Page 18 of Sinister Intentions

But it wouldn’t be like that the next time. I would be prepared. Prepared for that dizzying energy between us. Prepared to unravel the enigma that was Vincenzo Salvini. And being in NYCwould be a good opportunity to get to know him better. Find his vulnerabilities in real life because doing that from behind the screen was nearly impossible.

It was a plan—just maybe not a smart one—because a part of me knew going anywhere near him was a dangerous game that could potentially lead to disaster.

I got up and moved over to my desk and my laptop. It was time to check in again and start putting my plan…or plans into action.

#1 Find incriminating evidence on Salvini.

#2 Prepare to disappear in case #1 failed.

I went through my ritual of multi-layer protection before I logged into the chatroom…and entered complete mayhem.

There were messages flying, and it was more active in there than ever. What the hell was going on?

A separate channel popped up.

Iset: hey, I’ve wondered where you were.

Nyx: why? what’s going on?

I moved back to the main channel but then couldn’t make sense of the discussion happening.

Iset: someone posted that they know our real identities and are threatening to auction them off to the highest bidder if we don’t comply with their demands by this weekend.

I froze, my blood turning to ice in my veins as I read Iset’s words over and over again. This couldn’t be happening. How did they find out who we were? And what demands were they talking about? And what if that list already got out? It would explain Salvini’s actions. Was this how he knew?

Nyx: fr? WTF???? Please tell me this is just a sick prank.

Iset: idk. everyone is freaking out. afaic seems legit based on the op and the reactions in the main chat.

My hands trembled as I typed out a response.

Nyx: what can we do? if they really know who we are…what do they want?

Iset: idk. let’s hope and pray it’s a bluff. but we’ll know more by this weekend since that’s the deadline.

Nyx: do they want money or something?

Iset: no idea. but they must want something, right? otherwise, why even tell us?

Nyx: auctioning off our names—is that even a thing? who bids on a list of names?

Iset: fr? anyone we hacked and stole money from, maybe?

Shit. She was right. We’d focused on crime syndicates. That was the whole concept—to only take from criminal organizations. We should’ve thought this through better.

Iset: maybe we shouldn’t discuss this here. Should we try to meet up IRL? figure this out in person.

I paused with my fingers hovering over the keyboard. I didn’t even know how to answer, but meeting up in person seemed…incredibly stupid and dangerous.

Iset: I’m going to be in NYC over the weekend. we could meet there. somewhere with a lot of people.

My eyes widened at the coincidence. New York would be the perfect place to meet—big enough for anonymity. And I would already be there if I went to visit Fee and Alex. Still, a nagging sense of doubt crept in. Could I really trust Iset?

Iset: I know it’s risky, and we have no reason to trust each other. Here’s a number to a burner phone. if you decide you want to meet—text me.

A string of digits appeared in the chat window.

I was still staring at my screen. What the hell was happening? Was this for real?

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