by Shanna Bell
“Why are you here, Hector?”
Hector sighed. “You know why. We both know Tess knows more than she lets on. I also see the fire in your eyes. The vengeance you must be wanting. I’d go after the fuckers who put me in jail as well.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“I owe Tess. A lot. I can’t let you hurt her in your… quest.”
“You going soft on me, old man?”
Hector snorted. “You get out of here and we’ll take a spin in the ring. I’ll show you who’s gone soft.”
Then he was gone, leaving him alone with Gio.
Luca turned his gaze to his eldest brother. “What’s with this Tess person anyway? So, she’s a friend of Jazzy’s. Since when does wife’s friend trump brother?”
Gio scowled. “It doesn’t. But I can’t go after Tess either. Neither can Hector. She saved his daughter’s life. As such, we owe her.”
“You telling me to stay off your wife’s friend?”
“No, I’m telling you I can’t go after her. Neither can I help you going after her. Plausible deniability, brother. Plausible deniability.”
“Do I need to remind you that she was the one that came to me in the first place?”
His brother smiled. It was an evil grin, telling Luca he was on to something. Like in the old days, when he used to run new projects by him.
“Exactly, Luciano.” With that cryptic comment, Gio left as well.
Of course. All he had to do was change the rules. Make her come to him once again.
CHAPTER 5
TESS
Tess had made two more runs to Mick the Dick before finally the day arrived that Luciano Detta got free. It was all over the news. Except, that had been two days ago, and she still had to deal with Mick. Yes, once again, she’d received money to pay him off, but that didn’t solve her problem. After all, when you dealt with termites, you had to eradicate them, root and all. Or else, they would gnaw at your foundation until they had taken you down. It was time to have a word with Mr. My Word Is No Good Detta.
Still, she was glad she’d gotten him out of prison. He didn’t deserve to be in there. Hacking into certain databases and roaming the bowels of the dark web had been a great decision. Using that info to free an innocent man, an even better one. Not only for the money, but surely also for her karma.
But before she would take Detta by the horns, she had one more stop. It was time for her meeting with the investors of her software. It was the best beta version of an encryption software that hadn’t hit the market yet. Trevor was going to pitch it to the right people he’d found through his contacts at the university. Finally, it was paying off to date a professor. He might not be great in the sack but at least he supported her career.
The halls of USF were crowded as usual. She straightened the strap of her postman bag as she continued toward Trevor’s office. It hadn’t been too long ago when she’d actually been his student. That was before her pops got sick and she had to drop out. It wasn’t like she needed the knowledge they could provide her. No book, or professor, could teach her more than she already knew.
The problem was getting a job without a degree, the coveted paper thousands of people busted their asses for, meanwhile getting deeper and deeper in a swamp of debt. Tess had avoided said debt as long as possible. Except, finding a well-paying job without the degree? No luck in that department. Turns out companies loved that piece of paper.
Trevor was on the phone when she entered his office. He abruptly ended his call, seeming surprised to see her, which didn’t make any sense. After all, he knew about her presentation to the investors.
“Tess, you’re early.”
No, she was just on time. The only one who was ever early was Trevor. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep her snark in. Really, it wasn’t fair to call him out on not having much prowess in bed. She had to remind herself that men didn’t like the radical honesty policy she grew up with. In fact, it made them run for the hills. Though, it hadn’t made Luciano Detta run. Granted, he was incarcerated and didn’t have anywhere to go, but it had been like a breath of fresh air to be able to tell that man whatever was on her mind.
Also, it wasn’t Trevor’s fault they lacked chemistry in bed. She’d come to a few conclusions ever since her first time during college. The simple truth was, she didn’t like sex. Not that she’d had it often. Normally, she’d collect more data before she drew a conclusion, but not on this subject. Three and a half times of sex had been enough. And don’t even get her started on that half a time. Not going there. Nope. It was no use thinking back on the most humiliating experience of her life. It definitely made the top three, together with going to class in her underwear because she forgot to put on pants. It had been a hot sultry summer. Shit like that happened. Yes, it somehow only happened to her but still, one accident did not make a habit.
She had an analytical mind. Sometimes it got in the way of fun. This was why Trevor was so perfect. He wasn’t very demanding. He liked her more “for her brain,” as he voiced it. While the analytical part of her rejoiced at that statement, her female parts kind of died a withering death. But hey, what woman had ever found the perfect man to actually be perfect? Certainly not her. Sadly, Gibsons weren’t very lucky in love. It was just one of those sad facts in life she had to live with.
She took out her laptop and put it on his desk. With a few punches, her presentation opened.
“Um… Tess, love…”
Uh oh. She knew that tone of voice, when his British accent became even more pronounced than usual. It meant one of two things.
“I’m not in the mood for sex or to hear an apology, Trev. Don’t got the time for it.”
His immediate answer was a scowl. “Must you always be so blunt?”
“Yes, I must.”
