocking yours,” he snarled, running his hands through his hair anxiously. “You could’ve just put us all in danger.”
I stared at him. “My weapon of choice might be different from yours, Carlton, but trust me, it can be lethal.” I’ve never used my skills to take someone down before. Then again, no one had ever given me a reason to. Although I couldn’t stand Ralph Hamel, I knew that what he’d done years ago was because he loved Shannon. Babboo was a different story. I’d done my research now – Shannon wasn’t the first woman he’d gone after. Yet what happened to the other women after he tired of them was still unknown. It sickened me to think of what might have happened to Shannon if she hadn’t made it back to the States. Shannon was a fighter. No way would she ever have submitted to a piece of shit like Babboo. If Ralph hadn’t picked up on the fact she was in danger and hired Carlton to protect her, she most likely wouldn’t be alive now. I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure Babboo doesn’t ever get his hands on her.
“I’ve trusted you, Carlton. Now I need you to do the same.”
Carlton shook his head but responded, “I wish you had told me before acting on this. But you have my support. Before you and Gabe press Play on this, clue me in. I don’t need any more surprises. And neither does my team.”
“You should be hearing from Gabe shortly. He’s going to utilize a local satellite to expand the range on the heat monitors.”
“When you say utilize, you mean –”
“Some things you don’t want to know, Carlton.” I knew damn well what Gabe and I were doing was illegal. If we got caught, it would very likely end in a prison sentence. But with the right programming, I knew we could cover our tracks. The longer we needed to access these types of systems, the greater the risk of getting noticed. We need to move up the timeframe.
“Two weeks is too long,” I said. “I’m thinking we move forward within the next seventy-two hours. Sooner, if possible.”
“How do you expect to be able to pull that off and keep Shannon from finding out?”
I’m going to make love to her all night and let her sleep during the day. “Let me worry about that. You just be ready.” I turned to head back to the cabin, and looked back at Carlton one last time. “When you talk to Gabe, don’t give him the third degree. I’m all the reference you need,” I warned. And I can’t afford to lose him.
Could I do this on my own? Probably. But why would I risk it when someone I already trust wrote the programs that we need to hack into?
As I walked back to the cabin, I saw Shannon outside. I waved to her and she called out. “I was getting worried about you.”
“Don’t worry. I’m not about to get eaten by a bear,” I joked.
She crossed her arms. “I’m not joking. And it’s not a bear that I’m worried about. I…I thought I saw someone in the woods.”
Fuck! One of Carlton’s men must’ve gotten too close. “Probably a deer or a moose. Better watch out. It’s mating season for them.”
“I know the difference between an animal and a human.”
“Maybe it was Bigfoot,” I teased. When she glared at me, I asked, “Where did you see it?” She pointed off to the right. I was going to need to warn Carlton about that. For now I said, “Well, you are correct. You saw a human. It was me.”
“You? What were you doing over there?”
Forcing a laugh, I said, “Marking my territory.”
“Peeing on a tree? Really? All the way over there?” she asked.
“It’s a guy thing,” I said.
She rolled her eyes at me and said, “I don’t think I even want to know what else you guys do out there.”
Smiling I answered, “Probably for the best you don’t.”
Chapter 13
Shannon
I know Jace said it was him in the woods, but the hairs on the back of my neck wouldn’t go down. Someone else was out there, I could feel it. Granted, it was hunting season and what better place to hunt than here, deep in the woods? But I hadn’t heard gunshots the whole time we’d been here.
Normally I wouldn’t give it a second thought, but between Jace acting strange and Babboo’s call, my nerves were shot. It might just be paranoia, but that didn’t mean I could just relax. If Jace doesn’t want to take it seriously, then I’ll have to.
There’s a good reason Jace wasn’t concerned about some crazy person stalking me. I hadn’t told him about Prince Babboo. We were just getting to know each other all over again. Why should I bring up a huge mistake I had made? It was in the past and that’s where Babboo was staying.
But I learned from that mistake. I still travel and do my job, but I do not get close to anyone. In a way it’s sad, because I’ve built a wall around myself. I pretend to have my old carefree spirit, when in fact I’m anything but. I’m only a shard of the woman I used to be. And whether I wanted to admit it or not, this proved that Prince Babboo still held power over me. I’m not sure it will ever go away.
He’d sworn that one day I’d regret saying no to him. The fact is, I regret ever meeting him. But you can’t go back in time. There are no do-overs in life. I’m just living with the consequences and hoping someday I stop looking over my shoulder, waiting for him to fulfill his sick promises.
It was good that I still had a