Chapter 2
LYRIC
Ipull the cap lower, obscuring my face from the cameras. Dressed in a technician’s uniform, I scan the badge I lifted from Aleksei only a few hours ago, when I let him do things to me that no man has ever done. I really did want him, but I couldn’t tell him that Jimmy had threatened my sister if I didn’t do this.
The lock disengages, and I step through the door and head down the hall toward the highly secure server room. With the second badge I lifted from him, I activate the thumbprint scanner. I press the print I removed from his vodka glass to the scanner, and the door opens. I’m inside the room, and after a quick glance, I move straight to the server I need. Timing was crucial as he doesn’t trust me. I had to do this right away before he changed his access codes.
I pull out my small tool bag and open the bank I need. This is the perfect location to hide my access point. I hook up the small device, wiring it to grant me the most access to their internal systems. When I’m finished, it looks just like the other boxes in the server. No one will ever know.
Time to hightail it out of here. I’m feeling a bit better once the server room door closes behind me, but I need to keep moving.
When I step into the next hall, security is heading in my direction. I hold my breath as I lift up Aleksei’s badge, my fingers blocking his name and picture. They nod at me and walk past.
“He said to personally guard the door.” I overhear one tell the other, and I exhale, glad I’m not near the server room anymore.
I continue toward the door that will get me out of the back of the house, the inner bowels of the casino, where the staff all work.
As soon as I’m clear, I head for the nearest restroom, where I strip out of the uniform and shove it into the trash. I’m dressed in a pair of shorts with my hoodie over a tank top. The added bulk beneath the uniform should further help to hide my identity.
When I exit, I make sure to avoid looking at cameras. I changed into a different hat than the one I originally wore when I arrived. I freed my hair from the bun it was in too. I’m ready to breathe a sigh of relief once I’m off the property, until I watch the Mercedes G-Wagon pull up and Aleksei steps out. He’s in a three-piece suit. His clothes crisp and neat. He looks around, and I move to hide behind a pillar. I wait a moment before peeking around it. Not seeing him in sight, I take off, running for my sister’s car.
“You did it?” Ainsley asks as soon as I open the door.
“Done.” I huff as I slide down in the seat, worried he’ll still see me. His words from last night, declaring I am his, echo in my mind.
“Open it up. Come on, get the info.” She shoves my backpack onto my lap, expecting me to activate the backdoor now.
“I can’t.”
“Why not? You put it in there. The sooner you look, the better it will be, just in case they find it.”
“If I activate it now, they’ll know. I can’t do that.”
“Then what’s the point of putting it in there if you’re not going to use it?” She slams her hands on the steering wheel.
“If I activate it right after I was in there, they’ll figure it out. It’ll be a day or two before I can get into the system. Take me to the café.”
“But if we wait and they find it anyway, what was the point? We need that information. Father wants it, and we can use it too. The more dirt we get on them, the better. Father said they are hooked up with the Bratva. The man who owns it is a gambler. He probably has several kids out there who could use his time and money too.”
I hate this plan of hers. She wants to bring all the major players in Vegas to their knees in revenge for us being raised in foster care. She thinks all casino owners father children and leave them. Yeah, Lennon’s dad did that, but he didn’t know about her. As soon as he found out, he took responsibility. Okay, maybe he threw money at schools and tutors to take care of her, but he still took care of her to a point. Our father, on the other hand, is a deadbeat. He’s a gambler who left our mother pregnant with twins. She’s not even alive for us to question why she didn’t stay with him, and I don’t believe any excuses he gives us. He’s a violent man, whose threats and abuse are becoming too much.
“I think we should celebrate. You lost your virginity and gained access to the Lucky Dice.” Ainsley bounces in her seat as she drives toward Clare’s House, Lennon’s baby. It’s a place she created to help people get on their feet and away from abusive, dangerous situations. She’s amazing, and I love that this is how she gives back.
The large building was a former apartment complex that she’s transformed. The upper floors house the families, and the main ground floor contains various businesses. There is a new cybercafé I love visiting. I use the free wi-fi, and I get to indulge in my other major vice—caffeine. I have some work I need to do.
I have an online information collection company. I do work for private investigators and lawyers in need of finding people and information. It doesn’t always pay the best as I’m new and unknown, but it’s legit money. I may not always use legal means to find the information, but the client doesn’t need to know that. I’ve found deadbeat dads, who are now back on schedule with their child support payments, and I’m helping with some missing person cases. Today I’m looking into a girl the cops say ran away, but her parents are sure she was trafficked.
“I don’t feel like celebrating.” I pull my hoodie closer to my body. I didn’t want to tell my sister I had sex with Aleksei, but she could tell as soon as she saw me. She said I had a glow to me.
“Hey.” She shakes my arm. “That virginity was just a pesky thing holding you back from having some real fun. Come on, tonight we go clubbing. The best way to get over a guy is to get under another one.” She laughs, but I don’t find it funny.
I don’t know if I’ll ever get over Aleksei or if I even want to. I liked him. He may have been harsh, but he took care of me, and the way he held me when we were sleeping made me feel safe and loved. Things I’ve never felt before.
