Page 20 of Sinful Attraction

But the thing is, even if she gives up on her family, she still needs to clear her name. She’s still part of the wider Family, same as me. She has a reputation to repair.

Will she let me help her fix it? I sure hope so. I need to know who stole her code a second time and that five million a third. And I suspect that the only person who can really help me do that is the woman who wrote that program in the first place.

I’m lost in thought when I catch sight of the guy hanging around with my sister. At first glance, he’s less of a train wreck than my parents described: medium height and build, unkempt,unshaven. Then, I notice that his eyes are glued to my sister’s ass like he’s never seen a Brazilian butt lift in his entire life.

I stop, fold my arms, and stare at him. My sister is on the phone, ignoring him; she hangs up and turns around, and he reanimates, responding to a muttered question of hers with an enthusiastic nod. Then, this mouth breather starts staring at her boobs the same way.

Computer expert? This guy has to be her drug dealer for her to put up with this level of bullshit. God.

He shoots a nervous look my way as he finally notices me. I lift an eyebrow, and he shifts nervously before turning and trailing her back into her room.

Yeah, he is straight creepy. And something about all of this is really weird. What are they up to?

I grab some sleep, work the stiffness in my shoulders out in the gym, shower, and then grab a late supper of leftovers. I’m planning to spend a big part of the evening going over the server logs to try and sort out who was online and active during the transfer. I don’t know if I’ll come up with anything definitive, but I need to at least make the effort. Just in case.

I’m just settling into work when Maria shoves open my door and comes strolling in without even knocking. She’s in pajamabottoms and a lacy tank top and looks about 16. Bare feet on my carpet.Yay.

“Jesus, Maria, what do you want? It’s almost midnight, and I have work to do,” I grumble at her at once. “Should have locked that damn door.”

“Why the hell is everyone around here always so uptight? Ugh! I’m bored. My computer guy’s gone home, and I have nothing to do.” She sits down on my bed with a high bounce that pulls my comforter out of place.

Chrissake.“How is this my problem? Go take more mirror selfies or something.”

“Please, that shit is so dated. What are you doing?”

I lift an eyebrow. She never actually gives a shit about the kind of work I do. As long as her computer is working and she can buy her endless wardrobe and makeup collection through it, she normally doesn’t give a shit about Internet technology. I doubt she even fully understands what I do, which is probably the real reason why she had some creepy keyboard jockey in to handle whatever has been wrong with her computer instead of coming down the hall and asking me.

“Checking the family server logs. I have to track down whoever robbed us.”

She scoffs again, staring at me with an amused smirk on her face that I don’t like at all. “Well, I guess you’re hoping it will makeany difference. But I’ve got to tell you, rumors are already flying. I’m not sure you shouldn’t just give up and wait for all of this to blow over.” Her lips curve in... that’s not a smile; it’s a smirk. Not even a playful one.

“What the hell are you babbling about?” I demand, not bothering to hide my annoyance.

She bounces on my bed a little, hands clasped between her knees. “You should really check out the family chat more often. People think you were the one who stole that five million.” She has the audacity to actually fucking smile. “They think you just pulled a fast one and socked it away somewhere.”

“Maria,” I sigh as I turn around in my office chair, “that makes absolutely no fucking sense whatsoever.”

She blinks at me, and her smirk wavers just a little. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that the heist was my idea in the first place. If I wanted to go take five million from some random billionaire and put it in my own bank accounts, I could just go and do that. I didn’t have to even let Mom and Dad know what I was doing. So, why the hell would I make them aware of it, fake messing up, and then walk away after torpedoing my own reputation?”

She just... blinks again. I can see the wheels turning in her head, but they don’t seem to be catching on anything. “So, how come people are starting to think you did it?”

“Because that’s how rumors work. They’re not exactly based on logic; they’re based on what’s interesting and makes for a more exciting story.” I’m not actually all that worried about any rumors going around. I will check the family chat, see what the hell is going on, and make any clarifications that I need to. And Maria and her assumptions can go to hell.

Maria frowns and then shakes her head. “Look, you go say whatever you want to say. I’m just telling you what people are saying. Besides, would you rather have them think that you’re dishonest and took the damn money, or would you rather have them think you’re stupid as fuck and let five million bucks slip through your fingers?”

My eyebrows shoot up. “Are you fucking kidding me? Get the hell out of my room.”

She looks at me like I just grew a second head. “Wait, you’re kicking me out for telling the truth?”

“Your shitty opinions don’t constitute ‘truth,’ kid, and if you want me to spend time with you, you don’t get to disrespect me. Get the fuck out.”

She stares back at me defiantly. I keep eye contact implacably. And slowly, she withers. Her gaze drops away from me, and she gets off my bed. “You don’t mean it,” she challenges half-heartedly.

“Out,” I say firmly. “Actions have consequences. I’ve tried to tell you this before. Go whine to Mom if you have a problem with it.”

She sulks her way out, and I lock the damn door behind her. I have no idea what possesses her to come bother me so much these days. It’s always when I’m wrapped up in something important, too. It’s like she senses I need to focus and comes waltzing in to ruin it.

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