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He didn’t look like any kind of geek--co breaker, a leviathan He looked like a beast, except for those dark, thick-fralasses that sat over his slate-colored eyes They were undoubtedly out of place with his fierce expression and inti with the nearly shaved head and the tattoos His eyes were narrowed at me under lowered brows His rabbed my upper arh, calloused, and abrasive, but his hold was gentle He crossed those massive ar and flexing with the s that he was so impressive to look at I already had a senificent brain and the lure of his rus, that he looked out for those ere constantly overlooked It wasn’t fair that he was ridiculously hot on top of being the sly or not I didn’t want to like him, and I really, really didn’t want to need hi here, Noe Lee?" I couldn’t stop the little shiver of delight that worked down ht Not that N-O was all that hard to reether so that it sounded like Noley When we first ht I was a boy It was a ruse I often used to keep unwanted attention off myself He was obviously annoyed that I’d been able to fool him He was supposed to be too smart to be tricked by a street rat There was no way he couldin a shiny sheet, arrow straight where it brushed h that they touched ht across loss for this little charade and put on a v-neck shirt that showed a hint of cleavage I hated it I usually went out of my way to make sure no one knew I had boobs I ay outside of my comfort zone, but I would do what I had to do in order to survive

"You already took everything that wasn’t nailed down the first ti left for you to steal" His voice was a deep ruh-pitched, nerdy whine for Snowden Stark Again, he was annoyed This tied to breach his supposedly secure fortress I guessed he wasn’t the type to forgive and forget

I cleared ether in front ofintietting away froular-sizedStark was anything but regular, so I was feeling slightly unsettled and anxious even though he wasn’t doing anything

I figured that even though he was still pissed I’d ripped hiets and toys I knew for a fact that the guy was a tech-junkie There was no way in hell he hadn’t gone out and replaced his stash the second he kneas gone He couldn’t survive being unplugged He was all man, but very much dependent on machines They were almost an extension of who he was It was obvious in the cold, calculating way he dealt with people There were no unnecessary or needless pleasantries There was no waruy who oozed syuy who had patience or any kind of practiced civility about him Humans were flawed and defective Computers weren’t They did what you told them to do and reacted in predictable, expected ways Computers didn’t break into your house and steal all your stuff Computers didn’t irritate you and disrupt your precise and orderly life Co that was exactly why this man surrounded himself with thes of iers-on He could easily be ruler of the intellectually elite, but instead, he lived like a herht be off-putting to anyone else, but since I tended to lean toward cold and calculating races It meant I didn’t have to force end and myth No one knehat the real Snowden Stark was like or what he was about, but I’d gotten a glied me to meet the Devil He was furious that I’d disrupted his routine and touched his stuff He was livid, even, but he never hurt er simply popped and snapped like an electrical current between us Cold fury Like being in the middle of a blizzard with no protection and nowhere to hide

No one and nothing in the Point operated that way

We all put ourselves first We all focused on as best for us and ould ensure that we stayed breathing a fewor anyone else It’s how you had to think and react if you wanted to keep your head above water in this place

Not Stark

He got exactly what he wanted, obtained what his terrifying e or threatening htest He didn’t push He didn’t shove He didn’t use the fact he was bigger than me as a threat My first impression stuck He was i to do with his ray eyes

I took a breath and told et it over with The worst he could do was tellto figure it all out onnew

"I’m in trouble and I need your help" My voice shook and I loathed the little tremor of sound that betrayed just how scared and desperate I was

One of his dark brows arched over the top of his Buddy Holly-style glasses The line of hisatHe uncrossed his beefy arainst the door jamb That was a lot of muscle and tattooed skin stretched out in front of me I would have appreciated the view if it weren’t a clear signal that he was not inviting me into his space anytime soon I’d worn out my welcome when I stole from him, and as much as I wanted to be irritated by his reluctance to let me in, I couldn’t be I’d been betrayed more than once, which is why I set out to live ot those who had wronged e like a motherand it appeared Stark was the sa froer and meaner than me?" No concern No curiosity He asked like he would ask about the weather or the tirip and slid o pants so he wouldn’t noticeinto my palms "No, I helped someone disappear"

That hat I did

If you could find me, if you knehat rocks to turn over and which alleyways to slink through in order to ask for my help, I could turn you into a brand-new person If you wanted to be older or younger, I could help you out with that If you wanted to be soet a job, I could fix that for you If you were on the run from someone with heavy fists and a nasty temper, I made sure you were ier knocked up with your stepdaddy’s baby because the man was a predator and a pervert, well, then I would do my best to make sure no one kneho or where you were until you decided what to do about your situation I would make sure you were safe, even when your stepdad was the mayor of the City: the place where both the Point and the Hill were located It had never been a secret that the man was as ial activities that happened in the dark under his less-than-watchful eye As it turned out, no one really knehat kind of monster he was behind the closed doors of his home

When Julia Grace found me, I wanted to turn her away I likedher would come with more risk than I typically like to take on But there was no way I could send the poor girl back to that s he did to her, that made my stomach crawl No one should have to suffer like that and no one should be forced to bring a child into a situation like that She didn’t know if she was keeping the baby or if she was going to carry it to ter h problee to face I helped her, made her disappear, hid her ahere no one would ever think to lookand noas paying the price for it

Her powerful and paranoid stepfather wanted her back and his dirty secrets buried He would stop at nothing until he achieved both

Stark lifted his other eyebrow and raised a finger to push at his glasses as the ood at s vanish, so I’ at my front door"

Shit There was detachment and ice wrapped around every syllable I sed and looked down at the ground It was tihteousness I’d heard so e stepdaughter For years She found et her out of the city and as far away froo She cried and told s that monster did to her He knocked her up She’s just a baby, herself There was sowith all of it, I had to do what I could to ernails even deeper into my palms so I wouldn’t cry I refused to show that kind of weakness in front of hi for me He has resources and reach that I can’t outrun I’m out of places to hide"