“Bye,” I said brightly, all but shooing him away.

“Bye, Hannah.” I ignored the way he lingered on my name.

I was relieved when he turned to walk down the path toward his car. I quickly closed the door, tempted to lock it behind me.

My email pinged a few minutes later. The encrypted account.

From: 06050900oneforallunitynet

Subject: Ready

Date: April 05, 2016 16:23

To: 12080512alwcawunitynet

Friday night.

Toxicwrath was almost ready.

I would be too.

Chapter 19

Hannah

Mason was right on time.

I had heard his car pull up five minutes ago but he hadn’t gotten out yet.

I peeked out from behind the curtain to see him sitting in the driver’s seat.

What was he doing?

I thought about going out to greet him but decided against it.

I’d wait.

I was good at that.

After Kyle’s strange visit I had spent the remaining hours until Mason arrived prepping the hash script. Testing and retesting in the sandbox. Finalizing the SQL injection, making sure it was perfect.

I felt prepared.

Kyle and his attempted kiss wouldn’t mess with my head.

I was good at blocking out most external distractions.

But Mason was coming over.

And he had made focusing difficult.

I had tried texting him earlier. Nothing much, just a simple Can’t wait to see you.

He had never responded.

That was unlike him. He usually texted me back, even if it was hours later.

And now here he was, sitting in his car outside my house, not making any move to come to the door.

Finally, after another couple of minutes, he got out. I backed away from the window, the curtain falling back into place. I checked my reflection in the hallway mirror as I waited for the doorbell. My hair was smooth. My makeup subtle.

I looked good, if a little on the tired side, which could easily be explained by my “hectic work schedule.”

It felt like an eternity until Mason rang the doorbell. He didn’t seem to be in a hurry tonight.

I felt a pang of alarm, which I immediately quashed.

Wearing my brightest, happiest smile, I opened the door.

It instantly fell away.

Something was wrong.

Very wrong.

Mason wasn’t smiling. His eyes were dark and hooded, his mouth unyielding. He didn’t seem glad to see me at all.

“Hi,” I said softly, moving to the side to let him in.

After a brief hesitation, Mason entered the foyer. He handed me a beautiful bouquet of flowers.

“Oh my goodness, Mason, they’re gorgeous!” I exclaimed, unable to curb the unabashed girly glee at receiving them.

“Thank you!” I enthused, putting an arm around his neck and tugging him down to my lips. He kissed me but it was lukewarm.

He stood there, not moving. “Are you going to take off your coat?” I asked, but he didn’t respond. What was wrong with him?

He had brought me flowers, after all. That usually meant something, right?

Affection.

A pleasant regard.

Why, then, was he refusing to look at me?

“What’s wrong, Mason?” I asked, clutching the flowers to my chest like a shield.

“I bought you flowers. Not roses, because you don’t seem like a woman who would like roses. You’d want something special. Unique,” he said, still not looking at me.

“That’s true. I don’t like roses. See how well you’re getting to know me?” I took his hand; his fingers were limp in mine.

“Am I?” he asked, his words hard, clipped.

“Are you what?” I didn’t know what was going on. I didn’t like it. Mason’s energy was wild. Angry.

I didn’t understand.

It worried me.

It excited me.

“You don’t work at Western Railways.” His eyes finally met mine. They burned straight into my soul.

I swallowed thickly. “What are you talking about?” I had covered my tracks carefully. I had the emails to prove my fake employment. I had added myself to the company website. If he looked, he should have found me.

“I called, wanting to send those to you at work, since you had to stay late.” He indicated the now-smooshed blooms. “I spoke with a very lovely lady at reception. Tamara was her name. She thought it was sweet that I wanted to send flowers to my overworked girlfriend.” I couldn’t breathe. The more air I sucked into my lungs, the more light-headed I became. I felt as if I were watching a car wreck in slow motion. I was the car and Mason was the brick wall I was about to slam into.

“She said that there was no Hannah Whelan who worked for Western Railways. And definitely not for the CEO.” Mason hurled his words like knives. Now I understood his anger. I had lied to him. He felt betrayed.

Which was understandable, because I had betrayed him. I had lied to him.

Now he knew it.

I had planned for every possible scenario in order to maintain my cover as the beleaguered assistant to a CEO. Except for the human one. Mostly because I had been overly confident. Arrogant. I had thought I had him outsmarted.

I hadn’t thought a bouquet of flowers would bring my story tumbling to the ground.

“Mason—” I reached out to touch him. I had to think up an excuse, and quick.

I felt him retreating.

He was protecting himself. His heart.

From me.

I felt panicky.

Mason held up his hands, warding me off. “Don’t, Hannah. Just don’t. I should have listened to my instincts. I knew there was something off about you. About this.” He waved his hand between us.

His instincts?

I had thought I was being so careful. What reason had I given for him to doubt me? I started to second-guess myself. It was a slippery slope to total destruction.

“Please, let me explain,” I pleaded, reaching for him again.

He was backing toward the door. He wanted to leave. To run away. I couldn’t let him do that.

“This job has taught me not to trust people. And this is why. They always disappoint you. The ones you think are the good guys can be the bad ones all along.” He shook his head. “I didn’t want to be disappointed by you, Hannah.”

This was going badly.

I had to salvage it.

Quickly.

“I was fired, Mason,” I blurted out.