“What the fuck is going on?” Xavier says, eyeing his lover suspiciously. The other guy turns rigidly still, lowering his eyes to the desk.
“Xavier.” Jamison straightens up, smiling widely. “You’re back early. I wasn’t expecting you until much later.” He scowls as he notices me. “I thought you were meeting your boss in Boston?”
“I was,” Xavier lies. “I called Hunt on the way because we need to work on something.”
“Who are you?” I ask, stepping forward as I drill a look at the young guy.
“He’s one of the student interns,” Jamison says, slapping the guy on the back before he can answer me. He smiles at him. “Thanks for bringing me lunch. I’ll continue your training some other time. Head back to the office.”
The guy bends down, collecting a backpack off the ground. He clutches it to his chest and moves around the desk. I slam my hand down on his shoulder as he moves to brush past me. “You don’t come here again. This place is off-limits.”
He lifts his chin, piercing me with startling blue eyes behind stylish black frames. “Apologies, Mr. Hunt. It won’t happen again.” Removing my hand, I let him leave, staring after him for a few seconds.
“Why was he here?” Xavier throws his bag down on the couch and stalks toward his boyfriend. He whips his head around. “Where’s everyone else?”
“Argon brought me lunch, and everyone else went to the sushi place around the corner.”
“My father was implicit in his instructions. Complete privacy means no one else is permitted to know what we are doing here or come here.” I fold my arms, narrowing my eyes at Jamison. He might have compromised the project, and he’ll have to be removed. Xavier won’t be happy, I’m sure, but I’ll try to contain my glee when it happens. I make a note to talk to Dad.
“You could’ve ordered delivery,” Xavier says.
Jamison’s nostrils flare. “You’re making a big deal out of nothing. The guy has been hanging off my coattails since he started his internship. I’ve been showing him stuff in the evenings. He’s a good kid. Super smart with amazing skills. He offered to bring me lunch, and I didn’t see the harm. I’ve just made a breakthrough, and I didn’t want to stop to grab food.”
“You couldn’t have led with that?” Xavier asks the same time I say, “What breakthrough?”
His eyes light up. “I found a digital footprint, and I was able to trace it. I got a name. Hang on. I’ll print it out.”
Goddamn it. Dad won’t agree to remove him from the team now. Still, he deserves to be cautioned for letting an outsider in.
The printer spits out a few pages, and he hands it to Xavier, excitement burning in his eyes. I lean over Xavier’s shoulder, my brows climbing to my hairline as I read the report. Xavier and I exchange a look, and Jamison scowls again. “You know this Hamilton guy?”
“We’ll take it from here.” I don’t trust him anymore, and I don’t want to divulge any further information.
“You can head back to HQ,” Xavier says. “We need the place to ourselves.”
Jamison frowns, stepping around the desk. He places his hands on Xavier’s hips. “Why does it feel like I’m in the doghouse? I got a lead. This is what we’ve been looking for. You should be happy.”
“I am happy.” Xavier steps back, and Jamison’s hands drop from his hips. “This is good work. Thanks, Jamison. We’ll take it from here.”
Hurt glimmers in his eyes, and he crosses his arms over his chest. “Is there something I don’t know, X? You have something to tell me?” Accusation is crystal clear in his tone.
“It is nothing like that,” Xavier says. “Let’s just keep work stuff separate from our personal stuff. I’ll call you later when I’m done, okay?”
“Sure.” Leaning in, he grabs the back of Xavier’s head, planting a hard kiss on his mouth.
I visualize slamming his face into the wall, but it only makes me feel marginally better.
I glare at him as he grabs his bag and his jacket, tempted to trip him as he walks by me with a smug smile on his face. How did I ever like this guy? I can’t fucking stand him and his arrogance.
“What was that about?” I ask after Jamison has left the apartment. “He knows not to bring anyone around here, and he’s never been the rule-breaker type.”
“I know.” He flops into his chair, logging in to the computer. “I don’t know what he was thinking.”
“I’m thinking maybe we can’t trust him.” I take a seat at the desk beside him, powering on the computer.
“Hang on here a second, Hunt.” Xavier pins me with a ferocious look. “I know he shouldn’t have let Argon in here, but let’s not overreact. He has just uncovered the first lead, and last year, he helped you discover Nessa was Montgomery’s daughter and he came through with other intel that helped in taking down Mathers and Montgomery. He’s not our enemy.”
I harrumph. “I’m pretty sure he’s mine.”
Xavier sighs, clawing a hand through his hair. “Don’t let your personal feelings get in the way of what we need to do.”
“I could say the same to you.” I tap in my details and wait for the screen to load.
“I’m not arguing with you over this. We have work to do. Let’s concentrate on that.”
The first thing I do is check out this Argon intern, but I find no red flags. Argon Sanderon is a straight-A student from a local private school. His parents are of Greek descent, hence the weird name. His father died when he was a kid, and he’s an only child.
Leaning back in my chair, I tap my pen on my chin. Something tickles my awareness, but it’s just out of reach. There is something about that guy that has my spidey senses on full alert. I snort out a laugh, ignoring the side-eye Xavier throws my way, even if I know he’d get a kick out of my thought.
Seven hours later, we call it a night. Both of us are tired and cranky. While we managed to hack into Hamilton’s and Mathers’s home computers, the investigation yielded nothing. We figured as much. These guys don’t hide shit in plain sight. The fact we easily broke through their firewalls implies we were let in. “We need to search their homes and offices,” I say, stifling a yawn as I switch off my computer. “A lot of the elite are old school when it comes to hiding shit they don’t want discovered.” I stack up the empty takeout containers, carrying them into the kitchen and dumping them in the trash.
“I think you’re right.” Xavier yawns, rubbing his tired eyes. “Hamilton will be tricky to get to. He’s the elite president. His home and his office will be heavily guarded.”
“We start with Mathers, and that may give us everything we need.”
He nods, yawning again as he stands. “I’m beat.” He stretches his arms over his head and arches his back. His shirt lifts, exposing a strip of toned stomach, and my eyes linger.
“Me too. It’s been a long day.”
He clears his throat, and I jerk my head up, embarrassed to be caught ogling him. We stare at one another. The weight of everything that is unsaid bearing down on both of us. I would love nothing more than to collapse into bed with him and hold him during the night.