The code was beautiful.
Leila's fingers danced across her keyboard, the dim glow of five monitors painting shadows across her bare shoulders. Strings of numbers flowed like poetry. Firewalls crumbled like sandcastles. And with one final keystroke, the transfer began: one million, two million…three….four….five….six…seven….eight million dollars siphoned from RaineTech's hidden vaults into an account only she could access.
She leaned back, heart hammering with adrenaline.
Done.
Her lips curled into a smirk. The infamous Dominic Raine. Billionaire recluse. Tech god. Corporate tyrant. Untouchable.
Until tonight.
She rose from her chair and crossed the room of her modest high-rise apartment, the city lights glittering behind her. A sip of wine. A slow exhale. She'd pulled off the biggest heist of her career, and not even he knew who she was.
Leila Monroe didn't believe in luck. Only skill.
And she had plenty of it.
Three days ago, she pulled off the biggest digital heist of her career,eight million dollars, cleanly extracted from RaineTech's encrypted vaults and funneled into her offshore accounts. No alarms. No trails. No mistakes.
At least, that's what she thought.
Now, sprawled on the balcony of a five-star hotel in Saint-Tropez, sipping chilled champagne in nothing but a silk robe, she felt invincible. The sun kissed her bare legs as waves lapped gently at the shore below. A new identity. A new passport. A private jet on standby.
Freedom, she thought, tipping her glass back. Bought and paid for.
She'd already gone shopping like someone born into the upper crust,designer heels, diamond cuffs, and a red dress that cost more than her old car. She even indulged in the penthouse suite, because why not? She'd earned it. RaineTech wouldn't even notice the money missing,not with all the shell corporations and hidden ledgers they used to cover their own crimes.
It was almost funny.
Leila Monroe: the ghost in their system. The girl who outplayed the devil himself.
On the third night, she stood in front of her floor-to-ceiling mirror, admiring the curve of her waist in crimson silk, when the power in her suite flickered.
Just once. Barely noticeable.
Until the screens on the walls went black.
Then white.
Then a message appeared, in stark, glitching text:
"You look good in red. Shame you won't be wearing it long."
Leila froze.
The champagne glass slipped from her fingers and shattered against the marble floor.
Her phone buzzed on the nightstand. One notification.
A photo. Live. Taken just now.
Of her.
Standing in the mirror.
Her blood ran cold.
She spun around…..nothing.
Silence.
Then the knock.
Soft. Controlled. Like whoever stood on the other side of the door already owned her.
And when she opened it, heart in her throat, there he was.
Dominic Raine.
In the flesh.
No guards. No weapons. Just him.
And that look in his eyes….part hunger, part fury, all lethal.
"Three days," he murmured, stepping inside like he'd been invited. "I gave you three days to enjoy my money."
His hand rose, brushing a damp curl from her cheek, a touch far too gentle for the heat in his gaze.
"Now you're mine until every cent is repaid."
She backed up. "You…how did you…"
"I'm not here for answers." He reached out and plucked a stray hair from her shoulder, as casually as if they were lovers. "I'm here to collect."
Leila tried to speak, but her throat was tight.
His gaze locked on hers, and a cruel smirk touched the corner of his lips. "You're not going to prison," he said. "You're coming with me."
"Why?" she whispered.
"Because I don't want justice." He leaned in, breath brushing her ear. "I want you."
Her lips parted, but no words came.
Then, barely above a whisper…..
"Me?"
Her voice cracked, uncertain, almost childlike in its confusion. She hated that. Hated how small she sounded in front of him. But the way he was looking at her,like she was both prey and prize,made her skin prickle with heat and fear.
Dominic tilted his head slightly, eyes narrowing in amusement.
"Yes, you," he murmured, stepping in closer. "The girl arrogant enough to steal from me… and foolish enough to think I wouldn't find her."
Leila took a shaky step back, bumping into the wall behind her.
"I…..I didn't think you'd..."
"No," he interrupted coldly. "You didn't think at all."
He wasn't shouting. That was the terrifying part. His voice stayed soft, measured…..dangerous. The kind of tone you'd expect from someone right before they broke something beautiful, just to see how it shattered.
"You could've disappeared," he said, lifting a hand and tracing a slow line down her jaw with his knuckles. "You could've run smarter. But instead… you bathed in my money. My wine. My city."
His fingers stopped just beneath her chin, tilting it up.
"You wanted attention, Leila. Congratulations. You have all of mine now."
She could barely breathe.
"This isn't about the money, is it?" she asked, barely able to force the words out.
"No," he said simply.
She swallowed. "Then what do you want?"
His expression darkened. "To see how long it takes you to break."
Her pulse thundered in her ears.
He leaned in, lips brushing the shell of her ear as he whispered, "And how much you'll beg before you do."
The second his words hit her….how much you'll beg before you do…..something in Leila snapped.
Fear overrode shock. Logic gave way to instinct.
Run.
Her knee jerked up,fast and sharp,aiming for his groin. A move that would've dropped any other man.
But Dominic caught her.
Effortlessly.
His hand clamped around her thigh mid-strike, and his body pressed into hers, pinning her to the wall. She gasped, heart slamming against her ribs, but he didn't flinch.
He just smiled. Slowly.
"Cute," he murmured. "Try it again and I'll tie you to the balcony rail in that red dress and let the whole hotel watch you learn obedience."
Her breath caught in her throat,equal parts fury and terror.
But Dominic made a mistake then.
He pulled back, just enough.
And Leila moved.
She shoved off the wall, twisted from his grip, and bolted.
Barefoot and half-dressed, she ran. Out of the suite. Down the polished hallway. Past stunned staff and startled guests. The elevator was too slow. She flew toward the emergency stairs, slamming the door behind her.
One flight. Two.
Her lungs burned. Her legs ached. But she didn't stop.
You can outrun him. You've escaped worse. You're smarter than him.
But no matter how fast she moved, his voice stayed with her, echoing in her head like a shadow she couldn't shake.
You wanted attention, Leila. Now you have it.
She burst out into the lobby, pushing past a bellhop, and ran for the glass doors. The air outside was thick and humid, the street quiet. No black cars. No guards. No sign of him.
She took a hard right and sprinted toward the alley beside the hotel, heart slamming, eyes darting for a place to hide. An open back door. A delivery truck. Anything.
She turned the corner.
And stopped cold.
He was there.
Leaning against the wall like he'd been waiting for her all along.
Not a single hair out of place.
"Did you really think I wouldn't anticipate the stairs?" he asked, voice almost bored.
Leila stumbled back, panic rising in her throat. "You're insane."
Dominic pushed off the wall and stepped toward her, slow and calm, as if they had all the time in the world.
"No," he said, catching her wrist in one swift motion and pulling her flush against him. "I'm focused."
His other hand slid around her waist, locking her in.
"You made a choice the moment you touched my code." His eyes bore into hers. "Now I'll make mine."
He didn't drag her. He didn't yell.
He simply lifted her, like she weighed nothing, and carried her back toward the waiting car at the curb.
And for the first time in her life, Leila Monroe realized what true power felt like.
It didn't scream.
It whispered.
And it always, always got what it wanted.