Page 49 of Ruined By Capture

You can do this.You have to.

When I emerge from the bathroom Alessio is waiting, a sleek black laptop in his hand. His expression remains unreadable but his eyes track my every movement.

I take it from him, our fingers brushing momentarily. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet." He runs his thumb along his bottom lip. "We can't have coffee at the moment. Supply situation is... limited."

"It's fine," I say, though my body aches for caffeine.

"After you extract the first files we're changing locations." He walks to the security monitors, checking them briefly. "Somewhere better than this."

I nod, already opening the laptop and assessing its capabilities. "I don't mind. This place has served its purpose."

Alessio watches me as I settle onto the mattress with the computer balanced on my knees. "How long?"

I pull up a command prompt, fingers flying across the keyboard as I establish the parameters for my work. "Six, maybe seven hours for the first layer of extraction."

"Seven hours," he repeats, checking his watch. "We move at three, then."

I look up at him, finding his dark eyes fixed on me with an intensity that makes my skin tingle. "I'll be ready."

He nods once, then turns away, giving me space to work. I focus on the screen, diving into the familiar world of code and encryption where everything makes sense, where I have control.

My fingers fly across the keyboard, executing commands with total confidence. Despite the stress of our situation, there's comfort in this work—the logical patterns, the predictable responses, the sense of control I've always found in technology.

"Here."

Alessio's voice pulls me from my concentration. He stands beside the mattress, holding out a bottle of water.

"I'll prepare something to eat at least," he says, his voice less rigid than before. "The water is drinkable. Not filtered, but safe."

I take the bottle, our fingers brushing briefly, causing that uncomfortable pang in my core. "Thank you."

He nods, watching as I unscrew the cap and take a long drink.

"Changing laptops and locations will make the job easier," I say, returning to the screen. "Raymond's tracking system won't be able to lock onto a moving signal. We'll be ghosts."

Alessio raises an eyebrow. "You sound almost confident."

"I am." I twist my mother's ring once, then stop myself.

He studies me for a moment, his dark eyes unreadable. "Good. Keep working."

As he turns to walk away I feel a strange sense of determination rising within me. Yes, we're hunted. Yes, we're in danger. But for the first time since this began I feel like we might actually have a chance.

I take another sip of water and dive back into code, fingers flying across the keyboard with renewed purpose.

I rummage through the supply crate in the corner of the warehouse, finding more canned goods. My arm throbs as I reach for a can of beef stew, the bandage Melania applied pulling tight against my skin.

The hot plate takes forever to warm up. While the stew heats, I check my phone. Three missed calls from Damiano. Shit.

I step out of Melania's hearing range and call him back.

"Took you long enough," Damiano says when he answers.

"Been busy keeping us alive," I reply, keeping my voice low. "What's the situation?"

"We've got two places lined up. A condo in Brookfield for tonight, then a house in Greenwich for tomorrow. After that, we'll reassess." He pauses. "There's something else. Leonardo had a major blowout with Antonio yesterday. Sources say Leonardo stormed out of the Lombardi estate."

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