Hacker: Hardpressed Part 31

"Where have you been? You leave me a note telling me not to worry, and then you completely disappear?"

"You're not calming down. I will be home in ten minutes. Tell the SWAT team to stand down."

"Where were you?"

"I'm fine. Everything is fine, I promise."

Connor dropped me off down the street. As much as I wanted to see Clay and his friends jump Connor, that wasn't really in the spirit of peace I was trying to cultivate with Daniel. I approached the entrance of the apartment building. Blake was pacing like a mad man, spouting heated words to Clay and another brawny man dressed in black.

As soon as his gaze landed on me, he started toward me. I was expecting him to start yelling and freaking out, but instead he trapped me in a hug that left me breathless it was so tight.

He released me enough to look me in the eyes. His face was tense, his skin tight over the angles of his beautiful features. His hand trembled slightly as he caught my face in his palm. "Don't ever leave like that again. Promise me."

I nodded and swallowed hard, feeling less brave and more guilty with each pa.s.sing moment.

"Promise me, Erica."

"I promise. I'm sorry. I had to see him and set things straight."

His eyes widened slightly. "What? Who?"

"Daniel."

He stepped back and shoved his hands through the fine strands of his hair. "You're kidding me. Please tell me you're joking."

"Everything is fine now. I reasoned with him. He was p.i.s.sed of course, but I think I finally got through to him and made him understand where I'm coming from. He's going to leave us alone."

"How do you know? What if he was just appeasing you? What if he'd... Christ, Erica. I can't even believe you did this."

I thought it over for a second. My meeting with Daniel could have gone all wrong, completely different from how it had. Blake would have never forgiven himself if something had happened to me.

"He's my dad, Blake. He's horrible sometimes, but he's not going to hurt me." I sighed, grateful that I could finally believe that. "We came to an understanding. He promised to back off."

"And you believed him?"

"I believe him."

I spent the rest of Sat.u.r.day regurgitating my conversation with Daniel to Blake, trying to get him to believe that we were going to be okay. He was still skeptical, but I had at least convinced him that he didn't need to release any damaging information to the public for now. I made him swear on our relationship that he wouldn't.

Risa and I agreed to meet at Mocha on Sunday morning. She'd suspect something was wrong, but I had to see her face to face. It was my best chance to get more information on what she and Max were up to behind the scenes.

"Hey." She slid into the seat across from me, looking fresh and sweet, as usual.

I canted my head to the side and stared at her, as if I were seeing her for the first time. In a way, I was. I was seeing the person she'd been the whole time, knowing what I knew now.

"I'm pretty disappointed, Risa. That's what's up."

She paled a bit. "What do you mean?"

"I'm curious. How long did you plan on pretending you were a part of our team before you cut loose? Was it just whenever the opportunity struck, or did you and Max have a long-term plan?"

She hesitated. "I'm not sure what you're talking about."

"I saw that you sent Max the files, so you can start being honest now. What I want to know is how you went from loving your job and caring about my company to sharing confidential information to a third party with a vengeance, because I seriously don't get it."

Her countenance changed, a bitterness washing over her features. "Really? What don't you get, Erica? You've been a nightmare to work with from day one. Everyone thinks you're this great visionary who's built the business, but where would you be without people like me? I've been busting my a.s.s for you, and for what? So you can take all the credit?"

I frowned. "Sorry, isn't that your job?"

"It will be when Max and I start up our own site. It's already in the works, and we're taking all the advertisers with us, so consider yourself warned."

I let out a laugh filled with pure shock. Her betrayal had run far deeper than I'd expected.

"Wow, Risa. You've really outdone yourself. Max too, apparently. Never underestimate the power of jealousy." Max would stop at nothing to best Blake. I regretted that I'd ever doubted Blake's warnings.

"Call it what you want. Good luck picking yourself up after this. You're going to regret it."

"What you fail to realize is the company's success isn't about you. It's not even about me. Any one of us could leave, and the company could survive now. You were part of a team, but I guess you completely missed the point of what that means. Good luck running your business with a founding philosophy based on jealousy and underhanded deceitfulness."

"Go to h.e.l.l," she snapped.

I stood to leave. I'd heard all I needed to hear. I paused before I walked away.

"Oh, Risa. One more thing."

"What?"

I let a slow smile cross my face. "Blake wanted me to let you know he's not interested."

BLAKE AND ERICA'S STORY CONTINUES.

IN THE HACKER SERIES SEQUEL,.

This book belongs to my husband. Thank you for bringing me snacks and making me protein shakes when I refused to stop writing. Thank you for being the good parent, the chef, and the soccer dad so I could pursue another dream. Thank you for being my best friend, my biggest fan, and for letting me talk endlessly about everything.

I can't imagine being who I am today, having done all that I have, without you by my side every step of the way, helping me believe that anything is possible. Who we've become and the life we've built together are better than any life I could have imagined. For this, I will be eternally thankful.

Whew. Okay, drying my eyes... Who's next?

While writing is a fairly solitary effort for me, when I do come out of my cave, there are people whose support and enthusiasm give me the boost I need to keep going!

Thanks to my momma for your unconditional love.

Thank you, Susan, for your friendship, support, and for loving spicy fiction as much as I do.

Special thanks to my editor, Helen Hardt, for not letting me get away with anything, and for inspiring me to make chapter ten far kinkier than I had originally planned. I'm still blushing.

Lauren Dawes, thank you for your eagle eyes!

Thanks to my Twitter peeps for the writing sprints that pushed me through the tough spots and to all my social media pals who make me feel popular and loved!

Big, big thanks to the many fans who have kept me motivated through this journey. Your enthusiasm gives me purpose and warm fuzzies when I need them the most! You ladies are rock stars, pure and simple.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR.

Meredith Wild picked up her first romance novel at the tender age of twelve. Shortly after, she put pen to word processor and made her first attempt at writing a love story inspired by those she so enjoyed reading well past her bedtime.

Her dream of writing took a back seat to college, parenthood, and eventually entrepreneurship, which led her into the fast-paced high tech industry. With enough life experience to fill a few lifetimes, she now devotes her hours to writing contemporary adult romance with a hint of kink.

When she isn't writing or mothering, Meredith can be found sunbathing with an adult beverage.

Official Website: www.meredithwild.com.

end.