Honey Trapped

Chapter Nine

One Year Later

It was Friday, which meant Pria got to work half of her day from home. As she pulled into the driveway, she stared at the beat-up Chevy in front of her. At least he was home. That was a welcome surprise since he was rarely around these days. Often Drew and Sal would call each other and make plans that didn't include her, and it seemed like no time at all before Drew was working with Sal and taking on a multitude of responsibilities.

Pria was feeling left out. She pushed the immature feelings away when they came, reminding herself that Drew wanting to spend time with her family was a good thing. And if Drew wanted to work for Sal, whatever the reason, then Pria would support it.

Well, she would try to, but as more time passed, it became increasingly difficult to maintain her smile. Things between her and Drew were changing. He was obsessed with work, was less flirtatious and attentive.

She had called her brother a couple of days ago, asking to meet with him. He'd come running just like he always did, ready to save the day on her behalf, but when she'd started asking questions about Drew, Sal had clammed up, saying only, "Give him a break, bimba. We're making moves and building our empire. Everything he does is for you. All he cares about is making sure you're okay. He likes to spoil you."

It was the one time in her life Sal had been no help at all.

Pria was listening to her boss through the Bluetooth headphone in her ear as she parked. She grabbed her computer bag before getting out of the car to head inside.

"And since we're about ready to launch the site," Donna was saying, "I think we should set up a call for tomorrow night. You can flex your magical hacker fingers and find all the bugs."

Pria hated working weekends, but kept her voice bright. "Of course. I don't think we'll need the whole team, though. If you want to fill in for Tessa as DevOp, it would be a big help. I'll only need maybe two people from my team. Luz is killer when it comes to breaking things."

Donna laughed as Pria walked through the door and smiled at Drew. She cocked her head at the man who sat with him at the dining room table, but Donna was speaking again. "She really is, but you have the eye that I need. I'll have the DC crew on standby. But I really want you to do your worst. I want you to show DC—those prigs—what you're made of."

Pria laughed. "I love you, Donna. I promise I'll crack the hell out of that system. If left to their own devices, it'll be weeks before they can even access it again. But of course, I'll fix everything we break. I don't doubt that we can have the program serviceable and ready for launch on time."

Drew signaled her for attention.

Pria held her hand up, still listening.

"Perfect," Donna said. "I'll handle the storyboard, too, since I'll just be on the sidelines monitoring."

"Great. That'll be a big help," Pria said.

Drew rapped impatient knuckles on the table and motioned for her to hurry the call.

"Listen, Donna, I just walked in." She kicked off her shoes. "I'll log back in as soon as I grab a bite to eat."

She ended the call and eyed Drew. She missed the days when he'd wrap her in his big beefy arms the moment she got home from work.

"I want you to meet someone." He gestured to the man sitting next to him. "This is Tony, a good friend of mine. He's going to be watching out for you when I have to work."

Pria smiled politely. "Hi, Tony— Wait, what?" Pria frowned, eyes going between Drew and Tony. "What do you mean?"

Drew met her eyes unflinchingly. "You've been seeing Sal behind my back. Since you don't seem inclined to worry about your safety, Tony will."