So she had thought about it. “They didn’t give any signs of being under pressure, did they?”
She shook her head. “Charles is probably rattled more than anything, it’s the kind of pressure he might not respond to.”
Is that why Compton Senior had taken the task to them, to wake them up? Draco nodded. He didn’t want to say anything more on the matter, but he couldn’t help being sceptical. Both brothers were quietly going about their chosen diversions, despite being set a challenge by their dad, neither doing an obvious hunt for the breach of security and lack of funds. Why not?
Because it was one or both of them behind the breach? Was that why C.S. had told them, to let him know he was aware? Was Charlie boy funding his party habit or was Jamie creating a personal stash, before walking out on the father who had walked out on them? Draco figured he was letting his own life experience color his view, but it was a possibility he wasn’t going to rule out
He chucked down a couple more sushi so she wouldn’t know, and then glanced at his phone. “Talking of family,” he said, once they were walking back to the office, “I need to go see my stepbrother, Rory, this evening.”
“Okay.” She looked disappointed.
“It won’t take long. Why don’t we meet for a drink at seven?”
She smiled. “Great idea. There’s a bar near the apartment that does happy hour on cocktails between six and eight. I’ll give you the postcode when we get back to the office.”
“Great, it’s a date.”
CHAPTER TEN
After Draco took off, Lara hung around at work for a while, uneasy about his sudden departure. It was the second time she didn’t know where he was. Of course he could have snuck off that first night when she’d left him to settle in at the apartment on his own. Her gut feeling was he hadn’t. The uncertainty was what she’d expected when she thought she was hiring a surly unreliable guy in a hoodie, but Draco had—so far—shattered her stereotyped preconceptions about her hired hacker. There was so much about him she didn’t know, though.
He said it was his stepbrother, who he used to hack with.
If he’d been called away by someone from his hacking past, it could be a more lucrative or interesting opportunity than the one she’d offered him. It occurred to her she might never see him again. A sudden and intense sense of loss hit her. It startled her to feel that way.
Her motto in life was to be prepared for all eventualities, so she’d have a back up plan no matter what happened. So if he didn’t come back, what would she do? The database would be on her plate entirely. She could cope with that, she had a working knowledge of spreadsheets and databases and could follow instructions. The bigger issue was the secret project would be left undone if he didn’t come back.
Before she left the office, she texted and reminded him she would wait for him in the wine bar near the apartment, adding they served free nibbles during happy hour. On her way, she grabbed groceries, ingredients for the evening meal.
At the wine bar she put her shopping under the bar, took
a high stool, and risked ordering two cocktails. Time ticked by.
When she was just about to give up and leave—having waited there an hour, and being hit on twice by older men—Draco suddenly appeared and sat on the stool beside her, acting as if they did this every night after work.
“Cheers.” He swigged liberally from the fancy glass set up for him.
Relief flooded through Lara. She tried to act as nonchalantly as possible. “Good meeting?”
Now that he’d turned up and she could breathe easier, her curiosity was up and running. He looked as if he had worries.
“Nightmare.” He shook his head and grabbed a handful of olives from the platter in front of them, popping them as if they were peanuts.
The guy was hungry. She smiled.
He chomped through the olives, ignoring the nuts. Lara began to wonder whether he’d have any appetite left for dinner. “You haven’t forgotten I’m cooking?”
“I haven’t forgotten. I’m here, right?” He reached for another olive.
She lifted her eyebrows.
“What?”
“I’ve never known a guy who liked olives before.”
He grinned and took another olive. After considering her silently for a moment he quizzed her. “How many guys have you known?”
Ouch. Lara didn’t know what to say. Not many. That was the truth. But she wasn’t sure she wanted him to know the intimate details of her non-love life. Her brothers hadn’t been around, having gone with their dad when their parent’s split, so she hadn’t met their friends. Then she’d gone to an all-girls boarding school. Since college there’d been a couple of brief encounters, including the necessary ridding herself of her virginity. Right now she only had one good male friend, and he was gay.