I can’t bring myself to challenge that statement, not when I know all about Jonah’s near-death and Sawyer’s part in saving his life. Which means the argument is over, and I’ve lost.
“Fine. But I can’t promise I won’t punch him.” It’s mostly a joke meant to vent whatever frustration I still have in my system after Jonah took the fight out of me.Also, I’d probably break my fingers trying to punch Sawyer, and I need them for typing.
Jonah snorts. “And we’ll all be rooting for you when you do, knowing he probably deserved it.”
I can’t help but laugh, mainly because I know Jonah and Andy would be first in line to watchthatinteraction go down. It’s just the kind of relationship they have, these three stooges.
“So, we all good here?” Jonah asks once my laughter dies down.
“Yeah, I’ll play along,” I promise him, mostly meaning it, though still doubting my ability to stay on friendly terms with Sawyer.
“Keep safe, Maddie.”
“Thanks, Jonah. Take care.”
When we hang up, I feel better about my safety, although not so much about my sanity.
Sawyer still has too much of an effect on me. Under normal circumstances, I would never have even considered, let alone agreed, to being near him. But in all my history as a hacker, I’ve never stumbled upon something quite as precarious as this case. These dark waters I’m navigating are full of predators that will rip me to shreds if they ever find out I’m paddling through.
If Daniel Harlow gets a sniff of my blood? I’m as good as dead.
So, if Sawyer’s willing to act out this friendship thing for the sake of keeping me safe, I’ll suck it up and play along until I’m back on solid land.
Sawyer
My phone keeps ringing despite my attempts to ignore it, and I swear under my breath because I know I can’t keep pretending the vibrations across the small square table are mini earthquakes.
“What?”
“Now, is that really the way to greet your boss?” Jonah sounds equally annoyed, but I am beyond caring. Heck, after what went down with Maddie just now, I halfwanthim to fire me.
“Don’t pull rank on me, Lieutenant. I’m not in the mood.” I take a sip of water and jab my fork into a piece of gnocchi harder than required and chew more aggressively than the soft potato dumpling requires, biting my tongue in the process.
“What in the world happened, Sawyer?” Jonah’s tone just gets angrier. “Why am I getting a call from Maddie about howneitherof you is happy with the arrangement? How does she even know about the arrangement?”
“Sheis one of the best hackers on the goddamn planet, Joe. How do you think?” I groan in frustration, pushing my barely touched plate away. “She ambushed me. It was fucking brutal.”
“What do you mean?”
“Maddie hacked my phone. Pulled our text messages about her uncle and the arrangement.” I find myself struggling to hold onto my anger as the words leave my mouth.
Maddie’s crackling gaze, her sly smile, and that smart, teasing mouth of hers.
Your intentions are easy to read, the fucking audacity of her…It’s infuriating, Abernathy, not sexy!I scold myself, my grip on the fork tightening as I attempt to temper down the heat rushing through my veins.
“Are you serious?” Jonah sounds equally surprised and amused, and it just makes it harder to keep being mad at Maddie.
“She’s trying to take control of the situation. She isn’t going to accept our help unless it’s on her terms.”
“You don’t have to like it, Commander, you just have to do it,” Jonah repeats one of my favorite rank-pulling lines.
“Don’t worry. I wasn’t planning on aborting mission.” I pull my plate back to me, forcing another bite. “I just need to wind down.”
“I know. I trust you, Sawyer, or you wouldn’t be the one out there right now.”
“Yep.” He trusts me. Trusts me to keep Maddie out of harm’s way and to keep my hands to myself while I’m doing it.
“How’s your mom?” Jonah asks. The simplest and most expected of questions, but it always triggers a dull ache in my chest.