Eden

Sitting in the office next to Isaac’s while hacking into SO&G’s financial records was bizarre. When he’d come into my life, I’d been lost. Everyone assumed I was the spoiled, little rich girl with too much time on her hands who’d been facing felony charges. My parents loved me and encouraged me in most things, but once they found out about my “hacktivities,” they didn’t understand why I’d taken such risks with myself. They’d wanted to keep me in my safe bubble where they could protect me, but they had no idea how far I’d already stepped outside of it.

They never realized that I’d been hacking computer systems since I was eleven years old. My middle school advanced math class was so easy it was boring, and I spent all of my time on more fascinating things than my homework, earning myself a D. I hated the idea of my dad being disappointed in me and since it was too late to earn a better grade by turning in the work I’d skipped out on all semester long, I’d done the only thing I could think of to save myself. I hacked the school computer and changed my grade. I wasn’t greedy, though. I gave myself a B, which still earned me a lecture from my dad about how he knew I could do better than that. He expected a lot from his princess.

What he didn’t expect was for me to use my skill set in a way that technically made me a criminal. After discovering how simple it had been to get into the school’s system, I’d spent countless hours on my computer at home, constantly learning and improving. I even found my way onto the darknet, where I connected with others like me and they answered any questions I had or helped me navigate roadblocks I found myself running into. I was good too. Damn good. There weren’t many systems I couldn’t hack into. Firewalls and security software weren’t a problem for me. I had an innate talent for knowing how to break passwords, and with a few keystrokes here and there, I found myself wherever I wanted to be.

I never really intended to do anything other than poke around a little bit. My intent wasn’t malicious when I hacked into a system. I was just testing my abilities, seeing what I could do. After my parents kept me from going to college at fourteen, forcing me to stay in high school, I was bored out of my mind and had way too much time on my hands. One day, I got curious about a pharmaceutical company that was in the news because they’d settled a lawsuit after several children died while taking one of their drugs. While in their system, I stumbled across some incriminating evidence which proved that they were at fault, but through a stupid loophole in the law, they were able to get away with it. If not for that, the company would have been ruined and the court would have substantially increased the amount of money those families would have been paid.

Even if I’d been able to find a way around the loophole, the case had already been settled. The families had signed an agreement and already received the paltry sum they’d been able to get from the company. Only it wasn’t enough. Not even close. So I made sure they got more. A lot more.

I was willing to admit it, there was an incredible rush from correcting an injustice. The next time I stumbled across another crooked company, I made sure they paid for their criminal acts since the authorities couldn’t seem to do it. I told myself I’d stop after each one, but there was always someone else who needed help.

I made the mistake of getting careless with a few “anonymous” tips to the FBI and accidentally left a ghost trace they were able to follow back to me. Then one day, along came the FBI, and Isaac with them—and I gave it all up.

It was easier than I’d thought it would be, too. I had Isaac, and the high I got from being with him was even better than I felt any time I wormed my way into a dirty corporation’s system. I still got to flex my hacking muscles from time to time when the FBI needed my skills for a particularly difficult case. All in all, I was an incredibly lucky woman… albeit one with too much time on her hands and dreams of babies spinning in my head.

As much as I’d never want to wish ill will on another person, Isaac taking this case was well-timed for me. I’d been drifting aimlessly the last couple months since the last time I’d been tapped to help the FBI. With the help of all the college credits I gained in high school and some earned through my work with the FBI, I was able to complete my four-year degree during the year Isaac and I were engaged. For the last year or so, I’d had almost nothing to do.

I didn’t mind so much because I’d hoped to be pregnant. I wanted to be able to enjoy every moment of building a family with Isaac, but until one of those damn tests turned up positive, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with myself. Helping my husband save an innocent man who’d lost the woman he loved, and possibly uncovering a corporate bad guy at the same time? That would definitely keep me busy while we kept on trying. And all the extra orgasms I was going to get while being in the office with Isaac would be an added perk—although, I could have done without Jax almost busting us in the conference room earlier. Talk about embarrassing.

Tamping down on my discomfort, I spent the afternoon focusing on the circled payments from the records Isaac had found in the lock box in Whitney’s apartment. Whoever was cooking SO&G’s books had done a bang-up job. There wasn’t anything to raise a red flag in the documents the company had provided Isaac. The only way to discover the shadow payments was from the inside—right where Whitney had been before she was killed.

