#Chapter 11 – An Invitation
Stella
I slowly raise one of my eyebrows, crossing my arms over my chest. Adrian’s face contorts into confusion before it settles on shock. He clears his throat, eyes flickering between the laptop screen and my face.
The laptop screen is filled with explicit and suggestive pictures of men. It’s an obscene amount, really, but it was the best cover could think of to protect my identity as Trager. Who would dare question what it is that I am doing when they’re face to face with a man’s bare chest?
The set up was easy. It is a simple dual operating system. With one click of a button, I’m able to switch between the two interfaces with ease, quickly concealing my hacker lentity at a moment’s notice,
A flash of jealousy stains Adrian’s expression. His lips purse before they move into a thin line. He pushes my laptop back into my arms and diverts his gaze before it falls back on me.
“Stop looking at things like that,” his eyes drop to my cheeks then they move all around my face,
My expression simply does not change. I will not give in to whatever ideas he has inside his head about what he
thinks I like.
His nostrils flare. He leans down and towards me, to which lean back, but his hand captures my chin. He pinches my skin and sucks in a sharp breath.
“I never thought your taste in men could be so poor. How can you even tolerate looking at something like that?” His words are as tense as his grip on my chin.
My
ly eyes float to the crease that forms between his furrowed brows, watching the way his lips twitch like he wants to say something else but he remains silent.
I slap his hand away from my face and push back in my desk chair, putting some space between our bodies. My gaze sharpens on his and his shoulders slightly slump before being pushed back again.
“It is better than looking at you,” I purposefully move my eyes up and down his body, containing the look of disgust that threatens to spill across my face. “I have grown tired of you.”
I move to turn away but Adrian twists my chair to face him again. His chest rises and falls at a quickened pace, his breath coming out in deep puffs, his eyes darkened.
“How dare you speak to me like ”
“What do you want, Adrian?” I interrupt him. “Why are you here?”
Adrian pulls away from me. His hand leaves the back of my chair, receding back to his body. He opens his mouth. to speak but quickly shuts it.
The man shakes his head, murmuring something to himself. He turn away from me and quickly exits my bedroom, slamming the door behind him.
I let out a sigh, some of the tension leaving my body, and pull myself back to the center of the desk where my laptop sits. I open it back up and click to the hacker mainframe, a flurry of green lines moving across the screen.
Adrian has pulled me away from the battle against the hacker that infiltrated his pharmaceutical company. They have been trying to get past the firewall I put up but haven’t gotten too far, allowing me to jump right back into the action.
My fingers rapidly press against the keyboard. I quickly match the hackers pace, my eyes scanning the plethora of code, trying to find my way in.
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Chopter 11–An Invitation
Aha! There it is!
1 lean in, the world around me falling quiet as I focus on cracking their defensive measures. The commands I type in easily overpower their weak codes. My heart races inside my chest.
I’m so close to breaking in. I just need one more
My computer screen goes black. I gasp. Suddenly, the green letters and numbers appear but this time, the attack is
on me.
I immediately jump in to counter all of their pokes and jabs that they throw at me through the screen. I manage to cut them off when they try to gain access to my computer. block their attempts at destroying the firewall I set up. My eyes catch a glimpse of the hacker trying something now and off to the side. Their failed attempts at bringing down my firewall was just a distraction so they could get my IP address.
I jump into action, knowing that I have about one minute to undo all of their work and conceal my IP from them before they can get it.
I count down the seconds in my head, furiously typing countermeasures into the keyboard.
Fifteen seconds left to go…
bite my bottom lip to the point where it almost bleeds. With one last command, I block the hacker from accessing my IP address and location. Just as I’m about to relax, a message pops up on my screen.
Cipher: You’re good. You should join us. We could use a hacker like you on our side.
I suck in a breath, holding it in, shaking my head as I type.
Tracer: Not interested. Thanks anyways.
I click out of the mainframe before they have a chance to respond. I pinch the bridge of my nose and sigh, making my way to my bed, immediately falling asleep.
My phone vibrates on the bed next to me. I pick it up, barely looking at the screen as I answer it.
“Hello?” I groan.
“Stella, sweetie, it’s your mother,” my mother, well, Clara’s mother, sweetly speaks. “We’re having a family gathering at the the Monarch Hotel.” The call ends before I can answer.
I click on my messing app and notice Sebastian’s name at the top.
Sebastian: I’m coming to get you. I’ll call when I get there.
I sigh and get out of bed, changing for the family gathering. Just as I’m walking outside, Sebastian’s car pulls up. He steps out of the the car and approaches me, hands in his pockets.
“Are you ready to go home? I have a surprise for you,” Sebastian voice soothes the anxiety that buds inside my
chest.
“I’m so sorry…but can you take me to the Monarch Hotel?” ask “My adoptive parents called about a family gathering. I feel like they have something planned and I want to see what it is.”
Sebastian takes a deep breath, hesitantly nodding. He opens up the passenger door for me and I get in, noticing red stains soaked into the sleeves of his shirt. He gets in on the other side and begins to drive away.
“Are you hurt?” I ask, leaning over, grazing his bicep with my fingers. His eyes avoid mine, clearing his throat.
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9Chapter 11 An beatabas
“Someone caused trouble at your ball last night…there was shootout,” he nods to the bullet graze on his arm.
A lump forms in my throat. This happened to him because of me, didn’t it? Guilt racks my brain, my heart aching.
I tug on his shirt and he slips it away, remaining in his wife beater underneath. I sigh and reach where a first ald kit is tucked away in the backseat. Sebastian watches me closely, his eyes moving between my hands and the road.
I clean up the wound and place fresh gauze over it. As I’m wrapping tape around his bicep to lock the gauze in place, Sebastian parks the car and his hand crosses the distance, placing It under my chin, making me look at him. His eyes darken.
“I’m going to put an end to all of these problems so you can feel at ease while living in the mafia,” his voice is low, dangerous.
For a moment, I feel a warmth spread through me. He’s doing this for me. It comforts me, but also brings a quiet ache. I don’t want him to get hurt because of me.
The car slows to a stop. I slip from Sebastian’s grip and exit the car. I walk through the doors of the Monarch Hotel
I see my I make my way to a gathering room where loud voices bounce down the halls. Just as I turn the corner, adoptive family and their friends inside a room. Everyone surrounds Clara as she smiles, soaking in all of the attention.
This isn’t a family gathering. This is a celebration for Clara’s recovery!
