I’m surprised it’s been working at all.”
She eased off the back panel and glanced at Dallas, who was staring at her with narrow-eyed assessment. “It only works about half the time.”
“Because it’s set to access the broadcast tower nearest to whoever officially registered it before it was sold on the black market.” It only took a little wiggle to pop the power supply free. She unplugged the battery and waited for the tablet to reset. “Wireless is restricted by neighborhood, partly to keep the best equipment for the richest families, but mostly because they can’t do much better than that without satellites. And those were all destroyed by the storms.”
Dallas was staring at her like she’d started speaking gibberish. Rachel heaved another sigh, poured a glass of whiskey, and slid it across the bar until it bumped his hand.
Ignoring his disbelief, Noelle reconnected the power and reassembled the tablet before flipping it over. “You just need to know how to fool the tablet into giving you administrative access. They fixed this workaround in the newer models…”
She pulled up the settings screen and inputted the code every rich kid in Eden learned by the time they were twelve. Most wealthy families had old tech piled up in storage rooms or junk closets, and having a backup tablet meant the difference between privacy and constant parental monitoring. Of course, most of the other kids she knew had hacked tablets to gain access to restricted video games or pre-Flare entertainment programs. She’d craved unfettered access to Eden’s digital library—and she’d gotten it.
Once she bypassed security, it only took a minute to set the tablet up to connect to the nearest signal tower. “There. That should work in any sector, as long as you’re within a half mile or so of the city walls. Beyond that, I don’t know.”
Dallas accepted the tablet and stared at it in perplexed silence.
Rachel leaned over the bar to look at the screen, then burst out laughing and punched him in the arm. “You got schooled, son.”
“Bite me, Rachel.” He dropped the tablet and leveled a threatening finger at Noelle. “You’ve been holding out on me, sweetheart. Would’ve been nice to know I had some kind of hacker under my roof—unless you don’t want to use those skills to help the family for some reason.”
Stung past caution by the unfairness of the accusation, Noelle retorted, “In my peer group, I’m considered barely proficient. I didn’t think it was relevant.”
Dallas tipped back the shot Rachel had poured him and shook his head. “Women. You’re all impossible.”
The blonde refilled his glass. “Don’t be a dick. It’s unbecoming.”
He grumbled something Noelle was glad she couldn’t understand and drained the shot glass again before sighing. “Fine. I should have figured they’d be dumping tech in your cradle.”
They had, but not out of any desire to see her excel at it. The mandatory classes on raising healthy, moral children all stressed the necessity of minimizing a child’s dependence on tactile affection, even in the form of toys or stuffed animals. Tech could enrich the mind without weakening the body…or so the theory went. Her parents had been particularly zealous adherents, for all the good it had done them.
Dallas was still watching her, so she shrugged and went back to polishing glasses. The patrons weren’t likely to care if there was dirt or grime as long as the liquor was pure, but some of those perfect hostess lessons had stuck harder than others. “I’m also good at planning dinner parties,” she said tartly. “I know the names, positions, and politics of every powerful man in the city, along with their food allergies. I’m filled with useless knowledge.”
“Nothing useless about knowing a man’s weakness,” he drawled.
“I said allergies, not—” She snapped her teeth together, and Dallas grinned. Not the sexy, knowing smile from before, but a cold, ruthless one that curled his lips but left his eyes frozen and empty.
Rolling around naked in Dallas O’Kane’s bed might have stripped away a level of intimidation, but she’d do well to remember that he was still a cold-blooded criminal, a man who killed to protect his business interests as quickly as he killed to protect himself.
He slid his shot glass back to Rachel before sweeping up the tablet. “Breathe, kitten. I’m not going to turn you into a culinary assassin. Not this week, anyway. But someday soon, we may have a talk about what else is rattling around behind your big eyes, hmm?”
She couldn’t gather enough wits to answer, but Dallas didn’t seem to think it was necessary, anyway. He winked at Rachel and departed with the tablet clutched in one big hand. It wouldn’t occur to him to wait for Noelle to make up her mind, because she’d made a promise when Ace wrapped the ink around her wrists.
O’Kane above all else. The gang came first.
This time, Rachel refilled the glass and pressed it into Noelle’s hand. “Don’t let him get to you. If you were still someone off the street, maybe he’d really be pissed. But you’re an O’Kane now. He might be irritated, but it’ll blow over.”
Her fingers trembled a little as she lifted the glass. The whiskey still burned on its way down, but she didn’t choke like she had the first time she’d tried it, and the warmth that seeped into her limbs helped her breathe easier. “I didn’t realize,” she admitted. “I just assumed everyone in Eden…” Too late, she bit back the thoughtless words. Rachel was from Eden too. “I’m sorry.”
“Forget it. He has no problem assuming
Noelle reached for the whiskey bottle with a laugh that felt like Rachel’s tone—edged with bitterness. “I don’t think it has anything to do with my tits. I think Dallas knows exactly what I was raised to be—decorative and helpless. Useless outside of Eden. I’m as surprised as he is to find out I’m not.”
“Hey, don’t.” Rachel grabbed Noelle’s shoulder and turned her around. “Knock it off. You’re not helpless. I never thought you were.”
That seemed impossible. If she hadn’t been helpless, she’d never have stumbled across Jasper to begin with. “I feel like I am.”
“You’re not.” Rachel’s dark eyes hardened. “Damn Dallas, and damn Jasper too. They’d let you keep thinking it if they had their way, I bet.”
Defensiveness stirred, but not for herself or Dallas. “Jasper’s not like that. Why would he want me to be useless and needy?”
Rachel relented with a shake of her head. “He wouldn’t. I’m sorry. I’m just being an asshole.”
“No, you’re not.” Noelle caught Rachel’s hands. “There are men who would. Jasper… He’s not one of them. Right?”
“No, it’s Dallas,” she muttered. “He pisses me off sometimes.”
Because he looked at Noelle and only saw her tits? Or because he looked at Rachel and didn’t seem to see hers at all? Noelle would guess the latter—there was a decidedly asexual affection in the way Dallas treated Rachel, although
Smoothing her thumbs over Rachel’s hands, she lowered her voice to a whisper. “He’s a powerful man. Powerful men can be incredibly blind, and incredibly stupid. Even the smart ones.”
“Yeah.” Rachel squared her shoulders and smiled ruefully. “They can also be incredibly not worth the drama. Lex can have him.”
Lex
“Neither do I.” Rachel paused. “Not anymore.”
But she had, and Noelle couldn’t blame her. Dallas could be hypnotic. There had been times the previous night where she’d felt guilty over how strongly she responded to his laughing commands, shamed that she could find him so arousing. He was a force of nature, overpowering and irresistible.
And distant. Noelle’s attraction to Jasper was already melting into a delicious blend of craving and affection, a need that couldn’t be filled by sex alone, no matter how obscene. She was starting to want his company as much as his touch, the quiet moments where he smiled and teased her, where he held her.
Noelle squeezed Rachel’s hands in understanding. “It’s different here, isn’t it? Different than it is in Eden, yes…but different from how it was before the Flares, too. The way people come together. What you give and what
