Chapter 10: Chapter 10

Misty

I let my mind wander as I flipped on some music and let it fill the apartment as I continued my task. I wondered about Adelaide, about what I was going to do with the mess with Cricket’s uncle. I had it good here, honest living, and a place to call our own. What I earned being an illegal hacker was child's play. Mostly a woman wanting proof of cheating or whatever. I didn’t hack for hacking's sake, I needed a motive, and piece of shit males were my specialty. I took a sick thrill in taking them down and watching the drama unfold. Truth was, I’d do it for free under the right circumstances, somehow my contact had gotten out to some of the more privileged, and every cent I made from that I put in savings. I could make this haphazard apartment a home, but something always had me pausing and holding out. At some point, now that Cricket’s uncle had found us, I’d need that money to disappear. As much as I hated the idea of uprooting Cricket, I knew eventually I wouldn’t have a choice, and yesterday’s incident just drove that point home. I let the thoughts swarm in this first moment of peace I had carved out in my day.

“Boo!”

I shrieked and spun around, brandishing my sponge and a spoon I had been washing, in my defense. The only thing I found was my daughter, suppressing giggles, and my shock turned into narrowed eyes. She loved doing this; she wanted me to have grey hair and an early grave. To her credit, it worked every time. I shouted out a string of Spanish that had her scurrying to her room as I reprimanded her. My eyes followed her retreat, only to get stuck on the hulk of a naked man standing at the end of the hall with nothing but a too small towel wrapped around his waist. His salt and pepper hair, dripping wet, as his concerned silver eyes bore into mine. My breath caught in my throat as he strode towards me. He may be in his forties, his time on the road making him weathered and appearing older, but this man had aged like that fine expensive bottle of wine Adelaide had hijacked from one of her fancy galas to share with me. I caught myself about to bite my lip and succumbed to that need I hadn’t placated in far too long.

“Everything okay?” he asked, walking across the room to stand in front of me.

I swallowed, and he noted the movement of my throat before I forced myself to clear it.

“Um, yeah, just my mischievous little miscreant playing tricks on her mama,” I let him know. He grunted in response as my eyes lowered, catching the water-dappled scars that slashed across his chest. A bear claw, no doubt, my fingers flexed wanting to touch them but I instead balled them into fists causing the sponge to expel suds onto the floor. He looked down at it and stepped back, giving me room, no doubt thinking his proximity made me uncomfortable. Little did he know he had a very different effect on me. I shook my head, dispelling the images of the man I wanted to climb like a damn tree, and forced my eyes back up.

“All good,” I told him, but the vague hoarseness in my voice betrayed me. I cleared my throat again. “Sorry she disturbed your shower, I’ll make sure she knows no more games like that right now,” I promised.

“No harm done,” he said, turning back to the bathroom. I went back to my dishes, swearing at myself in my head. What was wrong with me? That's right, it had been a long time since I’d been properly fucked. Motherhood had no time off, I didn’t want to pawn my kid off for a romp in the sack. No doubt it would leave me dissatisfied anyway. One-night stands were always about their dicks. A few minutes later as I was finishing up, Beck came out fully dressed in a black T-shirt that hugged his muscles and jeans that hugged his thick thighs and ass, thank heavens he was dressed, but in reality, my mind was wondering what he was packing and if his age meant he had the kind of experience that ensured he knew how to please a woman properly. I distracted myself by opening the fridge and grabbing the last two beers.

“Guess I need to refill,” I said sheepishly, passing him one. He took it with a nod of thanks.

“I’ll run down and get more if you want,” he said, taking a swig.

I shrugged. “Makes no difference to me unless you want to get drunk; nobody gets drunk alone on my watch,” I said, giving him a grin.

“Noted,” he said.

I wandered up to my desk and took a seat. Clicking through everything, ensuring all the programs were running as they should. My back straightened, as I considered what I could be doing right now. Then a spur of courage hit me and I was typing my way into the mainframe of Alpha Enterprises.

“What are you doing?” he asked, obviously noticing the shift.

“Step one into annihilating this piece of shit… we are going to need more beer,” I let him know I had changed my mind on the indifference I had placed on the matter. If I couldn’t climb the tree in front of me, I was going to be constructive with my time and get a little tipsy. Liquid courage would do me some good. I needed to get in and get settled for the long wait or as us hackers liked to call it, ‘living off the land’ before I did some real damage.

I was aware of Beck sliding on his leather jacket as I continued typing.

“I’ll be right back. Keep the doors locked.” He paused at the counter and rifled around, a moment later he had set a phone number, written on the back of a receipt, in front of me. “Put it in your phone now, just in case,” he ordered and I slid out my phone without challenging him. No reason to be argumentative with your hunky off limits babysitter. “Good girl,” he said, the deep gravel of his voice catching me off guard. He had simply turned and walked away as I bit my lip, having unlocked a new thing about myself I wasn’t aware of before. Praise kink? Me into that? No, that was ridiculous. I had just practically seen him naked except for the naughty bits. I shook the thought off, only to find myself wondering just how well-endowed the man was yet again. Nope, nope, not going there. Then I thought of innocent Adelaide, whose mind wasn’t at all innocent. If it were her, I’d tell her to let her mind wander; there was no harm in fantasies. That's when reality hit: Adelaide had that innocence stolen from her if I had guessed correctly. I wondered if she’d still have that quiet girl dirty mind she always walked around with as if she was simply contemplating the weather. She was one of those who could read the filthiest smut anywhere and appear to be reading the dictionary. This asshole had probably taken that thrill from her, and he was going to fucking, well ,pay! My fingers moved more quickly over the keys. Creedon Macalister was going down.