Soon enough, Ace trailed Ruby toward the command center with Liam by his side. They might as well have been her shadow and he didn’t mind one bit. He’d be happy to tail her, even after this assignment was wrapped. He only hoped they were bringing her even a bit of comfort, knowing she could count on them to protect her body, if not her finances.
“Okay.” Ruby cracked her knuckles as she contorted herself into her chair again. “Priorities are deconstructing the change subroutine to come up with a patch, then tracing the packet trail to identify the physical location of machines used to launch the cyberattack.”
JRad shook his head. “My most urgent need is some sleep. I can’t be of use to you if I’m not fresh. So I have to admit that now that I’m stuffed, I’m used up. I’m going to take a nap.”
“Why do I feel like this is a trap?” Ruby narrowed her eyes at her mentor.
“Because in four hours, when I get back, you’re going to debrief me on the progress you’ve made and the revised priority list. Liam here is going to ignore your protests and take you upstairs to put you to bed. Over his shoulder if necessary. And once you’re there, Ace is going to do whatever it takes—including tying you up—to get you to stay in his bed.”
Ruby glared at JRad. “Traitor.”
“I only want what’s best for you, kid.”
“You mean rest?” Liam asked. “She can’t keep doing that level of work if she can’t see straight.”
“Yeah. Rest. And whatever else she’s been denying herself that might help her to relax some.” JRad didn’t budge when Ruby looked as if she might stab him with one of the jeweled dagger letter openers in the Lord of the Rings mug turned pen holder on her desk. “Don’t make me call Lily. You know how intuitive she is. Not to mention unafraid of sharing her opinion when it comes to her friends’ wellbeing. I’m sure she’d have a lot more to say about whatever is going on here than I just did.”
JRad crossed his arms, the silver rivets on the leather cuff hugging one of them glinting in the can lighting from overhead. It wasn’t a suggestion. It was an order.
Ace grinned. “He’s not only smart, he’s fucking brilliant. Listen to the man.”
Before he could fully process the impact JRad’s suggestions had on Liam, his partner leaned down and laid his palms flat on the desk, trapping Ruby so he could stare directly into her eyes. Without asking, he said, “I’m setting a timer. Not a minute beyond four hours. Be ready.”
Ruby swallowed hard, but nodded.
Ace thought it might take the entire remainder of the shift before his dick would allow him to face them without making a scene, so he quickly dove into a seat at the boardroom table and tucked beneath it, prepared to keep watch from that outpost.
He’d only ever heard Liam use that tone with him before, and in private, but Ruby seemed to respond to it every bit as eagerly as Ace did.
Holy fucking shit.
JRad looked between Ace, Liam, and Ruby. He nodded once, then ambled out of the command center, whistling like he hadn’t completely rewritten the rules of the game they’d been playing for months.