The Enforcer or The Mafia Prince

Chapter 48

"Do you want to send your dad to go to jail?"

Jessica couldn't imagine the conflict boiling inside Tristan. Jess was furious when she found out about her dad's involvement with the mob, but she didn't want him to go to jail. What must it be like to feel so hurt that you're willing to go against your family?

"Yes," Tristan replied without hesitation. "My father has not only hurt many people, but he is also the reason that people get hurt. His selfishness is the reason my mom is gone. I'm under no illusions, Jess. If my father felt it was necessary, he wouldn't hesitate to get rid of me."

"When you say, "get rid of me," you mean..."

"I mean, my father will have me killed. Not that he'd be man enough to do it himself."

Jess felt sick to her stomach. She remembered her position compared to Ciaran. If he felt that way about his son, what would he do to her if she went against him? Jess sighed and leaned her head forward against the dashboard.

"I still can't believe I'm mixed up in all this. Even though I volunteer and attend school, I'm not a social person."

Tristan felt guilty. Jessica's comment reminded him that there was more to the plan that she didn't know.

"Jess, I need to tell you something else."

Jessica sat up and looked at him. "What?"

"This plan of my dad's. There's more to it."

"What now?" Jessica wasn't surprised. She'd guessed from the start that Ciaran wasn't telling her everything.

"My dad wants us to actually be together. Not a show for the outside world. He thinks that you'd be a good partner for me."

That was not what Jessica was expecting to hear. At most, Jess thought that Ciaran would have her working for the family somehow. She thought Ciaran noticed her because of her social connections. He could put her in a position to influence politicians in favor of the O'Sullivans. But to actually be with Tristan? Tristan said he liked her, but did he? It didn't sound like he was keen on following his father's orders. Before Jess could ask him more, they were pulling into the parking garage.

"We'll discuss more upstairs. Are you thirsty? We can stop on the way up for some tea."

"You know," Jessica said, "I don't normally drink coffee, but I could use one." Jess could feel a migraine coming on and wanted the caffeine.

Tristan held Jessica's hand in the elevator and to the coffee kiosk. He was surprised to hear she wanted coffee. He didn't even know how she liked it.

"May I please get a sixteen-ounce drip with soy milk," Jessica asked the barista. Tristan didn't know the girl's name, but she'd worked at the kiosk since she turned seventeen. He heard she begged her parents to let her get a job. They didn't want her working but relented when they found out the kiosk was hiring. They could keep an eye on her here.

"And for you, Tristan? The usual?"

"Yes, please."

"Do you get coffee often?"

"About every other day or so. I thought you didn't like coffee."

"I don't hate it. I'm tired, though. I feel like my brain has been working overtime the last month." Tristan leaned down and kissed Jessica's forehead. The barista blushed and pretended not to notice.

"I'm sorry, Princess. Hopefully, things will settle down soon." Jessica smiled at Tristan. It was cute when he was like this.

The barista handed over their coffee. Tristan tipped well but acted like he was being flashy with his money instead of giving. He didn't want anyone watching to think he'd given up his superficial persona. But the girl was working hard and wanted to buy a new car or something.

Upstairs, Tristan held the door open for Jessica as he invited her into his apartment. He had so much he wanted to tell her. Compared to his bedroom at his family's home, Jessica was again struck by how sparse his apartment was.

"Tristan, why don't you have any personal things here?"

"What do you mean?"

"Your place feels so empty, like you only have the bare necessities."

"Oh, I'll explain that, too. Let's talk in my office."

Using his free hand, Tristan dragged a chair to his side of the desk. He motioned for Jessica to sit next to him. He wanted to show her something on his screen. While she made herself comfortable, Tristan booted up his computer.

"Do you restart your computer every day," Jessica asked.

"Since the day we found the camera, yes. People can't hack what's turned off. I keep my work on an external hard drive instead of a cloud-based storage system."

Jessica understood what Tristan was talking about, but the finer points were lost on her. Like most people, Jessica grew up with the internet. Each new feature was introduced to her as something she could do, not something she needed to learn. As a result, she inherently knew what some things were but not the functionality behind them. Tristan noticed the look on Jessica's face.

"Cloud-based storage systems are useful in several situations. When many people need to access the same information, like in a company. Or for individuals who need to access data from many places. Such as having access to your Google Drive on your computer and phone. Hosting companies have resources that regular people don't. They don't have to worry about their storage failing and losing information. That said, easier access comes with trade-offs. One is security. Things like multifactor authentication make the cloud more secure but not infallible. Having an external hard drive requires tangible access. I have to plug the hardware into my computer to access the data I want. It's less accessible but more secure. It'd be difficult if someone wanted the information on that hard drive. They'd have to steal the drive or hack my computer at the right time."

"What do you mean by the right time?"

"Three things have to happen at the same time. My computer needs to be on and connected to the internet. I need to have the drive connected. And I need to be unaware that someone is in my system. Ever since the security breach, I've been more cautious. I disconnect the hard drive when I'm not using it. I also ensure my computer is off when I'm done," Tristan explained while typing in a password.

Jessica watched Tristan as he worked. In his soft sweater, squinting at the screen, Tristan looked more serious than Jess had ever seen him. He looked studious, nerdy even. It was then Jess recalled that Tristan had gone to college, too. How had he convinced the world he was a slacker when he wasn't? Tristan pulled up a screen that Jessica had seen before but didn't know the name of. He typed in a command then his screen refreshed. She noticed several camera views from inside the building.

"What is this," exclaimed Jess. She was looking at the entrance, hallways, the gym... She could see everything. Tristan shifted in his chair, his ears a vivid pink.

"Um, I hacked into the security camera footage. I wanted to show you something simple I can do."

"You can do that? Since when?"

"Since I was about ten."

"What? How? I... Does. I'm so so confused."

"What are you confused about?"

"Hacking into the security footage for the building is easy for you? I thought your dad had the best security team working for him. Does he know what you can do? Does Declan know? If you can do this, can't others? Does that mean someone could find the video of us? I'm so..."

"Jess, calm down. Let me explain." Jessica took a sip of her coffee before looking at Tristan.

"You're the only person who knows I can do this."

"What-"

Tristan cut her off and explained, "When my mom died, I was devastated. She tried to hide everything my dad did, but I knew. I started playing video games a lot. I met some people through gaming who got me on web forums. One thing led to another, and I started learning everything I could about computers. My dad was never around, and I hated going to school, but computers were easy to understand. I started with small personal projects, online courses, and web videos. No one paid attention to me except Declan and Ms. Martha, so I could get away with a lot. I taught myself everything."

"Declan doesn't even know? Why not?"

"When we were kids, I didn't tell Declan. Not that I was hiding it. It was personal to me, like a journal. It's how I coped with things, I guess." Tristan rubbed the back of his neck and frowned. He didn't like to think too hard about things. Still, Jessica needed to know this.

"So this is how you're fighting against your father? You're spying on him?"

"Yes," he said. Tristan wasn't ashamed of what he was trying to do. This was his secret weapon. No one would see it coming. That's why it was the safest way to fight against his dad.

"So," Jessica asked, "why does your apartment look so empty?"

"So when I turn my dad in, I can leave in a hurry if anything goes wrong."

"Where would you go?"

"I have places," Tristan shrugged.

"Then, what about me?" Jessica's voice was small. She sounded embarrassed to ask.

"If you don't want to go with me, I won't ask. But if you do," Tristan rubbed Jessica's head, "I'd love for you to join me."