Semua Bab Aegis Group: Bab 211 - Bab 220

"HEY, BLISS? HANNAH? WHERE you want this ice?" Luke hefted a couple bags up under his arms. The cookout was in full swing, and he'd drawn the unlucky straw to replenish the ice mid-celebration. Probably for the best, since he was among one of the only sober ones in attendance. It was going to be one hell of a night, that was for sure."Oh, just through there, please?" Bliss pointed at the doorway leading into the laundry room. "Did you see who Molly Turner brought? Who is that guy, Luke?""Not sure." The last thing Luke wanted to talk about was Ethan's widow with someone else.He shouldered through the door. Several empty coolers sat up against the walls, drinks and bottles stacked on top of the washer and dryer. He let the bags drop before ripping open one bag.Life was...good. Work had cooled off, staying mostly uneventful, though he was pretty sure the admiral was keeping him close to home after the fiasco six months ago. Abigail was settling in nicely. They had a routine.

FIONA'S HEAD BUZZED.What did she want to say?"My boyfriend dumped me a week ago because I'm boring." She curled her hands around the pint. Okay, so that wasn't what she wanted to say, but she needed to say it to someone. Another living, breathing person and not just her own reflection. A stranger at the bar would have to do."Boring?" The biker guy's gaze stroked down her body. "Sweetheart, I don't want to be disrespectful, but I'd be willing to bet he's the one who lacks imagination."Fiona shouldn't preen. She wasn't. She was just...sipping her beer and not smiling."You love this guy or something?" The biker's face scrunched up over the word love, as though it were distasteful to him."Scott? Hell no." She set the glass down, sputtering a laugh."Then-what's the big deal?" He was the real rough-around-the-edges type. Big. Wide shoulders. Hands large enough to...be scary. Long hair, scruffy beard. Sharp eyes. He was dangerous, but also...under control.She shrugged.

SCOTT JABBED AT THE keyboard, anger simmering low in his stomach.How much longer was he going to get jerked around like this? He'd done his part, now the corporate goons were supposed to back off. He'd let the coast clear and then-then Brat would be his to deal with. Eliminate. Finally!Her name was Fiona now.Scott only remembered her handle.b4dbr47.BadBrat in non-leet speak.Everyone had called her Brat back then. She'd been one of the lemmings, the idealistic children staged to take the fall.Instead, she'd taken them down.The bitch.It'd taken a long time to find her after he'd emerged. Two years in hiding, watching his back, wondering if the feds were coming after him. Two years for her to burrow into the shithole that was this new life.Did she even hack anymore?Scott couldn't find Brat's trail anywhere.He'd only found her again by chance. Because that stupid ass who recruited her had a thing for leggy teenage girls and hadn't been shy about sharing

Fiona was too boneless to do anything but watch him stand and stare at her."I think you're wet enough now." His heavy-lidded gaze left no question what she was wet enough for.Fiona reached for him first, grasping the double-skull belt buckle and pulling it free. He straddled her with one foot on the floor and his knee on the sofa. She bit her lip and worked the tab through the stiff denim."Easy," he muttered when she grasped the zipper."Like this?" She slid her hand into his jeans, cupping his erection and easing the zipper down. Maybe he was right. She wasn't boring, simply uninspired by the men in her life.Marco pushed his jeans down enough to be out of the way, but not completely off. He braced one hand on the back of the sofa and watched her. She hooked her fingers in the elastic band and bit her lower lip. There really wasn't any going back after this. Not that she wanted him to go anywhere for at least the next thirty minutes. After that, well, it wasn't like they

MARCO SAT UP, NOT quite awake.What was that sound? He didn't like it.He pushed the soft, gray comforter off and swung his legs over the side of the bed.Fiona.Right.He'd stayed, and he wasn't sorry about that. The rest...his conscience would have to deal with it."Fiona!" someone bellowed, pounding on the front door.Marco pushed to his feet and strode into the living room. Fiona stood in the kitchen, her hands over her face, shoulders hunched as if she expected someone to...Hell. No. Fucking. Never. "Who is that?" He pointed at the door, his feet slapping on the hardwood, his vision hazing red."No one." Fiona's eyes snapped open and she straightened, the momentary glimpse of the woman behind all the secrets gone."Who the hell is he?" Marco frowned at the door display. He'd seen it last night, but hadn't paid attention to it. Now he could see the man on the other side clear as day. Who the hell needed a security system this fancy? Unless they were scared.