Chapter 4: The Hacker in Pyjamas

The drive to Brooklyn was suffocating.

Maya sat in the back of the sleek black limousine, her hands clenched so tightly in her lap that her knuckles turned white. Beside her, Julian Thorne was a statue of ice and rage. He stared out the tinted window, his jaw clenched, tapping furiously on his phone.

"Sir," Maya tried again, her voice sounding thin and brittle. "I really think we should let the police handle this. Going there personally seems... dangerous."

"I don't wait for the police," Julian said, cutting her off cold. "This hacker breached my personal firewall. He touched Project Alpha. I want to see his face before I hand him over to the feds."

Maya swallowed a lump of terror. You’re going to see his face, alright. And it looks exactly like yours.

The car slowed down as it entered her neighborhood. The sleek corporate towers of Manhattan were gone, replaced by crumbling brick buildings, graffiti-covered walls, and overflowing trash bins.

Julian looked out the window, his lip curling in distaste. "The signal is coming from here? A slum?"

"It’s not a slum," Maya said defensively, before she could stop herself. "It’s... a developing neighborhood."

The car glided to a stop in front of Number 42.

"Stay here," Julian commanded, opening his door.

"No!" Maya scrambled out after him. She couldn't let him go up alone. She had to intercept him. She had to hide the twins. "I... I should come with you. For safety."

Julian ignored her and strode toward the peeling front door of the apartment building. He looked like a wolf entering a sheep pen—out of place, dangerous, and predatory.

They took the stairs to the fourth floor. The hallway smelled of boiled cabbage and old carpet.

Julian stopped in front of Apt 4B. He didn't knock. He pounded on the door with a fist that looked ready to punch through the wood.

"Open up! Security!"

Inside, Maya heard a startled yelp from Mrs. Hernandez.

"Sir, please!" Maya grabbed his arm. The contact sent a jolt of electricity through her, but she ignored it. "You can't just break in! There might be children!"

"Then they should teach their parents not to steal from me."

The door creaked open. Mrs. Hernandez, an elderly woman with curlers in her hair, peered out, eyes wide with fear. "Who is it? Maya? What is happening?"

Julian didn't wait for an invitation. He pushed past the old woman, storming into the tiny living room.

"Where is he?" Julian roared, scanning the room. "Where is the hacker?"

The room was silent.

There were no banks of servers. No high-tech monitors. No criminal mastermind in a hoodie.

There was just a worn-out beige sofa, a pile of laundry, and a small boy sitting on the floor in dinosaur pajamas.

Leo looked up from his tablet. He didn't look scared. He looked annoyed.

"You're loud," Leo said, adjusting his headphones.

Julian froze. He blinked, looking around the room for the real culprit. "Where is the computer? Where is the adult?"

"I'm the adult," Mrs. Hernandez stammered, clutching her chest. "Maya, who is this madman?"

Julian ignored her. He marched over to Leo, towering over the five-year-old. He pointed a finger at the cracked tablet in Leo's lap. "Did you do this? Did you run the override command on the Thorne Tech server?"

Leo looked at Julian’s expensive shoes, then up at his furious face. He took a bite of his gummy bear.

"Your firewall had a hole in the port 8080 logic," Leo said calmly, chewing. "I fixed it for you. You're welcome."

Julian’s mouth opened, but no sound came out. He looked from the boy to the tablet, then back to the boy. The shock on his face was almost comical.

"You..." Julian whispered. "You are five."

"Five and a half," Leo corrected.

Maya stood by the door, her heart hammering so hard she thought she might faint. She waited for the recognition. She waited for Julian to look at Leo’s black hair, his sharp jawline, his intensity, and realize, That’s me.

But Julian was too focused on the screen. He snatched the tablet from Leo’s hands. He scrolled through the code. His eyes widened.

"Elegant," he muttered to himself. "The recursive loop... it's cleaner than my lead engineer’s code."

He looked back down at Leo, his anger replaced by a bewildered fascination. "Who taught you this?"

"YouTube," Leo shrugged. "Can I have my tablet back? I was winning."

"Sir," Maya stepped forward, her voice trembling. She had to get him out of here. "Sir, clearly this is a mistake. It’s just a child. He didn't mean any harm. Please, let's go."

Julian turned slowly to face her. The coldness was back in his eyes, but now it was mixed with suspicion.

"You knew," he accused, stepping closer to her. The small apartment suddenly felt microscopic.

"I..."

"You knew the address," Julian said, his voice dropping to a dangerous growl. "You defended the neighborhood. You knew the way up the stairs."

He looked around the room, taking in the details. The women's coat on the rack. The familiar scent of vanilla shampoo that Maya wore.

"This isn't just a random apartment," Julian said. "You live here."

Maya bit her lip. "Yes."

"And this child?" Julian pointed at Leo. "Who is he?"

"He's mine," Maya whispered, lifting her chin defiantly. "He's my son."

Julian stared at her. For a moment, the silence was absolute. He looked at the genius boy, then at the struggling assistant.

"You have a son," he repeated flatly. "A son who just compromised a billion-dollar company."

Before Maya could answer, the bedroom door creaked open.

"Mommy?"

A small voice floated into the tense room.

Julian turned.

Mia stood in the doorway, rubbing sleep from her eyes. She was wearing a pink nightgown. Her black hair was messy, and she held a stuffed bunny by the ear.

She looked up and saw the tall stranger in the suit.

Most children would be scared of Julian Thorne. He radiated darkness. But Mia wasn't most children.

Her eyes—ice blue, bright and piercing—locked onto his.

Julian felt the air leave his lungs. It was like looking in a mirror.

He took an involuntary step toward her. "Those eyes..."

Mia smiled, a bright, toothy grin that transformed her face. She walked right up to the terrifying billionaire and tugged on his expensive suit jacket.

"Are you the Daddy?" she asked.

Maya lunged forward. "Mia, no!"

But it was too late. Julian was staring down at the little girl. He looked at her eyes. Then he looked at Leo’s face. Then he looked at Maya, who was pale as a ghost.

The gears in his head were turning. Maya could see the calculation behind his gaze. Blue eyes. Black hair. Genius intellect. The timeline...

"Five years old," Julian whispered, the realization hitting him like a physical blow. He looked at Maya, his expression darkening into something terrifyingly possessive.

"Maya," he said, his voice low and vibrating with suppressed rage. "Who is the father?"

Maya’s heart stopped. She had to lie. She had to lie or she would lose them.

"He's dead," she blurted out. "He died before they were born. We... we don't talk about him."

Julian searched her face. He looked for the lie. Maya dug her fingernails into her palms, willing herself not to look away.

After an eternity, Julian straightened up. He adjusted his cuffs, the mask of the indifferent CEO sliding back into place. But his eyes remained fixed on the children.

"Dead," he repeated. He didn't sound convinced.

He looked around the cramped, peeling apartment again. He saw the poverty. He saw the brilliance in Leo and the hope in Mia.

"Pack your bags," Julian commanded.

Maya blinked. "What?"

"You heard me," Julian said, walking toward the door. "This environment is unacceptable. The boy is a security risk to my company, and I cannot have my assistant living in a squalor that distracts her from her work."

"I am not moving!" Maya argued, stepping in front of him.

Julian leaned down, his face inches from hers. "You have two choices, Ms. Lin. Choice A: I press charges against your son for corporate espionage. He goes to juvenile detention, and you go to prison for negligence."

Maya gasped. "You wouldn't."

"Choice B," Julian continued, his voice silky and dangerous. "You and your children move into my estate. Tonight. Where I can keep an eye on... the security risk."

He opened the door and looked back at her.

"I’ll wait in the car. You have ten minutes."