The Beginning of Us (100 page)

Parker grabbed my wrist, staring intently into my eyes. “Are you? Are you really?”

My throat burned, my chest constricting. “I have to be. I’m not letting him destroy me again,” I whispered.

He cupped the back of my neck and crushed his mouth to mine. His tongue made its way between my lips, owning. Needing. Marking its territory. Reminding me of who I now belonged to. “He won’t hurt you again.”

I breathed against his mouth, silently thanking him for the distraction.

“Think you can do whatever you’re doing in an hour? We have a plane to catch.”

I smiled and cracked my knuckles. “Watch me do my magic.”

***

“Employee records are all here.” I handed Parker a USB stick and a stack of papers. “You have a hard copy, a backup copy and the files are saved to your computer and phone. Only
you
have access to this information now unless you choose to share it.”

Parker looked between me and the items in his hands. “I think I need to pay you more.”

I laughed and stood on tip toes to kiss his cheek. “You pay me enough, Mr. Sexy.” I winked at him. “Now I know you have an amazing security system, but your software sucks.”

Parker raised an eyebrow and sat back in the big black leather chair. “Go on.”

I took a breath.
Insulting a powerful man’s security detail is not the way to win him over, Keely.
God, my mouth got the better of me sometimes. “My daddy taught me a thing or two about programming, if you want me to work with your security department to fix this...well...leak.”

He nodded. “Whatever you need, pet.”

My smile widened. “Really?” I let out a sigh of relief. “I didn’t mean to insult your setup but I’m just looking out for you.”

He rose to his feet and kissed my head. “Thank you.”

My cheeks heated. “It’s no big deal.”

“It’s a huge fucking deal, Keely. You’re helping me save my company.”

“Well...you were pretty upset.”

He sighed. “Everyone that I have hired has gone through a background check but sometimes I get so busy that I have other people doing the hiring for me. Someone must have slipped through. Someone that wanted to bring this company down and me to my knees.” His eyes hardened. “It’s not going to fucking happen.”

Oh I knew that. An image of him on his knees, submitting, popped into my mind and it sent a flutter through my belly.

Parker tilted my chin, forcing me to look up at him. “What was that?”

“Uh…what was what?”

His eyes searched my face. “That look.”

“I...”

He kissed the corner of my mouth, sliding his lips down to my ear. “Were you picturing me on my knees, my dirty-minded little pet?”

My heart raced at the deep husk of his voice vibrating through me. “Yes,” I panted.

“Hmm...” He nipped my ear. “The only time you’ll get me on my knees is if your leg is wrapped around my shoulders with my face buried between your thighs and my tongue deep inside your pussy.”

Now
that
was an even better image.  “That...that can be arranged.”

He kissed my forehead and tightened his hold on the back of my neck.

I gasped, my eyes widening.

His dark gaze bored into mine. “What did I ever do to deserve you?” he asked softly. He cleared his throat and released me, taking a step back. “We need to go. Bags packed?”

I nodded slowly, frowning at the loss of his hands no longer being on me. I could sense the battle between giving up and having control going on within him. We had only been doing ‘our thing,’ as Patrick put it, for a short time but as I watched the inner turmoil in Parker’s eyes, I knew that this wasn’t over. Not by a long shot.

***

“Once the plane reaches altitude, we’re having a meeting,” Parker barked as we made our way onto the private jet.

“Shit went down hard, didn’t it boss?” Charlie, his security detail, asked before slumping into his seat.

“Yes. It did.” Parker grabbed my hand and pulled me to the back of the jet.

“Shouldn’t we sit near everyone so we can talk?” I asked, nervous as hell. This would be our first weekend away. Together. Out of the city. In New York. With other people around. I couldn’t help but freak out.

“We’ll talk in a bit and tell them everything. I might just move the meeting to tomorrow so I can spend the night buried in you,” he said against my neck.

“Whatever you want.” I sighed, leaning against him and curled my feet under me on the plush, comfy seat.

“Reed, I think your jet gets bigger every time I’m on it.” Aidan’s voice boomed from the front of the plane.

“It’s still the same.” Parker chuckled, wrapping an arm around my waist.

