22. Xander

Two weeks after the story being released to the public, I decide enough time has passed in between that Nate can return to school. I only stopped him from going because I know kids can sometimes be cruel and I was worried about what his peers might say about the truth being brought to light.

My brave son however assured me that he could handle it because he’s got a great best friend by his side who will take care of anyone that says anything wrong to him. And if there’s one thing I’m glad for, it’s that Nate found a friend in Daniel D’Angelo.

My fingers tap against the steering wheel as I drive away from the private school heading quite literally wherever my drive takes me. It’s suddenly hitting me that I’m thirty one years old and unemployed. Working at Steele industries is all I’ve known my entire life. And I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss it. I gave my all to that company. Not only because it was my families but because computers and gadgets is all I’ve known since I was a little boy. It’s all I’m good at. And now that it’s all potentially slipped out of my grasp, it’s hard not to feel a little lost.

New York’s a charming place. It’s a city that’s always on the move, everyone has somewhere to be, something to do. It gives of an aura that motivates you because it’s clear that if you don’t find your own path or forge one, you’ll be lost in the dirt. It’s very easy to lose yourself in a place like this. Everyone’s working hard at their dreams. But there’s people who have no dreams, people just hoping to survive.

Despite my family’s deep rooted issues, I’ve never worked hard a day to survive in my life.

So what the hell am I doing here?

The answer comes in the form of a phone call from Katerina. It comes right as I’m pulling over at the parking lot of a huge mall. I smile to myself, glad that seeing her name flash across my skin doesn’t give me the same feeling of trepidation it would have weeks ago. It’s progress.

“Hey princess,” I greet.

“Xander, good morning,” she says, sounding a little out of breath. I can hear the clacking of keys on the other line. “I was just calling to ask if you already dropped Nate off. You did still take him to school, right?”

“Yeah. We got there around 8,” I tell her. “He likes to get an early start to his day.”

“Oh,” she says softly. “I should have called earlier then. I just got so busy and the time got away from me.”

“Its fine,” I quickly assure her. “You can talk to him later when I pick him up. Or better still, would you like to pick him up from school?”

She falls silent at that and the clacking on the other end stops for a few seconds. Then it resumes.

“Of course, I’d love that. Thank you. Listen, I’ve got to go. I’ll talk to you later...”

“Whoa, whoa, hey,” I say on a chuckle. “Chill for a second. What are you up to?”

She hesitates before answering. “Well, I’m working on something illegal.”

“Unsurprising,” I murmur with a smile.

“But it’s for a good cause.”

“What good cause?”

“I’m trying to bring hack into Colton industries. Destroy all their software from within. But it’s proving difficult,” she informs me.

“You’re kidding?” I ask. “How long have you been working on this?”

“About two weeks.”

I frown. Ever since the story broke up. I’ve got to hand it to her, the devil may work fast, but Katerina Mincetti works faster.

“Let me guess, you are also responsible for the explosion that occurred at their factory last week.”

“It was a small fire that destroyed all their tech. plus no one got hurt,” she says defensively.

Surprisingly, I find myself chuckling at that, “Alright, princess. I want in.”

I can tell it takes her a couple of seconds. “In with what?”

“You obviously need my help, Katerina. I know my best quality is my face but I also happen to have a brain that’s capable of breaking into any firewall or mainframe. Some would also argue that my personality is my best trait. But that’s not the point.”

“No, the point is that you have an enormous ego,” Katerina says amused.

“The point is that I can help you,” I correct. “Plus, I’ve been thinking of ways to get back at that bastard since everything happened. I should have known you’d beat me to it. So what do you say? Let me help you take him down. For good.”

“Don’t you have anything better to do?” Katerina questions.

“No actually. I dropped off Nate so my schedule’s wide open for the day. It turns out being unemployed might not be what’s it’s perked out to be. Come on, princess. I’m bored out of my mind.”

She laughs. “Alright fine. But are you comfortable with coming here?”

“Where’s here?”

“My family’s home. It’s in the Upper West Side, I could send you directions.”

