Crave (The MacKenzie Family #11) Read Online Free PDF Page A

heads. She didn’t particularly like it when assholes tried to stick their tongues down her throat, so flipping her boss the double bird and quitting had seemed like the right thing to do.
    College had been a breeze. She’d graduated early and started on her Master’s. She’d gotten bored with it about halfway through, not believing that what they offered was the most challenging curriculum out there. She could’ve done the work in her sleep. She’d gotten the job offer from Imaginex the week after she’d stopped going to classes. The job offer had helped cushion the blow when she told her father she’d quit grad school.
    The money was good, but creating the software for videogames wasn’t her passion. Her passion lay in another area entirely, and she was pretty sure reputable companies didn’t want what she had to offer anywhere near their businesses.
    She didn’t have the creativity some of her coworkers had. She could do the technical side of the job faster and better than anyone else, but she didn’t have the same vision. She wasn’t an artist or a storyteller. And that was fine. But after six years of doing the same thing day in and day out—moving from one project to the next—she was starting to wonder if it was time to start looking for something new.
    A wadded up piece of paper flew over the top of her cubicle and landed on her desk, followed by a loud psst. Dark eyes peered at her over the partition that divided her and Joseph Wong’s desks.
    “You up for a get together tonight?” he asked. “Keep it quiet, but we’re going to test out the demo for Aviator and order pizza. We’re going to play on the big screen at Jay’s house. Bring dessert if you’re coming.”
    “I’ve got plans tonight,” she lied. “But thanks for the invite.”
    “Cool. You’re missing out though.” And with that Joseph went to the cubicle next to hers to extend the invitation again.
    Keeping to herself had become par for the course for the last six years. She didn’t socialize with the people at work. Didn’t hang out in the break room or go for drinks at five o’clock. There was no point befriending people who would never know the real her. And if they knew the real her they wouldn’t want to be around her anyway. It would more than likely bother most people to know she could have their entire life history with a few strokes of the keyboard—from finances to emails to doctor’s reports. Everything was attainable online.
    Her skills as a hacker had only improved as she’d gotten older. She knew how closely Cal watched her movements and monitored her time online. How he searched for her through the underground channels, looking for signs of her old self. The Black Lily had died that day, just like she’d promised. But someone else had been born—someone she could be proud of.
    Evangeline spent just as much time monitoring Cal as he did her for that tell-tell sign that he knew what she’d been up to for the last ten years. But it never came. She’d gone to a great deal of trouble to keep her new identity a secret. And it gave her pride a nice boost to know she’d finally surpassed the master.
    Not that she could ever tell him. Cal didn’t say things he didn’t mean, and the second he found out she was breaking his “rules” he’d turn her in. She was under his thumb for the rest of her life—at least on the surface. And he could never be trusted again. She’d grown up with him, seen him as a friend and someone she didn’t have to hide her intelligence with like she did with other kids.
    That’s what had hurt the most about the way he’d treated her. Yes, the choices she’d made were the wrong ones. And she was grateful her eyes had been opened to the danger she’d involved herself in. Cal was the one person she’d thought had really understood her. He was her equal. All of her fanciful girlish dreams of happily-ever-afters had lived and died with Cal Colter. He’d killed every dream she’d