The Bastard (Filthy Trilogy 1)

“Agreed,” Blake says.

We talk another minute and disconnect right as I exit to my floor, my hand back on the Rubik’s cube. By the time I reach my door and relieve Jensen of his duties, I’ve decided to look to the obvious place for an answer to what that identifier represents—Harper. That man was at her house. It hits me then; I’ve been assuming the message is for me because of the numbers when it could be for her. Certainty fills me; the message is for Harper and for reasons that are pure instinct, that feels like a problem. That feels dangerous. It feels like something else Harper still hasn’t told me and if she was anyone else, I’d have already homed in on there being more to know with her.

I’ve said it, and now I feel it ten-fold: I can’t trust my instincts with this woman. I’m too fucking insanely into her. And the very idea that at this point, Harper could be holding information back, does not sit well. I want answers or I’m out.

I slide my keycard into the room door and open it. I’ve made it all of four steps when Harper charges at me, flings herself into my arms, and breathes out, “Thank God.”

Thank God, spoken with relief.

“I was so worried.” She pulls back to look at me. “I’m glad you’re back.”

She has a million questions, I’m certain, but she’s not asking them. She’s focused on me and I don’t remember the last time anyone worried about me or focused on me for any reason that wasn’t to hurt me or compete with me. I don’t remember a time when anyone defended me as she did with her mother. Her mother, who is all she has, the only one she calls family. No one understands that more than me. With that thought, I decide right now that if she’s hiding something, she’s afraid. Words Grayson has said to me over and over come back to me: You get what you give. If I don’t give Harper my trust, she will never give me hers. She doesn’t trust me with her secret because she doesn’t trust me not to leave. I’ve done so two times before. I earned her distrust.

I tangle my fingers into her hair and kiss her. “I’m not going anywhere. Watch and see.”

Her eyes cloud and darken. “Promise?”

“Yes, Harper, I promise. Now, take me home to your bed.”

“Is it safe?”

“Yes. I’ll tell you everything on the way. Just like I hope you will tell me everything. When you’re ready.”

I don’t give her time to deny or reply. I don’t place that pressure on her. I kiss her again, grab my bag, and lead her to the door. I’m giving her my trust. I’ll earn hers. And I won’t allow either of us to regret those decisions.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Eric

I manage to usher Harper to the elevator without much explanation, but once the car doors shut and I’ve punched in the lobby level, she’s ready for answers. “What happened when you went to my house and why do you want to get back there now with such urgency?”

Because I want her back home where I know we’re secure, where I can control our environment, and Walker Security is guarding the exterior of the property. “That was the whole idea,” I say instead. “Get my bag. Go back to your place.”

Her lips purse. “We’re in this together, remember? No secrets, Eric. I deserve to know what just happened at my own home. Why did you rush me here only to rush me back?”

“I don’t like group settings with unknown elements at play.”

“Meaning the guy watching my house,” she assumes.

“The entire situation doesn’t feel right. You were right to pull me into this.”

“I hated pulling you in.”

“I don’t,” I say and intend to move on to the message we received tonight, eager to find out if she knows what it means, but she gets there first.

“The car at my house, Eric. Tell me what happened.”

“The minute I walked in his direction, he rolled down the window and tossed a cigarette and note out.”

“A note? What kind of note?”

“A piece of paper with a fourteen-digit sequence of numbers and letters.”

She frowns. “Nothing but the sequence? That’s odd.”

“Correct,” I say.

“Then it has to be a message for you, right? Your genius doesn’t scare whoever is behind it. Or they know you. They know how you operate.”