Page 61 of Ruthless Contract
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
ROME
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The script still wasn't ready.
Lying in bed with my laptop balanced on my lap, I stared at the latest version of the tracking code I’d created and resisted the urge to delete it and start again. This would work. It just needed to be tweaked.
Earlier, I'd tested it against one of my own devices. The results hadn't been encouraging. The moment the script activated, my security software detected it. My antivirus immediately flagged it as suspicious and started trying to remove it.
Which meant Juliet's systems would do the same thing. And that’s what I was trying to avoid. Leaning back against the headboard, I rubbed my jaw. The point of the script was to locate her without her finding out she was being tracked.
I would only get one chance at this, because if it triggered her spyware defenses, she'd start blocking this specific code, and I’d have to create another one and start the testing process all over again.
I didn’t have that kind of time. I wanted this woman. Now! Maybe if I altered the way the script handled network requests...
No.
That wouldn’t work.
I stared at the code for several more seconds before sighing heavily. The script wasn’t my only issue. The second issue was getting it onto her device. The only way this would work was if Juliet hacked me again.
She’d been quiet since our last video chat. Not a single probe. Not a single attempt to slip past my firewalls. Nothing. The silence was driving me insane. I missed our lunch challenges. I missed our nightly chats.
I missed getting notifications that she was trying to access my emails and video files. The woman had become part of my daily routine. And now she was gone. Her absence left an empty space in my life that I didn’t want to get used to.
If I didn't hear from her soon, I was going to lose my damn mind. I needed to find her. It was as simple as that. I needed to find Juliet With Curves. To those around me, I looked calm on the outside, the same old Rome.
But on the inside, I was spiraling, heart and thoughts chaotic. Tilting my head back, I stared up at the ceiling. If she was going to ghost me like this, then she never should’ve teased me in the first place.
And if she was truly trying to distance herself from me, I would have to show her that you couldn’t poke a lion and not expect it to pounce. I was just about to close out of my apps when a notification chimed.
My eyes snapped to the message. For a second, I just stared at the screen, unable to believe what I was seeing. It was her. My Juliet. She’d sent a video chat request with a link. But there was a note included that read:voice only, no cams.
Why doesn't she want cams tonight?
Had something happened? Did she not want me to see her? Had someone done something to her? Gritting my teeth, my thoughts turned murderous. I needed to see for myself that she was okay.
Fuck no cams!
I stared at the request for several seconds before glancing down at myself.Damn. Bandages still covered part of my chest and shoulder where the bullet had torn through me. The wound was healing, but I didn’t want her to see me like this.
I didn’t know how to explain that I’d broken into my cousin’s house, killed most of his guards, and gotten shot while killing him. Yeah, that was more of a third-year anniversary confession.
I had my reasons for not being on camera, just as she had hers. I reached over, disabled my camera, and then activated the voice modulator. I looked back at the request. Heart racing, I took a deep breath and clicked on the link.
My eyes drifted shut the moment Juliet's voice filled the room. A strange sensation crept over me. I didn’t have a name for it. All I knew was in that moment, all was right in my world because my Juliet was back.
Fuck.
I was a goner for this woman.
“Hey, lover,” Juliet rasped. “Did you miss me?”
Even distorted by the modulator, I couldn't believe how good it felt to hear her again. For almost two weeks, I'd been staring at a blank screen, hoping for a message while replaying our old conversations in my head.
Now that she was talking to me again, I felt tongue-tied and didn’t know how to respond. So, I decided to just be honest.
