Chapter 357

I tilted my head to the side and nodded slowly. “I am.” I smiled. “Did you know my father?”

The man chuckled, the little extra he had around his waist jiggling with it. “Yeah, I know your dad. How is the old bastard?”

I froze, and I forced tears to spring to my eyes as I looked down at my hands. “He passed away in a rogue attack a few years ago.” I looked up and let one tear drop. “But you are right, before he went, he was one old bastard.” I smirked and wiped the tear away.

The room was silent for a few minutes and Brandon leaned over and whispered to me. “It’s okay.” He rubbed my arm with his hand. I smiled up at him and nodded.

“I’m sorry.” Rick sighed and rubbed his face. “I didn’t know.” He came over and stood with his hands in his pockets. “Now, I normally hate any person Vince forces on me, as I feel like he is going to force me out once he has young blood in here. But for Gav’s sake, I’ll take you without complaint.”

I laughed, sniffling along the way. “Sounds good.”

Brandon turned, but then stopped as a ring sounded. He pulled his phone from his pocket and I watched his eye twitch as he glanced at me. “I have to take this call.” He turned to Rick, whose gaze narrowed on Brandon’s screen. “Rick, can you show Amy to her office and help her get settled? She has to get set up with the new laptop.”

I smiled and nodded as the phone rang again, and Brandon’s jaw clenched. He gave another nod. “I’ll be fine.” I waved him off. “Go.”

He sighed and turned to leave, and I caught a glimpse of his screen. I smirked when I saw Shannon’s name flash over the display again. “I’ll be off. Have a good day, and I’ll come visit when I can.”

I gave a tiny wave as the door shut, and then I turned to look at Rick. “I’m at your disposal.” I smiled, genuine this time. But something had Rick upset. I could see it on his face. He took a deep breath and sighed as he looked at me.

“Follow me.” Rick brought me into a nice enough office. There were some nice windows that overlooked the training ring where I could see Derek training with the warriors. I felt my stomach clench as he took his top off and howled. “Never mind the boys, girlie. They won’t help you in here.”

I laughed, the first of the day. “The boys won’t distract me unless you are talking about me criticizing their shitty training.” Rick turned to me with a soft smirk on his face. “My father would roll in his grave if I was ever distracted by shitty training and shittier men.” Rick looked at me for a minute and then nodded.

“Your father was a good man, and a better alpha.” He pulled out my chair. “Now sit, I’ll get you logged on to the servers, and then I’ll see what you can do.” I sat, and we got to work. A few hours later, he looked at his watch and sat back. “Now that you’re logged in, I have a test.”

I sat back and cracked my neck. “Okay.” I turned my chair to face him. “What’s the test?”

Rick held up a finger and then walked out, coming back with a stack of papers. “This is the test.” He placed them down in front of me and I leaned in. I paged through the stack and looked up at Rick.

“This is…cat and mouse.” I looked back to the papers. “You want to play cat and mouse?”

Rick smirked. “I do.”

“Why?” I leaned back, tapping the page. “How long do I have to hide from you?”

He laughed. “You aren’t the mouse…I am.”

I sat back. “I have to catch you?” He nodded. “How long do I have?”

He smiled. “You have the rest of the day, if you can catch me.”

I smiled. “Challenge accepted.” I bent over my keyboard. “I’m ready whenever you are.”

“Hold your horses.” He laughed. “I need thirty minutes to hide somewhere in the mainframe. I’ll send Alannah for our lunch, and I’ll hide while we eat. When we are back, you can come find me.” He seemed very giddy.

He nodded. “Honestly, I am.” He pointed to the computer. “I’ve watched you navigate the systems, and I think that you might have the skills to give me a run for my money.” He knocked on the desk. “Now, read the rest of the packet. There is more information in there that explains the game more in-depth. Like, what happens if you find me?” Then he turned away and left. But he came back. “Remember to give Alannah your lunch order? I just put mine in.” He grinned as he disappeared around the corner again. I just smiled.