Page 51 of Run

Behind her, she heard a thud.

Megan fell in at her side. “Ryan punched your brother.” She glanced over her shoulder. “And Abasi.”

“If we’re really lucky, he’ll punch David too,” Elle grumbled.

Megan draped an arm around her shoulders. “Let’s see if we can find you some sugar,” she said as they walked together up the path.

Elle leaned into her friend. “This is very stressful.”

“I know.” Megan patted her shoulder.

“If I had my laptop, I wouldn’t feel so helpless. I still can’t believe I killed my baby. I designed and built her from scratch. She was everything I ever wanted in a machine. Every tool I’d ever come across that was of any use, I’d installed on her. Every piece of code I’d written to shortcut a job. All the virtual machines I’d set up to align with the operating systems of the computers I hacked. I even had my favorite stickers on the casing.” She sniffed. Stupid tears.

“It’s going to be okay,” Megan cooed. “After all this is over, we’ll get you everything you need to build a bigger and better baby.”

“I just feel lost right now without a laptop under my fingers. I can’t think without one. I don’t even need a top-of-the-line machine or to build my own setup again. All I need is something with a good amount of RAM and a screen that doesn’t hurt my eyes. To that, I can add the Kali Linux OS, a few of my favorite hacking tools, and Tor to hide my IP. I don’t need all the bells and whistles to get the job done; everything I need is up here.” She tapped her head. “If I had a few uninterrupted hours in front of a screen, I know I could figure out the best way to deal with this whole situation. Without Dumb and Dumber getting in my way.” She gestured back toward her brother and David.

“You are the second smartest person I know,” Megan said. “You can totally figure this out.”

“Harry, right?” Elle guessed the first smartest.

“Yeah, but he’s only smart when it comes to computers. You’re smart with people too. That’s why you’ll always do better under pressure than my cousin ever could. Trust me, if my life was on the line, I’d rather have you at my back than Harry.”

“Honest?” Elle sniffed again.

“Would I lie to you?”

Elle thought it best not to answer that.

20

James Family Home

North London

Arnold “Cutter” Matthews entered Tommy’s home with a spring in his step. Ten long years he’d waited for this moment, and he planned to enjoy every single second. With a nod at the guard positioned in the entrance, he headed to the back of the house and Tommy’s study.

It’d always been the two of them—Tommy and him. As far back as he could remember, it’d been them against the world. They’d built the James Family Syndicate together, with the unwritten agreement that when Tommy decided he’d had enough, Cutter would step in to take the helm.

At least, that had been the plan until Tommy’s boy grew a pair.

One day, he’d been whining about wanting to go to college, and the next, he’d been acting as an enforcer for his father. It came out of nowhere, his sudden dedication to the business. And the worst part was that the little shit showed a flair for it. He was a natural, just like his father.

Cutter should have smothered him in his crib when he was a baby. The thought had crossed his mind at the time. It was one of the few occasions in his life where he’d exercised restraint, and look where that had got him—he’d been replaced as king-in-waiting by a pampered dickhead who didn’t know what it meant to fight his way to the top.

It was a fucking insult. That’s what it was. Cutter had proven his loyalty time and again, yet he was supposed to sit back and let Tommy hand over everything they’d built together to his kid? All because blood was important, and Marcus would carry on the James Family legacy? Bullshit!

Tommy had knocked up the wrong woman to begin with. Rebecca had been too soft for the business. Always whining at Tommy to go legit—like that would earn enough to provide her with all the luxuries she enjoyed. Cutter had hated her on sight. The way she always looked down her nose at him had made his fingers itch to choke the smug superiority right out of her.

The day Tommy had ended her ranked as one of his best days ever.

But this day, this news, might top it all.

“Boss in?” he asked the guy standing outside Tommy’s door.

The guy nodded and held open the door for Cutter to go through. Respect. Like it should be.

Tommy sat behind his desk, his chair turned to the side, and the woman who gave him his facials kneeling between his spread legs, giving him something else entirely. Cutter smirked at the sight.