*Kennedy*The auburn wolf didn't see Mason crouching in the corner as he skidded into the room. Mason pounced, taking the wolf to the ground before he could get to me. Whoever the wolf was, he was an amazing fighter, so agile. All I could do was watch, as I sat in the corner. My arm was immobile and to even move it a minuscule amount was excruciating.The wolf moved swiftly under Mason, gripping his teeth and claws under his rib cage, Mason insides spilled out and I almost hurled, I could go a lifetime without seeing that again.Grace came out of nowhere chortling and snapping at the wolf's spine. Whatever nerve she hit must've temporarily paralyzed him, because he wasn't moving. She had her teeth pressed in the back of his neck and was going to kill him if I didn't stop her. I searched for my hammer and found that it had been thrown across the room after Mason broke my wrist. I forced out the pain in my arm and hurried to the weapon, the head had broken off and all that was left
*Kennedy*"Come on baby, you have to talk to me at some point." Lucas said through the door of Titus's room. Of course, I was going to talk to him, he was the love of my life, but right now I was furious, and Titus was the only one seeing reason. "I still can't believe that Hannah agreed to Marco's trade and that Lucas let her. What were they thinking?" I had been home for almost a week, and I'd just found out about this. Even after days' worth of discussion on what happened to me and Grace. Not one of them said a word, but when Titus and Hannah were caught arguing about it last night. Lucas had confessed about the trade, and that Hannah and Titus were leaving for Italy in a few days to hold up their end of the deal. The thought of Hannah leaving was terrifying. I hadn't spent more than a day away from her in years, and now she was traveling to another country, still sick, to work with a madman. "If I could go with you, I would, but I have to finish healing first. I am giving you
*Kennedy**Present*I swung open the door to my 1993 light blue Toyota corolla. It wasn't the nicest looking car, but it had been with me since before I could drive. It had more miles on it than a rocket ship and purred like a kitten, a very fat angry kitten. The rust on the hinges of the door creaked loud as the door closed. My car looked even more drab against the backdrop of the ten thousand square foot mansion. I inhaled through my nose, counted to five and released the tension in my shoulders. I could do this, even though I had been stuck in retail most of my working career, I was really good with computers. I might've been out of practice, but I tried to keep up with the ever-changing technologies as much as possible. I was at the door after several long strides, stopping to reflect on the one and only time in my life that I was lucky. I couldn't believe that I landed this job. Before I could knock the distressed wood door creeped open. It reminded me of a horror film, the
*Lucas*I paced back and forth in front of the door of my father's office. He had made a massive business decision without my knowledge. Even though he held half the shares, this was my company. I created this empire for us, and it wasn't easy. I had to turn every traditional crime that plagued our family for generations and make it into a sustainable company that could lead us into the future. The legal, viable part held the cover to our most illegal dealings, but with that I was able to employ over three hundred people and provide generous incomes to them and their families. My father's thoughtless action to bring in an unvented outsider into our home and privacy could destroy everything. To say I was mad was an understatement.He had been under a lot of pressure lately from almost everyone, and the stress of it all had to be the reason why he would do this, why he would jeopardize so much for one person. There was also the possibility that he was losing his mind in his age and his
*Kennedy*The smell of deep-fried dough hit my nose first, drawing me out of bed like a beignet starved zombie. I stumbled into the kitchen with blurry eyes but could see the doughy goodness on our cheap linoleum kitchen countertop placed neatly on plates. I also spotted two to-go-coffee cups which I knew were filled with Cafe au lait. Not even bothering to sit down, I inhaled one of the beignets while standing over the kitchen sink."Geez Ken, you'd think the beignet police were coming to get you by the way you're inhaling that." Hannah said, sitting at our kitchen table. I was surprised to see her out of bed so early in the morning."Thanks," I choked out on powdered sugar, taking a sip of the warm coffee to wash everything down. "You didn't have to get these, I could've eaten cereal." "We always eat cereal," she rolled eyes, "plus this is a congratulation on your new job, you have to start the day off right. I was feeling good this morning and needed to stretch my legs and get
*Lucas*The beast inside me tried to break through the surface, lightning ran under my skin, popping every cell in my body, it was almost too painful to control. Kennedy's smooth as silk hair ran across her face in the small breeze that wafted between us, the golden strands glinting off the sun. I had never wanted to reach out more and stroke the soft looking locks. The attraction was immediate, but what she was doing to the animal that lived inside me was new to me. I didn't know how to react, my instincts were to protect her, but she was in no danger, except from myself, and my head told me to run, run and let the beast out. I stood locked jaw and frozen in place, I was afraid if I moved this meeting would end short. So, I just peered down at her, I was sure I came off as a creep, but I couldn't look away. Her face was smooth and delicate, with tiny features that made her look even more youthful than she was. Her hazel eyes devoured me, making my body twitch uncontrollably. I had
*Lucas*A long run was what I needed to soothe myself. Even though my reaction to Kennedy had taken me by surprise, I needed to follow through with the plan. Kennedy had to go, and I was convinced of that now more than ever.Loud music boomed through the speakers of the weight room, it was Titus's typical time to workout and I needed to talk to him before my lunch meeting with Kennedy. Turning down the sound from my phone, Titus grunted as he flung a weight plate on the ground. Titus lived up to his name, all brute strength, power, and stoicism. He glared at me, I am sure pissed that I was interrupting him, "What happened to you?" he scoffed, annoyingly.I was still in my button down shirt and black slacks, but they were drenched in sweat and mud. I know I looked like I had been to hell and back, and my body felt like it had. "Don't worry about it. What did you find out about Kennedy?""Well your dad basically hired a saint. She has no criminal record, not even a bad mark in school
*Kennedy*I needed to collect myself, Lucas was my boss and I had only had this job for four hours, Icouldn't afford to mess this up. My hands shook from his contact, I folded them in my lap untilthe quivering was subtle enough that it wasn't noticeable."I have found three major vulnerabilities, and one anomaly I'd like to discuss." Shuffling throughmy stack of papers, until I came across my notes. "First, your email signatures aren't encrypted,I was surprised this went unnoticed in a company like Massi Tech. A scammer could easily copyyour signature and request money or plant a virus in your system. In fact, I duplicated an emailfrom Grace, and sent it to Tony. He unsuspectedly clicked on the download attachment andreceived a virus that spread to both of your computers and cellphones."Lucas and Tony both had a quizzical look, as if trying to make sense of what I had said. "Let meget this straight," Lucas started, "In the matter of hours, you found a major issue, hacked in