Hacked by Love, Part 1

by Sharon Cummin

  Hacked by Love, Part 1

  By Sharon Cummin

  Copyright © 2017 Sharon Cummin

  All Rights Reserved

  Warning: This story contains explicit sexual content that is not intended for those under the age of 18. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious and the age of 18 and older. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Check out my Amazon Author Page – Sharon Cummin

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  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Prologue

  Lance

  I sat at the desk, in my room, looking out the window at the party in our backyard. My sister was married. I couldn't believe it. She'd been best friends with James ever since I could remember. Not for one second did I think they would say I do to each other. Sammie was happier than I'd ever seen her before, and it was all because of him.

  He'd stood his ground when he broke my father's heart and quit playing professional ball. My dad had given him more shit than he'd ever given anyone, but James didn't let it get to him. He wanted to work with numbers, and he loved my sister. Both of those things worked against him in my dad's eyes, but he didn't care. He followed his own dreams, and that was exactly what I was going to do.

  I was just starting my final year of high school and both of my parents were putting on the pressure for me to start looking into colleges. There was only one problem with that, I wasn't going. It didn't matter how many times I told them, neither of them heard me. Did they think they could force me into something I didn't want? Maybe they did, but it wasn't going to work. Just like James, I knew what I wanted, and just like James, I was going to prove to them I could make my own decisions.

  I'd been messing with computers since I was ten. My dad was a retired ballplayer, so that didn't exactly go over well with him. He tried hard to pretend to be interested so many times in what I was doing, but I saw through it every single time his eyes glazed over when the boredom set in. I had to give him props for trying though. He was a great dad. We were close. I just didn't want him in my room tinkering around my stuff. I'd learned a lot in those eight years. I'd developed some simple games and some pretty interesting software as well. That wasn't it for me though. My big dream was to work for the government. I wanted to do something amazing. I was actually working on a secret project. My parents thought it was a joke, I knew they did. They thought it was my way of staying in my room all the time. That wasn't it, they'd see it one day. The day they did, I knew they'd understand why I didn't need college. I was going to make it, and I was going to do it on my own. It wouldn't be because of my dad, his affiliation to baseball, or his money. It was going to be all me.

  One person believed in me. That person was Sammie. She'd been right there with me when my parents rode my ass about school. She defended me every step of the way. I'd always love her and owe her so much. We weren't blood, but you'd never know it. I was adopted when Sammie was five and I was just a newborn. She'd always be my big sister. I'd always look up to her. When I explained to her that I already knew more than I'd ever learn in the college computer classes, she listened. When I told her those four years would be better spent getting real experience, she got it. When I talked to her about my secret project, she believed in me. My sister knew I was going to make something of myself. If it weren't for her, I don't know what I would have done.

  I'd been working with James at the company he was running for his dad for a couple of months. It was awesome, and I knew I was impressing his cyber security team. His dad had just told him he was signing the company over to him. It was all his. If his dad believed in him, I knew I'd be able to find a way for my dad to believe in me too.

  I was looking out into the yard when I heard the ding of my laptop and looked down to see big red letters flashing on my screen.

  “Gotcha sucker. Better luck next time. Eagle”

  Both of my hands hit the desk before I slammed my screen down, stood from my seat, and let out a loud breath.

  “You're mine,” I growled out before turning away and walking out of my room.

  I threw the back door open and Sammie walked right toward me. It was like she knew the exact second I was coming out. I shook my head as I continued grumbling to myself about the asshole I'd just walked away from.

  “You're supposed to be happy,” she said. “This is the day you get to finally get rid of your sister.”

  “I'm sorry,” I said.

  “Look,” she said. “I've got your back, Lancie.”

  “Will you finally stop calling me that now that I'm getting rid of you?” I asked.

  She been calling me that shit since the day they brought me home. I think she was just jealous that I wasn't stuck in a room painted by our dad with his picture on the wall.

  “No,” she said. “I get why you don't want to go to school.”

  School, I thought to myself. She thought it was about school.

  “It has nothing to do with that,” I said.

  “Is it a girl?” she asked.

  I shook my head and smiled. Well girls were definitely not something I minded thinking about, it had nothing to do with one.

  “No,” I snapped. “You're as bad as dad when it comes to that crap.”

  “What?” she asked.

  “It's an asshole online,” I said with a shake of my head. “He's really pissing me off. Dude thinks he's a better hacker than me.”

  “I know you did not just say hacker, Lancie,” she snapped.

  Shit, I thought.

  “Please, Sammie,” I pleaded. “Pretend you did not just hear that. I'm not doing anything bad. It's nothing I can get in trouble for. Do not mention it to them.”

  I looked over toward our parents before looking back at her.

  “You promise?” she asked. “If your ass ends up in jail, they will kill me.”

