CHAPTER 65: A DEAL

Irina silently waited for Ethan to start talking and start talking he did, "let’s start with introductions first."

Ethan leaned forward a bit as he said, "I am Ethan Cross, Owner and CEO of one of the fastest growing company in the States as of right now."

This piqued both Irina’s and Michael’s curiosity and before they could ask, he added,

"OmniTech Corp."

Revealing his cards at this wasn’t a thoughtless move by him, rather if he needed her connections, support and the like, he’ll need to prove how valuable he was.

Both Irina and Michael were surprised. At this point, there was hardly anyone that hadn’t heard of OmniTech Corp or their first product, Sentinel.

It had been building so much hype that a couple of eyes had locked onto it, including Michael’s.

And of course he had tried digging into the actual brains behind the company but not once had he imagined the one would come finding him instead...well, more like finding Irina but same difference.

Still, that doesn’t make his dislike for the kid any less, but at least he now knew that he had the brains to back it.

Irina, on the other hand, calmly scanned his face for any bit of deceit, but spoke up when she found none, "I am Irina —"

"Irina Romanova," Ethan interrupted, "Third and youngest child of Alexei Romanova the head of a russian energy conglomerate, and finally the one known as the underworld queen."

"And apparently, you also have two brothers who are hell bent on taking you out since you’re your father’s favorite and the most likely to inherit a larger chunk of his wealth."

Irina’s expression immediately darkened, the first part was mostly general knowledge as she was pretty famous in the underworld but the last part?

That was only known to people close to her, like Michael and it was basically impossible to just randomly stumble upon with digging too deep.

"That last bit," she said slowly, her tone seemed calm but it was laced with warning, "is not something that’s ever been public. So tell me, Ethan Cross... how exactly do you know it?"

The living room of the penthouse had just gotten multiple degrees colder and it definitely wasn’t from the fact that they were so high up.

Her reaction was well understood, apart from her brothers, she had a lot of other people who wanted her dead.

And her brothers were more than willing to bankroll anyone with even the slightest grudge against her. If that piece of information ever leaked, the people who wanted her dead would be lining up for the resources her brothers could provide—resources they had in virtually endless supply.

Ethan’s reaction though remained the same. He seemed unaware or completely unaffected by her dark look and it was irritating Michael.

"Let’s just say, I have my ways." He replied with a small smile.

Yes he wanted to show that he was important but he had revealed more than enough cards for the night, Athena being an advanced AI would stay a secret.

"I see," Irina let out a sigh and leaned back, the temperature in the room returning to normal.

She could try forcing answers out of him but that wasn’t the right option, after all, Ethan might end up being useful.

"Now, to why I infiltrated your yacht," he continued, "I’d like to make a deal."

"And what type of deal exactly are you willing to make?" Michael asked.

His jaw flexed at the word deal, like it was an insult that this kid thought he could waltz and bargain with Irina.

Ethan ignored him entirely, his focus locked on her. "I want your network. Your connections, resources, and influence in... circles most people don’t even know exist."

Irina arched a brow, saying nothing.

"In exchange," Ethan continued, "I can give you something more valuable than money or manpower—technology."

"If you think we’d be interested in your cyber security software, then you’re just wasting your time kid." Michael said with a chuckle.

Yes, sentinel was cutting edge, yes, it was above any cyber security software anyone had ever seen, but compared to what the kid was asking for, it wasn’t nearly enough.

Ethan chuckled at his words, Michael really was annoying but since Irina was encouraging it by not saying anything, it meant that she was also curious, so he answered.

"Oh Sentinel is just the beginning," he said, "the world hasn’t even seen a fraction of what I plan."

Before Michael could say anything, Ethan cut him off as he added, "and who said Sentinel was only a defense software."

Both Michael and Irina raised a brow at his words, according to what they knew, Sentinel WAS a cyber security software.

Ethan chuckled again at their reaction before saying, "Sentinel is as much an attacker as it is a defender and the version shown to the public is the version I want them to have."

"The original Sentinel is capable of scanning any system, no matter how secured and even reveal exploitation paths all without being discovered."

This was how he got into Google’s systems in the first place, the only reason why he hadn’t announced or will not allow that capability of Sentinel to reach the public just yet, was because of the government.

If they knew its full capabilities, they’d want it for themselves, to gain an upper hand against every country in cyber warfare.

And he had to way to prevent them from confiscating his software, which was exactly why he also needed Irina and exactly why he was revealing so many cards.

"You’re saying," Irina began slowly, "that you have something in your possession capable of penetrating... anything."

"Anything," Ethan confirmed. "Banks, government defense grids, private satellites, as long as you have a single link to it, even something as simple as a public website, Sentinel can infiltrate."

Michael scoffed. "And you expect us to believe you’re sitting here, willingly giving away a gold mine?"

"You haven’t been listening Michael," Ethan shook his head, a bit disappointed, "I’m not giving away my tech, I’m just willing to grant her access to tech I might never allow to reach the public, all I need is her support."

The room turned silent after his words, with Irina wondering whether to believe him or not.

If he was really as capable as he was confident he was, then he’d be the upper hand she needed against her brothers.

As much as she hated to admit, her brothers had connections she couldn’t even dream to. Maybe as a result of their fifteen and twenty years headstart respectively, but it’d only be a matter of time before she was overwhelmed and taken out.

Despite her father’s fondness of her, if there was one thing that Alexei hated, it was weakness. So he’d never interfere in the battle between his children.

They had to prove themselves capable of his empire and as much as he knew of every action his three children took, he remained neutral.

Irina weighed the options. There was nothing to lose, if Ethan was telling the truth, then she would have gained an important piece but if he was just lying, then he’d have no one to blame for the actions she’d take.

Michael, however, looked ready to toss him out the nearest window. "Irina," he said, "this kid’s dangling shiny toys because he thinks you’ll bite. You can’t seriously be considering—"

She held up a hand, cutting him off without even looking his way. Her eyes stayed on Ethan. "You walk infiltrate my yatch, reveal knowledge you shouldn’t have, claim you can access any system in the world, and expect me to take you at your word."

"I don’t expect you to take my word," Ethan said. "I expect to prove it."

That got her attention. Michael opened his mouth again, but Irina’s faint smirk silenced him this time. "Prove it?" she repeated his words.

Ethan nodded. "Name a target. Something you consider impossible. I’ll have what you want before the sun completely rises tomorrow."

Her gaze didn’t leave him, but Michael snorted. "Fine. The Russian Federal Security Service’s internal comm logs. Get them without triggering so much as a ping."

This caused Ethan to pause and look back at her.

"What?" She asked with a smirk, "is that impossible for you or your Sentinel?"

Ethan was silent for a while before laughing, "I said something you consider impossible, not a bit inconvenient."

His words caused her to raise a brow, the security, both cyber and not was heavy and he was saying it was just inconvenient?

Was Ethan Cross really that confident or was he just a big talker.

"You’ll have your request tomorrow morning," He said before standing up, "and if I’m successful, do I have your word that your complete support would be mine?"

She looked at his serious expression before nodding, "if you succeeded, you’ll have my full support, including access to my resources."

"We have a deal then," Ethan smiled before turning to Michael, "where’s the shower? I can’t go back to my hotel room feeling like salted fish."

Michael frowned but eventually ended up pointing him towards the bathroom and Ethan walked to it.

Left alone with her, Michael turned to Irina and asked, "can we really trust him?"

"I don’t know," She replied, "but if there’s a chance he’s important, I want him by my side, not my brother’s."

Michael nodded and went silent, what was going through his head was unknown but one thing was for sure, he’d go with Irina’s decision for now.