Hardwired For Ecstasy (5 page)

He
glanced toward his desk for a second. When he looked at her again, he seemed to
be making up his mind about something. She wasn’t going to back down now. She
had come here for answers, and she wasn’t leaving without them.

“Atticus,
I told you a lot of very personal things. And as it turns out, you didn’t need
to know most of them. You already knew Leland and Bonnie were still married,
didn’t you?”

He
had the grace to look guilty. “Yes.”

“And
yet you pushed me into humiliating myself.”

“I
never wanted you to do that. That wasn’t why I pushed to know the entire
story.”

“Whether
you wanted me to or not isn’t the point, is it? It happened, no matter how
noble your damn intentions were in dragging the details out of me. And now
you’re flirting with me again.”

He
opened his mouth to say something, but she cut him off. “Don’t deny it. Telling
me you don’t think I’m fat, and that you hired me for my brains but you
appreciate my body as well. What the hell is that about? You owe me an
explanation about what happened between the Weathermen and Bonnie at HCS, and
why it’s so fucking important that you forced me to spill my guts about me and
Leland, just to make sure I wasn’t here to spy on you or something.”

She
squared her shoulders, feeling braver now than she’d felt in a very long time.
“And I’m not leaving until I get the answers I came for.”

Chapter
Six

Emma
watched the emotions cross his face, from anger to resignation, and resisted
the urge to pump her fist in the air. He knew she was right. She saw it in his
eyes.

“Okay.
First of all, I truly am sorry you were humiliated. I knew Bonnie and Leland
were married, but I did not know you were dating him. When I found the
performance reviews I thought you were involved with him somehow, but I had no
details.”

“And
because he and Bonnie are still married, you assumed what? That they’d sent me
here to get information?”

“Something
like that, yes.”

“You
realize now that’s not true, right?”

“Yes.
I know that’s not true.”

“What
happened at HCS?”

He
looked conflicted, but she didn’t care. The hell with his secrets. He’d exposed
hers, so now she had a right to know his.

“The
situation with Bonnie is ongoing, so I can’t tell you everything. I wish I
could, but we have to protect ourselves. This is a powder keg waiting to happen
if we aren’t careful.”

“So
she did have a run-in with you.”

“Not
with me, personally, but with all of us, yes.”

“Did
she take it public?”

He
pointed toward the papers in her hand. “If she or Dave actually posted that on
the message board, one of them did. But as far as talking to the media, if she
or Dave do that, they’ll lose their positions at HCS.”

“Who
else could have posted it but one of them?”

“I
honestly don’t know. My guess is that the reporter from
The Whole Truth
posted it, pretending to be Bonnie and hoping to
flush her or Dave out. We’ve all been the victims of tactics like that before.”

“Reporters
from that magazine post things on message boards, pretending to be one of the
Weathermen?”

“Yes.
It happens all the time. That’s merely one of the tactics they use to try to
trick us into responding with truthful information.”

“How
did the reporter get any part of this story in the first place? I mean the
incident at HCS.”

Atticus
snorted. “I wish we knew that as well. Our guess is someone at HCS overheard
something, found out a bit more of the truth from others,
then
called the magazine. The rest they simply made up. HCS doesn’t have a secret holding
facility. There are only five hackers, and none of them are in custody.”

“I
know. You told me that before you grilled me about Leland, so I know that part
is true. But why does Bonnie care what you all do with the hackers?”

“Because
she’s an asshole.”

Emma
wanted to laugh but held it in. She wasn’t done yet. There were still too many
unanswered questions. “Okay, but why did her protests turn into a
confrontation?”

“She
was upset that we wanted first crack at them. She thinks of us as amateurs,
running around the Internet like a group of vigilantes, trying to usurp a
government agency.”

“Well,
you are, when it comes right down to it.”

He
grinned, and Emma wished it didn’t render his features so damn sexy “You’re
right. We are. This is personal with us.”

“Why
is it personal? What am I missing here?”

He
looked conflicted again, and she suddenly understood. This had nothing to do
with Bonnie herself. It was about their
companies
.
This affected them in ways she didn’t yet understand, and either Bonnie knew that
and didn’t care, or they’d never told their contacts inside HCS the entire
truth.

“This
isn’t about Bonnie, is it? I mean not really. Not at the core of the issue.”

He
closed his eyes for a second and sighed. When he opened them again, he
uncrossed his legs and leaned forward, fixing her with a hard stare. “If I tell
you, the information cannot leave this room.”

“So
you trust me again.”

“For
now, yes. But if I find out you betrayed me, or told anyone what I’m about to
confide in you, there isn’t a city under this planet where you will be able to
hide.”

Her
breathing grew rapid as she stared into his dark eyes. He meant it. He’d find
her and ruin her.

“Do
we understand each other, Emma?”

“Absolutely.
I won’t breathe a word to anyone.”

He
gave her a droll look, and she didn’t have to ask why.

“Atticus,
give me a break. I never would have broken my promise to Leland if you hadn’t
threatened to fire me.”

“Okay.
Fair call.” He searched her face for a few more seconds, and she waited.
“Remember how I told you we’ve found four hackers and are sitting on them for
now?”

She
nodded. “You said the rumors you’re holding them somewhere were close to the
truth.”

“They
are, only we aren’t literally holding them. One of them still lives with his
parents, both of whom happen to work at HCS. Another works for Barclay Hampton,
one works for Grayson Jensen, and the fourth works for Oliver Fairchild.”

She
stared at him, unable to form a single question from all those racing through
her mind. That was the last thing she’d expected to hear.

“If
we out one, we risk losing them all. It’s taken us seven years to get this far.
If they go underground again, we’re afraid we’ll run out of time before we
track them all down again.”

