Full Domain (Nice Guys 3)

“You did it. He’s gonna shit. He’ll associate that with you. I know he’ll remember your screen name.”

“How long will it take?” Aaron asked, and Tristan looked down at his watch.

“He’s all over his shit. They’re very fluid at Secret. It upsets the balance of the rest of my company because they all work so well together over there. I’ll say less than a minute.”

“Really? Even at best, I’d have said thirty,” Aaron answered, clearly impressed by Tristan’s statement. Kreed watched as they both looked over at Tristan’s wristwatch.

“Five, four, three…” Tristan’s phone began to vibrate. “It’s him.” He swiped the screen and put it to his ear without checking the ID. “Hey, babe,” Tristan said. His smile turned huge, again lifting a hand for a second high five, before turning to give Kreed a thumbs up. “Hang on. I’m putting you on speaker.”

“Why is En!gm4 in my house, Tristan?” Dylan Reeves asked, his voice carried loudly throughout the office space.

Kreed had met him a couple of times when they’d driven up to Dallas to present to the company, then again when they ironed out the details of the contract. Irritation was clear in the guy’s voice.

“I knew you’d know that he’d been in your network, but you were quicker than I even thought. Impressive,” Tristan answered as Aaron started chuckling. “We were just testing Aaron’s speed and ability.”

“Why are you hacking me? I told you to hire him already. I’m the one who found him and said we needed him.” Dylan’s aggravation seemed to grow with each word he uttered. Mitch came in behind Kreed, where he stood, trying to understand the dynamic here and manage his own irritation at Aaron.

“And clearly you were right, babe,” Tristan replied.

“Aaron, clean up the mess you just made. And Tristan, find a hotel to stay in tonight,” Dylan said flatly. Aaron slapped a hand over his mouth to quiet his laughter, apparently so tickled that he couldn’t stop.

“Now, honey, don’t be like that. You know I always stay with you,” Tristan started, but his grin was so big that it was contagious and eased Kreed’s own upset.

“Not this time,” Dylan shot back. When the phone went dead, both Tristan and Aaron burst out in uncontrollable fits of laughter. Aaron held his side, obviously in pain from laughing so hard.

“I have some making up to do. Where’s the contract?” Tristan laughed as Aaron reached over and slid papers across his crowded desk. His guy was still chuckling, very pleased with himself, as Tristan reached for the pen in his front pocket. He quickly scribbled his name across the bottom of the last page and rose from his seat. “Make me a copy.”

Aaron’s eyes lifted to Kreed’s, his smile brighter than a few seconds ago. This contract had the potential to be even bigger than the one they’d negotiated with Skinner. They had their work cut out for them—that was for sure—but these contracts were the foundation for their new company and exactly what they needed.

“It was a pleasure meeting you guys. We’ll have you out to California for a meet and greet. I’ll make sure Dylan’s in town. He’ll enjoy this dynamic,” Tristan said, extending a hand to Kreed then Mitch.

“Thank you for the business,”

“No, thank you guys. It’s been a great afternoon. Aaron, I’ll be in touch.” Tristan slid out the door.

Mitch followed behind him, Kreed supposed to walk him out. He reached out and shut the door behind them. Thank God he’d gotten it wrong.

“You promised no more hacking.”

“I did, but we got to talking and it was a funny idea. Safe. I didn’t think you’d mind,” Aaron said absently, moving the computer equipment around so he could get to all the pages of the contract. Kreed dropped down in the chair across from the desk, his relief strong. Aaron had no idea what had even driven him in here to interrupt them in the first place.

“I need to apologize. Skinner said Huckabee was hacked, and I know how much you dislike the guy. I thought it was you,” Kreed admitted. There was no way to know how Aaron would take his admission, or how much making up he’d need to do, but Kreed knew he needed to trust Aaron more than immediately jumping to those kinds of conclusions.

“Oh shit. I forgot about that.” Aaron turned quickly to his computer and began typing. Well, hell, he’d been spot-on after all.

“You promised me,” Kreed started, his brow furrowed.

“I know, but he’s friends with my dad, and my dad just gave him a couple of million to keep going in the race. And I really hate him, so he can spend that money fixing what I just fucked up,” Aaron answered, never looking back at him.

Kreed rolled his eyes. Those kinds of justifications were common with Aaron. A promise always came with a certain amount of leeway. Kreed scrubbed his hands over his face as he thought about the fight they were going to have, but Kreed had to go there. One slip too many would lead the Department of Justice straight to their door.

“Babe, this doesn’t fall in a gray area. Hacking Huckabee is illegal activity…” Kreed started, but Mitch busted back inside the office, cutting off his words.

“Great job, Stuart. Wilder’s impressed.” Mitch clapped his palms, rubbing his hands together. “Two contracts in one day. I want more of these kinds of days!”

“Yeah, me too. We need to work out the logistics, make sure we have enough help on stand-by,” Aaron said, leaving the keyboard, turning toward them. Kreed immediately moved his finger in a circle toward Aaron.

“Don’t stop. Fix what you did,” Kreed prompted.

“Dude! Seriously, you need to lighten up,” Aaron shot back.

“That might be the case, but you promised,” Kreed said.

“Just for the record, you two do this shit all the time. I have no idea what we’re talking about, and it’s getting old,” Mitch said, glancing between the both of them. “Get over whatever this is going on right now. We need to celebrate. The dynamic duo’s about an hour out. Cody’s off work.”