Dark Steel Read online

But all he said was, “I didn’t get your name.”

  “Oh.” I swallowed. “Sure. It’s Samantha.”

  “Nice to meet you, Samantha.”

  A small smile. And then I practically ran. I walked as fast as my hooker heels would carry me, dropping the lanyard at the front desk with barely more than a word, and then racing outside.

  Somehow, I’d started this day on a mission. Now, inexplicably, I had an interview with one of the sexiest—and maybe deadliest—men in the city.

  Chapter 3

  I hopped into the white van that was parked across the street from the “pretty impressive” skyscraper as I’d put it.

  It was complete bullshit. I hadn’t wanted to flatter him—I’d wanted to interrogate him. I wanted to know what was going on in his laboratory and what my father had to do with it.

  My father was in a coma because he’d been trying to help Declan, and now I wanted answers.

  Xander made his way to the front from the back of the van, and I could hear him chuckling before he even got into the driver’s seat next to me.

  “Shut up,” I told him. “Just drive.”

  Because we’d been friends for so long, I could talk to Xander like this and not feel guilty.

  He started the engine and pulled into oncoming traffic, driving like a grandma as he usually did.

  But right now I was too shaky to drive—and there was no way in hell Xander would let me with so much precious cargo in the back.

  He had a treasure trove of technological goodies that were right up there with the kinds of tech the secret service probably used. The FBI. Any government section that actually had any clue what they were doing.

  Part of me was almost surprised they hadn’t come along and tried to recruit him at this point.

  “So…” Xander said, drawing out the word. “He looks younger in person, I think.”

  I frowned. Declan did look younger in person. He was still in his mid-twenties, which was already young by any standard, but he’d looked it when his lips had curved briefly. The rest of the time, in all the pictures I’d seen, he’d looked as old and in-charge as he was supposed to seem. Perfectly composed and intimidating as hell.

  I kicked off the heels, making Xander grimace, and folded my arms. “Women like torture, don’t they?”

  He eyed the shoes before slowing for a stop light. “I mean, they like to look good. And what was that you said? The things we do for beauty or whatever you’d said to that woman at the elevator.”

  “I was playing a part,” I told him, my voice sullen.

  I wasn’t thrilled about how things had gone down at Dark Enterprises and Xander was the only one I could take it out on.

  “You did good,” Xander admitted. “A dozen cameras in various locations around the building—places we normally wouldn’t have clearance for. I’d say that’s a start.”

  “A start?” I turned to face him, my stomach in a knot. “I know there’s more, but it’s all research. Stuff we can do from home. With your—your fancy computers and stuff.”

  His lips moved in a small smile, the way he always smiled when I talked about all his technology.

  He was a million times smarter than me, but he never made me feel like it. We balanced each other out.

  “You have an opportunity here, Ro,” he said, making me soften a little.

  It was his nickname for me, which came from my real name, Royal—a name that actually suited me. Unlike Samantha Thompson, the person I’d become in Dark Enterprises, trying to flatter a sex god and looking like a complete idiot.

  “That was a good idea, by the way, not telling Dark and that woman your real name,” Xander said, turning down the next street and aiming for the parking garage where we lived. “Of course that means I’m going to be busy tonight…”

  “Busy doing what?” I asked, loosening the updo at the back of my head as well.

  “Making you an alias. Samantha Thompson.”

  I sighed. “What for? Samantha is old news.”

  I’d just been using that name for our mission today. Now I could go back to Royal.

  “It’s for your job.”

  He parked while I gaped at him. “My job? What job?”

  “The one you’re interviewing for tomorrow.”

  “No,” I said, snagging the shoes from the ground before I hopped out. “No way. I already have a job.”

  “Stalking Declan Dark is not a job,” Xander reminded me.

  I glared at him and then walked to the back of the van to help gather his equipment. Neither of us spoke again until we reached our apartment, a cozy loft with a wide-open floor plan that we’d sectioned off so that we could each have our own space.

  Xander worked from home at the job he barely ever really worked for and I tried to respect the few random phone calls he had to take. Mostly I figured he was just playing with stocks and messing around with people’s information for the fun of it. I’d asked him for a few favors over the years, too, but none as big as what we’d just done.

  Or what we still planned to do.

  I undid the buttons on the jacket of my fake ensemble, something Samantha would definitely wear, and debated on whether I wanted a shower now or later.

  “We should order Chinese,” Xander said. “We have a lot of work to do.”

  I ran a hand through my hair, massaging out the waves from the bun I’d had it in.

  “All I want to do is make a plan,” I told Xander. “We need the files from their laboratory. Or maybe you can still hack into their security cameras. That way—”

  “Whoa.” Xander adjusted his glasses, black rims that framed wide brown eyes. His lashes were to die for, but he always told me that wouldn’t help his cause.

  Xander was a hopeless romantic who was also gay and didn’t love leaving the house, hence the remote job. I tried to convince him weekly that he should join a dating site or try to get out there to meet someone. His response was always, “When you start dating, then I’ll consider dating, too.”

  So basically, we were both hopeless.

  Chinese sounded good.

