Betrayed (Dark Desires 2)

I took the USB drive and held it between two fingers. “How does this work exactly?”

“When you have the opportunity, call the office and get on the phone with Robby, the IT guy. He will have you stick this in O’Connor’s computer, type in a code, then he can connect to the computer remotely and install a piece of software that will let us have unlimited access to all files on their network.”

“Ah, okay, I can do that,” I said, slipping the USB drive into my purse.

“Just be careful,” Ed said seriously. “You may think you have an in with Sean, but don’t forget

his old man and his goons hang out at that office, too. If you get caught doing something by Sean, you can probably fuck your way out of it, but if Patsy or the goons catch you, well, your life could be in danger.”

“I know,” I said, a little too casually for Ed.

“Claire, listen to me. This is serious.”

“I know that.”

“These are violent felons. They have hurt people. Maybe even killed people. I doubt they’d hesitate to do the same thing to you.”

“I know,” I said. “Don’t worry. I’ll be careful.”

My burner phone buzzed and danced across the table. I picked it up and looked at the number. I waved the phone at Ed and took a deep breath.

“It’s him.”

“Okay,” Ed said, pushing himself away from the table. “Be careful, Claire. I don’t wanna lose you.”

“Aw, that’s sweet,” I said. I held up the phone. “Now fuck off. I have to take this call.”

Sean

I held my breath as the phone rang, hoping that Claire had given me her real phone number and not the number to some pizza joint as a joke, as I had done to a number of girls who had asked for my number (I know, I’m an asshole).

On the fifth ring (yes, I was counting), she answered the phone and I released the breath that I’d been holding in my lungs.

“Hello there,” she said, her voice sultry in my ear. “Did you finally wake up?”

“I did,” I gushed. I shook my head at the sound of my voice. I sounded like a fucking squeaky-voiced teenager. What the fuck was this woman doing to me? I cleared my throat and deepened my voice. “I was disappointed that you had left. I woke up with a very big surprise for you.”

She giggled in my ear. “I’m sorry I missed it. I’m an early riser and I realized I only had that little black dress there, so I just came home to shower and put on some fresh clothes. You left a mess down there, Mr. O’Connor.”

“I would have been happy to help you clean that up, Miss Goodman.”

“I’m sure you would have.” I could tell by her voice that she was smiling. “Maybe next time you can give me a hand.”

Maybe next time… uh… hell yes…

Trying not to sound desperate for company, I asked, “So, what are you up to this weekend?”

“Well, I have some shopping to do this morning, but I’m free later on today. Why do you ask?”

“Well, I am driving out to the country this afternoon to take a look at some property I’m thinking about buying. I was hoping you might like to come along for the ride.”

She hesitated for a second. I thought I was about to be turned down for the first time in my life. I wasn’t used to being the one doing the chasing. Women normally flocked to me. It was an odd feeling. I wasn’t sure if I liked it or not. I just knew I liked her.

“Okay, sounds like fun. I’ll text you my address,” she finally said.

“Excellent. I’ll pick you up around two.”

“Perfect,” she said, cooing the word in my ear.