Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 77051 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77051 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
We walk to a nearby café. He buys me a matcha latte, and we sit on the patio in the sunlight. We don’t talk about work or trauma or cyberstalkers.
Instead, we talk about favorite childhood video games. His was GoldenEye 64. Mine was Spyro the Dragon.
“I used to try to burn all the sheep,” I admit.
He laughs, head thrown back. “You’re terrifying.”
“You love it.”
He reaches across the table and brushes his knuckle down my cheek. “Yeah. I really do.”
And I melt. I fucking melt.
We’re walking back to the car when we see them.
Helena. And Andrew.
In the middle of the city park.
Kissing.
As in, full-on, lips-devoured, tongue-to-tongue, scandalously intimate kissing.
I freeze mid-step. “Wait—what?”
Gage grabs my elbow. “River, wait—”
I spin toward him, heart slamming against my ribs. “Andrew’s married, right? With two kids?”
“Yep,” Gage says grimly. “He is.”
“And Helena works in HR. Just like Tasha.”
We look at each other. Something shifts in the air between us. Something sharp. Dangerous.
“I think we should follow them,” I say.
Gage doesn’t argue.
They walk along the park path, hands brushing occasionally. Helena looks around a few times—clearly trying to keep this secret. Andrew looks far too relaxed for a man cheating on his wife in broad daylight.
They stop at a food truck. Talk. Exchange something—too quick to see.
“What was that?” I whisper, gripping Gage’s arm.
“No idea,” he mutters. “But we’re logging this.”
We follow them to an alley behind a bookstore. Andrew hands Helena something small. A flash drive?
“Holy shit,” I whisper. “They’re sharing something else.”
“Encrypted data? Access credentials?” Gage murmurs. “Could be a link to Regent.”
“They’re both high enough in the company to pull files. If one of them works with Tasha…”
Andrew leaves first, heading back toward his office tower.
Helena lingers, then ducks into a black car parked on the street.
“I don’t like this,” I say, heart pounding. “What if Tasha is working with them?”
“She might be,” Gage says quietly. “This whole thing is bigger than one traitor.”
I look at him. “Then it’s time to burn it all down.”
He nods.
But I can see the flicker in his eyes. The fear. The pressure.
Because now we’re playing with fire.
And someone’s going to get burned.
TWENTY-SIX
GAGE
I don’t let go of her hand until we’re inside the apartment at Riverside.
Even then, I hesitate.
River’s quiet. She hasn’t said a word since we watched Andrew and Helena disappear. Her mind’s working a mile a minute, I can tell. Mine is too. I just hide it better. Usually.
The second the door closes, I pull out my phone and shoot a quick encrypted message to the team.
ME: Just tailed Andrew K. and Helena L. They’re together. As in together together. Caught them kissing. Building looks unregistered. Helena’s not who she says she is.
Arrow replies almost instantly:
ARROW: No way. They’re both married.
Juno chimes in. I didn’t even know she was in this chat.
JUNO: HR kissing the boss. That’s an HR report waiting to happen. You think Tasha knows?
I glance at River. “You okay?”
She kicks off her shoes and throws her hoodie over the back of the couch. “I think I’m running out of people to trust.”
Fair.
I sink down beside her, elbows on my knees. “Helena being involved changes things.”
“Do you think she knows what Tasha’s doing?”
“Maybe. Or maybe she’s just another pawn.”
River snorts. “No one who wears that much MAC lipstick is a pawn.”
That gets a reluctant smile out of me. I lean back, letting my body soak into the couch cushions. “So, do we bait Tasha? Dangle the affair somehow and see how she reacts?”
River’s brow furrows. “Or maybe she already knows. I mean, she works in HR, right? She probably processed Helena’s transfer.”
I nod. “She could’ve facilitated it. If she’s in this as deep as we think, that wouldn’t be a coincidence.”
“But then…” River hesitates, chewing her bottom lip. “Why leak all the stuff about me? If she’s just trying to protect Helena, why go after me?”
I look at her. Really look at her. She’s sitting cross-legged on the couch, hair a little mussed, cheeks flushed from the wind outside, hoodie sleeves pushed up to her elbows.
She’s beautiful.
She’s brilliant.
And she has no idea how easily she gets under my skin.
“I don’t think this is about Helena,” I say finally. “It’s about you. Always has been.”
Before she can ask what I mean, my phone buzzes again.
ARROW: You need to see this.
A link follows.
I open it.
And the second I do, my heart slams against my ribs.
River’s voice.
My voice.
Moaning. Whispering. Saying things we’ve never said.
And then the visual kicks in.
A deepfake. Of us. In a bed. Together.
It’s so well done I have to watch for thirty seconds just to spot the render artifact in her left eye.
I close the tab before she sees it.
Too late.
She’s already grabbed her phone. Her hand’s trembling.
“I—” she chokes out.
“River, it’s not real.”
“But it looks real.”
“I know.”
She looks up at me. “It has to be Tasha. She’s the only one who sort of knows. Could we have been—?”