Page 19 of Hacked For Love
He’s staring into my eyes. My mouth is so dry. I suddenly realize that I never did take a seat across the desk, and instead I’m simply standing there with him, closer than Irealized.
It suddenly feels like unseen arcs of warm electricity are running back and forth between us, drawing me toward him. He moves a touch closer, bending down over me just slightly. “I haven’t misread you, have I?” he asks almost tenderly, and my heart suddenlyaches.
“N—no.” I suck in a deep breath, feeling exhilarated and scared at the same time. I want him to be close to me, but I’m not used to being touched anymore. Physical contact still feels hazardous after so many yearsalone.
I fight to stay cool and just let this…happen. But then a few seconds later, I start to feel overwhelmed. The fear starts towin.
He sees it and moves back slightly. I look shyly over at his computer setup. “We should…get to work,” I saysoftly.
He nods, smiling, and gestures to hischair.
I feel like a kid in his enormous brown leather executive’s chair. I sink into its deep cushions, its softness easing the aches in my back that I had simply gotten used to havingthere.
So much luxury.It’s the one thing I don’t like about Drake so far. He loves the finer things somuch.
I don’t know whether he grew up in a family like mine where a certain amount of opulence was expected. Or maybe he had nothing and always wanted a luxurious, secure home. But I can’t help but look around and think about how that Calder mobile would fund a shelter for ten years. That Picasso—twenty.
Still, I’m the idiot who rides a cheap desk chair all day and has a backache because I didn’t get the best, so maybe I’m too austere for my owngood.
“So, what’s the plan?” He looms behind me, one hand spread on his desktop near where I’m using the mouse. I can feel the warmth from his hand on the side of mine. I breathe slowly and lightly, doing my best to hide just how much I likeit.
Focus.“They want a convenient target. What about Yoshida? He’s likely to come looking for Marcone anyway.” I am cracking my way into Marcone’s private accounts again. Not just banks and Bitcoin repositories, buteverything.
“I don’t know. I have reservations against supporting any effort against Yoshida that he might trace back to me. Right now, it looks like he robbed me, and I’m not complaining tohim.”
I bite down lightly on my lip with a mix of frustration and worry. “Well, who else can we shift the blameto?”
“What about just spoofing the account?” He’s moved even closer. If I wasn’t interested—if he hadn’t clearly figured out that I’m interested—it would feel creepy as hell to have him this close. “Convince him that the money is still there, and that its missing status was just a temporaryglitch?”
I lick my lips, flustered and now even more frustrated. “I’m sorry but you’re not getting it. It’s almost impossible to clone Bitcoin in the way you’re asking unless it’s as a temporarymeasure.”
I’m not used to working under observation. Between his raw masculine presence and the way he’s hovering, it’s distracting as hell. “If we don’t find a fall guy, we need to make them think the authorities are messing withthem.”
“I don’t want to drag anyone else into this,” he insists. “I thought you were talented. But you’re telling me now that you can’t find a way to peacefully resolve this by adjusting numbers in Marcone’saccounts?”
I get up, furious, and turn and step close to confront him. “What I’m telling you is that it can’t be done on a short timetable! Riding my ass isn’t going to change that. I thought you knew thisbusiness.”
I remember that getting so close is a mistake, but for a moment I’m so pissed I don't fully remember why. Not until my breasts brush against his chest, and I feel his warm breath on myface.
I take a huge breath of my own. “If not Yoshida, and if not some other deserving scumbag, then who do we get Marcone to blame for this? Even if I clone those same Bitcoin back into his account and his people write it off as a mistake for a while, eventually those fakes will vanish as soon as the blockchain isupdated.”
“So, youcantrickhim?”
I put my hands on my hips. “I can do it, and it will buy us time, but that'sit!”
“Then do it,” he growls, voice husky as his hands brush against the backs of mine. “We need to buy time, or we'll never be able to sort thisout.”
“F—fine,” I manage, my heart banging away in my ears again. I settle back down into the seat, my whole body thrumming from the brief contact. My mind is so hazy that I have to catch my breath before I can get back towork.
Is he seducing me?I shiver.I’m so scared of beinghurt.
But would it hurt more than it does now? Could anything be worse than my days alone and my empty nights? Maybe he can make that emptiness go away for a while, instead of hurtingme.
I set my jaw and force myself to focus.You’re not his type. He’s a rich man who lives in a palace on top of a skyscraper. You’re a green-haired cyberpunk who used to live in abox.
It doesn't take too long before I have all of Don Marcone's online life spread out before us. “This is it,” I say quietly. “Every bit of dirty laundry—his medical records, all his accounts. From here, I can do a lot. It's yourcall.”
He is behind me now, one hand on my shoulder as we look over what I've found. I struggle to stay professional but wish his hand would wander further. The tap of the rain against the window reminds me of the many icy nights I spent alone, and I want to feel the heat from his hand all through me, to drive those cold memoriesaway.
