I pound on my brother’s bedroom door before I let myself right in. He never stays at the farm, but with the wedding tomorrow (today at this point), he decided it would be easier.
“Fuck me.” Z sits up in his bed. The million screens from his computer light up the room in a blue hue. How that shit doesn’t give him a headache I have no clue. “Do you sleep?”
“Not really.” I walk to the end of the bed and toss Tova’s phone at him. It lands in his lap. “My wife was speaking to someone named Marks on her phone. I want to know everything about this girl.”
“Did you get married and I slept through it?” He grabs the phone, tossing the comforter back to get up. I ignore his question, and in Z predictability, he asks another. “Did you sneak into her room to get this?” Z plugs the phone into his computer setup.
‘No, I found her at the dock using it.’ I knew she had a phone. Several times, I considered searching through it, but ultimately decided against it.
She was on my property, which allowed me to track her. Besides, I’m not a fan of letting anyone dig through her phone, and I knew I’d need Z’s help for that. Besides, I didn’t want to alert him to my obsession with Tova, but I guess I wasn’t as discreet as I thought since he already was on to me.
‘Found her? You’re full of shit.’ He shakes his head. ‘You wanting those cameras and sensors down there makes sense now. I thought you were going overboard with security around here. Nope, you were stalking your soon-to-be wife.’ I grunt a response. ‘Fuck, that’s weird to say. You’re about to have a wife.’ Z runs his hand down his face.
‘You’ll be next if you’re not careful.’ Our mother has been enjoying all of this wedding stuff far too much. I overheard her talking about how a baby shower would be next. That thought should have scared the shit out of me. Yet the only thing it did was go straight to my fucking dick.
All I could think about was me being inside of Tova. Her body swelled with my child, letting everyone know she was mine. The thought is intoxicating. I’ve been fighting so long to hide my attraction to her from the world that now thinking I can have her has the most insane thoughts drifting through my mind.
“That’s not happening.”
I watch over my brother’s shoulder as he gets the phone unlocked. “Stay out of her photos and anything else. Only focus on the Marks girl.” Z nods, clicking away. “Whatever we find stays between us.” Z turns his head to peer up at me.
“Got it,” he agrees, and I know he won’t tell a soul. My brothers and I respect our father, but there is another loyalty between the three of us. It runs deeper. Besides, Z has a lot of his own secrets. He may have more of them than all of us combined. “Wait, my brain is still booting up. Did you say Marks?”
“It’s a nickname.”
“No.” Z shakes his head. I try to follow what the hell he’s doing on the screen, but it’s impossible. “This can’t be who I think it is.” He picks up Tova’s phone and shuffles through the apps. “Fuck me.” Z drops the phone back down. “Your girl is using an app to make sure her texts will never be traced or pulled from the phone. Like the one I made for us.”
“The fuck?” I shake my head. “Why would she need that?”
“Or really know about it. Except you said Marks.” Z gets up from his chair, holding Tova’s phone out to me. “If it’s who I think it is, and I’m pretty damn sure it is, then we’ll find nothing on Marks.”
“Spill.” I take the phone from him.
“There isn’t much to tell. I thought she might be on the younger side because I’ve heard her voice a few times.’
‘Get to the point,’ I cut in.
‘She’s a hacker and a fucking good one.’
‘This hacker. You think she befriended my wife to get closer to us. To you?’ The thought alone has me on edge. Thoughts of what had happened to my mom rush through my mind. A sense of rage fills me that I’ve never experienced before at the idea of something happening to Tova.
‘I honestly have no fucking clue. I’ve never had a run-in with her, but I’m sure as hell going to find out.’
‘If this girl only befriended Tova to get to us, I want her brought to me.’ Z’s brow lifts.
‘Soon the news will spread about what Tova means to me. It’s only a matter of time. Others will see this as a weak spot for me. I’m going to make it real fucking clear to everyone that if you hurt my wife, I’ll be collecting in blood.’
‘War, she’s some hacker. I don’t see why she would—’
‘I don’t care.’ I can’t and won’t risk anything when it comes to Tova’s safety.
‘I thought you wanted to clean up the family name. To go straighter?’
‘I did.’
‘Did?’ Z locks eyes with me. ‘Got it.’ He gets the message loud and clear.
‘Does that bother you?’ I ask. Not that it’s going to change anything. I can’t even control it anymore. Z thinks it over for a second.
‘That you’ll burn it all down for her alone?’ I hadn’t gone that deep in those thoughts. I only knew that I would choose Tova every time. ‘Tova is a sweet girl.’
‘Don’t.’ How the fuck would he know how sweet she is? He doesn’t.
‘Hey.’ He barks a laugh, shaking his head. ‘I was only going to say I think everyone is safe as long as they don’t go after your wife. And she’s sweet, so I don’t think she’ll send her dragon after people.’
‘Dragon?’
‘Yeah, because you’ll burn down the city.’ I suppose I would if I was trying to find her or someone touched her.
‘My thoughts aren’t rational when it comes to her,’ I tell my brother. Who the fuck else can I talk to about it?
‘Yeah, I’m getting that, but you’ve always been the obsessive type when it comes to things and tasks.’ I have. ‘Not a person, though.’
She’s not just a person. In my mind, she is much bigger than that. The more time I spend with her, the closer she lets me get, the stronger those feelings are becoming. I’m finding my thoughts and possessiveness know no bounds when it comes to her.
I wasn’t lying to my little mouse. She should be very careful about putting anything between us.
My father is playing a dangerous game… We might all lose in the end.
