“Yeah, you didn’t live. You died. Sebastian is the one who was willing to break your chest and give you a heart massage if you didn’t start breathing,” Owen says and opens his computer too. He plucks the keys with his index finger. “I’ll try to narrow down the houses in Trinidad that are on a cliff.”
“That will be all of them,” Grayson murmurs. “I’ll contact the officer who arrested me and see if we can’t get him on our side here. It will be nice to have a cop in our pockets.”
I’m hacking into the police database searching for my arrest warrant when my software pings. “Score,” I say and hover by mouse to click on it when my software pings again. Someone else is hacking in too. “Fuck!” I curse and start typing as fast as I can to get out of there, but the person is right on my trail.
“What? What is it?” Gabriella asks, laying her hand on my shoulder.
“They knew I would try to do this. They are trying to catch me right now.”
“Do they know it is you?”
“No, I don’t think so, but if the catch me and follow my imprint, I’m screwed. They will know it’s me then.”
“Get them off your trail!” Heaven shouts.
“I’m working on it. I can’t type any faster!” I bite in return, my fingers dancing over the keyboard faster than they ever have. I am sweating. My heart pounds from the adrenaline. I keep switching my algorithm and have my signal bouncing off dozens of towers so they won’t be able to pinpoint me. No matter what I do, they are a step behind me.
That isn’t enough.
“I’m going to have to add a virus,” I say. “I can’t lose them, but once I let them catch me, they won’t be able to pinpoint me because the virus will destroy everything on our end and theirs.”
“Including your arrest warrant?” Gabriella asks, hopeful that maybe all of this isn’t for nothing.
I shake my head. “No, that will still be there, but their systems will be fried, and it will take days, if not weeks before they are up and running again.”
“Doesn’t that mean your computer will be toast?”
“Aw, Gabriella, you’re too cute,” Heaven crinkles his nose at her. “He has an entire room with backups. This computer is a drop in the bucket and not the first time he’s had to destroy, and it won’t be the last.”
I hit enter and my laptop sparks and starts to smoke. I let out a tired gust of air and slam my laptop shut. “Well, that’s taken care of. Downside, another laptop down, and I still have a warrant.”
Gabriella twists her long hair and circles it in a bun on top of her head. “You sound like there’s an upside.”
“Their system is fried too. That’s something, right?” I ask, wanting there to be hope in this situation.
“It’s something, but it isn’t enough. You can’t get arrested, Sebastian. With your record, you’ll go behind bars even longer this time, even if it is for the simplest thing. You can’t risk going out.”
“I know.” My gaze falls on Gabriella. I hate that this is our life right now. She deserves to be wined and dined after everything she has been through. I want to have he
r go shopping with Quinn, pick out a pretty dress, get her nails done, and then take her to an expensive restaurant where we have no idea which fork or spoon to start with because it would be so classy that there would be ten utensils to pick from. I want her to drink wine, laugh, and have her favorite dessert.
Peach sorbet. She loves it.
We’d fuck all night when we got home and then the next day, I’d take her out all over again. This time, maybe we’d go dancing, and I’d get to feel her hips sway to the beat, hopefully salsa so I could feel her ass move against me, and my hands could map every inch of her body, and it would look normal because salsa is sexy. I’d be allowed to touch her on the dance floor like I wanted to fuck her.
I want us to have those nights. We deserve that together. Good times will have to wait until Kendrick is taken care of. He won’t let us live a peaceful life. The man doesn’t know what peace is. He loves causing strife. If Kendrick comes out on top, he didn’t care who he has to hurt in the process to do it. He was always a sick bastard.
I won’t let Kendrick ruin her life anymore or mine.
If he wants a fight, I'll bring it to him. Gabriella is no longer his; she was never his.
She is mine.
And I will fucking kill for what’s mine, even if it means killing my own brother.
Chapter Twenty
GABRIELLA