“Ah, yes, your radical honesty thing.”
“It’s not a ‘thing.’ It’s a perfectly valid way of growing up. And I would appreciate it if you tried not to sound as if you were spitting out something nasty.” She could take it when he made fun of her quirks—’cause really, she knew how weird she sometimes was—but no one got to insult her pops or the way he’d raised her.
She reminded herself to stay nice. He was, after all, trying to help her out by pitching her program to investors. Any day now, that could be her breakthrough, to get her out of this financial mess. Until then, she had to make do with what she had—her computer skills.
It wasn’t as if she liked to steal, but it was just so easy when you were desperate and knew how to do it. To compensate for blackening her aura, she did some charity work, of course. Making donations to several good causes. One might even consider her a digital Robin Hood.
“Yes, well, we need to talk about the meeting, dear. See, it already took place.”
Wait. What? She must have heard that wrong. “Wait a minute… so, I missed it?”
Trevor cleared his throat. “Tess, love, you aren’t good with people. I know it’s because of the way your, um… grandfather raised you and… Well, um, anyway… as of two hours ago, I sold the software to the highest bidder.”
“You did what?”
“I sold it to—”
“You’ve sold my software?”
“Actually, technically, it’s mine…”
That had her do a double take. Like, she literally bumped up to him when she did that. She stared, dumbfounded, at her, most likely soon-to-be ex-boyfriend.
Trevor sat on the edge of his desk, towering over her. “I sold it to a renowned pharmaceutical company,” he said, his face showing a crease between his neatly trimmed brows. There were times he was better prepped and prepared than the average women.
Must. Concentrate.
I think he just said Big Pharma.
The horror!
“You sold my software to Big Pharma?” Even speaking those words was like listening to the sound of nails going over a chalkboard.
He scrunched his noise. “Your software? Technically,
it’s the university’s software.”
That was when she jumped out of the chair. “Excuse me?”
“Calm down, Tess. There’s no need for you to wave your hand in my face. And must you wear those leather gloves on campus? You look like a juvenile delinquent.”
Kick his ass.
Do. Not. Engage.
Yes. You. Should.
“I want to shove my finger in your eye right now, Trev. My leather-clad finger.”
“I wish you would be more rational about this. You did develop that program with the intention of selling it, did you not?”
“Yes, but—”
“Shh.” He put a finger to her lips. “There are no buts in business, dear. Either way, the deal is done. Don’t worry, you’ll get your cut.” Again, he cleared his throat. “Once I get mine, of course. It can take over a month though. You don’t know how corporate America works, but surely, they will want to test the software over and over. Only when they are completely satisfied will they pay a bigger advance.”
She slowly pushed his finger away and took a step back, sizing her boyfriend up as if she were just seeing him for the first time.
Trevor Miller. Her former college professor, pushing forty but in his tweed jacket, looking like fifty. A brilliant mind. They had been together for nearly six months. During that period, he’d praised her for her work. Praised her for her brain and could actually follow her train of thought when she explained something to him. A rare occurrence in a male she encountered. Usually, men were attracted to her for the wrong reasons and ran for the hills the moment they discovered she was smarter than them.
After having to dumb herself down for her first two boyfriends, and giving up on the dating scene for years, she’d believed she’d found a kindred spirit in Trevor. Yes, he was a bit spoiled and stuffy, but who was perfect anyway? She certainly wasn’t. With the way she was raised, it was a miracle she even had friends. People didn’t like being told the truth to their faces. The radical honesty approach she grew up with had its benefits, but it had even more side effects. Thing was, how did you break nurture? Telling it as it were was incredibly liberating, and if more people would embrace that way of life, surely the planet would be a much better place.
The planet.
He has sold my work to the kind of company that sponges off diseases and kills the planet.
“Selling my program behind my back was a dick move, Trev. This is why you told me the meeting was in the afternoon. But it wasn’t, was it? I bet it took place this morning, like it was initially planned.”
“I don’t like your tone, Tessa.”
“I hate it when you call me that and you know it. Which makes this your second dick move today.”
“Perhaps you should go home. I need to consider if I can live with my girlfriend calling me a dick.”
“I call bullshit. It’s not the first time I called you a dick. It is, however, the first time I did after you sold my program. Which brings me to the logical conclusion that since you don’t need me anymore, you’ve decided to dump me.” His second of hesitation was all the evidence she needed. “You know what? Don’t bother. I’m dumping you.” She snapped the laptop shut, put it back in her bag and gave him her back.
The rat bastard had used her. Stolen her source code. She couldn’t believe it. Not only was he a stealing bastard, but he’d sold it to her nemesis, Big Pharma. There weren’t enough expletives in the world to squelch her rage.
She was going to go nuclear on his ass! T-girl was not one to be trifled with. Of course, Trevor didn’t know about her extra-curricular activities. Or that she had the means to obliterate his digital existence. Had he known the shitstorm she was about to unleash on him, he would be peeing in his pants.
