Bailout

by Kimbra Swain

  “Who is this?” Humphrey typed back.

  “You have seen my descent, now watch me rise.”

  “PH03N1X!”

  “Step aside. You are beaten,” I taunted him. As he engaged in our conversation, he continued to work against the hack, that I’d decided to automate. I was already in the code changing it line by line in a program I’d set up long before today hoping I’d never have to use it.

  “Alexa,” Jamey said watching the television. Sebastian and Damien ran into the room. “Is there volume?”

  “Sure,” I said, clicking a few more keys to switch the audio controls to my secondary laptop.

  “Who is it?” Sebastian asked.

  “An old foe,” Humphrey replied.

  “Can you stop him?” Damien asked.

  “I don’t think it’s a him. I’ve always thought PH03N1X was a girl. She flirts,” he replied. “And yes, I can. She’s rusty.”

  “Oh really!” I belted out a laugh, then typed to show up on the screen. “Catch me if you can.”

  His fingers typed furiously, and for a few moments, he did gain on my attack. So, I switched methods. Time to play with the lights. I started on the top floors, cascading the power failure from the top to the bottom. IT was in the basement of the Malone building. His anxiety grew as the power shut down floor by floor. The elevators were clear, and most of the staff had gone home for the day.

  “Shit,” Humphrey cursed.

  Jamey laughed, “This is great.”

  Time to really shine. I took a deep breath to focus my thoughts. The power outage shut down the entire building except for the computer which Humphrey worked on and the monitor that connected us.

  I only had one requirement for the laptop that I purchased. I had to have a webcam. I wanted them to know it was me. I wanted them to know that no matter how much I loved my family, they would not take my company from me.

  “What’s going on?” Sebastian demanded.

  Javier rubbed his forehead in frustration. “Whoever it is has all accounts locked down, the power, the server is blocked, and it’s up to Humphrey to get whoever it is out.”

  “Salida! This is your fault,” Damien shouted.

  “My fault? How is that?” Javier protested.

  “You couldn’t distract her for a couple more days until we dealt with Elliot!” Sebastian said.

  “Dude, I told you. I have a wife and kids, which you know. I can’t pretend to date your sister. They are here illegally. I can’t give her any reason to deport them,” Salida replied. He looked frantic and upset.

  “You promised. Now we will have to do what we promised,” Damien said lowering his eyes.

  Jamey looked at me. “Wife and kids,” he said astonished.

  “They are blackmailing him with it,” I said. “Not anymore. Time to call out the bullshit.”

  I typed out on their screen. “Mr. Salida and his family will not be harmed.”

  “You don’t call the shots,” Sebastian roared.

  “Don’t I?” I responded

  “No, this is Malone. We run it,” he growled.

  “I thought your sister ran it. Interesting,” I typed. Jamey circled around behind me to watch my efforts to keep Humphrey out of my laptop. He wouldn’t find much except the pre-written code to destroy my own handiwork on the Malone servers.

  “Our sister is ill,” Damien muttered.

  “I am most certainly not ill,” I replied.

  The room silenced. Humphrey stopped typing. He threw his hands up in surrender. You see, I had Humphrey by rights. He’d hacked a few things that he shouldn’t have, and I knew about it. I kept him on my good side by promising to never turn my evidence over to the police.

  “What are you doing?” Sebastian growled.

  “It’s Alexandra!” Humphrey replied.

  “No, it isn’t,” Sebastian yelled. “The hacker is toying with you!”

  It was time. I clicked on the webcam. “Hey, guys!” I said cheerfully.

  “Alexa?” Damien said.

  “Hi, Damien. Would you please tell Sebastian to calm the fuck down? Also, if you go after Javier, you will have to go through me. Just as any of my other employees, he is family. That includes his wife and children.”

  “Thank you, Miss Malone,” Javier said hanging his head.

  “Why did you do this? The network is destroyed. All our files and accounts inaccessible,” Sebastian said.

  “Actually, it just looks like they are destroyed from your end. They are safe and sound in my care,” I replied. Sebastian slammed his fists down on the computer.

  “Alexa. You have lost your mind,” Sebastian said.

