Chapter 24 | Alexis
Alexis
Isat in my makeshift office on Friday morning and pulled up Michael’s security camera feed.
Would he mind that I hacked into it? Probably.
But it was harmless, and I was just looping over a few seconds of video.
I located the video of me walking to Nick’s the previous afternoon, and looped it so those few seconds disappeared.
Then, I did the same with the video of me leaving his house and walking back.
Tonight, I’d log in from my phone and create the same loop so Michael’s security team didn’t see me walking to Nick’s at eleven o’clock. I knew they monitored the feed intermittently, and didn’t want anyone else knowing about my visits to Nick until we worked everything out.
“Nick’s right about sneaking around,” I said, scrolling through the security parameters on Michael’s camera system dashboard since I figured it didn’t hurt to check that they were solid while I was in there. “You can’t keep looping the cameras forever, Alexis.”
As I scrolled through the backend of the camera system dashboard, my eyebrows drew together.
There were several random logins to the security cameras by IP addresses that weren’t authorized by the system.
As I filtered through them, I opened a notepad and pasted them so I could trace them once I’d finished my online job applications for Meta, Google and a few other companies.
The recruiter had sent several to me yesterday, and for some reason, I was stalling on completing them.
“Alexis?” Michael asked, peeking his head around the corner. “Do you have a second?”
“Sure,” I said, swiveling in my chair to face him. “Do you want me to come to your office?”
“We can talk here.” He pulled over the chair that sat in the corner and extended his phone.
“Do you know how to tell if a phone’s been hacked?
I’ve already switched to a new phone because I have intel that this one’s been infiltrated.
Someone fed false information to the feds that our shipment this morning was in Bayonne instead of Elizabeth. ”
“That’s not good,” I said, taking his phone. “And yes, I can figure out which IPs are hacking you and bypass their VPNs to figure out their original locations.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m going to pretend I understood some of the words in that sentence.”
A laugh escaped my throat. “It’s fine. It might take me a day or two. Is that okay?”
“Sure. I appreciate any help you can give me. Some of my security guys are okay with technology, but no one’s a whiz like you. I know you’re also applying for jobs, and I don’t want to interfere with that.”
“Oh, it’s fine,” I said, waving my hand. “This stuff is much more fun. You won’t need this phone anymore then? Because I’m going to disable some things that will help me hack into it better.”
“Nope. I got the new one this morning on the way back from the docks and the service has been cut off on that one.”
“That was the right thing to do,” I said, patting his arm. “See? You’re not so bad at tech. You’ve got the basics.”
He gave me a droll look. “You’re giving me too much credit, but thank you.”
“On another note, who do you think is hacking you? Is it someone you should be more alarmed about than usual? There’s danger, and then there’s imminent danger. Do I need to worry?”
His expression grew pensive. “It’s certainly concerning, but my men have been extremely diligent in their surveillance.
I have men assigned to monitor Oskar Poska and all of his top associates, and for now, we haven’t noticed any overly suspicious activity.
There was an unauthorized firearm shipment that came into Elizabeth last week, but it was claimed by a major firearms dealer in Schenectady.
The owner says he forgot to complete the paperwork properly. ”
“Sounds fishy,” I said, wrinkling my nose.
“Extremely. Everyone involved with firearms in the Northeast know they come through me—”
“The illegal ones especially,” I said, arching an eyebrow.
“Those come through me or through someone like Oskar or Marco Nunez. Who would you prefer?”
I shivered. Michael was definitely a better option.
“Is there such a thing as a good gangster?” I teased, tapping my chin. “Because I guess that’s what you are, and I much prefer that.”
His lips flattened. “Your mother calls me a gangster too. Should I be offended?”
“Well, you are a gangster, so no. We Rossi women get the game, Michael. Don’t worry. Mom and I aren’t shrinking violets, and we know exactly what you do. I think it’s admirable that you try to create some moral boundaries. Lord knows, my dad never did that.”
Michael gave a soft smile. “No, he didn’t.
I’m sorry about his death. Not for me, because I hated the bastard, but for you.
I didn’t want to cause you pain, Alexis, but it was unavoidable.
And I understand why you didn’t trust the man who killed your father in the beginning.
