Page 15 of Hacker Christmas

“Stop, whore.”

Like hell.I pushed through the pain as the ground cut my feet, and my arm hurt like a bitch. I didn’t stop moving until I heard a gunshot. I stopped for a second and turned. He lay across the front of the SUV with the revolver pointed in my direction. My only choice was to continue to run. I didn’t plan to be someone’s captive again.

Another shot rang through the swamp as I tried to hurry my steps and watch for alligators. I counted each bullet he fired, holding my breath each time. He had fired five bullets. The fucker still had one left. I pumped my good arm and ran—I could see the highway up ahead. I was ten feet away. I needed to get to the road. He fired the last bullet, and I felt it graze my broken arm. I kept working forward and fought through the pain that radiated throughout my body.

With the road within reach, I didn’t pay attention to my steps, and I tripped. I heard a growl as I went down into the swamp. The sound came from a furious alligator. I flipped onto my back and crab-walked away as well as I could with one arm sinking into the murky water and the other one broken.

A six-foot alligator had his eyes trained on me. I held back a scream. He took another step toward me, and I scooted along the swamp floor as fast as I could. As he took another step, I leaned forward and tried to stand back up.

Finally, with my footing under me, I went to turn, but I was a second too late. The gator lunged forward, and I jumped back and fell on my ass. Fighting through the pain and panic, I stood again, and just as the alligator was about the lunge, rustling on his left side grabbed his attention. I looked and saw my kidnapper standing there with his gun trained on me. He must havereloaded.

His finger was on the trigger. I turned to run when I heard the gun go off and he screamed. I felt the bullet hit my arm. It pushed me forward, and I couldn’t catch my balance before my head collided with a rock and everything went dark.

7

Aaron

Neal’s office at Black Hat security in downtown Ft. Lauderdale was impressive. I couldn’t pull my eyes away from the uninterrupted view of the Atlantic Ocean. The water sparkled under the Florida sun. In the distance, I could see a cruise ship heading south. Neal’s office would give my arrogant older brother, Alex, a run for his money.

I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed Ft. Lauderdale until I spent time with Neal and Daisy. I’d spent all my time inside when I was in Hollywood—the paparazzi never left me alone, but in Florida, they didn’t bother me. It was refreshing, and I’d known since wrapping my last movie I didn’t want to act anymore.

When I won my last Academy Award, the press took it to a new level. If I opened the door for someone, they would make it look like I was dating the person. A month after I started to see Daisy and Neal, the media plastered my face across the pap magazines, saying I was dating my costar. Daisy saw the pictures and assumed we were no longer together, and I never wanted to hurt her again, especially since I got the news that we were having twins. I was still shocked that the three of us were going to be parents. Neal and Daisy didn’t know how badly I wanted it.

The click of Neal’s phone drew my attention from the horizon to the handsome man behind the desk. Neal ran his hand across his face.

“How’s Patty?” I asked.

Patty was the owner of Black Hat. Since she’d left Ft. Lauderdale eight months before, Neal had taken over every aspect of the company. I could tell it had taken a toll on him. He didn’t want to fail, so he worked extra hard to bring in more contracts. Black Hat was currentlyat capacity. They couldn’t take on anything else unless they hired more help.

“Patty and Sam are still looking for her father. Her three brothers are no help, and she wants me to take over Black Hat permanently.”

I shifted, walked away from the massive windows that lined the office, and sat on the white couch. It was obvious by Neal’s tone that he didn’t want to take over the business completely, but Neal would do whatever she wanted. Patty had moved away when her father disappeared, and she was next in line to run the country.

“How do you feel about running the show?” I patted the white sofa for Neal to join me. I didn’t have to ask twice. He left his black leather chair and sat next to me. His cologne was intoxicating.

“If she had called last week, I would have been excited. But Daisy will need us, and I want to be there for every step of our children’s lives even if the twins aren’t mine.”

An urge to flog Neal came over me. I hated when he doubted himself. I knew it stemmed from his childhood. But he needed to understand that we were a team, and we stuck together. “I’m only going to say this once. These children are the three of ours. It doesn’t matter whose DNA they have. We love them all the same.”

Neal’s body sagged next to me. He seemed worried that if the kids didn’t have his DNA, I would claim ownership over them.

“Neal, you need to talk about things and stop keeping them inside. And as for Black Hat, you could merge with White Hat. Bridget could help you run this place. She needs help, and you need help. Why don’t you combine the two?”

“Patty and I will discuss it more in March when we fly to Shialia for the wedding.”

“Have they set a date in stone, or will it change again next month?” Sam and Patty had pushed the date numerous times due to issues with finding her father.

“Honestly, I don’t know.”

“Why don’t you talk to Bridget now? Don’t wait until March.”

“I’ll call her tonight.”

“Now we have that settled, it’s time for your punishment.”

It took everything in me to hold back my chuckle when Neal’s eyes widened. Neal and I hadn’t played together yet, but the moment I walked into his office, my dick had gone hard, and I wanted his lips wrapped around it.

“Um…why am I being punished, Aaron?”

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