Page 12 of Sinful Attraction

He sits forward, frowning and gazing at me piercingly. “I’ll screen the staff. You’re sure about this?”

“There were no intrusions on our network last night or this morning. I checked thoroughly. So, either someone on our staff is a plant, or someone’s login information was stolen.” Which is always possible. Brute-force attacks are still a thing, and so is being a lazy asshole who picks a simple password and doesn’t change it often enough.

“Figure it out, Michael,” he sighs. “I’m not accepting humiliation for this whole family because you slipped up. Find me the perpetrator, and find me the money.”

I nod, and he immediately goes back to his drink and paperwork, dismissing me. I push up from my uncomfortable perch on one of his chairs and walk out, feeling his gaze on my back like a hand shoving me out the door.

Fuck.I have no idea where to start. Probably a closer look at the night’s access logs, but right now, my head is spinning from the lack of sleep. I need to rest, but I can’t rest. Too much fucking adrenaline.

I go back to my suite, feeling defeated and furious. How the hell did someone snatch Arya’s protocol and use it against me so damn quickly? I have a feeling I’m missing something very important. But my brain just plain isn’t firing right yet.

It hits me then that I’m going to need help. Expert help. I only have a few really hotshot hackers I stay friends with since a lotof them want nothing to do with mob families. I quickly send a text to all five of them, determined to get something done on this before I let myself rest.

I stare at the ceiling for a long time, wondering who it is that has fucked me over and wondering as well if I didn’t deserve it.

Then, I slowly drift off.

Arya is in my bed, naked, those gorgeous tits of hers bare and sleek as they brush against my chest. I slide down her body, skin against skin, kissing her neck and then sucking one of her nipples hungrily. She moans and whimpers and tangles her fingers in my hair, begging for more, pressing her full breast against my face while I suck until she’s trembling under me.

I thrust into her, and she’s slick, swollen, and perfect, wrapping her arms and legs around me as we move together. My body feels like it’s dissolving in a cloud of bliss...

I sit up, gasping and sweaty, and then fall back against my pillow, suddenly awake with a stinging headache and sticky sheets. “Shit,” I mutter, staring at the ceiling again. On top of all the other insane shit going on, here is a stupid one: The sex dreams won’t quit. And as always, every last one of them is about Arya, the woman who officially hates my guts now.

I change my sheets, shower, get dressed in my gym clothes, and grab some coffee as I sit down at my computer. I probably don’t have much time to redeem myself, and I need to get my ass moving.

I am haunted by the vision of Arya in my arms as I check my texts. Her robust curves under my hands, her full mouth against mine, and the way I blew my load so hard that it woke me. My body is still tingling and more relaxed than I am actually feeling.

My messages are chock full of disappointment. I don’t know how news has gotten around so fast—maybe my brat of a youngest sister—but apparently, I’m persona non grata among my hacker buddies for fumbling the ball at the eleventh hour in what could have been an epic heist. Nobody wants to help me out. Maybe they see too much risk to their reputations in it.

“Fuck.” Well, I can’t expect the situation to not come with consequences. However, the more I look at what happened, the more I sense that I’m missing something. I need a second pair of eyes on this. I need an expert in this kind of work...

I blink, sitting back suddenly.Wait.

No, no, no. That will never work. She’ll never agree. Never.

Arya Castellucci will never help me fix this mess.

Unless...what if I gave her the name of the spy in her household? What if I split the money with her? What if I actually make the effort to make things good with her, like I wanted to do anyway? It’s risky. Dad will be really pissed if he finds out I burned his spy. But it will take a peace offering of that caliber to even get a foot in the door with Arya. I’m certain of it.

This is an insane idea and very risky. She could refuse me, she could screw me, she could do all kinds of damage. And yet...

It is my one possible shot to make things good between us.

I just hope I can sell her on the idea.

Chapter 7

Arya

Two days after the heist, I’m no closer to figuring out who the hell gave Michael access to our family network than I am to getting my parents to stop beating what’s left of our relationship to death. I’m exhausted and pissed off, and I’ve already gone through all my contacts on the dark web without turning up anything. I am determined to redeem myself with my family, but that’s going to be such an uphill battle that I sometimes question what the point is.

My father has assigned one of his men to take my place and run the family network. Most of my equipment has been taken away, aside from my personal network. I had to copy and hide most of my programming work to keep that from being taken away from me, too. My father doesn’t give a shit, and my mother is treatingthe whole thing like I’m a teenager being grounded for wrecking the family car.

And none of this would have happened without Michael. Thatsonovabitch. This was just another job for him and another chance to get up my nose. But he’s ruined me. I don’t even care if he didn’t know that was what he was doing. That was what he did.

I hear a knock at my door as I’m rearranging my workspace, and then the door opens. Nina, my oldest sister. She’s the only one who talks to me regularly right now, mostly because she’s the runner-up for the black sheep in the family. She and her kids moved in a year ago after her husband had died due to financial reasons, and she’s shown no interest in remarrying. That’s a real crime in this family.

She dyes her hair auburn these days, and her eyes are wide and brown behind her round glasses. “How are you holding up, lil sis?”

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