Technical Threat (Westin Force #4) - Julie Trettel Page 0,45

to have some time alone with her.

“Yeah, sure. Come on.”

I led her up to my room and let her in before knocking on Nonna’s door next to mine.

She answered in her nightgown and bunny slippers. Her short spikey hair was a vibrant shade of dark pink.

“Wow,” I said.

“Don’t you just love it? There’s a fabulous little place in the shopping center next door. Maegann did a fantastic job. I’m so pleased with it.”

I smiled. “You look gorgeous.” I leaned down and kissed her cheek.

She smacked me. “You’re a smooth talker, but I can tell you’re stressed. What happened?”

“I don’t even know where to begin to answer that.”

“Is Susan with you?”

“Yeah. We’re going to talk for a bit. I think she’s going to get her own room to sleep though.” I frowned. I didn’t want her to stay anywhere else but in my bed and my arms, but I was too afraid to press for that.

“Hogwash,” Nonna said. “If she’s not ready to stay with you, then she can have a slumber party with me tonight.”

“I’ve given her options. She’s a big girl who can decide for herself, but thanks. I’ll let her know.”

She walked into the room and returned with a spare key card. She pressed it into my hands. “Just in case I fall asleep.”

I hugged her. She was tiny, barely five foot tall and a bit round. I towered over her, but when her arms wrapped around my waist and she held me tight, I felt like a small child in her arms.

“Mating is a bumpy road, but the journey is worth it, my boy. Hang in there.”

I kissed the top of her head. “Thanks, Nonna. You might have to keep reminding me of that.”

She chuckled. “You know I will.

I waited until her door closed between us and then entered my room next door. Susan was sitting in the armchair in the far corner. Her knees were pulled to her chest as her arms wrapped around them. She looked so vulnerable that it fueled a possessive need to protect her.

I dropped my bag and gear on one bed and then sat down on the edge of the one closest to her.

“Are you okay?” I asked her.

“I don’t know,” she said honestly.

She didn’t fully trust me. I wasn’t sure I blamed her either. Finding out that Susan was the hacker I was tracking had hurt, but logically I knew that wasn’t really her fault. Just as I had profiled the hacker differently, I’d already begun making assumptions about her. I had no doubt she held all the qualities I had defined her with, but there was still so much more lying behind those big brown eyes.

“Will you tell me about why you were attacking Westin Force servers? You were looking for info on the Raglan, right?”

She bit her lip and nodded.

“But why?” I asked. I didn’t want her anywhere near the Raglan. I hated her even knowing they existed.

“You’re angry,” she observed.

“Not at you,” I confessed. “I’m not. I mean sure you literally drove me insane until I packed up my grandmother for backup and drove for two days into a potentially dangerous situation.” I ran a hand through my hair. I was obsessed with her even before I knew she was mine. “Silas was an idiot for agreeing to this,” I muttered knowing I had bested him to make it happen.

“Who’s Silas?” she asked.

“My team leader.”

That should have been classified information. I hadn’t sealed my bond with her yet, but in my heart it didn’t matter. She was my mate and mates had certain privileges and information that wasn’t otherwise common knowledge.

“Why didn’t he come with you if you thought it might be dangerous?”

I sighed. “Because I insisted. You cracked an encrypted network, Susan. I couldn’t just ignore that.”

“Does this sort of thing happen often?”

I looked at her like she was crazy. “Never.”

It suddenly dawned on me that we were talking openly about Force stuff. I knew then I was completely losing my mind. I probably should have called Silas to come bail my ass out of this mess, because I couldn’t think straight when it came to Susan.

I got up and rummaged through my bag pulling out a dampener and plugging it into the wall.

“What’s that?” she asked.

“Security,” I mumbled.

“Is it a recorder?”

“No, quite the opposite actually. This is a dampener. It was designed to keep unwanted heightened hearing out of our business.”

“Huh?”

“It puts a sort of force field around the room so that no one outside