“Because
of the oxygen levels.”

“Exactly.
Letting them think we haven’t found them yet is our only chance of getting them
all at once, in one place, where we can attempt to discover the secret behind
stopping the program.”

No
wonder he had grilled her mercilessly.

“Why
didn’t you simply tell your contacts at HCS the truth?”

“We
told them about the oxygen levels. We didn’t tell them that three of the four
we already found work for us, or that one of them lives with his parents, and
that the couple work for
them
.”

“Then
why involve them at all?”

 
“Because they found the same information we
did from a satellite the hackers tried to use, and now they have a team looking
for them. We want first crack at them, and we needed to know what they already
knew.”

“So
your intention was to pool information?”

“At
first, yes. We thought we could join forces. Until we got there, and then
Bonnie and Dave pushed back so hard. It wasn’t the first time they’d each
reacted that way during past conversations we’ve had with the group, but we
didn’t expect such opposition on this issue. Not when it affects everyone
living underground. We’re the ones who have been searching this hard and long,
not them.”

“But
it’s their jurisdiction, right?”

“Technically,
yes. But if they question them, they’ll all get lawyers and that will be the
end of it. No one wins. No coding secrets, no back door way into the program
that none of us have figured out yet, and no shutting it down. Game over.”

She
didn’t understand why someone working at HCS could be so pig-headed, then
remembered the woman had been married to Leland for over twenty years. It all
made perfect sense now. They were two peas in a pod and belonged together.

“As
you can see now, we have good reason to no longer trust Dave or Bonnie. Barclay
cultivated his contacts years ago, before any of our searches picked up this
kind of momentum. Had we known those two weren’t completely reliable, we never
would have involved them to begin with. We’re all a bit paranoid about our
companies right now.”

“I
can totally understand why. Atticus, I’m not a spy. I never met Bonnie before
that day in Leland’s office. And he’s a useless human being. He lied to me and
cheated on her.”

His
eyes blazed with intensity again. “But that’s exactly why I’m worried. She
knows that now. She knows who you are. She’s been humiliated by her husband,
and she’ll want revenge.”

Emma
knew that, but this was the first time she considered it from this point of
view. She now worked for one of the Weathermen, and Bonnie had already had a
run-in with them.

“If
she finds out you’re here, she might try to use you to get information. She
could threaten you for it. She and Dave were very pissed off that we got what
we wanted in the end. If they find out we know one of the hackers’ parents
works there, we could find ourselves in hot water. We don’t even want them
finding out that three of them still work for us. Can you imagine what would
happen if that information went public?”

Emma
hugged herself as fear raced through her. “I hadn’t thought about it that way.
What should I do?”

“Your
job. And keep me informed of any contact from either of them, or even any
suspected contact. Like if you suddenly start getting calls again from numbers
in Central.”

Emma
nodded, holding his gaze. What the hell had she landed in here? “I will. You
have my word on that.”

“Thank
you, Emma. Again, I am sorry for what I put you through.”

“I
know you are. Thank you for acknowledging it, and for the apology.”

His
expression turned sheepish. “But I’m not sorry for flirting with you.”

That
was a temptation she was not strong enough to resist, especially now that she
knew the truth behind his actions. It was close to midnight, and she was alone
with her very hot boss in this beautiful apartment. She needed to go home and
take a cold shower.

She
rose, and swore the briefest flash of disappointment crossed his features as he
stood, too. “Do you want me to walk you home?”

“No.
I don’t live that far away. I’ll be fine.”

“This
isn’t Central, you know, where people are out all night and it’s brightly lit.”

“I’m
sure I’ll be okay.”

“Text
me when you get home.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes.
Please.”

They
stared at each other for long moments, and then Emma turned around and got the
hell out of there before she did something really stupid, like kiss him. She
swore she could feel his eyes on her ass as she walked.

The
elevators doors opened, and she stepped inside, meeting his gaze. “Text me, or
I’ll call you every five minutes all night.”

She
didn’t answer him because her powers of speech seemed to have suddenly
disappeared. The temptation to stay was very strong. She pushed the button for
the lobby and didn’t let out the breath she was holding until the doors opened
again.

The
night air might be fake, but it came with a coolness that she needed right now.
She walked quickly, her mind on nothing but putting distance between her and
Mr. Five O’Clock Shadow.

She
nearly got lost during the short walk home because her mind kept wandering to
what it would feel like to kiss Atticus, or what his body looked like naked. By
the time she was in her apartment again, he had called twice. The man was
persistent. She’d give him that much.

Emma
knew she wouldn’t sleep at all unless she turned off her phone, but that would
be childish. She texted him, saying she was home safe and sound, and needed to
get some sleep if he expected her at work in the morning.

“Thank you for letting me know.
Good night. Sweet dreams.”

Sweet
dreams. Right. Sweet
erotic
dreams
was more like it.

That
damn sexy grin of his and those intense dark eyes chased her down into a fitful
sleep, and when she woke, she didn’t feel rested at all, but instead was horny
as hell from dreaming about him all night. How she could be attracted to a man
who had put her through hell and back the day before was beyond her. Had she
learned nothing from her experience with Leland?

But
Atticus wasn’t married, and the situation was hardly the same. He’d had every
right to suspect her, and to push her into telling him the whole story, given
what he had found and the way she’d reacted during their first moments
together.

In
the end, Atticus had done the right thing and not only apologized for making
her tell him that story, but he’d shared enough with her to answer her
questions. Now all she had to do was hope Bonnie and Leland both stayed in
Central and minded their own damn business. If she never heard their names
again that would be fine with her.