Page 34 of Gin & Trouble

It was Edward Kincaid, the head of security at Marchionni Corp. Everyone knew not to disturb the family today. Either something had gone to shit or Julia had finally showed up at the office. “Marchionni.”

“Sorry to disturb you, but Miss Carpenter logged into her company computer five minutes ago.”

“Remotely or on-site?”

“On-site, sir.”

His clipped tone grated on my nerves. Sure, I’d asked him to alert me for personal reasons, but he didn’t know that. “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes. Get a visual on her and call me immediately if she leaves the building.”

“Roger that.” He disconnected the call.

Standing, I finished my beer, and winked at Marco. “Gotta jet.”

“And miss your nephew’s first birthday party?”

“I’ll be back in time for him to smash his cake. If not, I’ll Photoshop myself into the pics and no one will be the wiser.”

“Remember what I said, if you’re not scared shitless, it isn’t real.” He stood and clamped a hand on my shoulder. “Just be careful and don’t let your dick do the thinking.”

“Thanks, Oprah. Appreciate the sage-like advice.”

11

Frankie

Most people hatedworking on the weekends, but not me. I loved having the place to myself. No nosey coworkers, no supervisors dumping piles of work on my desk, and thanks to a birthday party at the Marchionni mansion, no chance of running into Dante.

I cranked Christmas music and booted up my computer. After laying low for an entire week, I had a mountain of work to catch up on. Plus, I fully intended to access the private databases the Marchionnis used to keep track of international business associates—like my brother.

As much as I hated to admit it, Dante had outdone himself when he’d built the software. They were CIA-level good—and I should know. After Yale, I’d turned down a job with the Central Intelligence Agency. Instead, I’d allowed Sophia to convince me to become a corporate spy.

The head of security, a tank of a man who made me incredibly nervous, walked past my cube. Thankfully, he didn’t stop to chat. He simply nodded and kept moving.

The ever-present security team was both a blessing and a curse. A curse because if anyone was going to figure out what I was up to, it was them. A blessing, because the office was the one place I felt safe. It would take a mastermind and some heavy artillery to get into this part of the building.

While my brother had the artillery, he wasn’t exactly known for his intelligence.

I logged into the program I was currently developing to evaluate my latest updates I’d made earlier in the month. With any luck, the algorithms would flag any out-of-the-ordinary behavior as suspicious. So far, the only things it had marked for review were stray cats on the lawn and a handful of sexual acts. I’d programmed it to detect abrupt changes in position and pained facial expressions. In my defense, until I met Dante, I hadn’t even considered how the computer would read sex.

Nor did I think people would get naked when they knew there were security cameras in the room.

I started with the private security feed from the Marchionni mansion and scrolled through the files. I had every intention of starting with the first day I’d missed and working my way through the videos in chronological order. However, now that I had the opportunity to watch Dante in real time with no chance of getting caught, I couldn’t help myself.

It’s not like I want to see him. I need to know what he’s up to. I’m keeping my enemy close.

After entering my second set of credentials, I pulled up the live feed from the mansion and was met with a black screen. It took my stressed-out brain several seconds to realize they’d turned the cameras off for the private family function.

Interesting. Who’s going to be there that they don’t want anyone to see?

That was the thing about continuous monitoring. Security footage could be leaked to the police, the press, and anyone else. All you had to do was find the right employee to bribe. Mob families, even supposedlyformermob families, often entertained criminals, celebrities, and dignitaries that would rather not make their associations known.

I powered up one camera at a time until I found a feed with activity, checked for Dante, and moved on to the next. I finally found him in the backyard talking to Marco. From the looks of it they were having a good time.

I miss him so damned much.

Sure, I’d known him as Danny, but I’d come to realize that he was absolutely the same online as in person. Sweet, intelligent, wickedly funny, all mixed together with a hint of awkward.

I caught myself caressing the screen and sighed. In moments I could only describe as temporary insanity, I dreamed of telling Dante my real name. In my fantasy world, he’d take me in his arms and tell me my last name didn’t matter. When I really let myself go wild, I’d imagine him offering to help me and Sophia bring my brother down.

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