The geek and the sheikh, p.1
The Geek and the Sheikh, page 1
The Geek and the Sheikh
S.E. SMITH
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank my husband, Steve, for believing in me and being proud enough of me to give me the courage to follow my dream. I would also like to give a special thank you to my sister and best friend, Linda, who not only encouraged me to write, but who also read the manuscript. Also, to my other friends who believe in me: Julie, Jackie, Christel, Sally, Jolanda, Lisa, Laurelle, Debbie, and Narelle. The girls that keep me going!
And a special thanks to Paul Heitsch, David Brenin, Samantha Cook, Suzanne Elise Freeman, PJ Ochlan, Vincent Fallow, L. Sophie Helbig, and Hope Newhouse, Allison River, and Bethanne Reid—the outstanding voices behind my audiobooks!
– S. E. Smith
Contemporary Romance
The Geek and the Sheikh
Girls from the Street Book 5
Copyright © 2023 by S.E. Smith
First E-Book Published December 2023
Cover Design by Melody Simmons
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission from the author. No parts of the author’s work may be used for AI training without express written permission from the author.
All characters, places, and events in this book are fictitious or have been used fictitiously, and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, actual events, locales, or organizations are strictly coincidental.
Summary: A Sheikh’s tantalizing online communication with a hacker leads to love and danger.
ISBN: 9781959584292 (Paperback)
ISBN: 9781959584285 (eBook)
Romance (love, explicit sexual content) | Contemporary | Royalty | Multicultural | Action/Adventure | Suspense | Thriller | Saga | Destined Love
Published by Montana Publishing, LLC
& SE Smith of Florida Inc. www.sesmithfl.com
Synopsis
She was born on the streets; he was born to rule…
Sheikh Jameel Saif-Ad-Din is in love. The problem is: he doesn’t know the identity behind the fascinating hacker he only knows as Bugs. There are two things he does know: Bugs is a woman and she is going to be his one day. As the danger to his family increases, so does the information Bugs shares with him until she goes silent and his greatest fear becomes reality. His family’s enemies have discovered her.
Junebug Rain lives in a world of zeros and ones. Her only comforts are her sister, Midnight, the anonymity of the hacker world, and a special hacker named Jam-man. When her talents lead her and her sister into the dark world of government assassins, mercenaries, and foreign coups, her home is no longer safe and she seeks safety with the one man in the world she trusts–Jameel ‘Jam-man’ Saif-Ad-Din.
Junebug is being hunted for her skills and the billionaire who wants her will do anything to capture her–including using Jameel as bait. Cast out into the world alone for the first time, Junebug will use every one of her skills and talents to protect the man she loves from the danger threatening them both, but will it be enough?
Prologue
Andrius Bronislav's elegant home,
Near the capital city Vilnius in Lithuania
Andrius Bronislav reached out one hand and gripped the mantel of the fireplace. Gas logs flickered behind the tempered glass and the heat rolled over him, but nothing seemed to penetrate the chill that had settled into his soul. The authorities had shut down his profitable mining operation in Brazil and confiscated all of his assets. Millions of dollars disappeared in a matter of hours.
He closed his eyes as a wave of bitterness swept through him. His hatred burned, leaving a sour taste in his mouth as he opened his eyes. He would kill the family behind his destruction if it was the last thing he did!
"I'm tired of your excuses! I want results! Everyone I have sent against the Saif-Ad-Din family has failed," Andrius raged.
The small group of mercenaries he had assembled remained silent. Andrius threw his crystal goblet of wine against the wall, and the men shifted with unease.
I am surrounded by imbeciles, he savagely thought.
Andrius glared at the group. The three men standing near the door of his office either lowered their eyes or looked away in response. The lone woman, sitting on the couch near the window, remained unfazed.
His hand tightened on the handle of the cane he was heavily leaning on. His crippling pain and severely scarred skin were gifts from the government, given during their attack on his former compound.
Colin Coldhouse, owner of Cold Methods Security, had disappeared shortly after the attack. Andrius didn't know where the man was… or if he was still alive, but Colin's reckless brother and dozens of other highly trained members of Cold Methods Security were dead.
Andrius had lost billions of dollars' worth of equipment and facilities. They had all been destroyed or confiscated by the Lithuanian government. His vast fortunes were virtually gone, along with his ability to move unhindered around the world.
He was confined to the very few countries willing to look the other way—as long as he spread some of his dwindling cash reserves against the palms of greedy government officials. Not even bribery was enough for him to remain in his home country, however. For that, he had needed his few remaining loyal contacts and the dirty secrets he held on a handful of powerful politicians.
"Perhaps the others failed because you are approaching the… situation… from the wrong angle," the woman suggested.
