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Quinn had admittedly used her God-given talent with all-things tech to break the law on numerous occasions. But it was always to help those who’d been wronged.

People…animals… It didn’t matter. If she saw a clear-cut need, she did whatever she could to help. And she never,everkept anything for herself.

It was how she justified what she did. Everything Quinn had done was for the greater good. But this was different. What Justin had pressured her into agreeing to…

“Foronce, we’re making this about helping ourselves and taking whatwedeserve.” Justin spared her a pointed glance. “Whatyoudeserve.”

When he’d first broached the subject, he’d told her he wanted to make a point. To teach the big credit card companies a lesson on preying on the weak and desperate.

Soon, what started as a fantastical idea somehow morphed into something real. A reachable goal with a tangible reward…and some very real, veryseriousrisks.

She looked over at Justin, the knowledge of what needed to be done warring with the thick blanket of dread weighing heavily on her soul. In a moment of weakness, Quinn’s fear of losing the only person to ever find her worthy of love overtook everything else.

“I think we should wait,” she blurted before thinking.

Justin’s incredulous laugh echoed throughout the empty space. “Wait? Hell no, we’re not waiting. The time is now, babe. We’ll start with this first mark, and if everything goes smoothly, we’ll move on to the next. And the next.” His lips spread into a wide, toothy smile. “Just think. In a few short hours, we’ll have access to more money than we can spend. We’ll be able to go anywhere…do anything.Buyanything.” Justin shook his head as if he didn’t believe his own words. “We’re going to be so fucking rich.”

Excitement poured over him in waves. His cheeks became flushed; the blues in his eyes darkening. And if Quinn didn’t know any better, she’d almost think he was almost becoming aroused at the thought of what they were about to do.

It’s the pre-hacking rush.

Though she’d never experienced it herself, she’d heard about the oversized dose of adrenaline some hackers got before a job. A massive rush brought on by one thing, and one thing only…

Power.

That blanket grew heavier, the churning of emotions becoming stronger inside her gut.

“I thought this was about showing these big companies how wrong it was to prey on the weak and desperate.” Quinn frowned. “To pay them back for dragging your parents into bankruptcy.”

“Yeah…about that.” He licked his lips before flashing his signatureI’m so innocentsmile. “I may have embellished that whole backstory about my parents a bit.”

She gave a slight tilt of her head, her throat working to swallow the knot forming there. “Define a bit.”

I need him to say it. I need him to look me in the eyes and tell me the truth.

Hesitating in his answer, Justin drew in a breath before rambling off what he almost certainly believed was a justifiable explanation for having lied.

“Okay, listen.” He gave his lips a nervous swipe of his tongue. “Don’t get mad, but my parents never actually filed for bankruptcy when I was ten. Or…ever.” A crooked smirk lifted one corner of his lips. “I just told you that because I knew you’d never agree to this if I’d shared the real motive behind it.”

Quinn stared into the eyes of a man she no longer recognized. Despite having already been told the same by others, she’d tried so hard to ignore the truth.

But there was no denying it now. Not when Justin, himself, had just laid the whole ugly truth right out there for her to see.

This grand plan of his wasn’t about teaching the companies a lesson. Not like he’d first claimed it was.

No, Justin’s so-called crusade to rid the world of heartless, soulless companies was nothing more than a quest to obtain power. To be able to sit behind the safety of a keyboard and change countless lives—for better or worse—with little more than the click of a few buttons.

Quinn had come across others like him before. Men and women who delved into the deep, dark hacking world armed with little more than a sweet set-up and a massive ego trip. And from what she, herself had witnessed in those incidents, it was a combination that almost always ended badly.

For everyone involved.

“You ready?”

Quinn looked at Justin again. She hated herself for what she was about to do. To him. To herself.

But she didn’t have a choice. Not really. Not when their entire future was on the line.

Filling her lungs, she let the air out in a slow, steady stream before offering him a small smile. “Yeah.” She nodded. “I’m ready.”

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