Page 24 of Sinful Attraction

I shake my head. “Gorgeous, there’s no way. The guards would have caught anyone trying to sneak in.”

“Not if they are a family member or were invited in by one.” She looks at me pointedly, and I feel a cold finger of anxiety run down my back.

“I have trouble buying that. Nobody in my family that I have beef with knows one end of a computer from the other.” I give her a confident smile, but she stares back at me solemnly.

“People can surprise you. But let’s just see where the evidence goes.” She concedes easily, calmly. She has every right to be catty about now, but she’s not. It only intrigues me more.

“I understand, and you’re right.” I brush my hand against the back of hers as I coax the pointer over to a link. “The rest of the files had no external logins either for that time period?”

She sucks air lightly. I look up and see her startled expression. I wonder if it’s from me touching her or from her liking it.

“No,” she murmurs, her voice pitched a little lower and smoother now. “No. Only a few dozen were logged in. Maybe not even actively. I’ll have to check through.”

“Could one of your staff members have stolen a family login?” she adds, forcing herself to get back on track. I have to fight a grin. One little bit of contact, and she’s visibly thrown off-kilter. She must be starving for the good stuff.

I wonder if she’s ever gotten an orgasm from a man. It depresses me sometimes how few of my female lovers have before me. How do guys expect women to keep wanting to go to bed with them when they don’t even make it enjoyable? I just don’t get it.

But if that’s been her experience, it’ll be even easier for me to catch her interest... and keep her coming back for more.

The hardest part is breaking the ice. Timing it right, making sure she’s in the right mood, making sure she’s already flirting back. Those first few steps can be a little uncertain and uncomfortable, or they can feel like disarming a bomb with an unfamiliar design.

Right now, I’m still proving myself to Arya. I know it. I know her guard has to be up around me because she’s pissed. Five million dollars pissed. Horrifying levels of family drama pissed.

She’s not the type to just let that slide because I give her some good sex and make sure she gets her money back. She’s going to want something real to compensate her for all the trouble, and if I don’t give it willingly, she’s going to take it.

She stops going through the records and glances up at me. “Penny for your thoughts.”

“Just thinking about what you said about the perpetrator being a member of staff,” I lie with my dick still at attention. I am definitely going to need to stay seated for a while because, otherwise, when I get up, she’s going to get an eyeful.

“Not the only possibility. Your perp could be anyone from family to a contractor visiting the house. Maybe a friend or boyfriend of one of your siblings.”

I frown. That rings a bell in the back of my head, but I’m too distracted by the sunbeam playing in Arya’s hair to recall why. “So, you think someone may have social-engineered their way in by using one of my siblings as a one-night stand, or—”

“Or someone could have done the same thing to you.” She looks me in the eyes for just a beat too long, and I feel my throat tighten. “Have you brought any lovers home lately?”

“No, I’m single, and I don’t like dating around.”

She blinks and peers at me thoughtfully. “You’re not a womanizer? But you’ve got a hell of a reputation...”

I scoff. “Nah. One of my exes is a terrible gossip and vindictive. She spread that rumor. I think she’s the one currently telling everyone that I stole that money from the family myself.”

She winces. “That’s insane. What is her problem?”

“I didn’t want to stay with her cheating ass after I caught her.” That came out a little grimmer-sounding than I wanted. I smile ironically.

She blinks. “Why is it always the ones who are clearly in the wrong who hold the biggest grudges?”

I laugh. “Beats the hell out of me. But it’s definitely true.”

“So, I’m still not seeing anything anomalous in these logs. I’d need to have a look at any administrative changes done during that time period.” She smiles up at me almost apologetically, and I feel a tingle run down my belly and into my groin.

“That’s fine. I’ll pull all that up and see what we can find.” I don’t know which idea bothers me more: that someone social-engineered their way into our family home, that someone in the household pulled all of this, or that someone I don’t know now has admin privileges and was able to cover their tracks.

I start working, but I’m distracted by the musky scent of her perfume. She’s leaning close. It’s fucking killing me how much I want to touch her.

“So, you said you’re single,” she murmurs, her voice half-flirty and half-speculative. “Has it been a while?”

“Long enough for me to start thinking about not being single.” I smile back at her a little slyly. “Why do you ask? Taking a personal interest?”

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