“Besides, you’re one of many for him,” my sister continues. “I’ve seen him coming and going, just like his boss, Mr. Aldridge. They have women all the time.”
She doesn’t know how much it hurts to think of Aleksei with another woman, doing to her what he did to me. It’s quite possible, considering he has that membership. Several of the girls said he hasn’t taken anyone to his room since he got it, but they could have been lying.
“I can’t go out. I have to work.”
As soon as the car pulls up, I jump out, ignoring her yelling after me. I need to get out of my head and get him out of other places too. I took a shower, but I can still feel him all over me.
Hours later, I couldn’t stop myself. I had to access the backdoor. I needed to know if Ainsley was right. Her words kept swirling through my mind. I accessed the feed, and now I’m just watching him on the cameras. He’s upset. I don’t have audio yet, but I will soon. Then I’ll be able to hear his amazing voice again.
Finally, I get to work on Jimmy’s request. I decide to have a bit of fun and fuck with the casino by setting off a few alarms. While Aleksei and his team are distracted, I search the mainframe for the information Jimmy said would be here. But I’m not finding it. Instead, I find a legitimate bill of sale and purchase documents. Jimmy lost the property fair and square. But that doesn’t stop me from digging further. I need to find out why Aleksei wanted me.
It’s late when I finally close up my laptop and slip it into my bag. I have more questions than answers, but I’m too exhausted to continue searching tonight. I take the bus to the apartment I share with Ainsley. Of course, when I get there, she isn’t home, but I don’t care; I’m used to being alone.
I make a packet of chicken ramen and head for my room, where my big computer is set up. As I unwind by playing some role-playing games I like, I have another screen running in the background, where I keep an eye on Aleksei. He’s sitting at his computer, trying to figure out who has access to their system and how they gained entry. He’s good, but I’m better. I stay hidden and just watch him. When I finally can’t keep my eyes open any longer and he’s still at work, I climb into my bed and dream about him and the things he did to me.
I never could have imagined that I would like the thrill of almost being seen, but it turned me on in so many ways.
Alek
Iyank my hands through my hair, messing it up and not caring. It’s been twenty-four hours since I had her. Less than that since she slipped out of my arms and bed to run. When I realized she took my ID cards for the casino but left the cash in my wallet, I almost let it go. But then, I thought I could catch her here. I haven’t yet. Then someone gained access to the system, thus absorbing all my time. I don’t think it’s my lisichka, but it could be. I knew she was keeping information from me. She was hiding shit while I was withholding her orgasms. I reach down and adjust myself under my desk when the image of her flushed, writhing body crosses my mind. I’ve never wanted a woman as much as I want her.
“Alek, did we ever figure out why there was an alarm going off in the spa?” Gray’s deep voice barks from the doorway. Neither of us has gone home. He lives here, and I have a house out of town a bit near his brother. However, I’ll sleep here when it gets late.
“It’s the hacker.” I hated admitting that the system I was certain couldn’t be hacked had been compromised. I’ve managed to keep them from stealing anything, but they have access, and I don’t know how. “In the morning, a couple of techs and I will search the server room to check if someone gained access and installed a backdoor.”
“Run the reports and see who has had access in the last twenty-four hours.”
“I’ll get on it.”
While the program compiles the information, I run facial recognition on the access panels for the back of the house. That’s when I see it.
“Bozhe moy,” the Russian expletive for “my God” rolls from my tongue.
A small individual in tan coveralls branded with our computer software company logo entered through the entrance nearest the server farm. They scan the security panel, which records me as badging in. Fucker! The person keeps their head down, avoiding the cameras. A hat helps to further obscure their identity.
I move to the server room logs next and check the cameras and access. Sure enough, my badge and thumbprint were used to get in. I don’t know how, but I’m going to find this person and annihilate them. This has to be the person my lisichka was scared of. I saw the fear as it crossed her face when I was questioning her.
I stand from my desk and grab my new badges. I make my way down to the server bank. When I get inside, I walk around, scrutinizing the room. Nothing is out of place. Not a speck of rust, dirt, or dust to tell me what they were doing in here. I’ll have to wait until morning when the technicians come in to look over everything.
I’m also going to have to confess to Gray, my best friend since I was ten years old and owner of this casino, that I screwed up. I should have known my lisichka was working for someone. It’s one of the reasons I keep people at a distance. My own father was murdered by someone he trusted. I won’t let that happen to me.
By the time I return to my office, Gray has left for the evening. I twist my wrist to look at my Jaeger-LeCoultre watch. It’s nearly two in the morning, too late to drive to the house. After securing my office, I take the internal elevator up to the suites floor, where I access the room I stay in when I don’t go home.
A long shower later, my lisichka’s scent is finally washed from my body. I crawl into bed and dream of her lush, sweet figure. Visions of her tight as fuck cunt and her tied to my bed fill my mind. I will find her. She isn’t getting away from me that easily. Besides, I have to get my revenge for her stealing my access cards from me. I need to know who she’s working for too. Fitful dreams of her walking out on me again and again plague me all night long.