Wicked Sexy (Wicked Games #2)(88)

“You have a valid point,” I say.

That surprises everyone in the room, including Miranda, who blinks at me in surprise.

“But that’s a shitty excuse for getting in bed with a terrorist.”

Her eyes swim with moisture. She bites her lower lip and then whispers miserably, “You think I don’t know that?”

“Back up, I missed something,” says Downs, irritated.

“The software,” explains Miranda. “InSight. I didn’t develop it. S?ren did. It was my way to get a real foothold in the industry, to crush my competition, all of whom were men.”

Downs looks at me. “You’re spooky.”

I lift a shoulder. “I know.”

“No, I’m serious. You’re scary. I swear it’s like you’re the first guy who looked up in the sky and saw half a dozen stars two hundred million light years apart and went, ‘Hey, that looks like a really big dipper!’”

“Instincts, I guess.”

“Sheesh,” says Downs, shaking his head. “Remind me never to try to blow smoke up your ass.”

Miranda makes a noise of disgust. “Let me know when you two are done jerking each other off and want to get back to the questions.”

When one of the quadruplets sets the tip of his shotgun on her desk, Miranda says scornfully, “Typical male response when faced with an outspoken woman: threats.”

After a tense moment, Downs motions with his chin. The shotgun is reluctantly removed.

Downs waves a hand in the air, indicating she should proceed.

Miranda takes a big breath, expels it with force. She closes her eyes briefly. When she opens them again, she’s regained her composure.

“S?ren came up to me after the speech and introduced himself. He complimented me, empathized with the difficulties I’d described. As a foreigner with an accent, he’d also faced discrimination in this country.” She adds wistfully, “Even though he was so impossibly beautiful.”

My back teeth are in danger of shattering, I’m grinding them together so hard.

“He said he found it disheartening that at thirty I’d probably already hit the glass ceiling. Although I’d achieved substantial success, my position was insecure. A few flops and my studio would be blacklisted. You have to understand, this business is brutal. The only thing that matters are the numbers on your latest release. S?ren implied he’d developed software that would be able to secure my future permanently. He said he’d give it to me at no cost. All he wanted in return was a promise.”

I say sharply, “Of what?”

“I didn’t know at the time. He said it would be a favor, to be called in whenever he needed it sometime in the future.”

Downs asks, “And you didn’t find that odd?”

“Of course I found it odd! But he was so incredibly charming. And young, my God he was young. Early twenties or something like that. I had no way of knowing, I never would have imagined that such a sweet boy with such an angelic face would turn out to be…” She swallows. “What he apparently is.”

“Then what?” I ask.

“Then nothing. Not for years and years. I thought he might never call in the favor. Until…”

When her pale-blue gaze focuses on me, I get a chill all the way down my spine. “Until?”

Her voice is quiet. “Until one day he called me and told me to hire you.”

The chill turns to a deep freeze, all the way to my bones. “What?”

“He refused to say why. He just said to hire you in whatever capacity I liked, and keep you on retainer. And not to tell you he was behind it. I was happy to accommodate him, it seemed like such a nothing request in return for the software that made my company what it is today. I thought perhaps you were old friends, or someone he owed a favor to who needed a job.”

Downs looks curiously at me. “And that was the favor?”

Miranda drops her gaze to the desk. “The first favor.”

I flatten my palms on her desk, brace my arms, and lean in. “What was the second?”

She moistens her lips, hesitating. “The second favor was to let him pretend to hack my mainframe.”

In unison, Downs and I repeat, “Pretend?”

Miranda expels an exasperated sigh. “My God, for two men who pride themselves on being so omniscient, you’re seriously dense!”

Downs is losing his patience. “Spit it out, Miranda.”

“It was a game, all right? He played a game with you! With all of us! A game going back almost a decade! He knew I’d be giving that speech that night, he knew what my weakness was, he knew how desperately I wanted to succeed! So he gave me the tools and set this whole thing in motion!”

Dread makes its way along all my nerve endings, settling into a cold, heavy lump in my stomach. I straighten and cross my arms over my chest. “Explain.”

“When he told me he wanted me to pretend we’d been hacked, of course I said no. For a million different reasons, not the least of which was the high possibility of discovery. I knew the FBI would get involved, knew we’d be under a microscope. It was total madness, and I told him so. I offered him money instead. But S?ren replied that if the public and my shareholders discovered that the software I’d used to achieve everything I’d achieved originated from someone of his…history…I’d be ruined anyway. And that’s when I realized he wasn’t just a talented software architect with a pretty face, because he told me all about the things he’d done.”