“And if Hunter has a say, Kyle won’t be able to lift a gaming remote in the next decade, much less hack into Byte’s life,” Ghost added.
“I agree. Can we get back to the office? I want to take Aria and Tori to breakfast.” Seven asked.
“Sounds great. Me and Allison have some shopping to do. It’s not helping ease her nerves with us moving without our furniture.”
“When is it arriving?”
“Next week…”
“Then let’s go see our women,” Ghost said as he started the engine. “We have a more enjoyable mission that I think we all can get behind now.”
“Home to our lasses,” Seven agreed.
CHAPTERSIX
Hunter felt like he’d just stepped out of a Jason Bourne movie. They’d been kidnapped, but not hurt. They’d been warned, but not threatened… not really.
And for what? Some enigma that he’d never heard of… but Kyle had. He not only had heard about her, but he was searching for her. Was it to gloat that he’d done the impossible? Was there a nefarious reason for his search?
What had he gotten them into? At least the kidnapping happened when Hunter had Kyle and not his parents. But honestly, none of them should’ve been taken… not if there were criminals involved. Hunter had been raised with a healthy view of power. Those that had it knew how to exert it. Those who wanted it would take it at any cost, lives included, and he wasn’t tough enough to fight off three, or perhaps more, assailants. He worked out regularly. He had to with sitting twelve hours a day. He didn’t want a dad’s bod before he was thirty or before he became a dad. So he lifted weights, did strength training cardio, and ran. Yet none of that would measure up to the men they’d encountered. He was comfortable and secure at his five foot eleven. Most women he dated were in the five-five to five-seven-foot range. Even with heels, rarely did his date tower over him. That wasn’t the case with his captors. He could feel their breath around his temple, meaning they were well over six feet. They were not evenly matched.
Who was this GigaByte, and how was his brother involved? There was only one way to find out. He’d tried to talk with Kyle the previous evening but they were coming down from an adrenaline rush, and he didn’t push it when Kyle said he didn’t want to talk. That crash was long over now. It was time for answers.
Kyle was still asleep in the queen-size bed next to his. Peacefully asleep. The boy sleeping before him was a kid. He was struggling to find his own way. Hunter remembered those days… What it was like to fumble through life. He’d never want to repeat those years or their uncertainties.
“Wake up,” Hunter called to his brother.
“No,” Kyle grumbled.
“We need to talk about last night.”
“No, we don’t. I’ve taken care of it.”
Once they’d arrived at the hotel, Kyle had immediately sent a private and direct message to the client. He didn’t give him a lot of details, but made it clear he was done. That he hadn’t found her, but her people had found him. Kyle emphasized that the client would need to find someone more skilled than himself. The client hadn’t responded, so he felt one hundred percent confident that their problem was solved. He and Hunter were safe.
“Not good enough. I want details, starting with who this GigaByte is and why they think you are tracking her.”
“She’s nobody. I’m done looking for her—so we’re not in any danger.”
“Do you hear yourself, Kyle? You are looking for a criminal. How do you even know this person?”
“I don’t,” Kyle said while pulling the blanket over his head.
He yelled in protest when Hunter ripped the blanket off the bed.
“Hey!”
“Get up, Kyle. I’m not joking. We need to talk.”
“Hunter!”
“Kyle!” Hunter snapped. “We need to get this settled before Mom and Dad return.”
“It is settled. Just drop it.”
Hunter wasn’t sure how else to handle a bratty teenager. He couldn’t punish and ground him, despite the desire to do so. He couldn’t force the boy to talk. There was only one thing left to do. Do his own research into this GigaByte.
Where to start?