  “If I have, it’s because the two people I trusted more than anyone in the world turned their backs on me. My own blood. Malone blood. I’m ashamed of both of you,” I replied.

  “Wait!” Humphrey interjected. “Are you really PH03N1X?”

  I cued a filter to my camera. Green code spread across their monitor which turned my face into a 3D image of myself made in code. I’d used the image when I beat him, and he immediately recognized it.

  “Fuck me,” Humphrey said. “Why did you hire me?”

  “Because you are the best,” I replied.

  “Obviously not,” he groaned. His wallowing in defeat was amusing.

  “I couldn’t hire myself,” I said. “You were the logical second choice.”

  “And the file?” he asked about the dirt I had on him.

  “Still safe and sound,” I replied.

  “Is that idiot with you?” Sebastian growled.

  Jamey slid across the bench to me, sliding his arm behind me possessively. “Hey, Bastian. Wish you were here,” he taunted.

  “Shut up! I’m going to break your face when I get my hands on you,” my brother yelled.

  “Sebastian,” I said losing all the bravado. I loved my brother. Even though his actions had been misguided, and his employment was terminated, I wanted him to know I still loved him. He turned his back to me. “Bastian, I know you mean well, but this time you are wrong.”

  “Including him?!” he pointed at Jamey.

  “Including him,” I said, squeezing Jamey’s hand. He leaned over and kissed my cheek.

  “Sebastian, I love you,” I said.

  His shoulders slumped. “I’m trying to protect you,” he muttered.

  “I know, but you’re fired,” I replied.

  He didn’t look back as he walked out of the door into the darkened Malone building. Floor by floor I returned the power to the building. I saw through the security cameras that he went up to his office near mine. He put a few things in a duffle bag and headed back to the elevator bank.

  “You okay?” Jamey asked quietly.

  “Yeah,” I replied. “Damien, tell Charity I’m taking a short vacation. I’ll be back in the building sometime late tomorrow. I’ll restore all the accounts at that time. Until then, you are all ordered to go home. Be with your families. I’ll see you all tomorrow.”

  “I agreed to it, too,” Damien said.

  “I know, but he’s always been the one to lead. I need you to do your job, Damien,” I replied.

  “Sure, Lexy. Have a good vacation,” he groaned.

  “Humphrey, well done,” I encouraged him.

  He huffed as I cut the feed. I double checked all the hacks keeping the building and network under my control. I left the security camera feed up on my secondary laptop.

  Jamey never let go. He just watched me silently. His warmth coursed over me, and my attention turned to him.

  Thirty-Three

  JAMEY

  I never imagined I’d be in love with a nerdy hacker girl, but damn that whole takeover was hot. She double checked all her work before turning those sparkling green eyes to me. I caught her lips gently with mine, and she shifted closer to me on the bench.

  Love?

  Was this what love felt like? It felt different from Tracy.

  She pulled away dropping her eyes from me.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.

  “There are things you should know,” she said.

  “Does it change the way you feel about me?” I asked.

  “No, of course not, but it might change how you feel about me,” she replied.

  “Never,” I said lifting her chin to me. The confidence in her eyes wilted, and I saw the vulnerability that emerged after her last panic attack. “Alexandra, I want to make love to you. Nothing you could say would change that for me. I want you. I desperately fought that desire with every arrogant prickish bone in my body, but it’s no use. I need you.”

  “Jamey,” she muttered. “You don’t know what they did to me.”

  “I know enough,” I said. Her eyes flashed with fear. “I heard you outside your office. Yelling at your brother. Abused. Shared. I heard that part. It broke part of my façade. I admit that I came back to you so that I could ruin you, but those words split my heart into two pieces. The part that was afraid to trust you, and the part that wanted to make it all go away. It’s not in two pieces anymore. Just one. The one that needs you.”

  “Ruin me?” she repeated.

  “Yeah, I’m an asshole,” I said hoping to get a spark out of her. She looked drained from the mental rollercoaster she’d been on since the attack.

  “The asshole that needs me,” she said. Finally, she looked back up, and the spark flirted with the edges of her eyes.

  “Yes. Needs. Wants. I ache,” I replied stroking her cheeks with my thumbs.

