Moments of Julian (24 page)

Finally, when we are all exhausted and
delirious, Agents Rodriguez and Fowler share what they’ve learned
from Corbin.

He was the one who leaked info before
the banquet that Digit had a new product coming out. It was an
attempt to make me look bad to Mr. Maxwell and turn him against me
all the faster. It was a cheap shot to try and get me fired, one
he’d kept using with Gideon in all those secret meetings. Corbin
was trying to pin me to the wall in a desperate attempt to keep his
job.

I could only shake my head and feel
exhausted when the agents told us we could go home.

“
We’re keeping Gretchen
for the night,” Agent Fowler says as we head for the door. “You can
expect a call from us in the morning.”

There’s a hard lump in my throat for
Gretch’s behalf. I can only nod and follow Julian and my
brothers.

“
You know you’re going to
have all of us at your house tonight, right?” Lake says as we walk
out the front door.

“
Excuse me?” I ask. My
stomach growls violently.

“
We still don’t know who
else is in on this,” Julian says. “You saw how violent Corbin got
back there.”

“
There’s no way we’re
letting you go back home with just Kale as your protection,” Lake
says. His voice is serious, but he’s giving our youngest brother an
amused side look.

“
Not that I’m not insulted
by that,” Kale says, glaring at Lake. “But he’s right. We’re all
coming home with you tonight.” His eyes flick to Julian and he
gives a shake of his head as a thin lipped smile forms on his face.
“Even him. Can’t get a much closer watch than having someone in
your bed all night.”

A smile curls on one side of my mouth
and I shake my head. “Over protective men,” I say as I head for my
car. “But so long as you two stay out of my bedroom, I won’t
complain too much.”

“
Spare me the gross
details,” Kale says as he gives a shiver. He and Lake climb into
the back seat. Mom and Dad came and picked up his car just after we
all were hauled off to the police station. They were freaking out,
but weren’t allowed to talk to any of us. Lake called them as soon
as they cleared me.

“
If this were a military
operation, there’s no way we’d let you go back to your place,” Lake
says as I start the engine and Julian climbs into the passenger
seat. “You’d be vulnerable there.”

“
What about my place?”
Julian says. “No one at the company knows where I live. I’ve got
friends who drop by every so often, but they’re harmless. I’ve got
a guest bedroom and a couch.”

“
I think it’s a smart
idea,” Kale says. It’s hard to take him too seriously in this
situation. My little brother is fit and in good shape, but he looks
that way to stand in front of a camera, not to take action. But I
appreciate his support and help in this situation none the
less.

“
What do you say, Sage?”
Julian asks as he looks over at me. “Ready to finally see where I
live and if I own a car of my own?”

“
Yeah,” I say as a smile
curls on my face. “I think it’s about time.”

With the truth revealed that Julian
invented the Blue Wall, the world’s best and most secure financial
security software, I should have assumed Julian had some serious
money. For some reason, I never imagined it.

Julian only lives about a mile up the
lake from me. His street is gated and a guard has to check us all
in and records my license plate number. The houses we pass, what we
can see through the trees anyway, are grand and
beautiful.

“
Take a left right there,”
Julian says indicating a driveway. I turn where he says and we are
immediately at a set of gates. I raise an eyebrow at Julian and
give him a disbelieving look. “The house came with the gates,” he
says sheepishly.

Julian tells me the code and I enter
it. Noiselessly, the gates roll back into the bushes and disappear.
I pull in and they close behind me.

I do not have to drive far to get to
the house. None of the lots in this area are large, but they are
all incredible. Julian’s is no exception.

A sleek modern two story home sits
before us. To the right is a three car garage. Surrounding the
house is simple but well-kept landscaping. A ten foot concrete
fence surrounds the entire thing. Along the fence, square bushes
line it and perfectly manicured grass stretches across the
lawn.

“
What did you say you do
for a living?” Kale says in awe as I park in front of the last bay
of the garage.

“
Computers,” Julian says
simply as he climbs out of the car.

“
Don’t let him fool you,”
I say as we all get out. I lock the car. “He invented what got my
company off the ground.”

“
Maybe I do need to go
back to school,” Kale says as we walk toward the front
door.

I sigh. I am never going to be able to
convince Kale that he needs a college degree. “Yeah, Julian only
went for two years. Sometimes you’re just born with the
smarts.”

Julian chuckles, but I can tell he is
embarrassed. It seems strange, to see him like this. He’s usually
so calm and cool and at times, cocky. But he’s never revealed too
much about himself. It’s easy to act that way when no one really
knows anything about your real life.

I’m realizing now that there is still
so much I have to learn about Julian Dohring.

The entryway inside the house rises to
the height of both levels and a modern chandelier casts a soft glow
to the space. There is a set of stairs that immediately rises to
the second story. Directly back I can see endless windows looking
out over the water. There is the soft sound of music and talking,
like a TV has been left on.

Not waiting for Julian to play the
tour guide, I walk past him. And just as I pass him, there’s the
booming sound of an explosion.

I scream and my shoulders shrug up to
my ears and I press myself to the wall.

“
Mic!” Julian suddenly
shouts and he storms past me, not in the least bit concerned by the
sound of gunfire that has followed the explosion. “I told you not
to bring that thing over here!”

Finally realizing that we are not
actually under terrorist attack, my muscles relax and I stand
upright once more. I follow Julian into a living room.

There is a guy sitting on a couch. His
dirty blond hair is half in his eyes, half swept back in a messy
but controlled way. There’s a few days scruff hugging his chin and
brilliant blue eyes are glued to a TV that is bigger than I knew
existed. In his hand is a controller and another explosion sounds
over what must be a very extensive surround sound
system.

