Page 1 of Misunderstood Hacker

1

Jessica

Patty’s penthousewas full of guests mingling and enjoying the baby games. Bridget and I were throwing a baby shower for my twin sister, Patty, and her husband, Sam, before they left to go to Shialia. Patty and I were the children of King William of Shialia. When Patty went rogue trying to figure out what my ex-husband had been doing, she found her future husband. Now, we were all waiting to find out if they were having a boy or girl, so the theme of the party was rubber duckies.

Our friend CJ sat down next to me on the plush black couch. “How are you doing with Patty leaving?”

“I’m fine,” I said. But it was a lie.

My father had demanded that his first grandchild be born in Shialia, so Sam and Patty planned on leaving this afternoon for a six-month trip during which Sam would work on learning more about my home country. In about ten years, Patty and Sam would be crowned King and Queen. Until then, they would assist in the everyday operations.

“Hey, sis. How are you doing?” Patty asked, sitting down on my other side. She was resting her hands on the slight bulge on her stomach. I looked over to see Brock and Sam standing out on the patio. Even though Sam was outside, he still had an eye on Patty. Sam looked to be in intense conversation with Brock.

“Good. Are you enjoying the party?”

I was lying again. I hadn’t been doing well for the last few months. I felt like I was losing my mind. Things kept changing places in my house. When I was driving, I felt like someone was following me. I hadn’t mentioned it to anyone. I didn’t want to worry Patty or Sam. They had a lot going on already.

Maybe once Patty and Sam were in Shialia, I’d ask Brock to analyze the security footage of my house. I had looked at the video after some of my clothes went missing, but I couldn’t find where it happened. It seemed someone had tampered with the video.

But now was not the time to worry about how my refrigerator reorganized itself or how my clothes went missing or were misplaced. This party was about Patty and Sam.

“I wish you would come with us. I’ll miss you,” Patty whined.

Patty had been begging me to come with her, but I wasn’t ready to face that demon yet. Ten years ago, a group of terrorists led by a man named Axmed had kidnapped and tortured me for a week before my father’s men could find me. Axmed and his men thought they had captured Patty, the future queen. Once he learned they had the wrong heir, they tortured me, trying to get my father to hand over either Patty or a massive amount of cash.

The clicking noise from Patty’s tongue brought me out of the depressing memory. I looked over to see Patty glowing. Her blond hair brushed against her shoulders, and she was wearing a cute sunflower sundress. She hadn’t dyed her hair since finding out she was pregnant, and it was strange to see her with the same hair color as mine.

I shrugged, not wanting to admit I was too scared to go back to Shialia, even though my original attacker was still in prison. “I’ll consider coming when you’re closer to your due date.” It was the same statement I’d made a hundred times. She knew I was blowing smoke up her ass.

The chance of being kidnapped once was one in six hundred ten thousand. I couldn’t find the statistics of being captured twice, but I knew the chances were extremely low. I just wasn’t ready to face the fear. I still had nightmares about it and suspected they would get worse if I went back.

Wanting to change the subject, I said, “Did you know babies born in May are, on average, heavier than babies born in any other month?”

“Thanks for letting me know how fat I’ll get. Don’t think I didn’t notice you changing the subject. I’ll let it go for now. Just so you know, Brock said he would travel with you if you decide to come to Shialia.”

Just the thought of Brock sent shivers down my spine and straight to my clit. I looked out the window to see him staring right back at me. His hazel eyes were captivating.

Patty pushed my shoulder to get my attention.

“You should ask him out,” Bridget said, sitting in the white recliner next to the couch. Bridget was Patty’s boss and married to my boss, Alex. She was holding their first baby, Alonzo.

I would admit nothing, so I played dumb. “Who?”

Bridget burst out laughing and flung her head back. I didn’t think it was that funny or that it was obvious I had a thing for Brock. I couldn’t imagine any sane, healthy gal wouldn’t have the hots for him. The man was drop-dead gorgeous. Over the past few months, he’d starred in all my fantasies.

“We all know you’re lusting after Brock. Why don’t you ask him out?” CJ said.

“We’re at Patty’s baby shower, not an intervention about my sex life.”

Bridget moved Alonzo to her other arm. “Well, I need some grown-up talk. It seems all I do anymore is talk about babies. Don’t get me wrong. I love this little guy.” She gave Alonzo a kiss on the head. “But back to your sex life. We can’t have an intervention about your sex life because you don’t have one.”

“The divorce hasn’t even been final for a year. Worse yet, my ex hasn’t even been in the ground for a year, and you want me to find a new sex partner?” My ex, Doug, had been cheating on me for the past year. I was working on the divorce when Patty caught him with another woman at Sam’s BDSM club. The separation sent him over the edge. He kidnapped Patty and tried to get money from her. Sam ended up killing him.

“Yes!” CJ and Bridget yelled at the same time.

“You guys are ridiculous. I need to start working on the cake.” I got up to walk away, but Patty’s words stopped me in my tracks.

“He watches you when you aren’t looking, you know. He asks me every day how you are doing, even though he spends half his time as your bodyguard.”

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