  “I’m a bitch,” she offered.

  “A bitch that wants me?” I asked.

  “The bitch that wants all of you,” she replied smiling. I hovered over her mouth, teasing her. “You may ruin me now.”

  I groaned, as my dick jumped in my pants. She slid her hands up my legs, dragging her nails across my pants. The friction felt amazing.

  Slow. Go slow. I told myself. Cupping her cheeks, I pressed my mouth against hers. She whimpered and shifted closer to me. Taking special attention to lick and suck every part of her lips, I took my time. I’d waited for this. I wanted her to give herself to me. Not realizing how badly I wanted it until this moment, my blood pulsed through my veins with anticipation and delight.

  She opened her mouth to me, drinking me in. I stood from the bench pulling her with me. I licked down her throat as she tilted her head back giving me access until my tongue hit the edge of her shirt. I grasped trying to find the bottom edges of it with my hands. Pulling it over her head, I paused my descent for only a moment.

  Her nails swept across my scalp through my hair as I pulled the edge of her bra down to expose her breast. She shoved my face toward it, so I caught it in my mouth licking and sucking her nipples to taut nubs. She moaned with pleasure.

  “Jamey, oh fuck,” she said. I reached around her back to unsnap the bra. She let it fall to the floor as my mouth paid attention to the other breast. She arched her back, forcing it into my mouth. I realized it, then released it to watch as it bounced back into place.

  My mouth found hers needy and hungry again. As she dragged me toward the bed, I explored deeper with my tongue. She moaned, and the vibrations coursed through my body to my hardened dick. Her hands brushed the outside of my jeans. I grunted as I held back my building desire. If she didn’t stop touching me, I wouldn’t last very long.

  “If you don’t keep your hands off me, I won’t be able to hold back,” I grumbled.

  “Then stop me,” she smirked.

  “Damn, Alexa,” I said, grabbing her face with my hands. Hers continued to rub the front of my jeans. The friction made me shiver. “Look at me.”

  She lifted her devilish eyes to me. “Hmm?”

  “This isn’t a onetime thing for me,” I said, surprising myself. I meant it. I’d had enough of the fooling around. I knew what I wanted. She was in my arms, and she needed to know that I wanted nothing else but her.

  “Jamey, shut up,” she grinned.

  “I’m serious.”

  She stopped moving. “This is different. I feel it, too, but I swear to god, if you don’t shut up and fuck me, I’m leaving.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” I replied sinking to knees before her. I unbuttoned her jeans and slid them down over her hips to the floor. She stepped backward out of them, and I threw them across the room. Moving forward to her gorgeous legs, I ran my tongue up the inside of her thigh from her knee to a pair of white lacy panties. I didn’t have to touch her to know she was wet. I could smell it. I didn’t know about other men, but I loved the smell of sex.

  Skipping the panties, I licked and kissed down the other leg. “Fucking tease,” she protested.

  I laughed, as I made my way back up to the panties. Running my thumb over the center, she groaned, pushing toward my hand.

  Grinning up at her, I swirled my thumb over the wet fabric. She tilted her head back. Small moans escaped her lips as she bit the bottom one. I was sure I’d never seen anything more sexy, beautiful in my entire life. Alexandra Malone was mine.

  “Jamey,” she breathed.

  “Hmm?” I questioned watching her wiggle.

  “Stop playing around down there,” she said.

  I hooked my fingers in the sides of the panties.

  “Last chance,” I teased.

  She hooked hers next to mine and shoved the panties down. Our faces were inches from each other as she bent over to pull them off. For a moment, she had me mesmerized. When she grabbed my hair, I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was.

  It’s one thing I’d learned about Alexa. She could give small pieces of control, but not too much. I gladly let her shove my face exactly where she wanted it.

  For hours we played back and forth with control. I’d never experienced anything like it. Trusting someone to that point. Neither had she. When I pressed into her the first time, nothing back in Atlanta mattered. Just, these moments between us. We built something here that I promised to never make her regret. I knew I never would.

