Page 52 of Wicked Heiress

“There’s a reason I couldn’t get the Il Circo website shut down,” he confessed, his words slurred from drinking so much. He smelled like he’d fallen asleep inside a copper whiskey still and went through the distillation process. “It’s my fault that Alex got kidnapped and taken to the island.”

I guided him over to the couch and sat beside him. “What are you talking about?”

He looked as if he were seconds from collapsing, leaning to the side, using the cushion for support. Stripped down to black boxers and dress socks, he wore a Superman T-shirt beneath an open white oxford. A red tie hung loosely around his neck, so I figured he was wearing a suit at some point.

I’d never seen him like this.

“Drake.” I snapped my fingers as his eyes closed. “Don’t fall asleep on me. Not after saying shit like that. What did you do?”

His eyelids fluttered. “I tried to get fancy. I thought I could out hack a hacker who goes by the name of Maverick. He runs the site for the owners of Il Circo.”

“Wait, you knew all along?”

He bobbed his head. “You don’t understand. Maverick is a ghost, a legend. I came across him on the Dark Web in high school. He’s the reason I became a hacker.”

“Yeah, but you’re not black hat.”

“I wasn’t at the start,” he confirmed. “I mostly stole porn, movies, and dumb shit to see if I could. But those days are over. The things I’ve done for The Devil’s Knights crossed lines I never wanted to cross. I have broken so many laws I’d probably be in jail if not for The Founders.” Drake scooted closer to me, looking more awake than before. “I didn’t know I was going up against Maverick. Not at first.” His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard. “Not until I saw his signature.”

“What happened?”

“I tried to shut down the site, just like I told Luca and The Knights. But I wasn’t fast enough. I didn’t think like him. He was ten steps ahead.” Drake groaned, once again pulling on his hair. “He skull fucked my entire system. When I said my board of directors leaked the demo of Lovelace, I lied. It was Maverick. He was only on my network for ten seconds before I locked him out, but it was enough time for him to get information.”

“Fuck.”

“Yeah,” he whispered. “Fuck.”

We sat silently for a moment, and I let it all sink into my brain. Drake blamed himself for everything that had happened to Alex. But was it his fault? He was only trying to protect her. If he made a few mistakes, it was because he was human.

“You were out hacked.” I put my hand on his shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “It’s not your fault Alex was kidnapped. You did everything you could to stop it.”

“Cole, you’re not listening.” Drake shifted his weight on the cushion and let out a deep breath. “Maverick got information from my server. Only The Knights know Alex is living with the Salvatore brothers. So how did her estranged mom, of all people, know where to find her? They haven’t spoken in six years.”

He had a point. While our enemies were intelligent, they weren’t that smart.

I shot up from the couch. “Maybe I could use a drink after all.”

“Pour me one.” I narrowed my eyes at him, and he said, “I promise I’ll stop tomorrow.”

I could tell the guilt over this had been killing him. Maybe now that he confessed to me, Drake could return to normal. Well, normal was a relative term with my cousin. He lived an unusual life, often without sleep or food for days. He needed a girlfriend, a therapist, or someone to keep his ass in check.

“Why are you shutting everyone out?” I added scotch to two glasses and strode to the couch, passing one to him. “You could talk to Tate or Olivia. They live in your house. Hell, you could have called me.”

“This stuff upsets Liv. And Tate… Well, you know Tate.”

I sipped from the glass, feeling the burn slide down my throat. “You can’t keep secrets without them eating you alive.”

“I told you,” he said, relief washing over his face. “I already feel lighter.”

“Maybe you’ll get some sleep.”

He bobbed his head. “But there’s one more thing, Cole. It involves Grace.”

My heart skipped a few beats at the mention of her. “What?”

He pounded the scotch in one gulp and set the glass on the table, nearly falling into it. “Maverick got more than Alex’s location.”

Don’t say it.

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