Chapter 36 The wild thing about saving everyone else is that you never expect to be in the line of fire yourself. Word buzzes around the office that I'm a dick of a boss. That I'm the reason Liora was crying in the first place, and then that I had at her again in the conference room. The latter part is true, though, not the way they assume. But because of that, I get a series of glares, and people leave me the fuck alone for once. Even Champagne does, and that's fine. I need time alone to work. And work I do. I create a worm and insert it using a vulnerability in the operating system on Liora's father's computer. He has five folders that are heavily password-protected, including a fail-safe feature where if the wrong password is inputted three times in a row, the folder is erased. But with the worm, I have ultimate access and carefully transfer everything in each folder over to a safe drive I have that isn't tied to any of my systems. I'll sort through all of this tonight. I was going to do all of that now, but after Vega showed up this morning, I don't want Liora home alone for long. Speaking of that... I pull up my cameras and frown when I realize Liora's car isn't in the driveway. She told me she was going straight home after work. I check my watch. She left forty-five minutes ago. Even if traffic is a total nightmare, she should still be home by now. A wave of uneasiness hits me, and I go to the app I have on my phone for the Porsche. I don't track her phone. I know that's an invasion, and I am trying not to do my usual... ways. But the car I can track, and when it shows me it's six blocks away in a parking lot at the university, I know something is very wrong. I call her phone, and it rings and rings before her voicemail picks up, and fuck this. The security I set up on her doesn't start until tomorrow. I get out of my chair, grab my Leatherman from my desk drawer, and shoot for the exit, checking the status of her phone as I go. My fist slams into the elevator button, and I step on the moment the doors open. Her phone is on, but she's intentionally not picking up. Why the motherfuck is she not picking up? Goddammit! I pace the elevator, growing more restless by the second. Something isn't right. And where's Hazel? Is she with her? Her father is in his house in Maine. Their cars are in the garage, and his phones are there. No one has come or gone all afternoon. But that doesn't mean Vega isn't with her, and I don't know because I haven't gotten access to his phone yet. He's good. He's smart. He knows not to click on anything, and I haven't gotten close enough to him again to bypass that. The moment my feet hit the lobby, I take off at a sprint, following the tracking on the car and dodging people on the sidewalk left and right. If someone hurt my girl, either of my girls, they're dead. Adrenaline has me running like I've never run before, but I come to a screeching halt when I reach the edge of the parking lot and see Liora talking to Vega in front of his car. They're not fighting. There's no shouting. She's calm. Hell, did she just... laugh? Slowly I creep my way along the shadows, keeping my steps light. Silent. "There's no way this will end that way," Vega says, and Liora runs her hands through her hair. "It's an easy thing. I leave. I take Hazel, and we go far, far away." Vega shrugs. "He's a hacker, Liora." She sighs. "He's not." "Don't lie. We know what he is and what he can do." "So that's it?" Vega shrugs. "Are you willing to walk away?" "Yes. In a heartbeat," she tells him adamantly. "He means that little to you?" Liora glares. "If I say no, my father will kill him out of spite. If I say yes, you won't believe me, even if it's true. It's a no-win." "So he doesn't?" "Fuck you. How's that? I never should have worked for him or accepted his help when he offered it. I'm here talking to you. I'm offering to leave. Vander knows nothing, but more than that, my father would be an idiot to hurt him. He's connected to some pretty powerful people." "And if you walk, are you telling me he won't chase you?" Sᴇaʀ*ᴄh the ƒind ηøᴠel.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. She throws her hands up. "I can't control what Vander does, but I doubt it. Why would he?" "You're lying to me, Liora. That doesn't instill a lot of trust." This guy is so still, he hardly breathes. He never moves. Never shifts. Never adjusts. He just stands there like a statue with a holstered gun on his back. She laughs. "Why on earth should I trust you?" "If you tell me the truth, I might be able to save him. And you." "Now who's lying?" she throws back caustically. "You're threatening my child and my boss's life. What am I supposed to say?" "The truth." She folds her arms and shifts her weight. "The truth is I will do whatever I have to do so my father doesn't hurt my people. That's my truth." "Do you honestly not care what happens to your father?" "If I could kill him myself, I would. I wouldn't even hesitate." "And what about Vander? Does he love you enough to put himself on the line in the same way?" I take another step, and Vega grins. It's a real grin, and it makes me wonder if he knows I'm here even if Liora doesn't. "Vander doesn't need to be involved. Not in anything." "Your words and account of what you overheard about your brother's death are hearsay, not proof, and are hardly even evidence." She blinks at him and takes a step back. "What does that mean? That sounded very... legal." "Perhaps it was. Perhaps, like you, I was waiting for all the pieces to come together. Have they come together, Vander?" Liora's head whips in my direction, her eyes wide before they fill with fear. "What are you doing here?!" She steps toward me but