I’m furious that all of this is necessary. I’d never liked John, but Father refused to let me fire him from a priority position I felt he wasn’t to be trusted with. I should have intervened sooner, but I was unaware how deep the treachery ran and the extent of his disloyalty to our family. Father was angry when I killed John, but it was for our safety and benefit. He was privy to a lot of sensitive information which he abused by allowing intruders into our home with intent to take our lives. I’m not sorry I killed him, not even a little bit.
I don’t intend to make the same mistake Father did. I’ll be watching Ethan closely for any sign that he’s abusing the trust I’m placing on him to do his damn job and do it properly. If he turns on us, I won’t hesitate to put a stop to his activities. I’m knowledgeable enough with computers to be able to interfere if necessary. I have limits and gaps in my knowledge, which is why I pay a professional to handle the more complicated side of these matters, but I’m not a fool, and I’m not as ignorant as most will believe, but I prefer it that way. They see the rich kid, a snob, and believe I’m unintelligent and spoiled. I’ve had it easier than most, but I’ve always worked for what I want. People always underestimate me, and that’ll always be their undoing.
Ethan doesn’t seem disillusioned by the grandeur of the house and the obvious wealth our family has, and I admire that. He seems to know exactly who he’s working for and I wonder what he really knows beyond what he divulged in his interview. I’ve noticed the thinly veiled contempt he’s carrying, carefully smothered beneath his interest over the details of the job. It gives him away, and I wonder what motivated him to apply for and accept this position. I don’t think he’ll betray us, but I can’t be certain he won’t. Besides, it gives me an excuse to pay closer attention to him than I would any of the other staff. I expect he’ll put it down to paranoia on my family’s behalf, given the urgent need for safety and security. I’ll let him think that. It’s better than the alternative and having him aware that my interest in him is already swiftly moving beyond professional.
I watch as Ethan strokes a few of the keys on the keyboard with slim tattooed fingers and turns to look at me. Once again I’m struck by his appearance. He’s a little more casually dressed today, in a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, exposing the length of his tattoo. His brown hair is styled messily, emphasizing his dark ocean-colored eyes. He raises an eyebrow at me, and I realize I’ve been staring. Clearing my throat, I break eye contact and turn away, but not before I catch sight of the faint twitch of his lips and the way his eyes lift with his mouth. Damn.
I glance back at Ethan as I walk out the door, but his expression is impassive, showing no sign of the fleeting amusement that passed over it after catching me staring at him. I’m not sure what about him unbalances me so much within such a short time of meeting him. I need to pull myself together and remind myself that he’s off limits. After what happened with Sebastian’s little fling, it’s best that another of the Johnson brothers isn’t seen fraternizing with people outside of The Society... for now at least.
Chapter Eight
Ethan
I spend the next few days settling into the new routine, on my third day here, I receive a message from Devin informing me that I have access to the mainframe and my security clearance has been authorized. It’s time to begin.
In order to maintain my facade, I decide to do the job I’m being paid to do: routine software maintenance, identifying and repairing the security breach in the firewalls which were created by my predecessor, and searching for any data theft as well as eliminating viruses, and any other technical tasks required of me. The first week I’ll be spending most of my time in the main hub, working through the backlog and compiling all the data that will be useful to both myself and the job at hand.
Every day so far, I’ve been accompanied by Devin, who hovers around, watching while I work, and sometimes engaging me in conversation about what I’m doing. It makes me uneasy, and I’m hoping he doesn’t decide to do this all the time, or I’ll never be able to enact my plan. Sometimes he talks to me about the work, and at other times I think he’s trying to get to know me.
It’s unnerving to say the least, but it also makes me angry when I think about how these people carelessly cast aside my sister. I don’t know what she could have done, or why they would have singled her out for death. Surrounded by opulence and grandeur, I can only guess that it came down to money, and the vast difference between our own lack of wealth and theirs. Don’t get me wrong, we’re not poor by any means, our family has enough money to live in comfort, but not anything as extravagant as the house and grounds I’m currently working in.
One thing I’m almost certain of is that Devin is attracted to me. I feel little more than loathing for The Society and everyone in it, including the wealthy son of
