Hunt Me (Beautiful Monsters #4)

IRIS

My fingers dance across three keyboards simultaneously as I navigate the Ivanov security system for the fourth time this month. The blue glow of multiple monitors bathes my bedroom in artificial twilight, even as the afternoon sun tries to peek through my blackout curtains.

“Let’s see what you’ve built today, Alexi,” I murmur, sipping cold coffee as I encounter his newest firewall. “Ah, clever boy. Almost caught me with that recursive trap.”

I dismantle his code, leaving my digital signature—just enough to let him know I was here. It’s become our strange ritual. He builds; I break. He patches; I penetrate. There’s elegance in his work that most hackers lack—a distinctive style that feels almost like conversation.