Born Mine
Chapter 96

My ruse with Brandon had been going on for a week and thankfully, he hadn't tried to kiss me again. He kept to his word and the day after my visit to him, Darius received a letter saying that his summoning to the hunters had been canceled and it was a mistake. I was surprised and when I spoke to Brandon about it, he said something about the hunters being effective but I felt it was more than that.

Something didn't quite add up for me. It didn't make any sense that Brandon had such a sway over the hunters when he was just a foot soldier as he claimed. I knew he was lying about his position but there was no way for me to prove that so I settled for looking for information. I realized that Brandon wasn't as stupid as I thought. He didn't fully trust me yet and he never gave me information unless I gave something up as well.

I kept up my façade of not knowing much about Darius so I was able to get off with telling him inconsequential facts like who was the second in command and what happened with Faye although I had to tweak the story a little. I could tell that it frustrated him that I couldn't give him more information but he was great at pretense. He would assure me that I was helping just fine but whenever he thought I wasn't looking, he would roll his eyes and mutter curses under his breath.

I got a text early in the morning from Brandon. He said he wanted to check out Liam's apartment but Darius had sealed it up. He tasked me with replaceing the keys and sneaking out to see him so we could search it together. The first thing I did was show Darius the text. I knew they had already gone through Liam's place but I wanted to make sure they didn't miss anything.

Once I was sure that they had his laptop and phone and they had scoured the place from top to bottom, I took the keys and made my way to Brandon's house. He was waiting for me by the door and when I produced the key, I saw the visible relief on his face. His shoulders sagged and he looked like he was five seconds away from dissolving into a puddle of joy.

"We have to be quick," Brandon told me. "What time does Darius get back home?"

"It depends. He comes home so he can take me to the bar but sometimes he is home earlier."

"Can't you leave the key with me so I can check it over a few days?" he asked and I shook my head. "Come on, Leindra, it is for the greater good. Even if he suspects you, it is nothing you cannot already handle. What is a few days of pain when victory is at stake?"

I stared at him in shock. I had never expected those words to come out of his or anyone's mouth. When he realized I had gone quiet, he broke out into an awkward chuckle.

"Relax, Leindra, I was only joking," he teased. "You don't really think I would leave you to go through that, do you? You need to lighten up and take a joke."

"I didn't realize it was a joke."

The venom in my voice was clear but Brandon still laughed. "Come, we have to get in and out as quickly as possible."

I knew I had to tone down my anger if I wanted this to work so I forced my lips to form a smile and I followed him into his car. I hated being in a confined space with Brandon but I had to endure it for the time being. He shot me smiles ever so often and I had to force myself to return them.

When we got to Liam's house, I was so relieved that I practically jumped out of the car. Brandon took his precious time walking out and opening the door. If I didn't know any better, I would have said that he wanted us to be caught. There were times when he did reckless things like driving past Darius' bar with me in the car or delaying me by a few minutes. I had a feeling he wanted to risk getting caught but I didn't understand why.

"We need his laptop," Brandon said as soon as we got into the house. "If they have it then our entire operation could go up in flames."

"Why? How is that possible?"

"Just focus on getting the laptop."

I didn't tell him that Darius already had it, instead, I focused on pretending to look for it. Liam's house was just as I remembered. When Darius and the others went to comb through it, I refused to accompany them because I didn't want the memories attached to it. As I walked around it now, they were like a dull hum at the back of my mind.

The bedroom in particular was a mess. The bed wasn't made and papers were lying around. I combed through the papers but they were mostly bills and scrawls that I couldn't read. We searched for half an hour before Brandon realized that we weren't going to replace it. He got so frustrated that he grabbed the lamp nearest to him and threw it against the wall where I was standing. If I didn't jump out of the way, it would have hurt me.

"What the hell?" I all but screamed. "You could have hurt me."

Brandon ran his hands through his hair in frustration. He grabbed it with both hands and for a second, I thought he was going to pull it out of the roots. His entire face was flushed red and there was a vein at the side of his head that was pulsing in a way that had me taking a step back.

"They got to it," he murmured and the way he glanced at the other lamp, I knew he was about to throw it so I quickly grabbed it and pulled it out of reach.

"Why are you so triggered over a laptop?" I asked but Brandon stayed silent. "I'm sure Liam was smart enough to clear his emails and messages. They probably won't even replace anything."

"It isn't about the messages or emails. We never spoke about anything important on there but there is an encrypted server that we communicated with. If they can crack it then everything we have worked for is lost," he turned to me as if just realizing that I was there. "I need you to get that laptop for me."

"I can't," I said quickly and his eyes narrowed. I knew I needed to come up with an excuse fast. "If Darius has it then it is probably in his office. I am not allowed there and if by some miracle I can get in, he will know the moment it is missing. He will kill me."

"Your life is worth the risk," my mouth fell open and he seemed to realize what he had said because he cursed. "I didn't mean that, Leindra."

"It sounded like you did."

"Look, this is important, this is our life's work. If you want to prove your allegiance to the hunters then you have to get that laptop for us."

"I didn't sign up to die, Brandon. I came to you because I didn't want to get hurt anymore. If you can't protect me then tell me and I will replace someone who will. I came to you for help, I'm not doing this."

I knew I was taking a huge risk by refusing him outrightly but I couldn't take the laptop from Darius. They would need time to crack whatever encrypted server was on there and if my partnership with Brandon fell through then so be it.

After a brief moment of silence, Brandon sighed. "You're right, I'm sorry. I'll talk to the hunters, they will replace a way to get it."

"What are they going to do?"

"Don't worry about it. You should get home before Darius realizes that you're missing."

I knew that was the end of the conversation so I nodded. As he drove back to his house, he didn't glance at me once. He didn't even offer to let me into his house, he just walked out of the car and left me standing in the driveway. I knew without a doubt that whatever information was on that server was important because for him to act that way, it meant that he had a lot to lose.

I drove over to the house with a speed I didn't know I possessed. When I got in, I rushed over to Darius' office and told him everything that happened. Jared and Ian were there when I walked in and as soon as I was done speaking, Darius handed the laptop over to Jared.

"You're the best at tech," he said and Jared nodded. "I need you to do everything in your power to crack that. I need it quickly. If my suspicions are right then the hunters might launch an attack to get that. Keep it at your place and make sure it is safe. Under no circumstances is Brandon to get his hands on that laptop."

"I'll protect it with my life," Jared assured him and within a second, he was up and out of the room. As he passed by me, he clapped me on the shoulder. "You did well, kid."

Once he left, it was just Ian and Darius. Ian wasted no time in leaving the room. Once it was just Darius and I, I practically threw myself into his arms. It had become our routine that once I was done with Brandon, I would spend a few minutes in his arms to remind myself that I didn't truly hate him and everything I said to Brandon was a lie. "What is it?" Darius asked instantly knowing that something was wrong. I hesitantly told him about the issue with the lamp and his shoulders stiffened. "If you're in danger then you shouldn't be doing this."

"It is for the greater good," I repeated the mantra I had been telling myself. "it'll be over soon, I can feel it."

Darius opened his mouth to speak but Ian walked back into the office. "We have Brandon-sized problem in the driveway."