I’d hid half my life behind the screen of my computer, but now I wanted to come out and learn to know myself too.
Tatum was gorgeous, there was no denying that fact. And she certainly wasn’t trying to be someone she wasn’t. There wasn’t a single fake thing about this girl, she was genuine and gave you the whole package upfront. Petite, dressed down, not trying to be sexy which was, in and of itself, sexy as fuck. I wanted to explore her body and see if she had other piercings just as much as I wanted to explore her mind and see what other hidden skills she had to surprise me with.
“You’re also just fucking pretty,” I told her without thinking. What an idiot I was. Awkward didn’t even come close to my inept social abilities. First I tell her I could kill her and then I tell her how cute she is.
“Uh, thanks?” Tatum said, but she was smiling just the same.
“I didn’t find that out in my search.”
“In your search, huh?” Tatum asked, her voice tinged with a sharp edge. The girl had a fire to her that made her even more attractive to me. “I try to keep my gender on the down low.”
“I’ve been tracking you for a while, but I really took interest when I was briefed on your last information heist.”
“Why? I'm nobody.”
“Tatum, you single handedly brought down the entire Gabrielli syndicate. Something the powerful and well-funded groups I work for have been trying to achieve for years. And failed!”
“So is that when you started looking into me?”
I rubbed the back of my neck, as her eyes bore into me. “No, I knew about you before all this. I’ve actually been tracking you for four years.”
“Since I was a kid? Why?”
“The FBI is always on the lookout for hackers. I’ve watched a few over the years, but none of them has stuck out as much as you. Fio is king in the hacking world. Or Queen, I guess now. I wasn’t even anywhere near doing the things you were doing at your age. You’ve got a natural born talent, and a really curious and brilliant mind. I’ve been a fan for years.”
“The F.B.I has been looking into me? For four years.” Tatum shrieked, covering her mouth. “That’s insane.”
I nodded my head, not really sure what else to say. I knew what it was like when you found out that the FBI had its sights on you. It really wasn’t the same feeling as a kid waking up in the morning and running down to see what’s under the tree. When the F.B.I first started tracking me down and contacted me I was scared out of my ever lovin’ mind, but I was in a totally different situation, I wasn’t able to say no to them even if I wanted to. “They have a whole team of hackers, you’ve been on their radar.” I walked over to the small fridge in the corner of the room. “Want something to drink?”
“Sure, soda’s good. Can you say no to them if you don’t want to work for them? Or once they set their sights on you, it’s a done deal?”
I handed her a can. “Yeah, if you say no, they kill you.”
Her eyes went wide.
“Just kidding. You can turn them down or else accept on a contract to contract basis, like I do.”
Tatum walked over to the large bay window, I followed her standing behind her watching as she stared out into the land behind the house. I liked this place because of the solitude, having all that empty space with limited people suited my lifestyle. I liked being by myself, I felt safe in the loneliness, but in that moment as I watched her, I thought maybe some company wouldn’t suck too bad.
She cracked open the can and took a sip. “So, what does it mean to be phished by the F.B.I?”
“A high paying job with great benefits and security. Having a team to back you up when you get into a rough situation”
“I wouldn’t say no to money. Growing up, it was always an issue for us. Mom worked two jobs just to make sure I had a roof over my head and food on the table. It’d be nice to actually buy something new for once.”
Her words were like a punch to my gut. I knew what it was like to go without. “You’ve never owned new clothing before.”
She turned to face me and shook her head. “ Not never, don’t get me wrong, but what you left on my bed in there was more than I’d ever had growing up. We had what we needed, It was just tight, you know what I mean? But I’m thankful, it made me appreciate things more.”