“
Sorry, but my projector
burned out this afternoon and I’m this close to beating this
level.”

He speaks with a heavy Australian
accent.

“
Mic,” Julian says,
frustration heavy in his voice. “I’ve told you, you can’t bring
that crap over here. And I thought I changed the gate code. How’d
you get in?”

Mic looks over at Julian and gives him
a wry smile. Julian just shakes his head and fights his
own.

“
A female!” Mic says in
what I’m not sure is complete mock surprise when he notices me. “I
can’t remember the last time you brought one of them
over.”

“
This is Sage McCain,”
Julian says with exasperation in his voice. “She works for Digit.
Well, kind of.” He corrects himself when he remembers that isn’t
really true anymore. “Sage, this is Mic Duggar, my sometimes
unbearable best friend. He’s into computers. He’s done all the
testing trying to break through the Red Door.”

“
I tell ya,” Mic says, his
eyes turning back to the video game. “This boy here created
something made of black magic. If I can’t touch it, no one
can.”

“
So you’re a hacker?” I
ask as a smile curls on my lips.

“
I
could
be a hacker,” he corrects me.
“I use my powers only for good.”

“
Well, it’s nice to meet
another computer superhero,” I say.

“
Nice set up, Julian,”
Kale says with an impressed smile as he joins us in the TV room.
“What you playing?” He directs his question at Mic.

“
Nothing,” Julian
interrupts. He grabs the remote from the couch and clicks the TV
off. The sound continues to play. “Mic is leaving.”

“
Ah, come on!” Mic cries
in protest, holding his hands up. “What’d you do that
for?”

“
You know I can’t have
that stuff around,” Julian says and his voice sounds uncomfortable.
“Time to take it home.”

Mic says a string of words under his
breath as he gets up and starts unhooking his game counsel. “You’re
no fun anymore since you quit.”

“
Quit what?” I ask, my
brows furrowing. I look at Julian, who is glaring daggers at Mic.
When he feels my eyes on him, he looks over, looking incredibly
uncomfortable.

“
I had, uh, a problem,”
Julian says. He stuffs his hands in his pockets and his shoulders
shrug.

“
With video games?” I ask
when it starts clicking. I raise an eyebrow at him and try not to
laugh.

“
Yeah,” he admits with
embarrassment.

“
Julian here was a
champion,” Mic says as he winds all the chords up and picks up the
counsel. “He could go for twenty hours straight with breaks only to
use the toilet. He was a god.”

“
It became a problem
though,” Julian interjects. “I could play nonstop for weeks at a
time. It started in high school and my grades plummeted. It didn’t
get much better through college. I finally quit cold turkey three
years ago though.”

“
The most tragic thing to
happen in the history of mankind,” Mic says as he dumps all his
stuff in a bag.

“
Mic is a bit dramatic,”
Julian says with a thin lipped smile. “And on his way
out.”

“
Yeah, yeah, I know when
I’m not welcome,” he says as he gives me a wink and walks for the
front door.

I turn back to Julian as I hear the
door close. It takes everything I’ve got to not burst into
laughter.

“
Let me have it,” Julian
says as his face flushes red.

“
You’re a serious gamer,”
Kale says, loud with amusement. “You’re a legit nerd!”

“
Not a gamer anymore,”
Julian says, half in defense, half making fun of himself. “But
still a nerd, yes.”

“
So, Julian Dohring has
his flaws,” I say with a coy smile. He looks completely sheepish
and completely adorable now.

“
Seriously, Mic knows he
can’t bring stuff like that here. If I even play once, it’s game
over for my recovery.” He’s got a wide smile on his face
now.

I just smile and walk back out of the
room.

The entryway opens up into a huge
dining room and a chef’s kitchen that looks out over the water.
Directly off the living room in the back of the house is a huge
infinity pool. There are glass walls that encase it and I can tell
from the mechanisms that the roof is retractable.

Directly down from the property is a
personal dock with a sleek speed boat tied to it.

I turn to Julian and give him an
incredulous look. He looks at me sheepishly and actually seems
embarrassed. “I think I’ve greatly underestimated how much Digit is
worth. You selling the Blue Wall to them wasn’t a one-time deal,
was it?”

He shrugs and I can tell he doesn’t
really want to talk about this. “I make a certain percentage of
each sale. Gideon couldn’t pay me outright in the beginning so we
worked out this deal. It’s turned out surprisingly well for
me.”

A smile curls on my face and I take
steps toward him and wrap my arms behind his neck. “So I haven’t
just been making Digit and Mr. Maxwell rich these past five years.
You’ve been getting benefits from my efforts all along
too.”

“
I like the personal
benefits of your company more than the financial ones of Mr.
Maxwell’s,” Julian says as his hands slide from my back
lower.

“
Could you at least keep
your hands off her until you’re in your own room?” Lake growls as
he walks to our side and looks out the window.

“
Sorry,” Julian says and
his hands immediately jump from my rear end to his own hips. “I am
not ashamed to admit I am genuinely scared of you
sometimes.”

“
As you should be,” Lake
says through an intense stare and a smile.

“
Cut it out,” I say to
Lake as I fold my arms over my chest. “You’re being
annoying.”

“
Just doing my job, big
sis,” he says as he pats my head and lets himself out onto the
deck.

“
Why have we been hanging
out at our place when you have a pool, Julian?” Kale says as he
comes up to the window. “You don’t hold out on a brother like
that.”

Julian beams when Kale uses the word
brother.

“
I’ve got a few extra
suits in my room if you want to go for a swim,” Julian
offers.