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17
Ghosts from the Past
~Mark~
I jerk awake. Sweat drips from my forehead and my heart pumps in acute awareness. My neck prickles and my muscles tighten sensing a threat. Not to wake up my bird sleeping curled next to me, I twist my head to look around. Nothing. Just a soft hum from the conditioning system greets my ears. But I can’t shake the feeling that someone’s watching us.
Something’s wrong.
Careful not to wake her up, I slip from her embrace. I kiss her hairline and brush the sweaty strands of her hair from the angelic face.
My instincts lead me out of the bedroom to the open living space where I find the door open to the private elevator. My throat tightens with unease, and I grab my phone from the sofa, dialing the security.
“We have a breach. You need to get here now!” I retrieve my gun from under the secret drawer and go to look around.
When the door to the elevator lights up, I let them in, and everyone spreads as the protocol demands. But there are no signs of an intruder. Afterward, the team gathers in my kitchen, and I close the door to our bedroom to talk to them.
“Someone was here. My elevator was open.” No one asks me if I forgot to close it, because they know I didn’t. With these men I train and work, they know me. I’m obsessed with security and I never disregard it. This compulsion manifested during my fucked-up childhood. I learned to sleep with one eye open, have a weapon next to me, and never turn my back on people I don’t trust. Anticipate the worst-case scenario. Shit, I got sloppy. And in the world I came from, you pay the price for this.
“I could dust for fingerprints and pass it to our friend to check if the system can identify the intruder, but chances are slim,” Tom assures me, and I nod, knowing he’s right.
“Whoever it was knew the code or had the card to get here.”
“We’ll look into it. Do you want us to look through the camera feeds?” Lee holds my gaze because he knows I have a woman in my bed. My insides boil that he even suggested it. But I need to know. Not knowing is not an option.
“We might get a glimpse of an intruder if we analyze the records. You know we work discreet, sir.”
I nod, and they grab my laptop to access the camera feeds.
My hands ball into tight fists, my blood boiling with anger. Whoever you are, this won’t end well for you.
I’m about to lose my temper, but Higgins walks in with rigid shoulders and an alert expression, and I know something else has happened. “What is it?” I bark.
“Mark, the Cades received the video from an anonymous sender just ten minutes ago. They’re demanding to talk.”
“What video?”
He pushes the tablet my way to let me see it. The video starts to play, and my insides explode with rage. I launch it into the wall so hard the device breaks apart.
“Fuck!” I roar.
My palms hit the smooth surface of the island as I try to calm my temper. I was never a person easily affected by such things. I lived through the worst. But this is something even I can’t stomach.
“Mark.” Her soft voice reaches me. Fuck! I failed to protect her, and now she might suffer for my mistakes. A sick feeling coils my guts in tight knots as I turn to look at her. “What’s going on?”
I squeeze my eyes shut, needing to find balance and curb the need to hide her from my past. To put as much distance between her and the monsters, so she would never know this world I came from. This never should have happened. I should have known better.
Her hand lands on my bare arm and I stiffen. “Mark, look at me,” she softly demands, and I give in. I pull her away from the team to talk privately while they work.
“Someone got in here,” I admit to her, watching her face become ashen. “I need to know who it was. We’re going through camera feeds right now.” I trace her features, twisting with confusion and eyes widening as she realizes what that means.
“Do they have to?”
“They filmed us.” I regret my words as soon as they leave my mouth, but I can’t leave her thinking these measures are unnecessary.
“What?” Her skin pales. I don’t think she can survive the humiliation and public exposure if this recording gets out. It will destroy her.
“How do you know this, Mark?” Cassandra asks the question I hoped not to answer.
