Page 5 of Red Zone Awakened

Oh yeah, Hunter was definitely getting punched.“I don’t have any issues,” Mace growled.

“Whatever.Abigail’s furious on Keiko’s behalf.The sisterhood is out to get you, and that chick is pretty creative with her revenge ideas.”

All Mace could do was swallow his irritation.He’d deal with Hunter later.Along with everyone else on his team who was working to piss him off.

* * *

Keiko refused to acknowledge Mace, which was difficult, considering he was at least half a head taller than everyone else on the terrace.But she wasn’t about to waste any more time on the man.He’d dragged her into this situation.Her parents were in danger because of him.And she’d betrayed her government by sneaking him into the press event—something that could see her fired, or worse, forced to have her memories downloaded and then wiped.

“We’ll deal with him later,” Abigail whispered.“Just give me five minutes alone with him in my lab.There’s a whole lot I can do in the name of science.”

“I am seriously tempted to take you up on that,” Keiko whispered back while waiting for the crowd to quieten down.

“No one messes with my friend,” Abigail vowed as she attempted to stare a hole through Mace’s head.“He seemed so charming at the club.I can’t believe he turned out to be awful.I am a terrible judge of the male character.I never get it right.And to be honest, the whole sexy barbarian thing blinded me to reality.I can see why you fell for it.But as soon as this is over, bring him to me.I’ll reprogram his chips to give him an electric shock every time he gets turned on.”

Now that sounded really good.“I’ll deliver him to you personally.”Keiko turned away from her friend and muttered to the man monitoring her every move, “And, Hunter, if you’re listening, you’re included in that too.”She hoped he was squirming in his seat, wherever he was.

Part of her had wanted to tell Abigail the full story, including the blackmail and danger, but that would have put her friend at risk too, so she’d kept her mouth shut.Still, she wondered what the scientist would have come up with if she’d known all of it.She bet it would have been terrifying.

As the din died down, Keiko pasted on a smile and signaled the crowd for silence.She had a job to do, and she wasverygood at her job.She wouldn’t let Mace and his awful team take that from her too.

“Welcome to Houston,” she called out, waving at reporters she’d known for years and was fond of.“The city’s putting on a show just for you.”She motioned to the glorious reds and purples of the sunset, and a cheer went up.

“As you know, we hold most of our press conferences at head office or in some high-priced hotel so you lot can drink away our profits.But today, we’re here at our cutting-edge Houston research facility.There are two reasons for this change in location.The first, of course, is to show off our new lens, which will blow your minds.The other is to allow you guys access to our scientists in a controlled environment.One where you can’t get them drunk and talk them into gifting you some free tech.”There was much laughter and groans of faux disappointment.“But to compensate for missing out, we’re going to feed you.”

“It’d better be a good spread to make up for the lost tech freebies,” someone shouted, making everyone laugh.

“I promise it’s delicious.Now, let me introduce you to the team behind our latest technological marvel.”She gestured to the two rows of scientists taking up the stage.The three heads of department stood beside Keiko, their teams in a line behind them.

Rueben Granger was already preening, practically salivating at the thought of being in front of the press yet again, even though he’d had little to do with lens development—data chips were his specialty.No, the new lens was all Abigail’s work.Rueben was only at the launch because he was Abby’s boss—and because he enjoyed the limelight.He straightened his shoulders, ready for her to introduce him first as the most important person there.In his mind, anyway.Keiko pretended she didn’t notice his behavior and, instead, gestured to Abigail.

“This is Abigail Dawson, head of our Visual Implant and Ocular Interface Division.”Her shy friend nodded to the crowd and took a step closer to Keiko; meanwhile, Rueben quickly brushed the scowl at being slighted from his face.“Abigail’s team has come up with a lens that has ten times the clarity of anything else on the market.We’re talking crystal-clear imaging and precision colors that take the strain out of long-term use.Say hi to the press, Abigail.”

The color drained from her friend’s face, and Keiko quickly squeezed her arm.“Sorry,” she whispered with genuine regret.“I’m off my game.”

“It’s okay,” Abigail said.“I understand.If I were you, I’d be off my game too.”

“It’s no excuse.I know how you hate these things.”

“True.I wouldn’t even be on this stage if Rueben wasn’t playing a game of whose dick is bigger.”She paused.“Mine is, by the way, and I don’t even have one.”

Keiko smothered a laugh as she turned back to the crowd.“Even though I’ve known Abigail since college, I forgot that she isn’t really a stage person.My bad.And I’m sure she’ll make me pay for it later.”She grinned at her friend.“But she wants you to know that she says hi, and if you want free tech, your best bet is Rueben—he has all the best toys.”

The crowd laughed, Abigail relaxed, and Rueben’s ego was stroked.It was why they paid her the big bucks.With a quick squeeze of her friend’s hand to say she was sorry, she moved on down the line, all the while aware of Mace’s eyes boring into the back of her head.It was clear he was annoyed that she’d ignored him since he sprang his team on her.But seriously, what was he expecting?For her to climb into bed with him and carry on where they left off after them telling her that she was being blackmailed and her parents were in danger?Did she look that stupid?

Deep breaths.

Focus on the job.

As soon as this press conference was over, she planned to resign from her job as CommTECH’s press secretary, which meant she’d no longer hold any value for Mace and his team.It was the only way to keep her parents safe.After that, Keiko would spend the rest of her life forgetting that she’d once met a man who made her wild for him and instead stick to boring, corporate men who were a whole lot easier to predict.After all, the only thing she’d had with Mace was a primal attraction.She hadn’t even known him when she climbed into his lap in the cab.So much for her desire to do something spontaneous and reckless just one time.That sure as hell backfired.

As she faced the next scientist in the row, her heart sank, but she kept a smile plastered on her face.“Rueben Granger needs no introduction.As head of our Implanted Tech Division, he has personally overseen every aspect of this project—despite lens technology not being his area of specialization.”It was a little dig, one that went right over his head.

She didn’t have to ask Rueben to speak—he assumed it was his due and waited, greedily, for yet more attention.He cleared his throat, took a step forward, and lifted his chin.“I am thrilled to be here on this auspicious day…”

You could almost hear the press groan.Their head of implanted tech research wouldn’t just say hello; he could talk about himself for hours, and there was food growing cold.If she didn’t nip things in the bud fast, there would be a revolt.

“It wouldn’t be a product launch without you, Rueben,” she said quickly.“And I know the press is eager to ask you their questions as soon as I’ve finished introducing the rest of your amazing team.”She turned to the audience as though they were forcing her to interrupt his speech.“You’re just going to have to wait until I’m done, okay?”