Razor: A Bad Boy Stepbrother Romance(62)

He kissed me again. “Thank you for sticking with me in this. The easy thing would’ve been to just turn me away or let me stay a night and send me off, but just know that I’m grateful for it. And I’m sorry you couldn’t use your fifteen minutes of fame to boost your career.”

“Why would I abandon the man that I love in his time of need?” I asked. “Even if he deserved it by leaving me all alone at the worse possible time.”

“Ugh. Don’t remind me.” Mason massaged my arm gently. “I don’t know what the hell I was thinking.”

“Maddy was definitely something else,” I said.

Mason groaned. “Please.”

I grinned. “Well hopefully she gets put in an Asylum so she can some help. She definitely needs it. ”

Mason laughed. “It’s called a mental institution.”

“Even though she doesn’t deserve it, I do hope she gets the help that she needs.”

Mason pulled me into a warm embrace and kissed my forehead. “God, let’s hope so.”



A few days later . . .



“I have a surprise for you,” Mason announced from the table he was sitting at with his laptop in front of him. He’d been typing for the past hour, driving me absolutely crazy.

I suspected whatever he was doing was important, because when I complained at him to type more lightly, he just ignored me and typed even faster.

I looked up from the newspaper I was flipping through. I didn’t know why I was reading it, it was written in Spanish, but I could make out a few words here and there and it was kind of an interesting way to try to learn another language while Mason was absorbed with whatever it was he was doing.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“Well, I can tell with how you’ve been acting that a life on the run just isn’t for you, even though you won’t come out and say it.”

Damn, I thought. Was it really that obvious? “Well, you’re kind of right to be honest. Why, what’s the plan?”

Mason grinned. “You’re not going to believe it.”

“Tell me.”

Mason grinned even wider.

He loved withholding information from me until it drove me insane. But I assumed this must be good news — I hadn’t seen him this happy in a while.

“Well I was thinking about what you said about Dad, about him finally realizing I’d done the right thing. Well, I gave him a call, and he’s helped broker a deal for my legal troubles.”

My mouth was open so wide a whale could jump through it. “Say what?”

Mason nodded, his dimpled smile reminding me of a beautiful sunrise. “You’re looking at a free man, baby!”

Whooping for joy, I jumped up from the bed and ran to his side, hugging him against me. “So when can we go back home?!” I cried.

“Right away, but,” Mason raised a finger to calm me, “there’s one catch, but it’s not a big deal.”

My jubilation evaporated like a drop of water on a hot day, even though he’d just said it was nothing serious. “What?”

“I have to agree to become a Cyber Security Consultant,” he informed, “and if I’m ever caught hacking again,” he made a slit motion across his throat, “the deal is off. I go to jail. Shadow isn’t going to like it — I owed him a favor, but he’ll have to get over it.”

It didn’t sound like much of a catch to me — it sounded like good news. We could return home and not have to be scared of police knocking at the door one day, and on top of it, Mason had a job.

“This really sounds too good to be true,” I said thoughtfully. “Do you think this is real, or is it just something your dad said? And what about Anonymous? Are they still angry with you . . .”

Mason eyed me with mock astonishment. “Carly Belle Washington, I’m shocked. You getting paranoid on me?”

I slapped him on the arm. “Cut it out. Seriously, you were right about everything thus far,” I shrugged.

“Well, I’m glad to know I’ve been such a good influence on you.” Mason chuckled and then shook his head. “But no, it’s real. This kind of stuff happens all the time. Haven’t you heard about hackers who get caught committing a cyber crime, but then get reduced sentences for agreeing to work for the government?”

“In the movies, I guess.”

“Well, that’s what I’m going to be. The government’s whore until I’ve worked off my debt to them. Anonymous is going to let it slide, but I’ll never be welcome back into their group again . . . which works out anyway given the terms of the deal.”

I bit my lower lip. “And what about Brian? You said he brokered this deal for you, but are you going to be able to find it in your heart to forgive him?”

Mason’s eyes grew distant. “Well, we had a long talk, a heart to heart I guess you could say. And although things aren’t perfect, and probably won’t be for a long time, we’re on the right track.”

“I can’t believe it,” I muttered. With the rift that had grown between Mason and Brian, I didn’t think the two would ever reconcile. “You two stubborn mules are finally coming around.”

Mason nodded, ignoring my jest. “That’s not all.”