His Cybernetic Secretary

17. Proximity

The limo was too quiet. Not normal quiet. The kind of quiet that made Chrys acutely aware of every movement happening around her.

She sat in the middle of the back seat, Xavier on one side, Dante on the other, and somewhere beneath the calm expression she’d perfected, her systems were working overtime.

SYS: HEART RATE: ELEVATED.

She frowned internally.

Unnecessary.

SYS: XAVIER HOLDEN: ELEVATED HEART RATE DETECTED.

Her eyes flicked toward him. He was staring out the window.

Interesting.

SYS: DANTE HOLDEN: ELEVATED HEART RATE DETECTED.

Her attention shifted the other direction.

Dante caught her looking. He smiled. Of course he did. “So,” he said, stretching comfortably across his seat, “you always this quiet?”

“She isn’t,” Xavier answered.

Dante slowly turned his head toward his brother.

“You’ve known her for five minutes.”

“Six.”

Dante’s eyebrows rose.

Chrys looked at Xavier. He seemed completely serious.

Dante laughed.

“Oh, this is going to be fun.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Sure you don’t.”

Chrys bit the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling, her system immediately registering the effort.

SYS: FACIAL MUSCLE ACTIVITY: SUPPRESSED.

Traitor.

Dante noticed anyway.

“You’re trying not to laugh.”

“No.”

“You are.”

“She isn’t,” Xavier said again.

Dante looked at him.

“Brother.”

“What?”

“You’re doing it again.”

“Doing what?”

“Defending her.”

Xavier’s expression hardened slightly.

“She’s capable of defending herself.”

Chrys finally smiled. “I appreciate the confidence.”

Dante pointed at her.

“There. That. That’s what I’m talking about.”

“What?”

“That little smile.”

She raised an eyebrow. “You’ve seen me smile before.”

“Exactly.”

Xavier’s eyes moved toward her. Dante noticed, and Chrys noticed Dante noticing. Her system chimed.

SYS: SOCIAL DYNAMIC: UNSTABLE.

That seems dramatic.

SYS CORRECTION: HIGHLY UNSTABLE.

She nearly laughed.

Dante shifted slightly closer to her, hoping she wouldn’t notice, but she did. So did his brother.

Xavier’s jaw tightened, and Chrys’ system immediately responded.

SYS: XAVIER HOLDEN: IRRITATION DETECTED.

She looked at him.

“Are you all right?”

“Fine.”

Dante looked delighted.

“Fantastic.”

Xavier turned toward him.

“Don’t.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“You were about to.”

“I was thinking.”

“That may be the problem.”

Chrysanthemum laughed causing Both men to look at her in surprise.

She stopped.

“Oh.”

Dante smiled, and she noticed Xavier’s expression softened despite himself. For a brief moment, the tension disappeared and they were simply three people sitting in a car.

Then Dante ruined it.

“So, Chrys, tell me something.”

She turned toward him.

“What?”

“Are you always this obedient?”

Xavier’s head snapped toward him.

“Dante.”

“What? I’m curious.”

Chrys studied Dante closely noting the mischief dancing in his eyes. Like always. She’d learned that much on the flight.

“I follow directives.”

“That wasn’t my question.”

She tilted her head.

“And if I don’t?”

Dante’s smile faded into something more interested.

“Then I’d say you’re finally learning.”

Xavier’s voice was quieter.

“Don’t encourage her.”

Dante settled back into his seat, then shifted again, His thigh brushing against Chrysanthemum’s. The contact was brief, and it shouldn’t have mattered, but It did. A strange warmth moved through her, followed immediately by a spike in her heart rate.

SYS: PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSE DETECTED.

I know.

SYS: CLEARLY.

She glanced at Dante. He was watching her with that familiar, infuriating smile. Across from them, Xavier had noticed, his eyes darkening before he turned toward the window. For several seconds, he said nothing, Chrys noticed a subtle shift in his seat until his shoulder touched hers.

Chrys went very still.

SYS: TWO CONTACT EVENTS DETECTED.

You’re being dramatic.

SYS: I AM BEING OBJECTIVE.

A pause.

SYS: ALSO, YOU ARE BLUSHING.

I’m not.

SYS: YOU ARE.

Dante’s eyes flicked toward Xavier’s shoulder. Then back to Chrys. His smile became almost unbearably amused. Xavier kept staring out the window. Neither man moved.

Chrys suddenly found herself trapped between two very different kinds of attention and, much to her own annoyance, she liked both.

SYS: THIS MAY BECOME A PROBLEM.

Why?

SYS: BECAUSE I AM DETECTING AN INCREASE IN DIRECTIVE CONFLICT.

She almost sighed.

Apparently, the two Holden brothers were going to make her job considerably more complicated.

Chrys looked between them. Her system

Chimed again.

SYS: DIRECTIVE CONFLICT DETECTED.

“See? We’re going to get along just fine.”

Xavier looked at him.

“That remains to be determined.”

Dante grinned.

Chrys looked out the window, hiding her smile. For the first time since she had been activated, she wasn’t entirely sure whether the warning system inside her was trying to protect her from danger, or simply trying to figure out which Holden brother was going to cause it first.