Page 41 of Hard Wired

“So now you have to figure out who did this?” Ethan asked. “How?”

“By tearing apart that hard drive and finding every bit of code that doesn’t belong.” She was going to send as much info as she could to her friends in the hacktivist community.

She’d made a lot of contacts over the years, though none of her friends shared their real-life identities. Yet she still trusted them completely. Her friends would track down the people responsible. Not just because they were loyal to her, but because they used their abilities to right the moral wrongs in this world whenever possible. Sylvie was sure the people who’d come after her were on the wrong side.

But what if Dominic was one of them?

Ethan pushed a slice of beef around his plate. “I’m so sorry this happened.”

“Me, too.”

Sylvie’s cousin had the biggest heart of anyone she’d met. Ethan was an unassuming guy. He wore wire-rimmed glasses straight out of the nineties and had a closetful of chinos. People had commented that the two of them seemed mismatched, especially when they went out together and people assumed they were a couple. But Sylvie didn’t think anybody in the world understood her the way he did.

“Do you ever think the way we grew up, how oppressive it was, messed us up?”

Ethan wrinkled his brow. “That’s a sudden change in topic.”

“It’s more connected than you realize.”

“Okay, well… ‘Messed up’ could mean a lot of things.”

“I mean about sex.”

He nodded, thinking. “I doubt it’s possible to grow up with people telling you your very existence is wrong and not be affected. But I moved past it. It wasn’t easy, and there’s a voice at the back of my mind that sounds a lot like my mother’s. But I haven’t heard it for a long time.”

“Thank goodness for that.”

“But I’m guessing you’re not asking about me, because we’ve had that conversation plenty of times before. What’s really on your mind?”

She set down her fork. She’d never told Ethan about the orgasm thing. And she didn’t want to now. But she did need her best friend’s advice.

“I met someone. I’m definitely attracted to him, but I don’t think I can trust him. And even if I could, I’m worried I have too many hang-ups.”

“Is he pushing you farther than you’re willing to go?”

“The opposite. I was able to tell him things I could never express to anyone else, even though I hardly know him. And he seemed to accept it without much thought.”

In some ways, it made more sense that Dominic had been faking.

Ethan was nodding. “And even though you want that acceptance, you feel like you can’t trust it? Because it’s so different from what you’re used to?”

“In a way.” She exhaled, not wanting to get bogged down in the sordid details. “In the past, the guys I’ve been with didn’t seem to mind the barriers I kept. But this new person—it’s like he can see straight past them.”

Here was the part that really freaked her out: if Dominic had been lying to her, why did she still want him?

It wasn’t just that he was sexy. Whether or not his motives were genuine, Dominic had seen her. He’d offered things no man had before.

I want to make you feel good. No expectations.

She didn’t know if sex with Dominic was a good idea. It probably was a terrible idea. If he’d manipulated her, set a trap, made her feel threatened—it was unforgivable.

So why was her heart racing as she remembered his kiss?

Ethan reached for her hand across the table. “When Luis and I first got together, I had a hard time just being myself with him. It was scary, opening up to someone so much. And that voice I mentioned? It kept telling me there was no way he was for real. But I just listened to my heart. I know how cheesy that sounds, but it’s true. I had to trust him, that he was who he said he was, and the risk was worth it.”

She wished she could do the same with Dominic. But it wasn’t just her heart at risk. It was Bennett Security.

They finished eating, and Sylvie put the leftovers in the breakroom fridge. The bodyguards would probably have it polished off by tomorrow morning.

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