She takes another sip of her coffee, totally unfazed, as if we aren’t about to walk into a breach possibly orchestrated by a woman who thinks she still owns us.
I aim for the same level of calm as I hand Eris a special badge that gives her too much access to the entire building our office is in. But I don’t want her name on the visitor’s list in case the perpetrator of today’s breach is Callie.
“You stick with me.”
She takes the badge, fingers brushing mine. “Are you planning on losing me already?”
“Not a chance.”
Silas grabs his jacket. “We’re burning the logs the second we confirm who it is. We’ll put the app in temporary maintenance until we can secure the data and have Kevin write up a list of bullshit bug fixes.”
“And if it’s not her?” Kieran asks, shutting down the workstation. “Then what?”
“Then someone else is very interested in what we’re doing.” I meet his eyes and frown. “Or they’re interested in us.”
“Or…” Silas trails off, shaking his head. “Or it’s Callie hoping we’ll leave you or Eris here while Kieran and I rush into the office.”
“Lucky me,” she drawls dryly.
I nod at Silas. “Makes more sense when you really slow down and think it through, yeah?”
He doesn’t reply.
We’re beyond arguing or second-guessing as we lock up and climb into my SUV, looking like an assault team and our hot boss.
Reality isn’t as fun, though.
Today, we’re four people walking into a problem that’s already circling like a shark in crimson water.
As the garage doors slide shut behind us, Eris leans against the door and huffs a quiet laugh.
“You know, normal couples go out for brunch after the kind of night we had.”
Kieran snorts, amused by her comment. “Normal couples don’t get stalked by obsessive exes.”
She gives him a soft smile. “Are you telling me I bring too much chaos to this budding relationship?”
“I’m saying you bring a…” he pauses, searching for words. “A certain level of attention to whatever room you enter. It’s difficult to ignore you.”
“Thank you,” she whispers as if he’s deeply complimenting her. “I hate being ignored when I want attention, but I do prefer the introverted lifestyle most days.”
Idrive on autopilot until we reach the parking garage of our office building. Security has already logged the breach timestamp and pulled a name from the access badge. The front desk turns everything over to Kieran as soon as they see him.
I peer at the paperwork in his hand and frown.
Callie Monroe.
The she-devil doesn’t even try to hide it.
“She’s bold,” I mutter, watching the footage loop on the monitor.
“She’s stupid.” Kieran grunts, already turning away. “I’m heading to security to see if she left anything behind.”
“Take your time,” I tell him. “I’ve got my own priorities while we’re here.”
Fifteen minutes later, Eris and I are alone in the server-side wing. Silas is across the hall, buried in logs, but the look he gives me before the door shuts says he knows exactly what kind of distraction this is about to become.
Eris paces like a focused animal in a cage, beautiful in that sharp, dangerous way that never stops getting under my skin.
