Page 79 of Hunter

“What IT guy?” I blink rapidly, trying to shake off the haze clouding my thoughts.

“The IT guy. Luca sent the info to see if he could trace from where those emails were sent.”

My gaze snaps to Luca, who’s standing there like he doesn’t have a care in the world. “You sent all this information to someone I don’t fucking know?” My heart rate spikes. “You involved a random stranger?” How the hell could he? Who gave him that kind of permission?

Luca dismisses me with a lazy wave of his hand before plopping down in a chair. “I wanted a second opinion from someone who isn’t under your or Andrei’s thumb.” As much as I hate to admit it, that was a decent move.

“Your brain does work after all, Luca,” I say, the words laced with reluctant admiration.

He flips me off without a second thought, and I grin back at him.

“Children, please,” Sophia scolds, shaking her head. I stifle a laugh at the offended look on Luca’s face.

“What did the guys say?” I ask, getting back to business.

“They confirmed the money and emails came from your house, Maxim.” Luca’s voice is low, his lips pulled into a frown.

The room falls into an eerie silence. No. This can’t be happening. There’s been a mistake. Andrei promised me he had nothing to do with this. If he’s involved, I don’t know how I’m going to handle it.

“Does this mean Andrei is behind all of this after all?” Sophia’s voice breaks the silence, the question I’ve been too afraid to ask myself.

“No,” Luca’s reassurance cuts through the tension. “He’s not responsible.”

I release a shaky breath, and my heart finally starts to slow down.

“How are you so sure?” Sophia presses, still skeptical.

Luca leans back in his chair. “I checked Andrei’s location history and matched it with the dates I got from the emails. He wasn’t anywhere near the house.”

Sophia tilts her head, narrowing her eyes as she looks at both of us. It’s the kind of look that says she has something on her mind but isn’t sure whether she wants to say it out loud.

“What’s on your mind, krasavitsa?” I ask, knowing she’s about to explode if she doesn’t speak. The flush on her cheeks tells me she’s holding back.

She hesitates for a moment then finally speaks. “You guys are acting like Andrei can’t access his emails from anywhere.”

I snort a laugh before I can stop myself. She turns to me, one eyebrow raised. Let me explain before she takes that the wrong way. “Here’s something you should know about Andrei. He hatesanything administrative. Sending an email? He’d rather die. He doesn’t even know the password to his email and refuses to open the account on his phone. He can only check it from his office at the house. I handle all that shit. He’d much rather be out in the field than dealing with payments or emails.”

Sophia’s eyes widen as she processes this. “Then someone has been sneaking into his office and using his computer.”

Luca and I exchange a look, both nodding in agreement.

Sophia stifles a yawn, but it escapes anyway. “I’m going to make some coffee,” she says, standing up from my lap. “Would you guys like some?”

We both nod, and she walks toward the kitchen.

I run a hand through my hair, my mind racing. Who the hell has the balls to do this right under our noses? They must know exactly where every single camera is placed, every blind spot in the house. I’ve reviewed the footage over and over, but nothing seems out of the ordinary. How the hell are we going to find this person? Maybe I need to station someone outside the wing with the offices 24/7.

Wait.

The hidden cameras.

THIRTY-ONE

MAXIM

My subconscious screams at me. Shit, the hidden cameras. When I took over for my old man, I had cameras installed all over the property in places I thought had blind spots—extra security, just in case. No one knows about them except me, not even Andrei. I looked at them the other day, but I didn’t think anything of the person I saw going to Andrei’s office.

I open the app on my phone and punch in my login credentials. Fuck, it has been years since I last thought about them. Usually, I go straight to the security room if I need footage. These cameras could’ve saved us a hell of a lot of trouble.

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