puts her back to me. Almost as if she's going to block me from him. It's cute, but hell, is it going to get her punished later. "Me? Are you fucking insane? Who does shit like this, Liora? Who seeks out someone who threatens them?" "You told me he was FBI! I thought he was. I came here to protect you." "Oh, Angel, you are in so much trouble." She rolls her eyes. "I'm not the one in trouble. He's going to kill you. He just said that." She shoves me back. "You can't be here. Go!" "He's not going to hurt me, baby," I tell her, wrapping my arm around her waist and yanking her to my side. "Are you, Agent Shien?" "What?" Liora cries, her head flipping back and forth between us. "Agent? But you just said⁠-" "FBI, criminal investigation division. I told you this morning he was." "Yes, but he just put up a whole lot of pretenses to the contrary." Liora is trembling so badly I think her knees are about to give out on her, and I hold her tighter to me. Shien tilts his head, but he doesn't look surprised that I know he's FBI or annoyed that I told Liora. He wanted me to figure it out. It's why he showed up as a fake FBI agent and gave me that bogus name. It's why he dropped the bomb about my hacking and what I was arrested for and did it again with Liora this morning. He's known who I am and what I'm capable of all along. And he wanted me to act on it before he'd own up to anything. The FBI hit a wall in their investigation and needed a hacker. "I take it no one else could gain the access to Corbin James you were after," I surmise. He gives me a look. "Sometimes things fall into place when you need them to.' He glances at Liora. "As you said, your father reads your mother's texts. That's how he knew you were working for Vander and Monroe Securities. He didn't like it. Actually, he was enraged about it." His gaze swings to me. "He said he should have killed you years ago when he had the chance. We'd been stalled out of his systems. We were in some things, but not in enough of others. I volunteered to come here and feel things out and if necessary, send you both a message." "I never told my mother I moved in with him, though." He shrugs. "I did. I needed him to keep me here." Liora covers her face with her hands and laughs into them. "Jesus Christ. This is just... this is just insane." Her hands fall to her thighs with a smack. "Okay. Now what?" "Now Vander gives me what he has, and the FBI takes it from here." I shake my head. "Nice try, but no dice. I'm not giving you anything and incriminating myself or keeping Liora, Hazel, or her mother in any danger while you build your case." "I could arrest you now." "But you won't," I counter. "You need what I found on his computer, his password-protected files, and if you arrest me, you won't get them. Not ever." "We don't exactly have a lot of time. He went on a rampage tonight. He wants you dead before midnight." He points at me. "Then I guess you better start making deals, Agent," Liora comments dryly, and I do my best to hold in my amusement. "Because I'm positive you're going to want what I know as well, which is more than a little hearsay, and I won't give you anything if you don't offer Vander full immunity. I mean, we are helping you." "And I'm saving your lives." "Babe, I've been living on this side of my father's crazy and evil for a long time now. You're not scaring me." I choke on a laugh but shrug. "You heard the lady." With a long, stern look, Shien turns and walks off, pulling his phone from his pocket. Likely to make a call and get this done. But the moment he's out of earshot, I twist my little angel around, smack her ass hard with one hand, and tug her hair back with the other so I can kiss her. "What the absolute fuck were you thinking?" I snarl against her lips. "First, this isn't what we talked about doing. Second, do you have any fucking clue how dangerous what you did was? I told you I was going to handle it." I bite her lip in frustration and relief. "And you would have been dead by midnight." She bites mine back. "Obviously not since he's FBI. Where's Hazel?" "With Katy." I smack her ass again and fist her hair, holding her tighter to me. "Do you have any idea? Any at all? You can't take risks with yourself like that." My forehead meets hers. "I love you. I can't lose you again. Not ever. It's you and it's Hazel and it's us. That's what we said." "I know my father. I know how he works. I had to do something. I couldn't sit on this and wait. Not anymore." My eyes close, and my breath tumbles from my lungs. "Never again, Liora. You're never pulling a stunt like this again." "You're sweaty." I grunt a half-laugh. "Yeah, that's because I sprinted over here." She pulls back and cocks an eyebrow at me. "Speaking of, how did you find me?" "The app on the car. I didn't track you per se." She rolls her eyes. "Semantics, and you know it." "You keep pulling shit like this, and I will stalk you. But first, I'm going to tie you up and edge you all night so you can't run around and put yourself in danger." "We can play that game later. Along with those toys you bought for me." Somehow, some way, my dick surges. I hug her to me. "This has to happen tonight." "I know." "If it doesn't, I'm taking you and Hazel away." "My mother will die." I cup her face in my hand. "If the FBI doesn't want what I have, I'll find someone who does. But I can't imagine it's in their best interest to allow your mother to die." "Fine. You might have a point with that." Her head drops to my chest. "I still have my key in my hand and can cut his carotid with it. If he won't make a deal, his ass is mine." I cough out a laugh, and shockingly, so does Shien. "Then I guess it's a good thing I'm ready to make a deal."