  Early in the morning, I climbed out of bed to make some coffee. I sat at the counter watching her computer still controlling the company while she slept. Part of me wanted to just take her away somewhere and forget Atlanta, but we had to face her brothers. Eventually, we would have to face our pasts head on.

  “Good morning,” she said, sauntering across the room in my shirt. Damn, that was perfect. A shirt that she bought.

  “Morning. Coffee?” I asked.

  “Please,” she said. I poured her a cup. When I handed it to her, she held on to my hand to pull me over to the couch. She glanced at the laptop but didn’t go over to it. I sat on the couch, and she curled up next to me.

  “We could just stay here,” I suggested.

  “We could,” she replied. However, I knew she didn’t mean it. She leaned forward setting her cup on the coffee table. The wall across from the couch consisted of all windows looking out over the mountains. Fog settled in the valleys leaving only the green tops to be seen. It was like we were floating in the clouds.

  “You need to know what happened to me.”

  Thirty-Four

  ALEXA

  The story.

  I’d never told a soul besides a shrink everything that happened the night of my promotion banquet. The media latched onto the female who had made VP at one of Atlanta’s premier companies. The buzz rocked through the whole city. From elected officials to the sports stars, everyone wanted to meet Alexandra Malone.

  “You don’t have to tell me. Alexa, I’m not going anywhere,” he said.

  “I know you aren’t. That’s why I’m telling you,” I replied.

  As a prominent businesswoman, I’d been in many power struggles, but no one challenged me like Jamey did last night in bed. He would push me to the edge, then I’d grab control back. Over and over. I wanted many repeat performances. I wanted him.

  For me to completely give my heart to him, he needed to know what kind of shape it was in.

  “Ryland approached me when I was made the director of
technology. He asked me out to dinner. We had a great time together. At the time, roses, diamonds, and kisses were enough to make me fall in love. We dated outside of the office. For over a year, we ignored each other at work, then spent our nights in bed together. I understood that he needed to keep up a certain air of superiority at work. I didn’t care. Like I said, I thought I was in love. The board of directors invited me to a meeting that I thought was a new tech merger. It turns out they offered me a track to Vice President. Ryland sat behind the board table with eleven other men. One of them was set to retire in six months, and they wanted to make a splash in the news with a female Vice President. After I agreed to follow their track to V.P., the meeting dismissed. Ryland approached me, kissing me in front of all of them. For a moment, I didn’t realize it had happened, but the other men in the room smiled as they watched. They all knew we were together. It baffled me. That night I asked Ryland a lot of questions. Eventually, he got frustrated with me. It was the first time he…” I stopped to take a deep breath.

  “Forced you?” Jamey filled in the blank.

  “Yes,” I choked out. “I was upset because he refused to answer my questions. He said I owed him for the promotion. He was making me famous. He never left visible marks, but I was trapped. He said that he would have them fire me if I didn’t keep my mouth shut about his brutality.”

  Jamey shifted, wrapping his arms around me. He kissed my forehead. “And the wrist?”

  “I always knew what kind of mood he was in based on how he held my hand. Either he held my hand or my wrist. The wrist always meant I was in for a rough night,” I said. “Jamey, I knew what was going on. I chose to stay because I wanted that spot. I wanted the spotlight. Getting Vice President would allow me to leave on my own terms as a well-established businesswoman. Telling myself over and over that it was only six months. When the time arrived, it was announced in the press. I did so many interviews. Ryland never held my hand again. They threw a huge party at a ballroom in the Hilton hotel. Celebrities and big business were all there. I shook hands with so many people I needed a gallon of anti-bacterial gel. As the night lingered on, Ryland told me that the board wanted to see me in one of the side rooms. When I entered it was mostly dark except the center table. There were 13 goblets of champagne. We each took one, and the men including the one I was replacing toasted me. I felt like I had made it. After a few sips of my drink, I knew exactly what was happening. The euphoria of the drug hit me quickly. I had no control. I felt like I was floating. Ryland held me down on the table, and those who were able took turns. Ryland told me that they wouldn’t stop until I climaxed. They videotaped it to prove that I wanted it. That I never protested, and that I even enjoyed it. That way if I ever reported it to the police, they had the video as proof that I wasn’t raped.”