Page 37 of His Son's Ex

I’ve done my research on BK&C, but I never bothered to look up the man at the top. It never even occurred to me that Dante Bellacino could be the CEO.

My pulse pounds in my ears as we stop in front of a pair of heavy oak doors. The assistant gives me a pleasant smile, completely unaware of the war raging within me. “He’s expecting you.”

I should walk away.

Every logical part of my brain is screaming at me to turn around and get the hell out of here before this goes too far. But my feet stay rooted to the floor, my breath shallow as the assistant knocks once and opens the door.

He’s sitting behind a massive desk and stands as I approach, extending a hand. “Ms. Smith.” His voice is smooth, the faintest smirk tugging at his lips.

I swallow hard as his hand grips mine just a little too firmly.

“Mr. Bellacino,” I say, my tone perfectly professional. “Didn’t expect to see you again.”

His smirk deepens. “Oh, I’m full of surprises.” He gestures for me to take a seat in one of the plush guest chairs in front of his desk.

I sit before my knees betray me, crossing my legs and setting my folder on the polished mahogany desk between us. He watches every movement, gaze lingering a second too long on my legs before he sits, leaning back in his chair like he owns the world.

Which let’s be honest, he kind of does.

He steeples his fingers. “Let’s get to it, then. Your resume is very impressive.”

“I know.”

His brow quirks. “Modest, I see.”

“No point in false humility. You wouldn’t have called me in if I didn’t have the qualifications.”

He nods as he raises a brow, a small smile forming on his lips. His expression shifts to something more serious, more curious.

“I have to say, I’m not in the habit of hiring straight out of college, especially not for a position of this caliber.”

I don’t hesitate. “I’ve been working in the field since I was barely a teenager.”

His eyes sharpen. “Freelancing?”

I nod. “Hacking, penetration testing, cybersecurity consulting. You name it, I’ve done it. I’m mostly self-taught, but my degree greatly refined my skills.”

His fingers tap idly against the desk. “Which means you were lying about your age back then. No one would hire a child for that kind of work.”

I shrug, offering him an easy smile. “I lied. But only when I had to.”

His gaze darkens, and I can tell he likes that I’ve broken rules. Bent them. Maybe even rewritten them when necessary.

“Fair enough.” He flips through my portfolio. “Your work in cybersecurity is cutting-edge. You single-handedly patched a vulnerability in JP Morgan’s firewall that could have cost them billions.”

“Not just patched. I built a dynamic threat mitigation system that detects and isolates intrusions before they reach critical assets. I made their security adaptive instead of reactive.”

“And you did all of this while working on your CS degree.” His eyes gleam with interest. “Tell me exactly how you would apply that here.”

I lean forward. “Your company’s infrastructure is good, but not impenetrable. You’re running a hybrid-cloud setup, which means if someone gains access to one sector of your network, they could pivot into more sensitive systems.”

He nods, arms folding over his broad chest. “And how would you fix that?”

“Two ways. First, a segmented micro-perimeter defense with zero-trust architecture. That means every single access request is authenticated, even from within your own servers. Second, I’d implement a behavioral-based anomaly detection system—think of it like an AI watchdog that monitors all network activity. Ifsomething even smells wrong, it isolates the breach before it spreads.”

Dante’s eyes flash. Interest. Amusement. Respect. Lust.

“You’re brilliant, Eva,” he says. The way he says my name sends a shiver down my spine.