“Come sit with me, beautiful,” Aidan told Liz, waggling his eyebrows.

“Ugh.” She grimaced. “No thanks. I don’t like pigs.”

Aidan gasped, gripping his chest. “Ouch. That hurts.”

Liz met my stare and winked.

I giggled. “So.” I looked up at Parker. “What’s on the agenda for tonight?”

“Reed.”

We both looked up at the deep voice and I found myself being swallowed by the darkest eyes I had ever seen. A man about Parker’s height and size towered over us before he sat in the seat in front of us.

“Glad you could make it, Vain.” Parker clapped him on the shoulder.

“Of course. Where do you need me?” Vain asked, glancing my way.

“Right where you are. Vain, this is Keely Price. Keely, Collin Vain.”

I nodded. “Nice to meet you.”

Collin gave me a curt nod before looking out at the front of the cabin. “Do you trust everyone?”

“Yes.” Parker squeezed my middle. “We have a meeting tomorrow before I meet with Trubeck and his men.”

“You should have the meeting tonight.” Vain met his gaze. “You know how Trubeck can be long-winded. You want as much rest beforehand as possible.”

Parker scrubbed a hand down his face. “Fine. Tell the others.”

Vain nodded and rose from his seat just as the plane started taxiing down the runway.

“Bodyguard?” I asked, nodding towards Vain.

“More like mentor. He keeps me in line. I’ve known the guy for years. He actually saved me from getting my ass kicked one night and we’ve been friends ever since.”

“Wow. He seems...hard.”

“Shitty life will do that to you.” Parker kissed my head. “Sleep. I’ll wake you when we get there. I need you in on this meeting, Keely.”

I nodded. “Of course.”

His thumb grazed over my bottom lip. “I couldn’t do this without you, kitten,” he whispered.

“Kitten now?”

He chuckled. “Small but fierce. And feisty as hell.”

I grinned. “Wait until the meeting. You haven’t seen anything yet.”

EIGHT

“You are here because besides my mom, you are the only four that I can trust.” Parker walked around the large table in our hotel suite two hours later. His gaze landed on every single one of us, stopping at me before he placed his hands on the back of the chair. “Someone is trying to fuck me and my company over. I don’t know who. I don’t know why. Yet. But I do know that when I find out, they won’t have the pleasure of being in a cold, damp jail cell.” His gaze hardened. “This person or persons is trying to destroy the one thing that I have left and I’ll be damned if I’m going to sit back and let them. I may have made stupid choices in my life...I’m young...whatever...but fuck if I’ll let them win.” He walked around to where I was sitting and placed his hands on my shoulders. “Tell them.”

I took a breath and passed around a stack of papers. “These are the numbers for 2012 and 2013. As you can see, Reed Industries has done very well.”

Mutual nods from everyone at the table with the exception of Collin. I realized that he didn’t speak much or show any hint of emotion. But his eyes remained glued to me like a sponge soaking up the information.

“Good job, boss.” Aidan whistled.

“I have reason to believe that someone within the company is leaking information. Or trying to. Records were destroyed,” I said, using air quotes.

Liz raised an eyebrow. “Are you saying that they weren’t destroyed?”

I smiled. “You guys don’t know me well but let’s just say I was able to get the records back. Employee files and so on. I also found out every single person who has logged into the system. Every time you enter your username and password, as soon as you press ‘enter’, it all gets logged.”

“Wow,” Aidan said, awestruck.

“Keep going, little one,” Parker whispered in my ear.

“I told Parker that his security system sucked,” I said, my cheeks heating. The group laughed.

“I was going to work with them to fix the program but I figured if I wanted the job done right, I’d have to do it myself. So I reprogrammed the whole mainframe. I set up firewalls to protect the company.” I grinned. This was my favorite part. “If anyone tries, even attempts to hack into the system, we will know. I also set up a little bug that if they
do
hack in, the FBI will be sent a little memo.”

“A memo?” Collin sat back, his eyes never leaving mine.

“Yes. A memo. Now I’m not saying that the memo would be true per se but while the FBI invades the culprit’s house, it would give me time to find out who they are.”

“I have to ask,” Aidan said, leaning forward. “How did you know to do all this?”

