Ruthless Contract (The Cattaneo Crime Family #4)

CHAPTER ONE

ROME

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It was too damn early in the day for me to have a hard-on for a woman I’d never met in person. Yet, here I was, seated at my desk, rock hard, staring at the latest message she’d sent me.

JulietWithCurves: I just left brunch with my friends. The mimosas were great, but I’d rather have been drinking you, Romeo.

I smirked as I read her message again. And for the thousandth time, I asked myself, who the hell was this woman, and why couldn’t I find her? A smart man would’ve been less interested in finding her and more interested in making sure she never hacked him again.

I guess I wasn’t as smart as I thought I was.

A smart man didn’t spend months talking to a faceless woman through encrypted chats and voice modulators. Smart men didn’t wake up checking their phones for messages from a hacker who regularly tried to crack their firewalls and then sexted them in the aftermath.

Unfortunately for me, I stopped being smart where JulietWithCurves was concerned a long time ago. Who the hell was she? And why couldn’t I stop thinking about her? Why couldn’t I do what needed to be done and block her, so she'd never hack into my systems again?

The truth was, if I did that, I’d lose her forever. I wasn’t ready for this to end. Not yet. Another message came through.

JulietWithCurves: Do you think about tasting me as much as I think about tasting you?

Fuck!

My fingers flew across the keyboard as I messaged her back.

Romeo: Every minute of every day.

I wasn’t ashamed to admit how much I craved this woman. I’d met a lot of women in my lifetime, had fucked plenty of them. But I’d never yearned for someone. Had never understood the concept of yearning... until her.

Her response came quickly.

JulietWithCurves: Since you aren’t here to taste me, how about I do it for you? Picture me sliding my fingers into my tight pussy, then licking them clean as I imagine you here doing it for me.

My mouth watered.

Fucking tease!

I leaned back in my chair, adjusting myself behind my slacks as I read her latest message again, imagining it, wishing I could do it for myself. I could practically hear her voice in my head, distorted by that damn modulator she insisted on using.

I didn’t even know what the woman truly sounded like, yet somehow, she’d become one of the most important parts of my day. I was just about to reply when an icon flashed at the bottom right corner of my screen.

Unauthorized Access Attempt Detected.

She’d started early today, leaving me no chance to respond to her new message. The red notification continued to flash. Sending filthy messages while trying to breach my firewall before lunch was over had become an almost daily activity for us. A challenge.

I stared at the screen, giving her a few minutes to work, allowing her to test the latest layer of security I’d built against her. Letting her think she was getting somewhere. That was part of our game now. She’d thought she could distract me with a sexy message.

Wrong.

First and foremost, JulietWithCurves was still the woman who’d hacked into my system months ago, trying to access my emails, text messages, and call log. I didn’t trust her. I didn’t trust the timing of her appearance in my life either.

One day, I might have to drag her into my dungeon and figure out exactly who’d sent her. When that day came, I might have to punish her for trying to steal intel from me. That thought should’ve disturbed me.

Instead, it made my dick twitch. I couldn’t help it. I was... intrigued by her. Intrigued by her conversation, by the way her mind worked, by the way she could make me cum with her words while still challenging me with her coding. She was the only opponent I’d ever had who could keep up with me.

If I wasn’t careful, she really would achieve her goal of hacking into the files she was after. Even so, I counted to thirty slowly before cracking my knuckles and placing my hand on the keyboard.

Lines of code flashed across the screen. My Juliet was good. Too damn good. Most people never made it this far into my system before getting buried beneath layers of security. JulietWithCurves always found ways around it.

And the worst part?

I liked that about her.

I fucking loved it. I loved watching her break obstacles I’d carefully created for her. A new notification popped up.

JulietWithCurves: You didn’t reply to my last message. You know I don’t like to be ignored.

I smirked but didn’t respond. Instead, my fingers continued moving across the keyboard as I blocked another intrusion attempt. I rerouted her access points and locked down another firewall she’d nearly slipped through.

A soft chime sounded again.