That gives me pause. I’ve never been to her family’s home. And I get the feeling not a lot of people get the chance to be invited there.

“Would that be okay though?”

“Yeah, my dad’s not home. It’ll be fine. Plus, you get to see where I grew up,” she tells me.

“Intriguing,” I murmur. “Alright, I’ll come.”

“Okay. I’ll text you the address,” she informs me. “And Xander?”

“Hmm.”

“Don’t be startled by the guns.”

With those words she hangs up and I’m left wondering exactly what I’m getting myself into. The drive to her house takes an hour and once I arrive in the neighborhood, my jaw nearly drops. First at the isolation and then at the house itself. All I have to do is provide my name before I’m allowed on to the compound.

At the sight of the huge mansion that’s placed in the middle of sprawling grounds, my jaw drops even further. There’s a lot of land, several acres of it and the house itself is pretty amazing. My family is wealthy, an old money kind of wealthy but its clear the Mincetti’s have almost as much money, maybe even more.

Katerina was right to warn me about the guns because there are men in literally every corner of the house, armed to the teeth. I don’t let their stares bother me as I park my car. A man appears as soon as I step out, gesturing for me to hand him my key so he can drive the car into a more appropriate place. I do so and he points me towards the entrance of the house.

When I enter, I’m guided by someone else, a woman this time, probably one of the help. We walk through the artfully decorated home towards a room with a black painted door. The woman knocks once and I hear a faint come in, before the door is opened and I’m allowed inside.

On the other side is, Katerina Mincetti and for maybe the first time I see her as the Don she was always meant to be. Powerful, beautiful, lethal as she sits at her desk, the expression on her face daring anyone to fuck with her. The expression lightens as soon as her eyes meet mine however. She offers me a smile, before getting to her feet.

“Hey, Xander,” she greets, moving towards me. “How do you like the house?”

“It’s a little…” I search for the right words. “Intimidating?”

Katerina grins. “Yeah, I guess it can be. My dad really went all out when he built this place. But its home too. My home.”

“Well you have a wonderful home. Thanks for inviting me.”

“You’re welcome. Have you had breakfast yet? We can get some food before we start work,” she suggests.

I remember she was never one for wasting time. If Katerina has a task she needs to finish it right that second.

“It’s fine. I already ate with Nate this morning. Let’s just get to work.”

She nods, and I follow her back to her desk where her laptop sits already open. She gestures for me to take a seat in her chair and I arch an eyebrow.

“Are you sure I’m allowed to sit here? Isn’t this the Don’s seat of power or whatever?”

“I promise you won’t get shot if you sit there,” she says teasingly.

I shrug before lowering myself onto the chair. I roll up the cuffs of my sleeves, staring at the screen intently.

“How long do you think it’s going to take me to break in?” I ask Katerina, my gaze still on the screen.

“Knowing you and your prowess, I’d say about four hours?” she guesses.

I grin. “If I do it in two, what do I get?”

“A pat on the back and a job well done?”

I chuckle, looking up at her and into her beautiful brown eyes.

“Tempting but no. I want something else.”

“What?” Katerina questions.

“I’d have to think about it. But I’ll let you know, princess. Once I’m done,” I state.

“Okay, well good luck. I have to go and take care of something for an hour or so. I’ll be back soon. There’s a button at the side of the desk over there. Just press it if you need anything brought to you.”

“Alright. Thanks, princess.”

She leaves and I’m left alone. I stare at the laptop for a couple of seconds, my skin buzzing in anticipation of what I’m about to do. Katerina’s already done a chunk of the work, sneaking past several encryption codes and faux walls. But it’s clear she’s having trouble accessing their main system. The firewall is pretty solid, formidable. But I would have expected nothing less.

I’m not sure how much time passes as I look for a weakness. Probably minutes until I find a blind spot and I’m able to enter their system undetected. From there it’s all about creating a few lines of code in order to unleash a virus I meticulously crafted. It slithers through the network undetected.

My lips turn up in a smile as I watch the virus spread, each note of the code playing its part in the grand symphony of destruction. Which is around the time I look up, feeling her eyes on me. I didn’t even realize she had returned. When I’m in the zone, nothing else tends to matter.

