I hid the phone under the table and scanned their frantic messages. Luca’s texts were borderline threatening. Marcello was kind but forceful in his approach. They were all worried about the latest threat from The Lucaya Group.
I still hadn’t found the courage to tell them about the hacker that I had pissed off. Maverick was a legend on the Dark Web and my nemesis. In my attempts to take down TheLucaya Group, I accidentally let him into my system. Those brief seconds were enough time for him to steal vital information.
In the past year alone, Alex Wellington—now Salvatore—and her twin brother were kidnapped. The Russian Mafia had nearly killed my cousin Cole’s wife, Grace.
Lovelace had the capabilities of a weapon of mass destruction. But I couldn’t do it.
I wasn’t a psychopath.
Olivia glared at me across the table, stuffing a steak fry into her mouth. She read the lie on my face. It was impossible to hide anything from her. By some miracle, I’d concealed the biggest one.
“I’ll tell you everything when we get home,” I said to diffuse her irritation. “This is not the place to share privileged information.”
She perked up at that and smiled. “You can do your Batman thing tonight. But when we get home, I want to watch a movie. No phone. No computers. Just the three of us for at least two uninterrupted hours.”
Despite my obligations to The Devil’s Knights, I couldn’t leave her hanging on graduation day. She hadn’t asked for much. So, I turned off my cell phone and tucked it into my pocket. I would pay for that decision later, but she was worth it.
CHAPTER 15
DRAKE
Olivia fell asleep one hour into the movie, head on my shoulder, snoring softly in my ear. She sounded like a purring cat and looked peaceful. Careful not to wake her, I eased her onto the cushion beside me. My girl curled into a ball, smiling as she dreamed.
I loved watching her sleep.
For the year she lived in the house with me, we repeated this routine. She rarely made it through a movie without dozing off.
I rubbed soothing circles on her back and grabbed my laptop with my other hand. The second the computer lit up, dozens of messages flashed across the screen. So, maybe avoiding The Devil’s Knights for three hours wasn’t the best idea.
A few messages stood out from the crowd.
Luca Salvatore
Pick up the phone, Battle. Don’t fuck with me. I’ll slit your throat.
Marcello Salvatore
Luca has gone off the rails. He might kill you if you don’t call him.
Cole Marshall
I need your help, cuz. It’s important.
Sonny Cormac
Call me back or I’m coming over there and dragging you out of your house.
Olivia rolled onto her side, shifting her weight as I typed responses to my friends. I didn’t have answers for them. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t find a loophole to get around Maverick’s firewalls. I hated to admit it, but the black-hat hacker was better than me.
He specialized in corporate espionage and had taken down governments and major corporations with ease. My coding skills exceeded most people’s, but I was not quite on his level.
“You good?” Tate whispered, careful not to disrupt Olivia’s slumber.
I shook my head. “I can’t give them the results they want. Maverick is too good. He’s faster. And when it comes to hacking, every second counts.”
“So, what does this mean for The Devil’s Knights?”
“We prepare for war.”