  I striped out of the jacket, tossing it aside, and grabbed my phone. The app to order from our favorite place down the block was already downloaded from the numerous times we’d ordered there in the past.

  I eyed Xander as he wheeled over our whiteboard, the one with our meager plans so far, and took off the cap of a dry erase marker.

  Good. Plans. As long as those plans involved not having to go back to Dark Enterprises. Not yet.

  I ordered extra of everything because I knew we’d be at this all day, and probably tomorrow too. It didn’t hurt to have leftovers to rummage through when we got hungry.

  Besides, neither of us enjoyed cooking.

  By the time I’d gone to my room to change into a pair of sweats and pull my hair up into a loose ponytail, almost completely erasing my espionage-loving alter ego, Xander had set up three computers on a table next to the whiteboard.

  I walked in and froze when I saw Declan Dark on one of the screens. He was in an elevator with a man I didn’t recognize—a man wearing a lab coat.

  “Who is that?” I asked.

  Xander scrolled through a page on a tablet he held in his hand. “Dr. Cole Johnson. And it doesn’t look like they’re happy with each other.”

  It didn’t. I could only see Declan’s profile, but his jaw was clenched and when he spoke, it looked like he was saying it through gritted teeth.

  “Johnson,” I murmured, searching my brain for any familiarity. “I think I might have heard that name before.”

  “He worked with your father. But then, a lot of people worked with your father. I would imagine since…since he hasn’t been there, there’s been a shift in seniority. He was working on some pretty top-secret projects and now they’re having to figure out who’s going to…” He shrugged. “Take over or whatever.”

  I gritted my teeth like Declan. “It’s just temporary.”

  Xander nodded.
“I know. How is he?”

  I ran my hand over my face. I’d called the hospital this morning to check in on my dad. “No change. I’m going to visit this week.”

  “I can go with you if you want.”

  I plopped on the couch and pulled a pillow onto my lap. “We’ll see.”

  I missed my dad more than I let on. I used to call him each weekend after a long week of classes at the university and he’d commiserate with me, saying he knew what it was like spending all those hours in a lab. But science came easy for him. He was a genius—and I wasn’t just saying that because I was biased. He could have worked for the government. I figured the only reason he’d started working for Dark Enterprises was because he was a friend of Christopher Dark, Declan’s adoptive father and because he was offered a shitload of money.

  They developed vaccines and medicines and all sorts of things they weren’t allowed to discuss with the public, and Dark Enterprises funded it all. Christopher Dark worked exclusively in the labs and Declan had taken over everything else.

  “Dammit,” I mumbled, lifting my eyes to Xander’s.

  “What?”

  “I’m going to have to go undercover again, aren’t I?”

  His lips moved in a ghost of a smile. “Spoken like a true spy.”

  I shoved my hands into my hair, closing my eyes and imagining what it would be like to face Declan again. My core throbbed slightly, and I opened my eyes immediately. No, no, no. I was supposed to picture myself taking him down. Learning his secrets and watching as the police arrested him for being in on a conspiracy that caused what had happened to my dad.

  The thing was, I didn’t know for a fact Declan was involved—or at least not the mastermind behind it all. All I knew was that my father had gone to meet Declan on the day of the accident—and he’d never come home.

  “This is insane,” I told Xander, who was already sitting at the table, hard at work on one of his computers.

  “Working with him might help get you more answers,” Xander said reasonably. “Besides, maybe you’ll like it.”

  “A job?”

  “A job at a place your father seemed to love. You know, once you graduate, you’re going to have to actually do something besides hike all day and then sit around bothering me the rest.”

  I threw the pillow at him. “You know you love me.”

  He snorted. He was right, though. I’d decided to take the rest of the semester off when my dad got in the accident, but now that he was still in a coma and nothing had changed, I lacked purpose.

  I stood when the desk in the lobby called up to let us know our dinner was here.

  No, I had purpose, I reminded myself. And that was to help my dad.

  So, whether I wanted to or not, I was going to head into Dark Enterprises tomorrow and try to get that job.

  Chapter 4

  This time when I walked into Dark Enterprises, I wasn’t wearing ridiculous heels. I refused when Xander tried to force them on me.

  If I was going to have to face the enemy, I was going to do so in nondescript low heels that went perfectly with the simple pantsuit I had stuffed in my closet for dinners or meetings or any other time I was expected to look like an adult.

  I didn’t feel like Samantha Thompson, but I figured what I lacked in flash I’d make up for with flattery.

  In fact, there was a good chance I wouldn’t even see anyone important today.

  As I walked into the building with my head high, I nodded to myself. Yep. Declan Dark’s “friend” had been full of gratitude but Declan himself only seemed to ask me back in as a favor to her.

  He’d probably have me stuffing envelopes in some room on a lower floor to keep me happy and keep me out of the way.

  I’d convinced myself of that when I stepped up to the security desk. I didn’t have to fake the nervous smile I gave to the guard—the same one from yesterday.

  “I have an interview,” I told him, smile faltering when he arched an eyebrow at me. He remembered me. Wasn’t that sweet? “My name is Samantha Thompson.”

  The guard straightened and nodded immediately. “Of course.” He whipped a badge off the desk and passed it over.

