Page 66 of Hard Wired

This argument was pointless. They were wasting time. Sandford had threatened her.

Dominic dug his hands into his hair. “Sylvie, I need to know what you did. If my uncle and the people he’s working with find out you’re trying to mess with them, they won’t hesitate to kill you. They have no scruples.”

“Unlike you?”

“If you think I’m the worst there is, then you’re fucking naive.”

“I didn’t do anything. I chickened out because I felt bad about betraying your trust. I was under the momentary impression you deserved better. Show’s how stupid I am.”

“You didn’t use whatever’s on that flash drive?”

“No.”

He closed his eyes, sinking on the bed. “Thank god. Neither did I.”

“Well, I stopped the loader before it was finished.”

“Wait, you what? You plugged it in? These people are watching everything that’s on my computer. They might’ve seen what you were doing.”

She made a face. “No, they couldn’t. I’m not some amateur.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means I have skills. Those assholes aren’t going to catch me. If I’d loaded that malware onto your laptop like I’d intended, they still wouldn’t know about it.”

“What malware? What does it do?”

“Probably the same kind of thing you have on your flash drive. You were supposed to load it onto my computer, right? A rootkit to install a back door in my system, bundled with a payload that would steal my info. Maybe bots to spread onto the Bennett Security network. And of course, it would report everything back to the people who made it, all while staying perfectly hidden.”

“And that’s what you were going to install on my computer?”

“To go after the black-hat hackers who work for your uncle. You were trying to give them access to Bennett Security. After Max trusted you and tried to help you.”

Dominic clenched his teeth together.

“Weren’t you?” she demanded. “That’s what you wanted. To hurt Bennett Security.”

“I never wanted this. I had no clue about the first attack. And the thing tonight—I wanted nothing to do with it.”

“But you were still going to help your uncle.”

“No wasn’t an option. I didn’t go through with it.”

“But you considered it.”

“So did you. You plugged your drive in. I didn’t do that.”

“But at least I’m on the right side of things! I was trying to work against the Syndicate. You’re still working for it. And you always will, won’t you? Because it’s the ‘family business.’ Because you’re Dominic Crane.”

He shot up to standing and advanced on her, forcing her back up against the wall. “You think I want to be? You think I like being defined by my family name? Trapped by their expectations? I’ve never been good enough, but they won’t let me go, either. All my life, nobody except my brothers has cared about me as a person. Everyone else has only wanted what they could use me for.”

Sylvie had said earlier that evening, right to his face, that she didn’t want to use him. Liar.

She must’ve been thinking the same thing because she averted her eyes. “As a kid, I felt trapped by my family, too. So I left. I started all over again. It was scary, but I did it. I didn’t just sit around making excuses.”

Dominic braced his arm on the wall over her head. He glared down at her. “Then I guess you’re stronger than me. You’re lucky I managed to find the willpower not to fuck you earlier.”

“Because you felt too guilty? You’re right. That does surprise me.”

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