The Code To A Don's Heart

t h i r t y - f i v e

P E A C H    M C C O Y — T H E     H A C K E R

I was freaking out.

Sitting at the stairwell of Viktor's grand mansion— well his sister's mansion — I held a piece of key evidence in my hand.

A receipt.

Why would a receipt be so important? I found it in the main drawing room, folded carelessly under a bunch of other books and papers. To everyone else it would be nothing but this was key evidence. God I wished I still had my crime board.

The receipt was for one black coffee and a croissant from Surf Lounge.

Now, I'd been thinking. Kira was no mastermind. She didn't seem like the person to even know how to change a lightbulb for fuck's sake but she was involved. Maybe she was being threatened. If they had got to Viktor, what's not to say they hadn't got to his sister. Was this meeting a trap? I couldn't be sure.

Facts were not adding up here, nothing made sense but what I did notice about Kira is that she always seemed to be walking on eggshells. Her eyes darted this place and that, she seemed overly peppy and her moods changed so fast. I guessed she was bipolar, I'd met suckers like her before but she could be involved with this plot, forced to do the bidding of someone with the promise that her brother would be kept safe.

It made so much sense. They could be using her to get money from Summit Holdings. But then again, why didn't they hide their information better. Why did they leave key evidence lying around... unless they didn't mean to.

Something about this case was just being a little too convenient, even for me. How it is clues present themselves at the peak of the investigation. I knew without a doubt that things had switched up and I needed more help with this. I think it was time I had a real conversation with my dad. That involved asking Viktor for his help to reach the old man.

I sighed and kept my eyes on the receipt like it would give me answers. The words were faded, the paper probably being days old. I hadn't seen any other receipts of papers that linked to this one. Kira didn't strike me as someone who would enjoy her coffee black. So this receipt definitely wasn't for her. I needed to talk to Viktor but I knew he'd push away the fact that his sister was involuntarily involved. Right now, I needed facts not feelings so I decided I was keeping him out of the loop on this one.

I was startled by the sound of footsteps coming my way and fast. I dropped the receipt and kicked it somewhere, trying to descend the stairs and crashed right into Kira. I stumbled a few steps back, catching myself on the rail before I tripped over the stair behind me.

Righting myself, I was going to apologize when I caught sight of Kira. Her breathing was heavy, her eyes were narrowed and an angry blush rested on her round cheeks. Jesus, this girl was livid.

"Sorry?" I stated confused.

"God Peach why are you sucking a fucking pain?!" Kira yelled, her tone sparking anger in me.

"Woah princess, pull the reigns in a bit," I stated narrowing my own eyes.

"You know my brother's only tagging you around as a charity case," she snapped. "I see the way you look at him and I'll tell you this, he will never love you. He can't feel love, or joy. He's just using you, taking what he wants and then he'll get bored and ignore you or toss you away."

What exactly do you say to that? Well that's easy. You defend your pride with every fibre of your being.

"You're talking like I don't want to be used," I coolly stated, giving myself a mental high five. That was a good enough comeback and the angry that continued to blow over Kira's head was just the proof I needed.