Stepping back, I let my head drop against the wall and close my eyes, cursing myself for taking such a stupid and bold risk. Ethan caught me by surprise. The sudden shock of having him pressed up against my body and in my hands eliminated all sense from my mind, and now that I know what he feels and smells like, I’m fucked because now I want him even more.
Chapter Ten
Ethan
I’m reeling from the day I’ve had. Not only did I find confirmation that the Johnson’s are the reason my little sister was involved with The Society, but there’s no doubt that Devin is attracted to me. I felt what he failed to conceal when he pulled me up against him after we crashed into each other in the hallway, and even had I not, there was no denying what he was trying to hide, followed by his blunt question. I’m ashamed to admit to myself that yes, I noticed something I liked, but hell no am I ever going to admit it to him.
Thankfully, I managed to duck out of there before it got too awkward. Although, I think I’ll only be dodging that bullet until tomorrow, when it comes shooting back around in the form of an arrogant prick named Devin Johnson. As I make my way through the house, out into the grounds, and across to my current residence I think about what I saw today, and not just on the screens. Sebastian’s words replay in my mind about how suspicion fell on his new girlfriend Quinn after Katy’s murder. Then his question to Devin, ‘What else are you hiding, Dev?’ makes me wonder the same thing. Devin slept with Quinn, did he sleep with Katy too, or was he asking something else? Does Sebastian think Devin had something to do with Katy’s death?
My mind is racing with questions I daren’t ask, at the risk of exposing my connection to her and my own safety when I’ve barely begun enacting the first steps of my plan to find out what really happened and to ruin them all. Minor attraction or not, Devin is the enemy and he’s going down with the rest of them. It’ll make my revenge so much sweeter to know they’re watching their little empire of blood fall in tatters at their fucking feet.
Now that I have full access to their network, it should make finding the truth so much easier. It’s only a matter of time, and it shouldn’t take long before it’s within my grasp and everything is in place. I managed to get a good start on planting the sleepers within the security encryptions, another few hours of work and I’ll have every piece of data ever created, logged, or stored at my fingertips. It doesn’t matter if they’ve tried to delete it or attempted to wipe it from the hard drive. If it existed once, it still does, but I’ll need to dig a lot deeper and sift through mounds of outdated information and files to find it. If Devin continues to insist on overseeing all my work, it’s going to take even more time. He’s a lot more perceptive than I’d like and he’s bound to ask questions if he sees me rummaging through stuff that’s not relevant to the tasks at hand. Hopefully, he’ll begin to trust me sooner rather than later, to do the job I’m being paid to do. I’m doing the work, just with my own added twist.
Running through lines and lines of code is dull to most, but it’s necessary for me to track down bugs in the systems and plant some undetectable ones of my own. Maybe when he sees me consistently working hard to complete my tasks and oversee all the data and software he’ll slowly back off. Resolving myself to doing the work I’m supposed to for the next few days, I trudge across the grass and up to my front door. I didn’t bother disabling the cameras in here. There’s no point as they won’t record anything of note, and it would raise a huge red flag that I don’t need hovering above me when I’m aiming to be as stealthy and unobtrusive as possible.
I rake a hand through my hair, messing it up even more. I strip out of the shirt and pants I’m wearing and walk into the bathroom to take a shower. I want to let go of every negative thought threatening to drag me down, losing Katy, and the awareness of what will happen if I’m caught. If they wouldn’t let an innocent girl walk away, then there’s no way they’d let me leave. I’ve no doubt in my mind that they’d kill me first.
I stand underneath the strong spray of hot water, and let the heat draw out the tension from my muscles and allow the hot steam to clear my head. I don’t think of anything, just stand there and feel the water running down my body in warm rivulets, and the weight of my wet hair sticking to my forehead and neck. There’s nothing but me and a warm cocoon of steam and water wrapping around me and covering every inch of my skin, bathing me in it until I almost feel like drowning.
Chapter Eleven
Devin
The private club is exactly as I remember it, extravagant without being over the top. The elegance of the rooms within are understated while still being opulent. There’s little excitement to be found here, and I’m not sure why I bothered to be honest. The same faces grace the small dancefloor, and it’s full of other Society members and those who aren’t but can afford our ridiculously overpriced membership fees.
Almost everyone here is with someone, or spoken for, and I’ve no wish to invite more beatings tonight for interfering. Money buys privacy, but when those surrounding you are just as wealthy as you are, tongues wag and rumors spread like wildfire through
