“I know it’s not ideal, Sawyer.”
Is she for real? “Not ideal?!” I stare at her like she’s sprouted horns. “Mom, it’s a fucking nightmare, and it’s ruining my life.”
“Wow. Tell me how you really feel,” Sydney says, lingering in the doorway of Mom’s home office.
“I didn’t know you’d be here.” My brow puckers as I look at Mom. “Magda sent me a message saying the meeting was happening here now.”
“It is,” Dad says, appearing from the direction of the kitchen. “We’re getting set up in the dining room.”
“Sydney and I are wedding planning,” Mom explains, beaming like it’s raining gold.
“Awesome,” I drawl, not attempting to hide my scowl.
“Are you always this grumpy?” Sydney asks. “Because I feel it’s fair I should know exactly what I’m getting myself into.”
I have zero patience for this shit right now. “We already talked about this and agreed we are on the same page. If you’ve changed your mind, feel free to bail.”
“Don’t mind him.” Mom loops her arm through Sydney’s, shooting me a warning look. “Sawyer’s not a morning person. Best to avoid him until he’s finished his run and had his coffee.”
I’m on the verge of telling her both those things have already happened when I spot the chastising expression on my father’s face. Buttoning my mouth, I force the words back down my throat and stride toward my father.
“This will go a lot easier if you lost the attitude and made an effort,” he says as we walk into the large dining room. Russell Chalmers, Techxet’s chief technology officer, is seated at the top of the long walnut table, tapping away on his laptop that is presently hooked up to the large wall-mounted TV.
“I said I’ll do it. Get off my case, old man.”
Russell stops typing for a second, wetting his lips and looking uncomfortable.
“Sawyer.” Dad’s clipped tone tells me I’m treading on shaky ground, and while I’m itching for a fight, I know better than to argue in front of his employee.
“I apologize. Can we discuss this later and just focus on the business at hand?”
“Agreed. Take a seat.”
I power up my tablet and busy myself responding to emails while the room slowly fills up.
“Sawyer.” A familiar voice has me lifting my head.
I do a double take as I drink in the tall, dark-haired guy, wearing trendy glasses, who is standing in front of me. “Jamison?” Disbelief oozes from my tone.
“In the flesh.”
“Dude, you’ve been working out.” As long as I’ve known him, Jamison was skinny as fuck, but that guy no longer exists. The man standing in front of me is broad and muscular, and he’s even changed his hair, wearing it in a trendy style that is long on top and short at the sides. Jamison did some work for me last summer on the down low, and he was efficient and discreet. It’s why I suggested his name when Dad asked me.
I suggested Xavier too, although I’m questioning the wisdom of it now, for purely selfish reasons. The truth is, Xavier is our best chance at finding this hacker, and we need him. Whatever personal issues we have must be set aside. This is bigger than both of us. Bigger than my parents losing the lifestyle they’ve grown accustomed to.
“Is everyone here?” Dad asks Russell a half hour later, when all but two chairs are occupied.
“We’re waiting for one more,” Russell says, rubbing the back of his neck. “Xavier Daniels.” He glances at his watch, and his brow puckers.
“Is there a problem?” Dad asks.
“His boss called me last night. Said he had tried to resign, but—”
“He what?” I blurt, feeling ill because I know this is because of me.
All eyes lock on me. I clear my throat. “Xavier is a good friend, and he’s one of this country’s best hackers. He never mentioned this to me, and we need him.”
“Which is why I’m here, friend,” Xavier says, his tone dripping with condescension. My ex ambles into the room looking like he lost a fight with a shrub on his way here. He’s missing his usual Mohawk. A mess of dark waves rests against his forehead, the ends dyed a vibrant purple color that is new.
Xavier changes his hair color as regularly as some people change their socks. Often, it’s tied to his emotions, so I can’t say I’m surprised. But I am surprised at the wrinkled blue and green shirt with the large ketchup stain on the front and the dirty black combat-style pants he is wearing with battered Chucks.
Xavier has a wacky sense of style, but he likes to look his best. It is most unlike him to turn up anywhere looking like he just crawled out of bed and pulled on the first things he found. Especially not to an important work meeting.
Add in the visible ink on both arms, the lip ring, and brow piercing, and my father has already made up his mind about him. I can almost smell Dad’s distaste from here, and it rubs me the wrong way.
“Did you not look in a mirror this morning, son?” Dad says, not concealing the disdain from his voice.
“You have a problem with how I look?” Xavier skims his eyes down his body in a “I don’t give a fuck” manner.
I want to speak out, but I already got criticized for mouthing off in front of the staff, so I opt for sending Xavier a “cease and desist” look instead, which he promptly ignores.
“I wasn’t planning on being here,” Xavier continues, eyeballing my father with a nonchalant look. “I had resigned, but the seriousness of the situation was impressed upon me, and I was asked to reconsider.” He straightens up, pointedly not looking at me. “I’m sorry if my presentation isn’t to your liking. I can assure you it in no way impacts my significant badassery with a computer, but it’s no skin off my back if you don’t want me here. If I’m in the way, you only need to say it,” he adds, finally looking at me as he delivers a message to both Hunts in the room.
“It’s probably for the best if you leave,” Dad says because he’s a bigoted idiot.
I can’t hold back anymore, and it seems my father needs a little reminder of who Xavier is. My chair scrapes off the hardwood floor as I stand. “Don’t move,” I say to Xavier, as he turns to leave. “Dad, you remember that situation we had in Rydeville?” I’m being cryptic on purpose because we have an audience. “And the event that happened in Wyoming?”
Dad’s lips pinch together as he curtly nods.
“Xavier was the man who made a lot of that happen. He has mad skills, and you need him on this team. Trust me. He is the best at what he does, and I know if anyone can help us uncover this person it’s him.” Dad already knows this. When I lined up the interview for Xavier in the new Boston office, I got Dad to put in a good word for him, and I told him everything last year, so this is some bullshit, and I’m not having it.
Dad payrolled a lot of the Rydeville operation because he felt an obligation to get revenge on the elite for what they’d done to Dani Lauder, Jackson’s sister. Dad is best friends with Travis Lauder, and Dad’s suggestion to contact Montgomery’s company, when they were looking for a robotics expert to partner with them on a project, helped to set a lot of things in motion.