  “I swear,” I said with my hands up. “I'm fine. I just want this fucker to knock it off. One of these days, I'm going to run into him, and I'm going to beat his ass a good one.”

  “Will you watch your mouth,” she said, as she pulled me closer and looked me right in the eyes. “Do not do anything to screw up what you're passionate about. Do you hear me, little brother? You're going to do big things. Don't let some irritating, little shit mess that up.”

  “I hear you,” I said before wrapping my arms around her and hugging her. “Go find your new husband.”

  I looked around at all of the people that mattered to me. There were so many more important things for me to do than give that irritating loser my time and thoughts, but I couldn't stop thinking about him. Sammie was right, I knew she was. There was no way I was letting anyone stand in the way of my passion and the life I was going to have. Living well was the best revenge. Wasn't that how it went? I was going to do just that. I was going to spend every single moment of my free time building something I would be proud of. Each time that little shit popped into my mind, I was going to work twice as hard. When that day finally came and I finally came face to face with the punk, I was going to rock his world and show him who the better man was.

  Chapter 1

  Lance

  One Year Later

  So much had happened since my sister got married. She had a baby. Her name was Jillian, but I called her Jilly. I had to do it. She was the cutest thing I'd ever seen, and we had a strong bond from the momen
t I first held her. I'd do anything for my niece. Besides computers, she was my world. I'd even gone out and bought one of those play yard things for my room. She was the only one that pulled me away from my work. The second my sister dropped her off, I'd snatch her up and bring her into my room with me. It really pissed my dad off, that made it even better. My mom would come in and take her for baths and to put her in bed, but that was it. I wasn't being completely unfair. My dad had her when I went to work. He had more than enough time with her.

  I was still working for James at the company his dad had given him. My mom worked there too. That part wasn't so bad. She really was an amazing mom. I'd heard stories about her mom and dad while I was growing up. They weren't all that. My grandma told me about it. She was actually James' grandma, but I claimed her as mine too. She was amazing. My mom always had my back growing up, that is, except for when it came to college. I only had Sammie beside me for that.

  The secret project I'd been working on all those years was finally finished. I'll never forget the look on my parents' faces when I told them the news. I'd made sure that Sammie and James were there as well. It was a moment I'd remember for the rest of my life. I'd worked my ass off, in my room alone, for hours and hours each day. They'd all given me so much shit about that over the years. I'd really been able to step up my game once high school was over. It had been a secret. I'd made sure of it. The phone calls and meetings were kept mostly to myself. I wasn't sure what was going to happen, and there was no way I was going to give my parents one moment to be disappointed in my decision not to go to college.

  I did need a little help when it came to the meetings, and Sammie was right there for that. She was the one that covered for me. I knew it wasn't easy for her to keep things from our parents. She'd done it before, and that hadn't worked out so well. I also knew she wanted my dreams to come true. She always told me I was going to do something big one day, and she was right. We sat in front of our parents, and Sammie kept the straightest face. There was no way she was giving away that she knew anything. I hadn't told her everything yet, but she knew more than the rest.

  I looked around at the people that loved me and could barely hold back my excitement. They were going to be so damn proud of me. There was no way they wouldn't be. My dad was going to look at me the way he did Sammie. He was going to see that my time hadn't been wasted at all.

  “I have something to tell you,” I said, as I looked at my dad.

  “Are you okay?” my mom asked.

  “Yes,” I said, as I looked over to see a look of concern on her face.

  “What is it?” Sammie asked in a happy tone. “Just tell us.”

  I looked over at her to see the biggest smile on her face. She knew, I was sure of it. She knew I was going to shock them all. I'd just gotten the call hours before and instantly called her to tell her she needed to get to our house that night.

  “You know I've worked really hard in my room for a very long time,” I said.

  “For years,” my dad mumbled. “Never come out of that damn room.”

  I couldn't help but laugh at his words. He was right. I lived in my room.

  “I was working on something huge,” I said.

  “A secret project,” my dad mumbled sarcastically.

  “Yes,” I said. “It was a secret project. I got some news today, and I wanted you to be the first to know. I sold it.”

  “Sold what?” my dad asked with way more interest than he had just moments before.

  “The software I've been working on,” I said with confidence. “I sold it.”

  “To who?” my dad asked.

  I didn't look over at Sammie. I knew if I did, I'd lose it. That wasn't happening.

  “The military,” I said.

  I wasn't sure I'd ever seen my dad speechless before, and I couldn't help the smile that spread across my face.

  “The military,” my mom said.

  “Yes,” I said. “I sold the software to the military for a million dollars.”

  “What?” my dad gasped. “Did you just say million?”

  “Shit,” Sammie said, as she reached up to cover her mouth.

  “I did,” I said. “They bought it. I was hoping they would. It's going to help so many people.”

