Hard Wired Trilogy DeAnna Pearce (if you give a mouse a cookie read aloud txt) 📖

“Harini?” Patrick’s worried expression turned to her for input.

“It’s dangerous.” Harini pursed her lips for a second. “But isn’t everything? And if that is the only choice, then it’s Ari’s to make.”

“She knows a lot,” Joe added. “If she gets caught, we’re all in danger. It’s not only her choice.”

“I wouldn’t say anything,” Ari vowed. “I promise.”

Blur laughed. “Your promise doesn’t mean anything. No offense. But they will extract data from you whether you submit or not. You think Sketchy is that way by his choice?”

Ari clenched her fists in frustration, trying to think about her argument for a moment. If her mom and Marco were on the line, she’d never stop fighting for them. Ever. She turned to Patrick as she gathered her thoughts. “You promised you’d never force me to stay. I don’t want to leave, but if I have to, I will. I’ll give you time to relocate, before I contact them. That way you’ll be safe if I get caught.”

No one said anything. Ari offered them a safe solution if they wanted it. It might not be the best one for her, but it was best for her family. She needed to make sure Marco and her mom were safe and taken care of. She hoped to stay longer here. She had learned a lot, felt she had a future here, but… well that didn’t matter anymore.

“Can everyone please give me a moment alone with Ari?” Patrick asked the group.

“Sure thing, boss.” Blur stood to leave.

Harini squeezed Ari’s hand and wordlessly left with the others. Once everyone was gone, Patrick pulled a chair up in front of Ari.

“I don’t want you to leave. It’s Blur’s job to worry about this stuff,” Patrick said.

“I don’t want to leave either, but I have to know they are safe.”

“I know.” His chocolate eyes bore into hers.

Without looking, Ari could feel his knees mere inches from hers. Her face warmed that she even noticed that. She didn’t speak, not trusting her emotions. She didn’t want to leave these people, but she would if she must.

“I’ll go with you.” He nodded as if confirming his decision. “We’ll keep everyone on high alert here and I’ll put an evacuation plan in place, just in case.”

“I can’t ask you for that much.”

“You didn’t ask.” He watched her closely but gave nothing away.

“I can’t have you risk so much.”

He looked away and exhaled. When he returned his gaze, his eyes were softer. “You can’t be surprised at my feelings for you. There’s a reason that I didn’t use a skin when we first met.”

Her face burned and she looked down at her hands for a moment. “You know I have… Reed.”

“You had a boyfriend when we met inside VLEX.” He referred to her time working inside the government-run program. She wore a different skin at the time, Kari, an identity of an assistant that VisionTech gave her. Ari had thought Patrick was Kari’s boyfriend. She didn’t know Patrick just assumed that role to learn as much as he could about Ari and her mission.

“That wasn’t real,” Ari reminded him.

“In this world, what’s real? Plugged in, online, or in person, the feeling is still real, and I know there was something between us.”

She couldn’t deny it, but it wasn’t what he assumed. Playing a role, Ari became attached to Patrick. She wanted what was best for him. Not in a romantic sense, but out of a sense of guilt for taking over his girlfriend’s life.

“There can’t be anything between us. I don’t want you to do this with some sort of expectation that there will be us in the future.”

“I have no expectation. Only that I don’t want to lose you. You know you belong here with the rest of us. Let’s do this and get back here in one piece. Okay?”

Ari wanted to do this but prayed that this wouldn’t complicate things for Patrick or the rest of the team. “Okay.”

With all the working and talking about her family and her past, Ari shouldn’t have been surprised when Reed appeared in her dream again that night. He usually made a regular appearance one way or another.

This time he appeared hurt, restrained by the men who took him off the boat. Reed’s normally tall stature looked dwarfed by the large guards holding him. He didn’t wear his hat like he did the night she last saw him on the boat. Instead, his dirty blond hair was short and ragged. Blood dripped from his temple and accompanied his busted lip. He didn’t fight the guards anymore but hung limp in their arms. He just stared at Ari. She couldn’t escape those accusing, deep hazel eyes.

“How could you leave me, Ari?” Reed’s voice struck her as sharp as any knife. “Maybe you really did love Patrick all along, and I was just another causality of your life?”

“No! Never. I love you.” Tears fell down her cheeks as she struggled to get to him. Somehow, with every step she made, another three feet were added to her path.

“Tell me, how does everyone you supposedly love end up dead then?”

Ari shot straight up in bed, gasping for breath. The sheets twisted at her ankles and her heart raced with the truth of the accusation. Could he be right? Could he and her family be dead?

Focusing on her breath and her mantras, Ari slowed her breathing. She wouldn’t know until they left and there wasn’t anything she could do about that in the middle of the night. With a quick check of the HUB on her wrist, she realized it was three in the morning. With her heart still racing, sleep wasn’t going to happen anytime soon.

That left working out. She changed quietly by the light of her HUB, and headed down to the gym. After cardio, she took up a stance in front of the dummies. Niomi had taught her a lot on the island, and Ari intended to keep up her skills.