would look different, but no. Jenner looked just the same. The same smiling friendliness, the same casual slouch.
He turned to Minoru, who refused to meet his eyes.
For the first time, Minoru wasn't as straight as a soldier. Instead, he looked like his strings had been cut. The betrayal was so sharp that at first it didn't seem to hurt.
"Is he telling me the truth?” Padraic asked, and flinched when Minoru nodded once.
"When Yuuka Whatshername did the transfer,” Jenner supplied helpfully. “Good luck finding it. Good luck getting it off."
"This is a nightmare,” Padraic said softly. “This is a complete and utter nightmare..."
"No,” said Minoru, turning to face him. “It's only necessary."
Padraic laughed with disbelief. There was a sharp edge of hysteria in it that was noticeable even to him, and he cut it off. “You absolute bastards,” he said wonderingly. “You put stolen information in my head and God knows what else on me—don't touch me."
Minoru drew back his hand, looking unhappy about it but obeying Padraic's wishes.
Well, not the ones that really mattered, Padraic thought savagely. Just the ones that will keep Padraic in line.
"Take me back to the Inoue Corporation,” he said, as evenly as he could. “Let's get this over with."
"There's no need to go to the presentation,” Minoru pointed out. “I canceled it."
"That's not what we're going to be doing,” Padraic said. “I'm not doing any more presentations. I'm just going to do what you tell me to do, and then I want you to take this software and cram it up your ass."
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Chapter Three
It hurt more than Padraic had thought it would. Despite all of his mental preparations, despite every way that he had tried to keep Minoru from getting inside his head, it had happened anyway.
Why was it always the same? It looked as though he could change names, change jobs, reorganize the tech inside him, leave the damn country, and it was all the same.
Padraic felt hot, as if he had a fever, and he couldn't tell if it was pain or humiliation. Then again, it might have been the malfunctioning tech that he was wearing, so add failure to the list. He didn't know if he was actually angrier with Minoru's betrayal or more angry with himself for never knowing better.
Other guys he knew could bounce back from a bad deal with a shrug and go right back to work. It always sent Padraic for a tailspin, and after the shock came rage. It didn't matter whether he had just realized that his name had been “forgotten” on list of codewriters, or if he'd found out that the great new guy he was screwing was very married with a wife in Greenfield.
At least I'm consistent , he thought furiously. It's like I can't throw a rock without hitting an asshole.
The image of lobbing a rock, or at least the box of tissues in the back seat, at Minoru was such a tempting one that Padraic clenched his hands in his lap.
The thought that this was all his fault drifted up in his mind. He stamped it down so hard that it died without a whimper.
Minoru was holding the car door open for him with completely misplaced courtesy, and Padraic looked at Minoru for a long moment.
No, I know whose fault this is .
* * * *
The ride back to the corporation was made in stilted silence. The moment he was shown back to the suite, he walked rapidly through his bedroom door and locked it behind him. After a moment's consideration, he dragged the heavy nightstand in front of the door as well.
The set of tools that he had brought along was nowhere near as complete as what he was used to working with, and though Minoru's diamond-tipped implements would have been a little more thorough, he'd be damned if he was going to ask for one more thing from the Inoue heir.
It's a lot like shutting the barn door after the horse is already out , his mind supplied helpfully, but he pushed the thought away.
A thorough search of his own internals didn't reveal anything that hadn't shown
Katherine Vickery
Emily Jane Trent
Katie Flynn
Olivia Gayle
Paul C. Doherty
Patricia Wentworth
Ellie Wilson
Alex Anders
Maureen Carter
The Scoundrel