  “You've been in your room for years working on software for the military,” my dad said. “I can't believe it.”

  “I told you what I was doing was amazing. Now I know they thought it was as great as I did,” I said.

  My dad walked over, grabbed my face, and pulled me in to hug me.

  “I'm so damn proud of you, son,” he said. “I'm so sorry for giving you shit.”

  My mom had tears streaming down her face as she pulled me away from him and hugged me tight.

  “You're something else,” she said. “We never should have tried to push you. You knew exactly what you were doing.”

  “I knew you were going to do big things,” Sammie said from beside me. “I'm so proud of you, Lancie. Your dreams have come true. I knew you could do it.”

  “I'm not done,” I said with a smile, as I turned to her. “I still have to get my dream job.”

  “I thought you just did,” she said, sounding confused.

  I leaned in close to her.

  “I'm not even close to being done,” I whispered. “I still have so much to prove.”

  She shook her head and wrapped her arms around my neck.

  “Please tell me this has nothing to do with the talk we had at my wedding.”

  I let out a laugh, hugged her tight, and pulled back from her.

  “I love you, sis,” I said with a wink.

  “Lancie,” she snapped, as I turned and walked away.

  It had everything do with that discussion and that same irritating, little shit that was still a huge pain in my ass. I was going to get my dream job, and I was going to take out anyone that got in my way.

  Chapter 2

  Lance

  One Year Later

  I was sitting with my family at my niece's first birthday party. Jilly was the cutest damn baby I'd ever seen. She had all of us wrapped around her little fingers. My dad was a total mush when it came to her. It was the strangest thing to see. That little girl brought the man to his knees. All she had to do was look at her grandpa and he'd be all crazy over trying to make her smile. My mom was just as bad. She was always trying to get some time with her. I had them all beat. All I had to do was walk through the door and she was smiling and holding her arms out. I'd take off for my room, and we'd play for hours. She was the most adorable, well-behaved baby. I'd spent more money on her than on anything else since I'd sold that software. Sammie was always complaining that we all needed to stop spoiling her, but her and James were just as bad as the rest of us.

  I was still living at home. That probably sounds crazy to you but not to me. I had a room to call my own and didn't have to pay a dime. Other than some new computers and spoiling Jilly, the rest of the money was in an account for when I needed it. I had goals. Working with James was great, but I wasn't going to do it forever. I was going to get a job with the government. It was something I'd thought about since I was a kid. I honestly didn't want to be away from my mom's cooking or little Jilly either.

  The baby had just finished opening her gifts when I felt my pocket vibrate with a text. I pulled my phone out, read the message, and tried my best to hide the smile I knew was across my entire face. I could feel Sammie looking at me from the corner of her eye. She must have nudged James because he was looking over too. I knew she couldn't keep quiet long.

  “What is it?” she asked after a few seconds. “What has you looking like that?”

  “I just got an email,” I said, as if it were nothing.

  There was no way she'd let that go.

  “And,” she pushed when I didn't continue.

  “I was just offered my dream job,” I said. “I can't believe it.”

  I really couldn't believe it. That was the email I'd been work
ing so damn hard to get, and it was finally there. There was something I wasn't excited about, but I knew I'd get through it just like I did everything else. Nothing was standing in my way of what I wanted.

  “And it's not working for me,” James said in a hurt tone, pulling me from my thoughts.

  “No,” I said.

  “What?” James asked.

  “I'll still be working for you, bro,” I said. “I love what I do there. I'll make time for both.”

  “That is so cool,” Sammie said. “Where's the job?”

  “I'm being hired by the government,” I said. “I can work from here. I'll have to fly out to get the details and meet with them. The only thing I don't like about the whole thing is that they hired two of us. I guess it's kind of like a competition.”

  “Do you know the other person?” she asked.

  “Sort of,” I answered. “I can't stand the asshole.”

  “Lance,” my mom snapped. “Watch your mouth. For the government, really?”

  “Have you met the guy?” Sammie asked.

  “Not in person,” I said. “He's just been a pain in my ass through the computer for years.”

  “If your niece starts swearing,” James began.

  “You will not blame it on me,” I said. “Have you heard dad?”

  “Wait a minute,” Sammie said, as she narrowed her eyes at me.

  All I could do was smile back.

  “I'll take him down no problem,” I said confidently. “This is my chance to finally show the punk what I'm made of. I've got this. There is no competition. Believe in your brother. I've wanted this for as long as I can remember. Nobody is going to screw this up for me.”

  Sammie shook her head and looked back over her shoulder at James. There was something going on between them, and it had nothing to do with me. I'd been watching them all day. He was doing more for her than usual. The lovey shit between them had definitely been taken up a notch as well. How my parents missed it, I had no idea.