Page 1 of Loved By the Hacker

Prologue

Oleg Sokolov

Iwatched the Trejo sisters dance with a drink in hand.In a biker bar, of all places.I was on edge, anxious as I tore my eyes from them and watched the way the men in the room leered at them. Almost salivating for a taste. My hands fisted at my sides. I was pissed and on edge for the first time on a job since I started my business. Not even when I hacked a corporation for evidence they were doing bad shit did I feel this way. Not even close.

I didn’t like it.

I’d worked countless cases. My talented quick fingers behind a screen had been profitable as I honed my skills to the point of my business growing rapidly. I dealt with all sorts of people—from the lowest of the low to what society thought were highbrow. No one was ever completely innocent. The high and mighty wanted to paint everything black and white, but the world was murky with gray.

But as I sat on an old wooden bar stool at a high-top table close to the main exit of the dark biker bar, I hardly recognized myself. I wasn’t the guy who could make tough decisions in less than the blink of an eye. The man who didn’t blink at butting in and crossing boundaries, breaking people’s privacy without them knowing.

Not when it came to this case.

The realization of what I was seeing, of what I was feeling, hit me. So damn overwhelmed, I was torn between heading straight for the woman who had caught my eye and marching out alone, getting as far away from Moonlit Pines as possible.What the fuck is in the mountain water up here?!

I’d taken the shift to screw with Merritt. He was an old friend, not that either of us would admit to being friends to one another. He had me watching his girl. And he was so easy to fuck with now that he had gone and lost his mind falling in love.

But now, the joke was on me.

The sexy dark-haired goddess with deep soulful eyes had taken my breath away from the moment I laid eyes on her.

Coral Trejo.The oldest of the five Trejo siblings was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen walking this earth. I sat back and stroked the long neck of my beer bottle as I watched her. I wanted it to be her neck I was toying with. Stroking with a light touch, testing how much pressure she would like.

The first time I laid eyes on her was in the background of one of the many pictures my guys had taken of Merri’s girl throughout her day. I’d instantly thought she was beautiful, but it was more than that. It was like something inside of me recognized her as mine, but I ignored it. She was simply a pretty woman, and I was dead set on keeping it that way. No matter the fact I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her.

Just the image of her had slowly started to drive me crazy.

No matter what I did to try to distract my mind, Coral plagued my heart and soul. At the end of every day, I scoured through the images my men turned in. Men I knew were good and had background checked myself but still hated that they were anywhere near her. Coral Trejo was mine and only mine. I was the only man who should be watching her. I even zoomed and cropped every picture she was in and like the fucking lunatic I was, printed picture after picture of my beautiful, sassy girl and keeping them all in box in my office.

One I went through at every night before bed and every morning when I woke up. I might have even hacked into her work laptop and tapped into the security system she had in her apartment.

All from simple pictures.

But tonight? Tonight was different.

Watching her for the first time in person? Allowing myself to get closer? I felt like a caged animal that had turned feral. I genuinely had no idea how the hell I kept myself seated. The sight of her, having her so close yet so far, had woken up a beast that had roared to life. I wanted nothing more than to head over and dance with her.

But my girl was gun shy.

She’s heartbroken right now,I reminded myself. The sleazeball of her ex-boyfriend was the world’s biggest idiot. How did you date a fucking goddess like Coral and not lock it in? Put a ring on it? Tie yourself in so many knots, binding yourself to her so fucking messily, you had no idea where you ended and she began?

But then again, Jack didn’t deserve her. He wasn’t meant to be hers.

No, she was mine.

I’d fought the urge to look into him, to peek under the covers of the things I was more than certain he hid, but the temptation had been too big. I hated the shit I found. I doubted any of her siblings knew what had been going on behind closed doors. I didn’t even think Coral was aware of his extracurricular activities.

The man was a pig with no self-respect.

Not that she had to worry about that bastard anymore. His time would come to pay for the pain he caused my beautiful babochka. Mybutterfly. I couldn’t stop thinking about her in any other way. She was delicate yet resilient and so damn beautiful and mysterious I couldn’t stop thinking about her.

I had to be patient. Wait for the right time to make my move. To claim Coral and make her mine.

Forever.

Coral Trejo

Iglanced around, avoiding looking behind me.

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