Deep Under (Tall, Dark and Deadly #4)(19)

My brow furrows. He wants to show me how to operate it? This new premise that includes me knowing what’s going on around me is something that has me eagerly joining him at the desk. “Okay,” he says, leaning down to punch a button on computer number one, and displaying a visual for my view.

“Is that the hotel lobby?” I ask, surprised.

“It is,” he says, and then, hitting the “Tab” key, he shows me how to change the view to several other locations. “It’s that easy to see every location I have live.” He straightens. “Unfortunately this is just what I could hack-”

“Hack?” I ask, turning to face him. “You hacked the hotel security system?”

“I did,” he confirms, glancing over at me, “and are you really sounding panicked about that, considering all Michael Alvarez does in his life?”

“I…well…I’m the one here in the hotel, not him.”

“Exactly,” he says. “You’re the one I’m protecting, and I told you I’ll do what is necessary to keep you safe. Unfortunately, the hotel doesn’t have cameras on our floor, which is an important view for me and you. I’ll have to install equipment tomorrow.”

“What if you get caught hacking or installing whatever you want to install?”

“I paid the right people to make sure I don’t.”

“Right,” I say. “Of course you did.”

“I told you,” he adds. “I have a plan. I always have a plan.” He softens his voice. “And that plan looks out for my interests, not his, and my interests, are your interests.”

“I can’t-”

“Know that,” he supplies. “Of course you can’t. Trust takes time.”

“Trust,” I say, my throat going a little dry. “That word is…”

“Is what?” he prods, his green eyes hooded, but somehow probing.

Frighteningly impossible, like he’s frighteningly appealing in too many ways to count, but I settle for a reply of, “Difficult,” and eager to change the subject, I motion to the desk. “What are the other computers for?”

“One of them is for you,” he surprises me by saying. “You’ll have the exact same views. And the third is my personal device.”

I turn to face him. “Why are you including me?”

“I’d tell you that it’s to earn your trust, which wouldn’t be untrue, but safety is about awareness. You need to know who and what is normal and right around you at all times. I’m also going to install an encrypted text message program on your computer and phone that you can use to communicate with me. We can use it to talk, should we need to.” He glances down at me again. “Eventually, maybe you’ll believe it’s really safe to say anything to me through that connection or in person.”

“Doubtful,” I confess.

“I’m persuasive,” he assures me with a wink that would really truly get his eyes gouged out if Alvarez saw it, which tells me there aren’t any cameras I don’t know about. At least, not in here. “Let me grab my clothes and get changed,” he adds, reaching up and loosening his tie. “Feel free to sit down and play around with the security feed.”

“You don’t have to work out with me.”

“I’m working out with you,” he insists, already walking to the suitcase on the bed, where he begins shrugging out of his jacket. “Have you tried out the gym here?”

“Not yet,” I say, leaning against the desk, my hands pressed to the wooden surface while my mouth goes a little dry at the way his white shirt hugs a broad, muscular chest. “I just got here this morning.”

“Considering the size of the private wing we’re in,” he says, flipping open his bag, “I’m surprised there isn’t a treadmill in one of the rooms. I’m sure we can have one delivered.”

“I like the weights in the gym,” I say. “Of course, we’re in a hotel. They might not have much to offer.”

“There’s a great gym a few miles from here,” he says, shutting his case, and tossing a hoodie on top. “If this one doesn’t make the grade, we can go there.” He grabs a stack of clothes and walks into the bathroom directly behind him, but doesn’t shut the door.

I stare after him, repeating the word “we”, that is oddly right and still so very wrong. This has to be a test, because there is no other reason, or way, that Michael would allow me to be in such intimate quarters with anyone. Unless…he’s that afraid of my sister, and he really feels Kyle is the answer to keep her away. That has to be it. This is all about Kara, and the idea that Michael’s this focused on her is unsettling. Or maybe it’s not a focus on her, but rather on me. On trusting me far less than I thought he did, which means I have to tiptoe with every step I take. I face the desk, my hands settling on the back of the leather chair. Maybe Kyle is telling the truth. Kyle told me Michael’s worried about Kara, which I believe. So was he telling me the truth when he said he’s not setting me up? Maybe he really is more worried about Michael reading more into his actions, or mine, than he is about Michael assuming actions in the absence of video, which leaves me conflicted. I don’t want to be filmed, but I know better than anyone how Michael’s creative mind can paint a person an enemy. But it’s my enemies I’m most worried about right now. Who is Kyle and what are his motives?