HAYLEY

I’m still smiling by the time I walk out of class, and that’s been my mood since I left a half-dead Davis in his hotel room. To be honest, I could barely pay attention as my world history professor talked about the Tang Dynasty. My head is in that post-sex-honeymoon-of-a-possible-relationship cloud.

It’s why I don’t see the blonde woman until she stands in front of me. She’s smiling, but I’ve learned how to size someone up in seconds. She’s a shark under that girl-next-door appearance. It’s only highlighted by the pencil skirt and white blouse tucked in.

“I’m Gwen. I know this is probably a bad time but my boss was adamant.”

“Your boss?”

The woman frowns then takes in the crowd that’s still spilling out into the hallways. “It’s probably best if we talk about this in a more private space.”

If this isn’t stranger danger then I don’t know what is. “Who is your boss?”

“Duke Alexander.”

My phone buzzes with a text from Davis. Call me.

I type back fast. What did you do?

To Gwen I say, “I don’t know why he would need to talk to me.”

Her frown deepens. “You’re his client now.”

My phone buzzes this time with a call. I hold up my finger to the woman and answer. “Let me guess, you wanted to tell me I’m now a client of Duke Alexander?”

“That was the bad news I wanted to tell you earlier.”

“For a man who prides himself on getting consent every step of the way, this is…” I can’t find the right word. “I didn’t ask you to do this.”

“It’s a safeguard. Listen, where are you?”

His tone is coaxing, and I can almost feel myself giving in to it. “No. That’s not how we’re going to play this. You’re not going to talk to me in calm overtones when you completely overstepped here.”

“The FBI knows about you.”

My heart stops. That’s not an exaggeration. It stops, right there. All these months I’ve been careful. I know nothing is foolproof, but how did they find out about me? “When? How?”

His sigh fills the silence. “They were following me.”

“The library,” I say without needing to phrase it as a question.

The FBI found out about me when he’d hunted me down, let me steep in my own fear to find out whether or not he was fucked. Anger sinks into my bones, both at myself and him. “I can’t afford, Duke.”

“I’m footing the bill since this is all on me.”

“Yes, it is.”

He goes silent at that. “Hayley—”

“His…” I try to think of a good description since I don’t actually know what the woman is. “…his minion is here to talk to me. I’m going to, because I can’t get pulled in. I’ve just put my life back on track and I can’t have another detour.”

“Hayley—”

“Bye, Davis.”

I end the call and close my eyes to try and rein in the low simmer of rage. Once again Davis was worried about his own neck first. Yeah, I told him I didn’t want to hear any bad news, but this is huge. This was the FBI breathing down my neck, because Davis and I weren’t the same. We weren’t on the same side at all. I was fighting for a better life for my co-workers, my neighbors, my aunts, cousins. He’d been saving his own ass all these months.

“Hayley?” The woman’s voice is softer than before, kinder.

I put a smile on my face and turn to her. “The canteen should still be open this time of night. We can go there.”

“Are you sure? My boss can be pretty insistent, but I can hold him off if you need some time.”

I’m already shaking my head before she finishes. “I just want to put this whole thing behind me.”

I’m not sure if that means cutting ties with my hacker just yet. It’s probably for the best, especially now I’m not invisible anymore, and it’s Davis’s fault.