JulietWithCurves: It feels like you’re ignoring me, Romeo.

This time I wrote back.

Romeo: I could never ignore you, Juliet.

I went back to blocking her attempts while also trying to backdoor my way into her device. If I could just activate her cams, I’d be able to get a glimpse of her face. At night, when we video-chatted, she always wore a mask, refusing to reveal who she truly was.

Since she wouldn’t show me her face, I’d had no choice but to wear a mask that covered the lower half of mine. As for her body, I’d seen every inch of her beautiful brown skin. But I needed more. I felt like I’d lose my mind if I didn’t get more soon.

JulietWithCurves: It’s official. You’re ignoring me, and I don’t like it.

I continued trying to access her cams.

JulietWithCurves: You’re being rude, Romeo!

I ignored that one too.

JulietWithCurves: You deserve a spanking for your current behavior, Romeo.

I chuckled. This woman had entirely too much confidence for someone currently trying to break into a Cattaneo’s system. Then again, her confidence and obvious lack of fear were part of what made her so damn addictive.

Most hackers panicked the moment they realized I was aware of them trying to break into my system. Juliet didn’t panic. She flirted. Teased. Sent filthy messages while trying to gather intel on me.

My gaze narrowed on the screen as another line of code appeared. Fuck! She’d once again prevented me from triangulating her location. I quickly opened another tracing window and began digging deeper.

Come on, sweetheart.

Give me something.

Another message popped onto the screen.

JulietWithCurves: You’re sneaky, Romeo. But I can be sneaky too.

A few seconds later, a pop-up flashed on my screen. It was an animated image of a woman blowing me a kiss. A low chuckle escaped me despite myself. This woman was a fucking menace.

I leaned forward slightly, focusing harder as I worked through another layer of encryption she’d hidden behind. My office faded into the background as I concentrated on her coding style, her timing, the way she moved through systems.

A hacker’s coding was like their signature. You could learn a lot about a person from the malware they used and the way they tried to exploit weaknesses in your system. These nearly daily excursions with Juliet had revealed some weaknesses of my own.

That prompted me to upgrade my personal security software and the security software of the DeLuca-Cattaneo Casino & Resort. These daily excursions had also given me a chance to know her in a way that was different from how I knew others.

Sure, she was a hacker trying to steal my information. But with her skills, she could’ve used malicious malware to force her way in and been done with it. She hadn’t done that. Which made me wonder if this was just a game to her, a way for her to test her skills.

I mean, hacking into Romaneo Cattaneo’s systems would be a big brag for any hacker. Or was there more to what she was doing? Was she looking for something specific from me? I didn’t know.

And that made her both a temptation and a threat. I hoped I didn’t come to regret our time together. I smiled as I blocked another attempt to access my emails. I knew her patterns now, her habits.

Or at least I thought I did. That was the problem with JulietWithCurves. Every time I thought I was getting close to understanding the way she worked, she changed her methods. Which was exactly what she was doing now. Two pop-ups appeared on my screen.

Location Trace Failed.

Intruder Still Active.

“Fuck,” I swore under my breath.

I’d gotten really close to activating her cams that time.

JulietWithCurves: Did you just curse at me?

My eyes narrowed as I read her latest message.

How the fuck did she know...

Then I noticed it. The tiny flicker at the corner of my device. The little hacker had managed to tap into my laptop's camera and microphone. A slow grin spread across my face as I leaned back in my chair.

“You’re a sneaky little cyber-criminal,” I muttered, shocked, and a little irritated, but also very proud of her.

“I know, right!” Her modulated voice filled the room. “While you were busy trying to hack into my cameras, I decided to hack into yours. How does it feel to be spanked by your Juliet, Romeo?”

Fuck, I wanted her.

No. I needed her.

“Congrats. You’ve seen my face,” I told her.

“I already knew what you looked like, love,” her gravelly voice filled my office. “Your picture is my phone’s screensaver.”

“You’re starting to sound like a stalker. Are you stalking me, Juliet?”