“You look like a villain in a movie,” Katerina says. “I’m guessing you were able to get in?”

I grin, ‘Come see for yourself, princess.”

She stands beside my chair, crouching down to look at the laptop. I pretend not to be affected by her scent, which momentarily clouds my senses. Or her proximity. She stares at the carnage for a couple of seconds.

“So what happens now?” she questions, a smile in her voice.

“With their software compromised, day to day operations will have to come to a halt. They’ll face immeasurable financial losses especially since they’re a tech company that should not be susceptible to such an attack in the first place. Any and all faith in their products will be lost. Their reputation is officially damaged forever. They’d need to rebuild their software systems from scratch which wouldn’t be easy. And the good news is, it’ll be impossible for them to trace it all back to us. I’m sure Colton knows it was us, but he has no proof.”

She stares at me for a couple of seconds and I find myself wondering what she’s thinking, wishing I could read her mind. Then she blinks, looking away.

“So you did it. And with fifteen minutes to spare,” she states, showing me the time on her phone.

It took me exactly an hour, forty five minutes to completely ruin a conglomerate. That would be a little terrifying if I wasn’t the one with the ability. I lean back in the seat, offering Katerina a cheeky grin.

“You don’t have to say it,” I tell her. “I know I’m amazing.”

She rolls her eyes. “You’re also insufferable. So what do you want?”

I think about it for a couple of seconds before replying.

“On a scale of one to ten how busy are you today?” I question.

“Well considering my position, I’m always busy. But I can make time. It depends on what you want.”

I get to my feet and stand in front of her. “In light of my recent unemployment, it would seem that I’m jobless and in the mood for some company.”

Her nose crinkles. “And you want me to what?”

I take one of her hands in mine, massaging her palm with my thumb.

“Spend the day with me, princess. We don’t even have to go anywhere. You can show me around the mansion you grew up, a grand tour of some sorts,” I say imploring.

She seems hesitant but then nods once. “Fine. I guess it can’t hurt.”

Actually, it could. Really, really badly. But it’s okay to want things that hurt.

“Great, first off, I want ice-cream. Come on,” I say, pulling her hand and leading her away from the office.

She takes the lead once we’re outside the office, walking me through the rows of hallways until we find ourselves in a large kitchen, with an island in the middle. There’s a middle aged woman inside I’m guessing is the cook, who stiffens at our arrival, bowing her head slightly.

“Hi, Collete. I was wondering if we had any ice-cream,” Katerina says politely.

“Of course, ma’am. You could have called and I would have had it brought to you,” the woman, Collete says, her eyes still fixed to the floor.

“That’s fine. We’ll get it ourselves, you can go,” Katerina states, dismissing her.

Collete doesn’t argue walking out of the kitchen immediately. I poke Katerina in her ribs gently.

“She was so scared of you, which is amusing because you’re a five foot seven blonde who once cried while watching Winnie the pooh.”

Katerina’s eyes widen and she slaps my shoulder. “Shut up, I didn’t.”

“Baby, you were right beside me on the bed and I remember it vividly.”

Her eyes widen even further and it takes me a second to discern the expression on her face. Then I realize what I called her and now I’m the one feeling horrified.

“Fuck,” I mutter. “That just slipped out, princess.”

She shakes her head. “It’s fine. No biggie.”

To avoid looking at me, I’m sure, she heads towards the large fridge in the corner of the kitchen, pulling out two tubs of ice-cream. I’m left standing there, berating myself for being such a fucking idiot. Calling her that used to be as easy as breathing. But that was before. A long time ago. I guess I just forgot.

“It comes with the position,” Katerina suddenly says while fishing out two plates.

“What?” I question.

“The fear. When I was younger, Collete was the one that took care of me when I was sick. She made sure Sophia and I were always well fed and happy. I wouldn’t say she was a mother figure but she was pretty darn close. But in recent years, her affection has become much more muted. Especially since I became Don. It’s also necessary. If they don’t fear me, then they don’t respect me.”

“I see,” I mutter, moving towards the kitchen island.

