The Lover's Surrender (No Exceptions) Read Online Free PDF Page A

shook my
head vehemently. “Not happening.”
    “I know you
like the whole damsel in distress crap, but Brooke needs to be able to defend
herself. Brian’s words. Not mine,” Kenny said. “You can’t protect her from
everything at all times, dude. However, teaching her to shoot a weapon could
bring you just a little bit closer to it. If you don’t teach her, then someone
else will. If you don’t want to, she’ll find someone else who’ll help teach her
to defend herself. Someone who’ll get the importance of it. The question is
who?”
    I stayed
silent.
    He was
right, of course.
    While I
wanted Brooke to be able to defend herself if she ever found herself in danger
again, I also wanted it to be me who protected her and defended her with my
life, if need be. That I couldn’t now sent a piercing stab through my heart.
    “She saw
someone today,” I said, still staring at Brian’s gift.
    On impulse,
I lifted my phone and checked the screen reluctantly. The app I had installed
showed that Brooke hadn’t yet left her apartment.
    Or at least
her phone was still there.
    My stomach
churned at the thought that she might have outwitted me by leaving her phone at
home while going out.
    She had
done that before.
    What if
Brooke had discarded it on purpose, knowing I had the tracker installed, and
was now getting back at me doing God only knew what? Or worse yet, roaming the
streets in spite of the danger she was in, like she had done two days ago.
    “I called
you because I need a favor. I need you to check this address and find out
whatever you can about the person who owns GR Photography.” I fished a small
piece of paper out of my pocket and handed it to Kenny.
    The silence
lasted for all of two seconds.
    “So you
need me to hack into his system.” There was no surprise in Kenny’s voice. No
judgment. His expression barely changed, as if he had been suspecting that I
might need him for something like this that all along.
    “Yeah. Can
you do that?” I asked.
    “Easy.”
    “Good.” I
eyed the paper again. “All I’ve found out so far is that his name’s Grayson
Robert. He owns the building, and from his profile on the web, he seems to work
as a photographer, but I’m not sure he’s the one Brooke’s seeing. His name’s
linked with far too many people.”
    “So, you
want me to check up on him…” Kenny repeated, glancing at his watch. “At 12.30?”
When I looked up, there was a grin on his face.
    “Is that
going to be a problem?” I grimaced. In the past, Kenny had made fun of my
obsession with Brooke at every opportunity. I thought he had grown out of his
irritating habit.
    Fat chance.
    By
admitting that it was indeed urgent, I would also admit that I couldn’t live
without Brooke, which was kind of the truth. But did I want Kenny to know that?
    “Just do
it,” I mumbled. “And be discreet about it.”
    “Well, then
let’s go.” Kenny reached the door in a few long strides, waiting for me to
follow. “The sooner you know what your Juliet is up to, the sooner Romeo will
get to rest.”
    I groaned,
irritated at his Shakespeare reference.
    Trust Kenny
to miss the definition of ‘discreet.’

 
 
    JETT

 
    Kenny’s
room was decorated in black, which included the walls, the cupboard, and the
curtains. Even the bedspread was a soft shade of licorice. Kenny claimed that
the color black helped him focus, pushing aside any form of distraction, which
was fundamental in his line of work as a professional hacker. The only vivid
splashes were the flickering screens of about fifty computers set up all around
his desk on adjustable black shelves and a dangling light bulb in the middle of
the ceiling.
    The moment
Kenny slumped down in his chair, he propped his legs on the desk, and his good
hand glided to a keyboard, his long fingers poised over the keys. And then his
furious typing began.
    Five
minutes passed.
    Then ten.
    I leaned
back on the bed, waiting patiently, even though patience wasn’t