Page 33 of My Fake Billionaire Damaged Boyfriend

“No, we’re not a real relationship, Kitten. Not yet.”

“Not yet?”

“Not until we’re out of this firestorm with Alek, and not until I can take you on a real date. One where we aren’t robbed.”

I settle with that assurance, hoping he’s not like everyone who has ever promised me something, only for it to fall through. Truth is, I can’t handle another lost promise.

And I can’t imagine him losing any more control than he already has.

We’re just two broken people, on the shattered remains of our past, while hoping the cracks in the foundation don’t end up swallowing us both whole like we’re used to.

CHAPTER14

Izzy

Iwaltz into work like nothing has happened, but that doesn’t last very long.

Soon, I’m shoved into Alek’s office by a huge man with dauntingly dark eyes, the same eyes that glared through me the night before. I hiss a breath, ready to bite, kick and scream my way out of Alek’s office, but instead, I’m pushed into a chair facing the desk.

Alek is behind the desk, his hands folded comfortably on his round stomach that presses to his tacky suit. “Hello, Ms. Bellerose.”

I swallow at the sound of my last name in his venomous hiss of a voice, “Hello, sir.”

Looking behind me briefly, I track three huge men in the office, all three of them far too similar to the thugs that robbed Dimitri and I last night. I sink into my chair, clutching the armrests in case I’m about to be hurled through the window of this office and made into roadkill on the streets of Seattle below.

“No need to stress. I’m here as a friend, Izzy. I wouldn’t hurt you.”

My eyes flicker to my forearm which is still bruised from his pressuring grip, “What do you want with me, then?”

“A deal,” he says cheerfully. Reaching into his desk drawer, he holds up my flash drive and slides it across the desk, as if offering it back to me, “I think my approach before was a little harsh. I had no idea how skilled you were in this field, Izzy. I must admit, I’m impressed.”

I curl the flash drive into my palm, curling my fingers around it carefully, “Thank you, sir.”

“Easy, Izzy. I’m not your boss right now. I’m your friend.”

Skeptical, I play along for safety’s sake, “Okay, then.”

“So, let’s make a friendly deal, shall we?”

I only nod this time, hesitant to know his intent at this point.

Knitting his fingers into one another, he rocks back in his chair and smiles obnoxiously, “Alright, dear. Here’s my proposition. You give me a raw, malleable file just like that one in your hands, and I’ll buy it for twice what it’s worth.”

My brows furrow, “What? Why? You had my flash drive. You could have just stolen it.”

“No, you don’t get it, Izzy. That’s your file. That code helps you break into my system, right? It finds the discrepancy in minutes, rather than weeks. I want something like it, something that I can adjust as I see fit. Your version is far too strict for even the best of my hackers to break.”

I turn it over in my hands, my skin cold and clammy, “What happened to wanting me to break into the software like you asked?”

“That deal went out the door when you told Dimitri Wilde what happened between us. And might I add, I’m sorry for my abrasiveness before. That wasn’t very considerate of me. But, I have no doubt in my mind that it was you who broke in the first time, and the second time, then flooded my software with meaningless garbage to throw off the scent.”

That’s exactly what I did.

“Maybe,” I breathe, “Maybe not. You need more proof than just my little coding trick here.”

“I don’t need anything now, but your cooperation, Izzy. You see, my relationship with Dimitri is a complicated one. His father was like my brother once upon a time, and it was a shame when he died so suddenly.”

My heart sinks. I didn’t know his parents were dead.

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