“Alex...”
“Just need to grab something from under my bed and we can...”
“Alex.”
“What?” she asked, picking up on the edge in my voice.
“Lex called.”
At this, she froze. And her eyes lost the light they had and went dull. Closed off. Walls firmly back into place.
If possible, I hated the fuck all the more.
“What did he want?”
“A meeting at his office.”
“Which one?” she asked, an edge in her voice suggesting she already knew all about his different offices.
“Oscar Street.”
She didn't go pale. Her mouth didn't fall open. She didn't start to freak out. Nope. The Alex from the train car was back. The Alex who was resigned to her fate.
“What time?”
“Eleven.”
“Okay,” she said, nodding once. “Well that gives me some time.”
“Time for what?” I asked, hoping she would come up with something she wanted to do. Something I could do for her. Something to put a smile on her face.
“To transfer all these files in these notebooks and get them online. Someone will come across them eventually. I don't want to die without sharing the dirt I have on him.”
Fuck.
So much for that hope.
And with there being a strong likelihood of the both of us dying in just under twenty-four hours, I couldn't really deny her the one thing she wanted to do with her time left.
“Let's get moving then,” I allowed, going to take the duffel bag from her.
“Don't worry. The Chinese somehow tastes better when it's reheated,” she said, grabbing something under her bed and shoving it into the box of notebooks. She laid her laptop across the top and we made our way back to my truck.
When we got back to my place, I reheated the food. And it was bad. But she was right, I'd had worse. Alex took her laptop into the living room, picking at her plate of food and she manically typed into her keypad, adding pages and pages of information onto the forum on the dark net.
I ate despite a loss of appetite as I sat watching her work. Under other circumstances, I would find her single-minded focus and determination sexy as hell. But right then, watching her type up what was, in her own twisted fuckin' way, her own suicide note... yeah... that shit wasn't hot at all.
And that was what she did all day. Not taking a break to reheat her food when dinnertime rolled around, just eating it cold as she kept flipping through the pages of her notebook.
“Alex,” I said later, the world dark outside the windows.
“Almost done,” she said, not looking over. “A lot of this stuff was filler. Just another page or two.”
So I sat and waited.
Twenty minutes (and ten pages) later, she sighed, flexing her fingers then rubbing her eyes before turning to me.
“Okay. All done,” she said, giving me a bleary-eyed smile.
“Feel better?” I asked.
“Yeah. I don't know why I was sitting on that information for so long. It should have been out there floating around for other people to find.”
“Come over here,” I said, surprised at the softness in my tone.
Her brows drew together but she scooted across the cushions, planting her ass beside me, pulling her knees up toward her chest. I threw an arm around her, hauling her closer, tight to my side, her knees pressed up into my stomach.
“I ain't gonna feed you no platitudes. You're too smart to believe them anyway. You know as much as I do how bad this is. We both know there's a good chance that neither of us will get out of this alive tomorrow. And that fuckin' sucks because I just met you. And what I've seen so far? I like it. And I wanted to get to see more. But that ain't in the cards and there's no use whining over it. But I will say this, Alex Miller,” I said, ducking my chin so I could look at her, making her see I was serious, “It's a fuckin' shame. 'Cause I woulda liked to break down those walls. Seeing you singing today? I liked what I saw when I peeked behind them. I wanted to drag you out and show you what life is like outside that fortress you live in.”
“Breaker...”
“Shh, doll. Fact of the matter is, we don't have time for you to let me in like that. But what we do have time for? Me being inside you in a different way. So, from about two minutes from now until ten in the morning, I plan on fucking you in every position, in every hole, until you can't fuckin' take it anymore. Sound like a plan?”
“Hmm,” she mused, pursing her lips like she was mulling it over. “I could think of worse ways to spend my time.”
At this, I felt myself chuckling, giving her a smile. “You gonna stop bustin' my balls so I can fuck you into tomorrow or what?”
“I think I can manage that.”
“Good. Now stand up,” I said, letting my arm drop from around her. Her eyebrow rose, but she got onto her feet.
“Okay. I'm up,” she said, crossing her hands over her chest.
“Strip.”
Her mouth parted, her eyes going a little wide. “What?”
“Strip.”
“Seriously?”
“Yep. I could put on some music,” I teased, reaching for the remote.
To this, she rolled her eyes and made short work of whipping her shirt off and going toward the button on her jeans, giving me a view of the black lace bra she had on. Maybe if we lived, I would rethink my stance on those particular garments.
“Not even gonna try to tease me?”
“You want a striptease, go to a strip club,” she shot back, pushing her pants down her legs.
Call me crazy, but I'd take a surly fuckin' Alex Miller none-too ceremoniously taking off her clothes while shooting daggers at me over some chick doing it slow and sensual grinding around to music any god damn day.
I fought a smile as she reached behind her back to unclasp her bra. “You better make this good,” she warned, letting the bra fall off her arms and hooking her fingers into the waistband of her panties.