I grab two elevated stools so we can sit on it, while Katerina starts to dish out the ice-cream. She places a bowl of strawberry ice-cream in front of me and I try not to make a face at the mint-chocolate chip in her plate. She notices regardless.

“Don’t be judgmental about my ice cream,” she says waving a spoon in my face.

“I’m trying but I seriously have no idea how you and Nate eat that shit. It tastes like toothpaste.”

“Maybe we’re the ones with good taste and you just don’t get our refined palate.”

“Refined palate? Over mint flavored ice cream. That’s funny.”

She rolls her eyes before taking a bite and I try not to stare too hard as her tongue darts out to lick her spoon. And imagine what else her tongue could be licking or where it could be. Specifically inside my mouth. Or against my cock. My eyes close momentarily as it twitches in my pants.

Fuck, I’m horny.

Coming here was such a bad idea. Katerina seems oblivious though. She looks to the side, offering me a small smile. Her eyes are light and at ease. Her guards are completely lowered. It’s moments like this the somehow manage to take my breath away, how easy it is.

She’s telling me about her time in law school when Rico suddenly walks into the kitchen. He arches an eyebrow at the sight of the both of us.

“Hey. I was told I’d find you here. I was also told you had a guest,” he states. “I see both statements were correct.”

“Hi, Rico,” Katerina says with a smile. “Xander’s here for a visit.”

I offer him a short nod, “What’s up man?”

He is not impressed. I understand though. Rico’s like an overprotective elder brother. I would know considering I’m one as well. He does not like me. I’m sure he likes my relationship with his cousin even less.

“I’m good,” he murmurs, gaze trailing over our faces. His eyes land on the ice-cream with a frown. “So what is this, a date?”

“No,” Katerina quickly replies. “We’re just hanging out. You’re welcome to join.”

His frown deepens. “Kat, you know he’s not meant to be here.”

“Why not?” she shrugs.

“Because if your Papa finds out, it’ll be a whole issue,” Rico states. “Don’t forget your priorities, cousin. The situation is already complicated enough.”

The last part is said in Italian. Unfortunately for Rico, I understand and can speak the language perfectly. I don’t give any inclination that I can though. But judging by the smirk, Katerina throws my way, she knows.

“You need to relax, Rico. I’m allowed to have a little fun, am I not?” she asks, continuing the conversation in Italian.

“Not too much fun. And not with the father of your child. I see the way you look at him.”

“Enough. Also, he can understand everything we’re saying,” she says, gesturing at me.

Rico’s eyes widen as they fall on me. I shoot him a cocky wink.

“By all means, continue. It’s fascinating seeing you converse,” I say in English.

He rolls his eyes and sighs, “You’re both annoying and thanks to you, Katerina, I’ll be bald by the time I’m forty.”

That makes me chuckle. After one last look at us, he shakes his head and walks out of the kitchen.

“Don’t blame me for that, cugino,” Katerina calls out after him.

Once he’s gone, we look at each other again before laughing. I watch as she takes a spoonful of her ice-cream.

“He really does end to act like a mother hen,” she mutters with a smile.

“You’re lucky to have him.”

“I know.”

When I look at her, my eyes narrow in on the smudge of ice-cream on the side of her lips. I grin before touching the area on my face.

“You’ve got a little something,” I gesture.

She wipes at it with her finger but doesn’t get it all. My stomach sinks and I find myself reaching upward. I brush against the soft skin on the corner of her mouth, wiping away the rest of the ice-cream. Time seems to stand still with the movement. Our eyes lock and the air crackles with unspoken desire. There’s a lot of tension imbued into one fleeting moment. It’s palpable and electric.

I swallow softly, resisting the urge to brush my thumb across her incredibly inviting lips. As quickly as it comes though, the moment passes, leaving me yearning for more. Katerina steps back, clearing her throat and avoiding eye contact.

My eyes fall shut as I run my hand through my hair in frustration, fighting back a soft groan.

Her voice comes quietly a few seconds later, “So what do you want to do next?”

I don’t even have to think about my reply.

“I want you to teach how to shoot, princess.”