Owned by the Mafia Billionaire (A MxM erotica novel)

Chapter three Almost tempted.

Elio’s POV

I was genuinely intrigued by this boy. I mean, he had the fucking guts to hack into my database and infiltrate it in less than two minutes.

My fingers gripped the bourbon glass, the burn of it lingering on my lips. I had watched him strip hours ago, his lean body trembling under my stare, his defiance cracking into something raw.

It took every ounce of control not to cross the room and touch him then.

I wanted to. God, I wanted to. But I didn’t build an empire by giving in to impulses.

His file sat open on my desk, pulled from the dark corners of my network. Micah Reed, twenty-six, freelance hacker, no criminal record but a trail of debts. Unpaid hospital bills for his mother. A sister in college. He was good. Too good to be working for scum like Rico. And too reckless to realize he had stepped into my world.

The shipping manifest he hacked was Sophia’s location. My blood. If the cartel had reached her first, I would have burned their world to ash.

I drained the bourbon and set the glass down. My phone buzzed. Luca’s message: He’s in the suite. System’s active.

The reconditioning program was live, tracking his every move, every breath. I needed to know who Micah was beyond the code.

Was he a tool I could sharpen or a liability I had to erase?

I walked to the security room, the hum of monitors filling the air. Luca stood by the screens, his scarred face lit by the glow of Micah’s suite. The kid was sitting on the bed, staring at the monitor with his name in red. His shoulders were tense, his hands fisted in the sheets. He looked like a caged animal, ready to bolt but with nowhere to go.

“He’s scared,” Luca said, not looking at me. “You sure about this?

I didn’t answer him, instead, my gaze was trained on Micah on the screen. His dark hair fell into his eyes, his jaw tight with defiance.

Luca shifted beside me, his arms crossed tightly over his chest. “We should’ve ended this when we had the chance. You’re playing with fire.”

I didn’t look at him. “I don’t play.”

“Then what the hell is this?” he snapped, gesturing toward the screen where Micah sat still, eyes narrowed at the camera like he could see us watching. “He’s not just some kid, Elio. He broke into your system. No one’s ever done that and lived to talk about it.”

“He cracked level-three encryption in less than two minutes,” I finally said, my voice even. “Do you know anyone else who can do that?”

“That’s exactly my point!” Luca’s voice rose, edged with frustration. “You’re letting him stay because he impressed you?”

“I’m letting him stay,” I said, turning to face him finally, “because he’s useful.”

“For now.”

“For long enough,” I snapped. “He found the shipping manifest I encrypted personally. Do you know how many of our own men have failed to crack that system during drills?”

Luca’s jaw clenched. “So, we keep a hacker with a god complex locked in a suite and hope he doesn’t bury us from the inside?”

I stepped closer to him, my voice low. “We keep a boy who’s desperate enough to risk death for his family. You want loyalty? Nothing’s more loyal than a man with someone to lose.”

Luca looked away, his nostrils flaring. “You think he’s some prodigy, but he’s just another risk.”

“He’s a risk worth calculating.”

There was a beat of silence between us, the tension sharp and humming. On the screen, Micah stood and walked to the window, placing both hands on the glass, staring out. He looked small from this distance. Fragile.

But I’d seen the fire behind those eyes.

“He’ll test you,” Luca said quietly. “I can already see it. He’s not afraid enough of you.”

I gave a small, dark smile. “Then we’ll give him a reason to be.”

Luca’s mouth twisted. “You always did like breaking things before you claimed them.”

I ignored the jab. My eyes remained fixed on Micah. “Just make sure the system logs everything. Every deviation. Every instinct. If he even thinks about betraying me, I’ll know before he does.”

“And then?” Luca asked, almost spitefully.

I smiled faintly. “Then we’ll see if he deserves a place at my table. Or in the ground.”

Luca shook his head. “You better hope he’s worth it, boss. Because if he’s playing you, Elio. I won’t wait for your permission to end him.”

I clapped him on the shoulder, firm. “That’s why I keep you around. Don't forget to station men around his mother and sister before the Carusos cartel get to them.”

Luca left me in the security room with a frustrated grunt, muttering something in Italian under his breath. I left the room without another word.

His warnings clung to me, but they didn’t matter.

My boots echoed sharply against the marble floors as I descended the hallway, my hands buried in the pockets of my suit pants. I keyed into the suite, and the soft chime of the lock gave way to silence. But not for long.

The bathroom door creaked open just as I stepped into the living area.

Micah stepped out from the bathroom, bare-chested, towel slung low on his hips. His skin was still glistening from the shower, droplets trailing down his chest in slow, carving trails down the curve of his collarbone and lower v-line.

He froze when he saw me. His grip tightened on the towel, the fabric slipping just enough to reveal the sharp curve of his hip.

My eyes dragged down his body, slow, deliberate. “Settling in, Micah?”

He shrugged. A single drop of water slid down the side of his neck, trailing over his chest. “It's hard to enjoy anything with you watching.”

I stepped forward once. He lifted his chin and didn’t back away. Daring me?

I moved closer again, until there was barely a breath between us.

“You have a habit of being cocky,” I said, my voice smooth, but tight. “Even when you should be afraid.”

“I am afraid,” he murmured. “I just don’t like to show it to predators.”

My hand moved before I could stop it, my fingers brushing his jaw, trailing up to cup the side of his face. His breath hitched.

God, he was warm. His skin was smooth beneath my fingertips. That mouth was so close now I could taste it on my tongue. I should’ve pulled away. I didn’t.

“Say something,” he whispered.

I didn’t.

My gaze dropped to his pink lips, parted, tempting in a way that made my restraint falter.

I leaned in, just enough for him to feel it, for our breaths to mingle, heat curling between us like smoke.

And then—

I pulled back.