“Yes, I am, Romeo.”

Fuck... was this love?

I chuckled, trying to maintain my composure. “Oh, really?”

“Really. By the way, has anyone ever told you that you have a sexy voice?”

“I’ve heard that a time or two.”

“From who?”

“Why?” I asked. “Are you jealous?”

“Not at all.”

“Then why do you need to know?”

“So I can make sure they never tell you that again.”

This. Fucking. Woman.

I leaned closer to my screen.

“There’s no need to be jealous. You’re the only woman who matters right now,” I admitted.

“Awww. You say the sweetest things, Romeo.”

“And the only reason you matter this much is because I’m determined to punish you for hacking into my camera.”

“Booo. Not sweet. You’re being rude now.”

“Says the woman who hacked into my computer.”

“It’s only because I want to know you better.”

“What exactly do you want to know?” I asked.

“Everything.”

“And that’s the problem,” I told her.

“Why? There shouldn’t be secrets between lovers.”

“Once you become my lover, I won’t keep any secrets from you.”

“I’m already your lover. Didn’t I make you cum last night?”

My cock jerked at the memory, straining against my boxers.

“I need the real thing, Juliet. I’m ready to feel that pussy wrapped around my cock.”

Her raspy moan filled the room. Damn, I wanted to see her, even if her face would be hidden behind a mask.

“Save the naughty talk for tonight, lover boy.”

“Since you’ve seen my face, will you let me see yours?”

“I already knew what you looked like, remember?”

“You’re not playing fair, Juliet.”

“Life’s not fair. Lunch is almost over, lover. I have to get back to work.”

“What do you do for work again?” I asked.

“Sneaky, sneaky man. I’ve never told you what I do for a living.”

I smiled. “I had to try.”

“I’ll give you an A for effort. Same time tomorrow, my Romeo?”

“Same time tomorrow, my little cybercriminal.”

The sound of her blowing me a kiss filled the air. And then the red light faded. I checked to make sure she was no longer attempting to access any of my files, my cam, or my mic. Once I was sure she wasn’t, I logged off my computer and closed my laptop.

Leaning back in my seat, I stared up at the ceiling, feeling like the world’s biggest fool. I’d been sloppy today, too distracted, and she’d taken advantage of it. She’d finally hacked into my cam.

If I wasn’t careful, she’d retrieve whatever data she was looking for. If she was working for someone, they’d have the intel they needed to do whatever it was they were trying to do.

Now was not the time for me to be engaging in shit like this. I’d finally successfully set up our casino here in Italy. A few family members were still causing problems about it. But I planned to silence them before returning to the US.

I didn’t need anything to happen that could cause a setback in my plans. That’s precisely why I should’ve shut this entire thing down with Juliet months ago. Instead, here I was trying to track her location while getting hard over the fact that she’d hacked my cameras.

I needed to end this, but first, I needed to find her. I wanted to know where she lived, what she looked like, and who she spent time with. I wanted to meet the woman who was fearless behind a keyboard and damn near as good at hacking as I was.

Hell, today’s excursion proved she just might be on my level. Women as skilled as JulietWithCurves didn’t just appear out of nowhere. Though I didn’t want to believe it, I was fairly certain someone had hired her to steal data from me.

I had a feeling it was someone who wanted to shut down my casino in Italy. If I wasn’t careful, my fascination with Juliet was going to become a problem neither of us could escape. Because no matter how much I craved her, if she proved more threat than temptation, I would have her eliminated.

I wouldn’t allow anyone to derail my plans for this casino. Not my family in Italy. And not the woman I wanted more than I’d ever wanted anyone. Sighing, I closed my eyes, hating these conflicting emotions coursing through me.

Hating this situation she’d placed me in, while still wanting to meet the woman behind the mask.

The question was, did she really want me?

Or was someone using her to get to me? When we finally met, and we would definitely meet, would it be at a restaurant or in my dungeon?

I guess I’d soon find out. Another sigh escaped me.

“Who are you, Juliet with curves. And what do you really want from me?”