Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 133213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 666(@200wpm)___ 533(@250wpm)___ 444(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 666(@200wpm)___ 533(@250wpm)___ 444(@300wpm)
Carys sighed and tied the belt on her robe. “This is weird now. I’m getting some coffee.”
Adam looked down the hallway Kala’s way. “I also got into your car’s system. You’ll find your radio now defaults to the Love Channel.”
Kala huffed. “This is not over.”
She disappeared into Lou’s room.
“I would like to know how you did it,” Lou began. “I told her she was playing fast and loose with some of those protocols, but she can be stubborn. And I like the Love Channel. It’s soothing in the morning. If you could hack her AC, I would be so grateful. She likes it really cold.”
“Lou,” Kala yelled.
Lou gave them a wave and followed her bestie.
TJ rushed out, shaking his head and tugging a T-shirt over his broad shoulders. “Good one, Uncle Adam. Although the secret is she listens to a lot of ballads. Like she pretends to be all about the death metal, but I saw some girlie songstresses on her playlist. I really preferred it when I didn’t realize most nights she sneaks in and sleeps with us. We need to get our own place.”
“Oh, cool,” Carys said, joining her cousin. “I’m looking for a room.”
Aidan groaned. “No, you are not.”
“I might be,” she said over her shoulder. She moved down the hallway and stopped when she got to Adam. “Is everyone okay after yesterday? I know Serena wasn’t hurt, but I’ve been worried about her.”
Adam’s face lost its arrogance, and he was the “uncle” who’d always welcomed them. “She’s worried beyond words, sweetie. How are you? I wanted to be there, you know. At the meeting.”
Carys sighed. “I do, but Tris is insisting he can handle it. I’m not great since I was supposed to be married today, and I spent last night with two guys taking turns sleeping on the floor outside my borrowed room. Not how I thought they would be taking turns.”
“Carys,” Aidan said, shocked.
Her shoulder shrugged. “Like he doesn’t know.”
“If they’re taking turns, they’re doing it wrong,” Adam said, his calm tone not giving away even a hint of embarrassment. “I’ll talk to them.”
The last thing he needed was a sex lecture on how a ménage worked. It would likely be incredibly detailed and way over the top. There could be an embarrassing PowerPoint presentation in his future. “We know how a ménage works.”
“Do you?” Carys asked. “Because I haven’t seen evidence recently.”
Adam chuckled. “Oh, she’s moving on from tears to sass. That’s probably a good sign.”
“Or I’m simply moving on,” Carys replied. “Only time will tell. I’d like the story, if you don’t mind telling it. Somehow I can’t imagine my dad doing something to deserve sleeping on the ground.”
“Does Tris know you’re here?” Aidan asked, following them through the living room. The house was quiet, though it was midmorning. They’d had a late night. He was surprised Cooper was sitting in the kitchen, a mug of coffee in his hand.
“He’ll know soon enough,” Adam said. “Morning, Coop.”
“I heard what was happening from Bri. Well, from Hunter, who heard it from Devi, who heard it from Bri. Thought I would come over and see if I could mitigate the damage,” Cooper offered. “Is she freaking out?”
There was zero question in Aidan’s mind who Coop was talking about. His friend was always concerned with Kala Taggart.
Adam snorted. “She thinks she’s untouchable when it comes to security. She’s been touched, so yeah, she’s pissed. I already called her aunt, and she’s upping our security for a while. Daisy thinks she’s the one who deleted my high-tech virtual assistant. I figured out it was Kala. This was a bit of revenge. I know how to handle a Taggart.”
Aidan rather thought what Adam knew was how to have never-ending prank wars with a Taggart.
Cooper grinned. “In her defense, the AI was nosy. And she did not hold back on the relationship advice, which I believe was her downfall with Kala.”
Adam sighed. “I thought it was probably something like that. I was training Tess in human relationships. I will admit she was extremely confident in her advice for an artificial intelligence who’s never actually been in a relationship.”
“With anyone except you,” Aidan pointed out with a chuckle. “Aunt Serena hated her. I wouldn’t be surprised if she cheered Kala on.”
“Hence the light revenge,” Adam admitted. “Sometimes we get obsessed with projects we should let go of, with jobs that cause more problems than they do good.”
Cooper stood and grabbed a bag from the bar. “To the highly paranoid, I assure you this revenge isn’t small. She’ll be freaking out about the system for weeks. You know when you think about it, your revenge was actually against me and Lou. Thanks so much, Uncle Adam. Luckily they had chocolate croissants at Daphne’s Delights this morning. You guys are on your own.”