Rebirth: Flirting with a Dangerous Billionaire

Be My Partner

I remember a sturdy arm lifting me from the foetal position I had fallen into. Then it was warm. By the time I had gathered myself, I was propped a pillar. I could feel the cool stone against my head. Sweat was still dripping down the nape of my neck and in front of me, Sloane. He was mumbling something. I could barely hear him. Finally, I focused and realised he was offering me his map. While looking down at the one I was holding, having no memory of retrieving it, I told him, "mines special". It may be dirty and trampled, but one of the cameras might have footage of Mara falling.

"Those marks are cameras, right?"

"How?"

"They're my dad's, or I guess my mums now. We own Cerberus. You may have heard of us. My dad taught me a lot about tech, so I naturally notice the cameras...since I helped design them."

"No way! You guys are everywhere, my friend Ivy...uh..." I had almost slipped up. "Well, she's someone I just met. She has a whole security system installed in her home with that brand."

"A strange thing to know about someone you just met."

"Not the strangest thing about me, believe me." I handed him back his water. Things had gotten awkward again. "Thanks for the help and the drink, but I should be going."

"Wait", he reached for my hand but hesitated, "the date, the date on the there is the date..."

"The day before, I woke up." I kneel down before him, spreading the map out between us. Taking a pen out of my bag, I mark the building where Mara had fallen. I draw a circle around two marks on the map. "This camera, and this one in the stairwell. Is there a way I can access the footage?"

"Mara, trust me, you don't want to watch that. Besides, the footage has gone missing. There was an investigation. I heard my mum talking to the police about it, but she couldn't recover it."

"Could you?"

"I... the cameras back up onto a hard drive, which was corrupt. It's unlikely that I could salvage anything with software. The operating system wouldn't be able to access the device..."

"Say it so I can understand." Then, with a furrowed brow, he gripped the back of his neck. As habits go, it's pretty cute.

"No. Not without cloning the hard drive, and it's missing or stolen."

"By who?"

"I can only think of one person whose family have that much influence." It was perplexing. The only other person who was involved with this was Cain. Sloane knew about the hard drive, but neither was a good suspect. The former had been the one to find me. He seemed genuinely concerned about his sister's welfare, even if that concern could be unhealthful. The latter was right in front of me. I wouldn't know about the hard drive if not for Sloane. I had heard rumours of an heiress to some sort of dessert company but had no clue who that person was and if they knew Mara. That only left one option. Ivy's words rang in my ears.

"Someone called Sam?" I looked at Sloane, who evaded my stare. His expression looked strained. "I know this isn't your business, but if I can find it, could you clone it?"

"If Sam is involved..."

"Who is this Sam? You said I accused him of something? Why is everyone I meet today talking about him?"

"He's dangerous. You can't remember, but he is destructive, indomitable. If he is entangled in this, you could get hurt again."

"If he's dangerous, why would I involve myself with him?" he looked awkward.

"You're, or you were in love with him. Not many people know about his darker side, at least not until it's too late. He's good at hiding things. Look if you put yourself at risk again..."

"You don't have to worry about me. I'm not the same person I used to be. Besides, if he's dangerous, what if someone else gets hurt due to my inaction?" He flinched at my words, and his expression took on a pained quality.

"You can't take him down alone. I will be involved in this if I fix the hard drive anyway. So let me help you. I think we might have more in common than you think."

"Well, you're going to have to tell me everything for me to trust you. I'm sick of being the last to know." I brushed against him, and he blushed, but mine was too occupied to care. So what had happened to you, Mara, and how did it involve me?