Page 48 of Never Wed an Outlaw

“She's clean,” Franco said reluctantly. “Think I should check upstairs? See if she's got a stash? We've seen these rich fucks lose it before. Usually because they're popping pills or sniffing powder.”

“Fuck that. Can't be drugs with this one. She's too fucking smart for that, unless something's really changed.” Tony grabbed me by my wrists and spun me around, throwing his weight in as he pinned me to the wall. “I'll tell ya what's gonna happen, peach. You're taking us to everygoddamned computer in this house. You'll unlock them, help us find what we need, and sit with us while we take a good, long look at what the fuck you've been doing.”

“But –“

“But nothing!” He shook me, spittle flying in my face. “You'll do everything I just said, or I'll get you on your knees right now and put a fucking bullet in your head. That's probably how it's gonna end anyway, but we're nice enough to give your pretty little face one more chance.”

I wasn't out of it enough to argue. They'd find out about my total coder's block as soon as they opened my programs and saw exactly nothing over the past week. And that was assuming they'd understand any of it, and didn't just decide to kill me anyway in their confusion.

“Okay,” I said, letting out a sigh.

Tony released me angrily, giving me a push with his hand. The gun replaced his fingers, pressed against my spine. They marched me into the kitchen like a proper prisoner, their eyes raging the entire time.

Men like this didn't just kill. If they decided to murder me, they'd probably take their pleasure first, making sure I suffered for going against the Brotherhood.

I wished I hadn't lied to Dusty about hiring the bodyguard after Joker's boy disappeared. I'd given him a name I knew in Sterner security, and the background check came out clean. I hadn't actually hired the man, knowing he'd be a goner when something like tonight finally happened, but at least I wouldn't be dying alone if I'd given him the job.

God, what am I saying?I wanted to kick myself for driving deeper into crazy town, but I was too busy opening my laptop, pulling up the files that would seal my doom.

Tony snatched the computer away from me, nearly breaking it when it banged on the counter's edge. “This it?”

“Yeah. It's the only thing I use. My old desktop crapped out a few months ago. You can send Franco down to check the hard drive if you don't believe me.”

The two men shared a look. Tony clenched his teeth, taking a seat at the breakfast bar before he said anything.

“I don't trust anything this bitch says or does. Go find that fucking thing, pull it out, and we'll bring the data home with us.” Tony grabbed my neck, pinching it tight while he worked the keyboard with one hand.

Franco took off, wandering into my office downstairs. Several minutes later, I heard things breaking, and knew he wasn't going to spare anything while he pried open my poor dead computer.

I stood awkwardly next to Tony, watching his frustration mount as he quickly opened and closed documents, comparing them to the program I used for working on the app. Or trying to, anyway.

“Explain this shit,” he said, stuffing a greasy finger against a line of code I'd highlighted in red on the screen.

Small satisfaction they still needed me to figure any of this out. Maybe that would delay hot lead going through my skull, just for a little while.

“That's me thinking to myself, the part I've been trying to figure out. At first, I thought I might be able to cloak thetransactions going to your accounts, just ghost them so they weren't part of anything visible at all. But as you can see from this line, it ain't so simple.” I paused, pointing at the screen. “Reworking that will mess with the payment system where the paid subscriptions run each billing period. That means I have to take down the whole thing, give it a whole new framework, or we're going to have our asses hanging out for any competitor to stumble on the money laundering scheme. Trouble is, that also means building a new billing system for subscribers, and it won't run nearly as smooth with all this extra junk up in it.”

Tony angrily scrolled through everything, pretending he understood it, for several more minutes. Then he slammed my laptop shut and pushed it away from him, sending it spinning across the counter.

“There's no fucking point to laundering more money if this thing comes down and causes a stink with its real customers. We can't lose business trying to cover our tracks.”

“And we would,” I snapped. “You don't know how addicted people get to these things. If my app isn't there anymore to play matchmaker, give them something to swipe left or right, they'll move onto the next big thing. And that means a lot less money for both of us. It's all momentum, Tony.”

“Fuck you, bitch. I'm not stupid. It's your debt. Your goddamned job to figure this out!” He slammed his gun down on the counter, slicking back his thin dark hair one more time. “Christ. Dom said you were some kinda wonderkid with this technical bullshit. I can't believe he fucked up here, seeing more than just akid.”

Inwardly, I bristled. If only I kept the knife rack on this side of the kitchen, I might've used my anger to pull my sharpest blade, slamming it into his throat before he knew what hit him.

But that wouldn't stop Franco downstairs. I'd never win a gun fight, considering I'd passed on the range like an idiot every time Huck offered to take me.

Another missed opportunity. One more gut-wrenching regret to twist my stomach in knots during what might've been the start of my life flashing before my eyes.

Franco came up a minute later, slamming my PC's guts on the counter, next to my battered laptop. “Should we gather up all this shit and her, take them both somewhere we can get some real answers?”

Tony looked at his henchman, frustration growing in his dark eyes. “Fuck, I don't know. I need to call Dom.”

I sat like a stone while he made the call. Franco pulled a bottle of wine from my rack and pulled the cork with his switchblade, taking a long drag straight from the bottle.

My stomach turned over. I remembered the last time I'd drunk wine straight from the bottle with Dusty, and now we might never get that chance again.

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