“How’s it going?” Isaac’s deep voice startled me so much, I leapt from my chair. “Shit, Sunshine. You’re jumpier than usual, and that’s saying a lot for you.”

“Sorry,” I muttered. “I was just focused on what I was doing.”

“What exactly were you doing that you didn’t notice me coming into your office?” He slid his palms down my spine and pulled me close. “I’ve never been able to sneak up on you before, not when we are both always so in tune with each other. I’m not sure I like the idea of you being focused on something else to the extent that you don’t know I’m there.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Mr. Grumpy Pants,” I teased. “You’re the center of my universe, even when I’m distracted by the depths people will sink to because of greed.”

Gripping my shoulders, he bent me back a little so he could look down at me with gleaming eyes. “You found something, didn’t you?”

“I did,” I confirmed and sat back down in my chair, while he came around behind to look over my shoulder. “But I’m not sure what it means yet. All of the payments Whitney circled were recorded as payments for an oil industry expert hired to research and develop an environmental report. But, these particular payments didn’t go to the same place as all of the other ones recorded for this purpose. The business this money went to is a dummy corporation. Odd, sure, but I’m not sure why that would get her killed.”

I handed him some of the paperwork I’d been making notes on so he could follow along. “Then I dug deeper into the corporation. Whoever set it up is good, I had to go through like seven subsidiaries before I finally came to the parent corp. The names attached to it are bogus, but I managed to get their bank account numbers.” I gave him a meaningful look. “Numbered accounts in the Caymans.”

Isaac’s expression darkened and he scrubbed up and down his face in frustration. “Shit.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “But that’s not the weirdest thing. I decided to go back to the basics and contact the company who developed the report, see if they knew anything about the other payments. So I tracked down the name of the head of the research team and tried to get in touch with him—only he’s dead.”

“Dead?” he growled, his fingers returning to my arms, his grip tight.

“I know. The coincidence of it freaked me out a little, even though it was listed as an accident. Interestingly enough, considering the industry he worked in, he drove a smart car. It burst into flames while he was driving it because of a malfunction in the battery. There wasn’t any sign of foul play, though. So it could just be a case of crazy timing.”

He dragged me from my chair and into his office, plopped down on the couch and settled me on his lap with his arms wrapped tightly around me. “What did Agent Taylor say?”

“He’s going to dig into it further, make sure the detectives on the case didn’t miss anything.”

“If he’s looking into it more, it means he thinks there might be more to that guy’s death than an accident. Which means you’re off the case,” he rumbled.

“Isaac,” I wheedled. “I haven’t even been able to uncover who those numbered accounts belong to. It’s a shell corporation, with layers and layers of protection. That kind of set-up and ‘untraceable’ can only mean they’re up to no good.”

“Exactly. I told you, Eden,” he snapped. “At the first sign of danger, you’re out of this.”

“I’m perfectly safe,” I reassured him. “I haven’t done any of my hacking from home. Even if I was, I learned my lesson at eighteen and I’m smart enough to make sure I’m not leaving any traces of myself behind. There’s no risk of anyone tracing anything back to me.”

“Famous last words.”

“Hey!” I cried, punching him in the shoulder. “Are you implying that I’m dumb?”

“Of course not, Sunshine. You’re one of the smartest people I know.” I preened at the compliment. “But you can also be one of the most reckless,” he continued, making me deflate. “And it’s my job as the man who loves you to make sure you stay safe.”

“I’m not going to be careless. I promise.”

“Eden,” he sighed, burying his face in my shoulder, his arms tightening around me until I could barely breathe. “I don’t think I can do it.”

“I’ll stay glued to your side the whole time. I’ll ride into work with you. Stay in the office next to you. Keep Taylor in the loop on everything,” I offered. “But please, please please… let me help.”

“You have no idea how much I want to say no.”

“I get it. I really do. But you’re going to let me do it anyway?” I asked hopefully, bouncing on his lap a little.

“Yeah,” he exhaled. “For now at least, only because I can see how much it means to you. You’re practically glowing with excitement lately, and I want to keep seeing you like this. Plus,” he sighed. “I don’t know anyone else who has a shot at getting into those Cayman accounts.”

“How about I give you a reason to glow, too?” I asked as I slid to my knees in front of him to show him exactly how much his trust meant to me—and then promptly raced into the bathroom to puke after I gagged on his cock.