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“Just a little security,” I tried to reassure her. I didn’t like the odd, protective feeling swirling inside me.
“Oh, okay. I don’t have anything on me but my phone, keys, and wallet,” she replied, looking at me as she lowered her hood.
“Then this will go quickly,” Phoenix said as Rocky obeyed, standing straight and putting both arms out. “Take the items out of your pocket and hold onto them.”
The look on her face amped up that feeling inside me. It made me watch Phoenix a little too closely as he frisked her to make sure she had no weapons on her. I didn’t like the way he patted around her hips and stomach and ran his hands down her legs and around her ankles. Her jeans were very tight, so obviously she had nothing inside them.
“She’s good,” he replied, stepping back.
“I told you,” she murmured.
Viper nodded. “Yeah, we figured. Just a precaution.”
“I would never be stupid enough to come into a houseful of big, huge vamps and try anything,” Rocky said quietly.
“Come on, the office is this way,” I said, just wanting her away from them and nearer to me. When I heard Viper and Phoenix start to whisper about her face as we walked off, I cleared my throat and spoke loudly. “So, no trouble finding the place?”
She shook her head as I opened my office door. “Not at all.”
I ushered the girls inside. Rocky went to grab her hood and put it back over her head. In a move bold even for me, I grabbed her wrist and said, “Please don’t.”
Her eyes widened and she looked at my hand on her wrist, which I quickly removed. She slowly let go of the hood and let it drop to her back.
“You don’t need to hide here. I don’t know why you wear that hood, anyway. It hides your pretty eyes and hair.” I smiled reassuringly at her.
“And my face,” she murmured as a blush crept across her scarred cheeks.
“You don’t need to hide that either,” I said.
“Yeah, you’re very pretty,” Jemini said with a smile. “Beautiful bone structure.”
Rocky’s eyes widened again. From the look on her face, nobody had ever paid her a compliment—not recently, anyway. Made me a little sick to my stomach. If she didn’t have the lines of scarring on her cheeks and neck, she could probably model. Of course, I understood why she was self-conscious, but I didn’t want her hiding under that hood while she was here. I wanted her to feel comfortable in our presence.
“Thanks,” she replied quietly. “Now show me what’s wrong.” She pointed at the computer.
The ladies pulled up chairs on either side of me while I showed them the viruses.
“That’s more spyware. Did you try the extraction codes I used before?” She stared me in the eye.
I nodded. “Yes, they didn’t work.” God, her scent was distracting me. It was something floral like roses but also citrusy as well. It was intoxicating. “Multiple patches and firewall updates aren’t working, either.”
“You mind if I try something?” she asked.
“Of course not, that’s why we called you.” I got up and we traded seats.
She opened up a program and typed code quickly on the screen. I watched in fascination at how quickly her fingers moved and wondered what must be going on in that brilliant mind of hers. It was hard to pay attention to what she was doing because I just wanted to stare at her. I hoped Jemini was paying attention.
“Have you been on the Dark Web recently?” Rocky asked as she typed.
“Yes, I like to monitor criminal activity there.”
She stopped her keystrokes and looked at me. “For what purpose?”
Before she could answer, we heard a lot of noise coming from the main area of the clubhouse. It didn’t sound like an emergency, but something was definitely going on.
“Go see what’s happening, please?” I asked Jemini.
“On it,” she replied, getting up and rushing out of the office.