Andrius turned his ire on her. She was young — the youngest of the group — and she stood out from the others. The three hardened mercenaries were not unlike the ruinous Colin Coldhouse. She was the young hacker he had hired to stop the digital attacks that continued to drain his wealth. Her ebony skin was smooth, her curves were pleasantly round, and her eyes were highlighted by wide-rimmed glasses. She wore a bright red, orange, yellow, and black tie-dyed t-shirt dress and black leggings.
The only characteristic she shares with these men is the look in her eyes, he observed. Cold, hard, and calculating.
"Leave us," he ordered the men with a dismissive wave of his hand.
He kept his eyes locked on Allison's as the men silently retreated from the room. She returned his stare with a cool one of her own.
Andrius painfully walked over to the chair near the window and sank down onto the plush, floral-patterned fabric. He stretched his injured leg out and rubbed his thumb along the handle of his cane.
Allison rose from the leather couch, crossed the room, and poured two glasses of scotch from the crystal decanter on the side bar. She returned, holding out one glass for him in her right hand while she sipped from the left. He took the offered drink.
"What angle do you propose?" he inquired.
Her lips curved in a self-possessed smile, and she returned to her former position on the couch. She kicked off her ridiculously high, bright red heels and curled her legs up onto the couch. Her dress rode up over her leggings.
No, she is nothing like the professionals I have dealt with in the past, Andrius irritably thought while appreciating the young woman's unusual confidence.
"You're going after the Saif-Ad-Din family with brute force. Granted, that will be the end result, but it is like hitting a six-foot-thick concrete wall with a rubber mallet and expecting the wall to crumble. They… on the other hand… have been slicing away at you like a surgeon with a sharp scalpel—cutting you where it hurts without ever needing to come at you directly."
Andrius gritted his teeth and gripped the handle of his cane until his knuckles turned white. Allison wasn't telling him anything he didn't already know.
"Get to the point."
Her features froze at the acid in his voice, her eyes flashing with unease, before she shrugged her shoulders and dipped her head in acknowledgement that she was treading on thin ice. She took a sip of the scotch before cradling it in her hands.
"Everything in this world is digital now. Hell, even your refrigerator and washing machine talk to the web! If there is a connection, there is a way in, and a way to follow you. You've been focusing on the guys making the decisions, not the guy getting the information. Information is the key. No one else can do a thing without it! You need to cut the legs out from under the Saif-Ad-Din family, and the only way to do that is to take out Jameel Saif-Ad-Din, their personal computer guru. I know what kind of person Jameel Saif-Ad-Din is. I know the way he thinks, and I can put a tourniquet on what he is doing. However, if you really want to stop the Saif-Ad-Din family from draining you dry, you need to stop him permanently," she said.
Andrius frowned. "That is what I hired you for."
Allison swung her legs off the couch. An excited gleam appeared in her dark brown eyes. She leaned forward, as if afraid to say what she was about to tell him out loud.
"This will require a specialist," Allison began.
A frigid wave of anger seared through him.
"You are telling me that I should have hired this specialist instead of you," he said softly, menace emanating from every word.
Allison's own temper flashed in her eyes, but her tone was professional when she spoke. "Think of me as a consultant. I'm the expert who assessed your situation and found you the right person at the right time."
"Well, consultant, if your only use is finding someone better than yourself, you are worth a fraction of what we agreed I would pay you," he growled.
Allison glared. "Listen, I'm damn good at what I do, and you are extremely lucky that I am the consultant you have hired—because I'm the only one who can get this specialist for you." She lifted the glass of scotch and drained it.
"Really?" he asked derisively.
Allison gave him a predator's grin. "I know her weakness. It's a certain hacker called Jam-man… who also happens to be that pesky Jawahir prince I've been defending your accounts from."
Andrius narrowed his eyes. "How do you know?"
Allison stroked her finger along the rim of the glass in her hand. "I told you; I know Jameel. We went to school together and, unbeknownst to him, we hang out in MMOs. I know his coding. He's gotten better, but so have I. Over the last few years, Bugs has been raiding with us. I know there is something going on between the two of them. Their chemistry is scorching."
Her eyes were determined, and Andrius detected a hint of something calculating and personal within her speech. Jealousy, envy… or both? Either emotion could be a powerful influencer.
Oh, he thought. Wouldn't that be delicious? The jilted lover plotting to destroy her old flame, and using her nemesis to take them both out at the same time. He hid his grin. Entertainment aside, this was business.
"The specialist's name is Bugs?" he asked incredulously.
"Yes."
"And how do you know that this 'Bugs' is who I need?" Andrius asked with an assessing look.
"She's the talk of the dark web… a legend among elite hackers. If you have her, you have the world at your fingertips. Rumor has it that no one can match her coding—not even the most powerful governments in the world," Allison said.
"If this hacker is so phenomenal, why isn't she working for the American government?" Andrius demanded.
