Chapter 120
Chapter 120
It was 4:53 a.m. by the time they stepped through the front door of his place, and Sutton was so quiet beside him that Luca kept glancing over, unsure if she was asleep with her eyes open. She wasn’t. Just worn out, shattered, was the best way to describe her.
He could tell by the way she leaned her head against the window, lips parted slightly, breathing slow but not quite even. She hadn’t said much since they’d left the office, but she didn’t need to. Everything that needed to be said had happened in the last few hours at the office, and once the adrenaline had burned out of their systems. They both felt exhausted. She hadn’t even protested when he said he would take her home with him.
By the time he carried her up the stairs, she was deadweight in his arms.
She barely stirred.
Luca took her straight into his bedroom, not the guest room. He couldn’t bear the thought of putting her somewhere separate, not after the night they’d just experienced, and he wasn’t talking about just the betrayal by Nicole.
She didn’t even open her eyes when he sat her on the edge of his bed. She just let her head tip forward slightly, like even holding herself upright took more energy than she had left to give.
“Sutton,” he said gently, crouching in front of her. “Let me help.”
She mumbled something too quiet to catch, but she didn’t resist. He took it as permission and moved slowly, sliding her shoes off one at a time, then working the zipper at the back of her dress. The fabric slid down her arms and pooled around her waist. She lifted her hips for him like a puppet half- asleep. He pulled it off and folded it neatly on the chair by the bed. He would arrange clothes for her tomorrow. It wasn’t like he would let her go to the office.
Her skin was warm, and Luca found the little marks he had left on her earlier… He hadn’t meant to be so rough. He found one pink bite mark just visible on the slope of her shoulder. He kissed it.
She didn’t notice; she was all soft limbs and bare skin and exhaustion, too tired to do anything about it now. There was no way he would push her for more tonight. Tomorrow. He laid her back on the pillow after he had removed her bra, breasts fuller and her nipples darker because of his baby growing inside of her.
He found the evidence of him between her legs, the faint trace of semen drying on her skin. Luca dampened a cloth and cleaned her up gently, carefully, trying not to wake her, though she was already drifting. Her head turned on the pillow, her lips parting as she slipped into sleep,
Luca exhaled slowly, tossing the used cloth back in the bathroom before returning and pulling the blankets up over her. For a long moment, he just sat there, one hand over her hand lying on the bed near his leg, the other braced on his thigh, watching her breathe. She looked so small like this in his king- size bed, but she was tall, just at this moment she didn’t look it. He had found her, but she wasn’t the Sutton he remembered… Audrey had been easygoing and pretty… Sutton had more depth, fight and fire. She had stood up to him–even defended herself against Nicole and the rest of the development team. He just needed to get her to give him another chance.
He had told his father this had nothing to do with love, but now around her he wasn’t so sure. This wasn’t just about his child; he wanted Sutton with a need he had never known before. He worried about her and her health. He was worried that he might have put her in danger. Maybe that was love. He didn’t know, only that his life was fuller with her in it.
Getting up, he sat down in the armchair beside the bed, elbows on his knees, phone in his hand but screen dark. He should’ve been exhausted, too, but his mind was spinning too fast, replaying the night like a surveillance loop.
Sutton had saved them tonight. She had figured out who the hacker was after containing the threat.
“Miles Miller,” she had said earlier, sitting back in/her chair, her voice low and clear despite how tired she looked. “Code name Ghost. He’s the one who took my spot at MIT after I gave it up to model.“/
She explained it quickly so that he would understand. She’d recognized bis code. Everyone in the community knew who the best hackers were. She had only figured out he was Ghost though. Ghost didn’t just hack systems. He erased the fact that he’d ever been there. Most couldn’t even confirm his existence, only the holes he left behind.
But Sutton had caught him.
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Chapter 120
She’d logged every keystroke.
Sutton grinned before turning on the camera feed from the monitor he was using. Just a single frame. One shot of his face. “Got you.”
“Nice job.”
“Have one of your guys follow him,” she’d told him, eyes half–closed, mouth slurring slightly, showing how tired she had been. “We need to know who else paid him. It’s not just Nicole.”
Luca had made the call to one of his senior security men still in the building, Leo… while Sutton was still packing up the evidence.
Luca opened the text he had gotten on the way home. Leo had followed Ghost… Miles to a hotel downtown. Room 714. Paid in cash. Fake name.
Luca messaged Leo back, telling him to watch and follow. Take photos of anyone Miles meets with.
But Luca had people. And now, thanks to Sutton, they had something else too.
They had a face and a name. But they were not done until they knew who paid him. They needed them all in the net.
Luca stared down at his phone and pulled up Leo’s latest update.
Target still at location. No movement. No suspicion. Watching. But nothing yet, boss.
He put the phone down. They couldn’t do anymore tonight… well, this morning. He rubbed his face.
Then he turned to look at her again.
Sutton was breathing slowly and deeply now, her hand unconsciously resting against the curve of her belly. Her lashes twitched in sleep, but her face had relaxed completely. She looked so young in sleep.
He had no idea what she would say in the morning. If she’d forgive him. If she’d say yes to the question… he would protect them both.
He knew this with absolute certainty: she was stronger now, but perhaps he’d never truly known her before. This Sutton was different; he was only now seeing the side of her hidden by their initial lack of trust. He had royally fucked up that trust in the end.
There was no way he wasn’t going to lose her again.
After a few moments, Luca got up, went into the bathroom to shower and get ready for bed. Afterward, he got into bed beside Sutton, pulling her into his
arms.
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