  I blinked when I saw my name on it. “Uh… Which floor?”

  This time he looked confused. “Forty-two.”

  My stomach dropped. No, that wasn’t right. I was supposed to be in the basement making coffee for someone not going to the top floor where Declan Dark worked.

  “Thanks,” I managed before turning to the elevators.

  I missed Xander’s voice in my ear. I felt more confident when he could fill in the blanks for me. But he’d had a meeting today, which he’d promptly informed me of while eating a bowl of chocolate cereal. I have to adult today, he reminded me. I’d informed him that chocolate balls for breakfast was a new low for any adult and then we’d gotten into a discussion about grapefruit which, while it had calmed me down some, hadn’t been overly productive.

  I was arguing about grapefruit, which was a clear sign I was at least halfway to being an adult. I also had an interview at one of the city’s most prestigious companies.

  If that didn’t say adult, I wasn’t sure what did.

  The ride to the top floor was long enough to make me start to freak out again. What the hell was I doing here?

  Trying to get information from a multi-billionaire? Or was he a trillionaire? I pictured Declan walking into a secret vault in his house and eyeing the stacks of money on shelves.

  “Is it all in order?” his butler asks him.

  Declan’s gaze narrows on a corner shelf, his strong jaw shifting. He points to an empty spot. “Looks like we’re missing a couple hundred million.”

  I rolled my eyes and tried to focus. Fantasizing about Declan’s billions—or trillions— wasn’t going to get me through this interview. I felt for the small camera under the rail behind me, grateful to still find it right where I put it.

  I hoped Xander was watching from home while he sat through his boring adult meeting. It gave me some comfort.

  When the elevator dinged, I lifted my chin and stepped out, heading straight for the desk. The same woman from yesterday was there, wearing an earpiece for phone calls and making me regret looking like a librarian.

  She was stunning and I was…doing a bad job faking it.

  “Samantha Thompson?” she asked before I could say anything.

  I smiled and nodded. “I’m a few minutes early. I could just wait or—”

  “Go ahead and go on in.”

  “Go…in?” I eyed the door behind her, clearly the entrance to Declan’s office. His name was carved with bold letters into a nameplate by the door.

  It didn’t even have his title. Not CEO or owner or…billionaire mystery man. Nothing but his name in block letters. Declan Dark.

  Now, that was how you were supposed to adult.

  “Thanks,” I told the woman.

  When I pushed open the door, the first thing I saw was windows. Just windows. A tall, wide bank of clear glass that stretched the length of the spacious room and offered a view straight to the mountains.

  I froze there, enamored and surprised. This was adulting. Billionaire adulting, sure, but adulting nonetheless.

  Suddenly, I felt naked. Like I’d been exposed somehow. I was standing here, completely out of my element, when I wanted to be out there, on those mountains.

  Hiking, exploring, recording.

  My dad and I shared a love of biology—but he was interested in people, the human body, and I was interested in plants and earth. The moon and stars. Basically anything but the human body.

  The world we lived in.

  “You can close the door,” a deep voice said.

  I jumped and then automatically obeyed the command before turning back to the room and trying to focus. It vaguely resembled an office—in the sense that it had a desk.

  The rest was luxury. There was a long, wide table I assumed was used for meetings but looked more like a cozy tab
le for friends to dine at, a set of couches and chairs, even a fireplace.

  I could live here.

  My gaze moved to the opposite side of the room and then locked on the figure there.

  Declan Dark.

  He stood in front of a door to another room—one I assumed had to be a washroom because of the towel in his hands. He ran it along his jaw as though he’d just shaved, and the top buttons of his dress shirt were opened enough to make my mouth water.

  His eyes, usually as sharp as diamonds, were looking amused, as were his lips. They quirked at the corners, softening the severe no-nonsense look I often saw in pictures of him.

  It made him look young and carefree—close to my age like he was.

  “Miss Thompson,” he said with a nod.

  “I—I thought I was here for an interview.”

  He checked his watch. “You’re early.”

  My cheeks flushed. “I figured you were the kind of person that didn’t tolerate tardiness.”

  Another quirk of his lips. “You figured correctly. Have a seat. I’ll be out in a minute.”

  He gestured to the chairs by the fireplace, surprising me. I’d also figured we’d be having an interview at the table. With a handful of other people. With all of our clothes on. But evidently, I’d been wrong.

  I sat so I could face the windows and draw calm from the scene outside. Fog snaked around the base of the mountains and spread out to the city below.

  If I closed my eyes, I could smell the earth, taste the moisture in the air. I could feel mist on my cheeks and the rough bark of trees on my fingertips as I passed.

  Summer was only a few weeks away, and then I’d be out there every day.

  “Daydreaming?” Declan asked.

  I whipped my gaze toward the voice, my cheeks flushing again. Fuck. He was so quiet. And how had he gotten dressed so quickly? Now, he wore his jacket and tie, everything buttoned up and perfect. His face was clean and smooth, hair in place, lips still wearing that same smile that was making my throat dry, and he was standing a few short feet from my chair.

  “You scared me,” I said, playing the part.

  “I thought you heard me.”