Allison snorted. "Are you kidding? Government types don't understand us. They would squeeze us until we're dry, then tuck us away where we can't do anything. If they got their hands on Bugs—let's just say it is scary to think what they could make her do. No, hackers like us do better working freelance," she explained.
"Fine. I'm interested. How will you use the prince to get her?" Andrius inquired, tapping his finger impatiently on the handle of his cane.
Allison lifted her chin and gave him a tight smile. "This is where my plan gets interesting."
As Andrius listened to Allison outline her plan to entice the mysterious hacker into a trap, hope rekindled within him.
Perhaps I have been approaching this from the wrong angle, he thought.
Control came from the person who held the digital world in the palm of their hand, and that person would fear him. He would have it all. He would be successful in bringing down the Saif-Ad-Din family. He would reclaim his empire. All he needed was a little persuasion and the right bait.
One
New York City
Present Day:
"You can let me out here," Junebug Rain instructed.
"You got it," the Uber driver, John, cheerfully replied.
Junebug stared with wide, excited eyes at the arrival terminal of JFK International airport. She had never been here before, even though she had been born and raised in the city. In fact, there was a lot of the city that she had never explored… at least, not in person. Virtually, she had been everywhere thanks to her older sister, Midnight.
"Have a nice day," John called out.
Junebug, lost in thought, pushed open the door of the compact SUV and slid out. She slung her backpack over her shoulder and stood looking at the entrance with a mixture of awe and exhilaration. She started forward with a small group of enthusiastic travelers, following them as they entered the building.
Even in the pre-dawn hours, the airport hummed with activity. She scanned the lines forming in front of the agents before bypassing them and heading for security. She fished out her passport, the ID she was using, and her global security pass.
Eager and weary travelers alike glanced at her as she passed them. Quite a few men stood a little straighter, hoping she would notice them. Quite a few women sighed, glared, or elbowed their partners. Junebug was oblivious to the disruption she was causing.
"Tyler, watch where you're going!" a woman hissed.
The crash of a suitcase into the metal sign caused it to fall over. The woman's curses combined with the man's defensive muttering. Several people chuckled.
"I didn't see it," Tyler was protesting.
"That's because you were watching her!" the woman snapped.
Junebug continued to the security gate. She had memorized the sections of the airport that led to the area she was going, and she glided through the early morning travelers with an ease that belied the butterflies fluttering in her stomach. This was the first time that she had ever been in an airport in her life! She presented her documents to the TSA officer and gave him a brilliant smile that left many people around her feeling dazzled, then collected her backpack and computer, and continued on toward her gate.
Junebug stepped onto the moving sidewalk. Her delighted expression made an older couple chuckle. She ignored them as she leaned forward to study the way the metal pieces fitted together to create the walkway.
"Where are you going?" the old woman asked.
Junebug straightened and blinked. "A long way from here. Why do you want to know?" she asked.
The woman looked startled. "I… because it seems strange that you are traveling alone," the woman replied.
Junebug stared at the couple before she shrugged, turned, and walked away.
"Well," the woman softly exclaimed with surprise and indignation.
"When you look like that, who needs manners?" her husband teased.
Junebug thought about what the couple said. They thought she was rude? And how would someone's appearance affect their manners? Midnight had warned her about talking to strangers. It was none of their business where she was going... or why she was alone. So, who was the rude one in this situation? Bugs didn't actually know, but she quickly forgot about it as she got closer to her gate. The first leg of her flight would take her to London. She would plan her next leg after that.
All of this had come about a bit unexpectedly. It was the result of a conversation with her sister, Midnight, and the encrypted message she had received. She bit her lip as she processed her decision. Midnight was the one who physically handled dangerous missions and saved people in trouble, but this time the danger was personal.
Neither of us should stay home right now... but it won't be forever. It can't be.
Junebug paused in front of a departure message board and stared up at the changing flights, destinations, and times. Her flight would be boarding in fifteen minutes. She had booked First Class so that she could board first and wouldn't have to talk to people. The idea of saying a complete sentence to anyone but Midnight was enough to send her into a panic attack—well, almost. She was doing ok so far. Maybe this wouldn't be as bad as she thought.
Still, chatting with faceless people online who didn't use their real names was much preferable. She could handle that. It was the in-person stuff that was difficult. Having to look at them, make small talk about things she didn't know or couldn't care less about, that was what scared her. She liked the cryptic language of computers.
"You can do this, Junebug. You've got this," she muttered to herself.
"Do you need help finding your gate?"
Junebug stiffened and partially turned toward the deep, friendly voice. A swift glance gave her all the information she needed: male, approximately 26 years of age, brown hair, brown eyes, Hawaiian shirt, board shorts, crocs… with socks, and a worn carry-on. Threat level on a scale of one to ten: two.
The only reason Hawaiian Shirt made it to a two was because of the appreciative way he was looking at her. He seemed to be hoping he would get lucky if they were on the same flight. No chance of that.