You’ve been gracious to forgive me, and it’s important for me to earn your trust and respect. ”
“My distrust of you led to the disaster with the flash drive, and I learned my lesson on that one.” I rolled my eyes. “Is it weird that you killed him? Yes. Am I smart enough to understand the nuance? Also, yes. He was my father, but he was not a good man. I’m clear-headed enough to admit that.”
Michael nodded, and we sat in shared silence for a moment, acknowledging the trust that had grown between us.
“I was asking if you knew who was hacking you because there’s some suspicious activity on the dashboard for the security cameras here on the property. Do you know of anyone besides your security team who would log into the dashboard?”
Michael glanced at my laptop screen. “Should I be worried that you’re in my security camera dashboard?” he asked acerbically.
“No, you should not,” I said with a firm nod. “I’m a good hacker, just like you’re a good gangster.”
He shot me a pointed glare.
“But,” I lifted a finger, “there are some hackers who aren’t as nice as me. I’m going to research this alongside your phone. Give me until Sunday afternoon.”
“Will do. Do you need anything else from me?”
“That’s it for now, but I’ll let you know if I think of anything else.”
He grinned and I could see why Mom was head over heels for him. Michael Caruso was a very attractive man. He shared similarities with Nick, and they both had those classic Italian features that most men would kill for.
“Should I be paying you for this? I feel like I should be.”
“Well, you’re letting me live rent-free in your mansion and eat all your food, so I’d call it even for now. But if you keep asking me to do tech work, I might have to invoice you.”
Rising, he patted my shoulder. “You have my email. Invoice away. Thank you, Alexis. I appreciate your help more than you know.”
“You’re welcome.”
After he slid his chair back to its original position and left, I got back to work documenting the IP addresses from the security camera dashboard before digging into the phone.
I knew I should be working on my job applications, but those were extremely boring, and this type of tech detective work was something I thrived on.
Determined to figure it out, I dug into my laptop with laser focus.
At eleven o’clock I texted Nick to let him know I was heading over. He left the kitchen door open, and I entered, wondering if he was upstairs.
“Hey, princess,” he said, his voice coming from the shadows of the darkened hallway.
“Creepy,” I teased, walking toward him and gliding my arms around his neck. “Do you have any lights on in here?”
“In my bedroom,” he said, brushing a kiss across my lips. “Want to see?”
I nodded excitedly as he lifted me and walked toward the stairs. My legs wrapped around his waist, and I loved how easily he could carry me.
“Should we talk?” I asked as he entered the bedroom.
“Yes.” He gazed down at me as he placed me on the bed. “But I’m going to fuck you first.”
“Oh, are you?” I teased.
He stood and slid off his sweatpants, causing my mouth to water as his cock bounced free. “Fuck yes.” He gripped his cock and slowly stroked it back and forth. “Take off your clothes and open that tight little pussy to me...”
I all but ripped off my clothes, tossing them aside before he crawled over me.
“How sore are you?” he almost growled. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Barely at all.” I slid my arms around his neck. “Don’t hold back. I want it to be good for you.”
“Alexis,” he whispered, lowering his lips to mine. “Any time I touch you, it’s good for me...”
All talking ceased as we finally gave in to the raging desire that had consumed us for weeks. Somehow, Nick knew how to be gentle and dominant, all at once, and I felt cherished as he took his time, making sure I was slick and ready before he claimed me.
When he finally slipped inside me, he started slow, gazing into my eyes as his hips undulated against mine.
“You okay, princess?” he murmured, lacing his fingers with mine beside the pillow.
“I won’t break,” I whispered, smiling as I clutched his hand. “Please fuck me harder.”
His lips curved as his gaze heated with affection and desire. Pressing his other palm to the mattress, he increased the pace, bringing us both to our peaks as our bodies moved in tandem.
We cried each other’s names as we drowned in pleasure, and afterward, we collapsed in a sated heap of sweaty skin and pounding hearts.
“Jesus, woman,” he muttered, kissing my neck. “I don’t have the energy for you.”
“You’re the one who almost fucked me through the headboard,” I said, unable to control my grin.
“Sorry,” he murmured, kissing my temple before rising to remove the condom and grab a wet cloth from the bathroom. He tenderly cleaned the skin between my legs, his expression reverent as he gently stroked my most private place.
After tossing the cloth in the hamper, he returned to bed. I sat up and plumped the pillow behind my back. “Okay, that was awesome. Time to talk.”