I looked around the table. “I know how it must seem. I’m the new girl. I don’t know my way around the company yet. Blah blah blah. Hell, I don’t even know where the storage room is.”

Another round of chuckles.

“But I do know that I will do everything I can to protect this company. For Parker and for all of you. I may only be his assistant—”

“I think you’ve been promoted.” Parker squeezed my shoulder.

A slow grin spread on my face before it faltered. “Have you ever heard of The Mist?” I asked, my palms going sweaty. This would be something not even Parker would know.

“As in the movie?” Liz asked softly.

“No. The hacker,” I bit out. Memories resurfaced of that day. That horrible day when I found out my father wasn’t who I thought he was. But he was still my dad. I just wished I could speak with him. Find out why he did the things he did. Find out how he lived the double life. And most of all, I wish I could find out if my mom had known.

“Keely?”

I looked up, shaking my head. “Sorry.”

“Deep breath, Keely.” Parker squeezed the back of my neck. “Tell them.”

Easy for him to say when he didn’t even know what I was going to say in the first place. “My dad was The Mist.”

“Your dad,” Collin repeated; it was the second thing he had said all evening.

I nodded slowly. “After my parents died I found out that my dad wasn’t who I thought he was. I know it sounds all cliché and crap but it’s true. He was The Mist. Hacking genius. I knew things before he died. I guess it came naturally but after he died was when I really learned everything. If it wasn’t for my father, I guess I wouldn’t be sitting here now, helping Parker and all of you. Before my dad died, we would spend hours playing on his computer. I guess he was teaching me without me even knowing it. My young naive mind at the time thought it was just a father-daughter bonding moment. After he died, I found journals with everything you can imagine in them. I learned what I could and…destroyed them.”

“Good girl.” Collin let out a breath. “Your dad made history,” he added. “I remember reading in the paper how he almost brought down the US government. This all came out
after
he died.”

I smiled. “He was good. He never got caught until he passed. Which was how I also came to know what I know. I can build a computer from scratch. Do the unthinkable. Dive deep inside a computer, forming, molding it into what I want.” My neck tingled, desire unfurling in the pit of my stomach. Huh. Reminded me of what Parker had said to me days back.

“Wow. That’s kind of hot,” Aidan said, shifting in his seat.

I laughed and rose to my feet, pacing back and forth. “I created a virus so that if anyone tries to hack into the system again...” A wicked sneer spread on my face. “Well...let’s just say, the FBI wouldn’t just be the ones showing up at their door.”

“You put a virus in the system?” Aidan asked. “Isn’t that the same as giving someone with a disease another disease?”

“Maybe. But this virus?
I
have full control over.” I headed to the couch and grabbed my bag, pulling out my cell phone. “This,” I placed it on the table. “Is the key. Say someone tries to hack in. I’ll get a notification. And all I have to do is press one little button, which will stop them from getting any information at all. Like I said, I have full control.” A deep part of me knew that that was the only thing Parker was giving me control of and I was fine with that.

“What if it backfires?” Aidan continued asking the questions and I appreciated it but a part of me was annoyed that he clearly didn’t trust me.

I gave him a soft smile. “You’re cute but trust me, sweetheart, it won’t backfire.”

Collin and Liz both chuckled.

“I think she just shot you down,” Liz laughed.

Aidan scoffed and crossed his arms under his chest. “How do you know this? You act all cocky. Every hacker…wait.” He sat up. “You’ve done this before, haven’t you?”

Shit
.

“Keely?”

I looked up at Parker before turning to the group. “Yes. I have.”

“You had no choice, did you?” Collin asked, his eyes softening.

I shook my head and forced back the memories that were trying so hard to invade my mind.

Aidan pointed at me. “How do we know that we can trust you? If you have full control, who’s to say you can’t try to steal the information yourself?”

I met Parker’s gaze. He nodded once, encouraging me to continue. I could see the questions in his eyes that I would have to answer later but for now, I would do as he said.

“You honestly think that I wouldn’t give Parker access to the same information? I’m teaching him everything there is to know about this new system. He trusts you,” I told Aidan. “I’m kind of shocked that
you
don’t trust his judgment.”