Page 49 of My Fake Billionaire Damaged Boyfriend

“You’re disappearing into your head, sweetheart. I don’t want that. I just want you to be here, with me. You can leave all that extra stuff to the side, just like what I’m doing right now.”

I give him a skeptical look. “You shouldn’t push that stuff aside, Dimitri. It’s okay to be upset. Your father… what Alek has done if that claim is true…”

“I know, but we don’t know anything for sure. Not yet. And having you here reminds me of what is really important. You and I are in this together, right?”

“Always,” I claim.

His smile finally lifts. “Good, Kitten. That’s good.”

I snuggle closer, nearly ready to confess how I feel about this man to his face, but the moment comes and goes, and it’s too late again. My body shivers as footsteps come around the corner of the wall before us, and the agents on the other side of the bars unlock the cell door.

“Alright, Mr. Wilde, you’re with me. Izzy, they need you back by the monitors.”

I grumble slightly, wanting us to stay together, and I guess Dimitri feels the same way. He stands first, helping me to my feet next with his hand clasping over mine.

“We’re staying together,” he says firmly.

The agent looks more than annoyed. “Sir, we have orders for you two—”

“We’re staying together,” I repeat this time, not budging on that stance.

Eventually, they give in, and we head down the hall together toward the room full of monitors. Mccoy is already in there, holding open a manilla file folder that looks like it’s come from a stack of many that are strewn over the desk. I want to know what’s in it, but I don’t ask, watching him assess the sight of us so purposefully defying his orders.

He doesn’t argue with us this time, looking at Dimitri with a sorrowful twinge to his otherwise sharp, unbothered expression. “So, we’ve checked out this claim, and it looks like it might be true. There were trace amounts of sodium that were found in your father’s toxicology reports at death.”

“How did he die?” I ask in a whisper.

“Heart failure,” Dimitri says, looking back to Mccoy. “My father was very keen on his allergies. He would have never accidentally consumed something that would trigger a reaction.”

“Yeah, that’s what the claim states on the monitor. This person seems to know the substance that was added to the sodium and masked in the toxicology report. We have enough already documented today to arrest him for the murder, but we want to wait.”

The room goes stiff, and everyone looks at me.

I swallow hard and ask, “You want me to break in still, don’t you?”

Mccoy nods. “Yeah, it’s imperative that you do. The more proof we have, the more charges we can pin him on, the longer he’s in prison. It’s best for everyone that you figure out how to get into the back door, that way we have it on our side in the trial.”

I shiver slightly, but nod. Dimitri seems to be the only confident one, his lips coming to my forehead before they lower to my mouth. I inhale his scent and his pressuring kiss at once, finally settling my pulse long enough to sit down and appear calm.

I’m not calm. Not even close.

“You got this, Kitten. You’re the best at coding, okay? I know you can do this,” he hums into my warm cheek. “You just do what you do best.”

I look around quickly, still settling on his eyes that seem to calm me the most. “What if I can’t?”

“There isn’t a way that youcan’t,” he says. “I believe in you, Izzy. You got this. Just do what you do best.” He pulls me forward once more, his lips settled on my forehead for a long, extended peck. I can’t help but relax in a fizz of relief.

“Okay, I can do this.”

I don’t believe it, but he does. That’s all the reinforcement that I need.

Sitting down, my fingers fall on the keys like it’s second nature. I back out of the conversation Gwen brought to the forefront, and I wonder if she’s still in here, tinkering from the inside out. I manage to type out a question, just in case she is still around, but nothing comes up.

“She must have been kicked out of the system,” I breathe. “Not supposed to type in here. I bet the antivirus walls shut her out.”

Everyone nods along as I work through the bleak code, trying every algorithm that I know exists. It’s complicated work, and it’s not fun typically, but for once I’m enjoying myself again. Dimitri is by my side they way we started this whole deal, and it’s grown from there. I’m just happy he’s beside me, his hand on my knee, while I fight through the interworking of his worst enemy’s prized possession.

“Okay, let’s see here,” I whisper, typing in the most complex breaker code that I know. It’s like algebra and calculus, the algorithm so damn complicated that I can hardly stand it. My heart falls into my stomach and I mutter to myself, seeing the long line of code and being too afraid to finish it.

---