“Oh, come on, Tess!” he yelled after her. “You know you could’ve never got this done the way I have. You are the smartest person I know, but you just don’t have my business skills. We both know you’re a bit um… quirky. And I can’t do quirky anymore.”
She whipped around and glared at him. “Weird. You were going to say weird.”
With a swift motion of her hips, she gave him her back again, imagining herself walking out like a badass, head held high. When she turned the corner, though, she stepped into a pool of water, tripped, and landed on her butt. Her misery didn’t end there, of course. While bracing herself, her arms ended up in the bucket the janitor was using to swipe the floor with. It effectively caused her custom-made digital watch, Pops’ gift, to blink and bleep.
Inside her head, a mini bomb exploded, blaming Trevor for everything bad that had befallen her today. It didn’t take long for her to plot his demise.
Lock and load, young Padawan. T-girl will strike back.
No one got to fuck with a black hat hacker slash part-time warlock and get away with it.
CHAPTER 6
LUCA
It was better to be the hunter than the prey.
Luca looked down at the exquisite body of his ex-fiancée lying next to him on the couch. He hadn’t been in their former apartment for more than an hour before she’d knocked on his door and descended on him. Now, she was trying to catch her breath, all the while looking at him with a stupid smile on her face. Yeah, a stupid one, in the sense of her thinking him as foolish enough to fall for her again.
He might have used her mouth, but there was no way he was fucking her again. Ever.
“I’m so glad we’re back together, Luca.”
Her voice, he once thought to be the sweetest sound in the world, sounded like nails on a chalkboard. “Really?”
She half sat up against the couch, crossing her long legs, putting her beautiful body on display. Just the way he liked it.
A lifetime ago.
“Of course, love.” Her baby blues widened and her big bottom lip quivered slightly. “You have no idea how difficult it was to be separated from you.”
“You could’ve fooled me.” She hadn’t visited him once. Not even to break off their engagement. He’d learned of her new engagement to a business rival through his brother. Even then, he hadn’t wanted to believe it. He’d yelled at Gio for lying to him. His big brother had never liked Natasha. None of his brothers had.
Looking alarmed now, she got up from the couch and stopped him as he put his shirt back on. He couldn’t help but notice the way her nose scrunched when she touched the rough fabric. Of course, she was used to him wearing the finest threads of silk and cashmere. How things had changed.
“You have become bigger… more muscled.” Her fingernails raked over his biceps. He couldn’t help but compare them to talons, meant to claw back into him.
“I’ve become a lot of things.”
Like rage and fury.
“It has been difficult without you.” There was a slight catch in her voice now.
“Has it now?”
She nodded while caressing his stomach, her eyes slowly starting to fill with tears.
Damn, she was good. Really good. How could he have been so blind?
“Yes, Luca. Being without you has been unbearable.”
“Yet here you are. As beautiful as ever. Clearly you were able to … bear being without me.”
Her eyes started to look worried. Finally, she was catching on. Never before had he used that tone with her, nor had he been harsh or refused her a thing in his life. For she was his life. Once upon a time, she had been his everything.
While he got dressed, picking up his clothes strewn from the coffee table all the way back to the front door, Natasha went on about the difficulties in her life. How her marriage—yeah, she was still fucking married—hadn’t worked out the way she’d expected. Of all the woes she’d gone through the past two years.
“… so, you see, Luca. You were not the only one suffering.”
He closed his eyes for a second. She had actually just dared to compare his incarceration to her husband not giving her everything she wanted, which was his credit card as well as his attention. Damn, he owed Gi
o a big apology. He also needed to yell at him for not pummeling him until he’d seen Natasha’s true colors.
“Get out.”
“—he didn’t want to go to Aspen. As if I could ever miss a season. What would I tell my friends?”
“Get out!”
Her hands dropped as she stared at him. “What?” she asked, putting her dress back on.
He sat back on the couch with his hands behind his neck, looking her up and down, and feeling nothing but disgust. “Get the fuck out and don’t come back.”
“You don’t mean that.” Her nostrils flared, the first indication she was about to have a tantrum. “We just made love, and—”
“Love?” He chuckled, without any humor. It was the first time he hadn’t gotten aroused at the mere sight of her. Picking up on that, she’d given him the blowjob of all blowjobs. “You just sucked me off. Don’t make it more than it was.”
A string of Russian curses followed while she put on her shoes. When she finished, her voice was sweet again. “I know you love me, Luca. You said you’d never love another woman. You can be angry right now, but your heart belongs to me.”
He didn't know what came over him, but one second he was sitting on the couch and the next, his hand gripped her throat.
“I don’t fucking have a heart anymore, Tasha. It got ripped out the second I found out my woman ditched me. You remember that moment? The same day I got picked up by the feds. The day I went inside to never get outside again, for two fucking years.”
Two hellish years in which he’d lost a piece of civilization on a daily basis and become more and more like an animal.
