Page 24 of My Fake Billionaire Damaged Boyfriend

I furrow my brows, but answer truthfully, “Well, we had a computer in my group home, sir. We had crappy internet, but there was a game online calledHack It. I got pretty good at it, I guess.”

He nods knowingly, twisting his lips uncomfortably at my reply, “Yes, well. That might suit you well, then.”

“How so, sir?”

He marches past me, his hand looping hard around my wrist while we walk. I hiss a breath in shock, and in a bit of pain, as he shoves me forward, forcing me sideways into my swivel chair at the desk. My forearm hits the wood edge of my desk, and I cradle my arm carefully after the abrupt shove just to make sure it’s not broken.

He hardly seems concerned over the pain, flinching the side of my chair around so I’m yanked to face the monitor, his hands clasping both of my chair armrests from behind.

“I want to see you break into my system, right now, Izzy.”

“You—You want what, exactly?”

He pushes my seat forward, the armrests sliding perfectly under the desk in such a way that my midsection feels pinned. I hold my arm tighter to my chest, seeing Alek’s furious, darkened expression through the partially dusty computer screen.

“I know I made my mistake in the past, asking personal questions, and whatnot. But, this is different, Izzy. The stronghold of my system is on the line if don’t find out who broke into the software backdoor.”

Swallowing hard, I play dumb, “There’s a backdoor?”

“You know there is, Izzy. Don’t play dumb with me. I can track your history on this computer and get every single detail printed out for me to track your every move, but I trust you. And I’d like to think that you trust me, too. Right?”

Swallowing my nerves, I only nod.

“Good. Now, I want you to try and break through the system.”

“What if I can’t do it, sir?”

“Then I’m going to do a few things and call a few people that you won’t really appreciate. Those guys out there, tearing through the systems; they’re not even my guys to begin with. They work for the shareholders.”

“The shareholders?”

“Yeah, the people funding my business. If they don’t get back their investment, or say, the company falls over this little outbreak of a hacker, then they will be very upset. You’re not from money, are you, Izzy?”

“No, sir.”

He nods knowingly, like he’s been buy studying my information line by line. And frankly, I wouldn’t put it past him.

I reread the details of my life that he had tried selling to the highest bidder before.

“You don’t mess with money in this town. So, here’s the deal, Izzy. You break into my system, you find out who has already kicked in the backdoor, or I’ll have to deal with you. Okay?”

I shiver slightly, pushing my chair back away from the desk so I can sprint out of this situation once and for all, but he only ends up shoving me forward once more. I hiss a breath, my already sore arm knocking into the desk once more and making my throat tighten with pain.

“Stay put,” he snarls under his breath, “And if your boyfriend catches a single word of this conversation and comes after me, I’ll let the shareholders be the wolves.”

My blood runs cold with his threat, “Wolves?”

“You screw over the rich guys in this city, and there’s no saving your ass after that, Izzy. I mean it. You will do what I say, and when I say it, or the wolf pack will get hungry for blood, and your move to Seattle will be your downfall.”

He marches out of my office, sporting a smile only a sociopath could admire. Turning in the doorway, he waves and tips his head in a cordialgoodbye.

Meanwhile, I’m all but ready to dive headfirst out of the window nearby, but I can’t do that.

I have to do what he says, otherwise, he will know it was me who broke in in the first time. I can only throw him off the scent for now, and to do that, I’m going to need some help.

* * *

I’m pacingthe Smith Tower’s only penthouse for what feels like hours.

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