Jace
Clipper the Ripper’s gravelly voice sounds from the monitors as I race into the living room.
Server instability.
External manipulation suspected.
Silas curses under his breath, already on his feet, typing furiously. “Same node as last time? Are you fucking serious?”
“It’s someone internal.” Kieran scans the logs, jaw tight. “Has to be. The signature’s almost identical.”
“Or someone is copying it,” I add, already snatching up my laptop and heading toward the garage door. “Which means they’ve seen the data.”
Silence settles like a rock sinking to the bottom of the ocean.
Callie.
She’s been quiet since we told her to get the fuck out.
Too quiet.
I’m still chewing on the idea as Eris comes down the hall, hair wet from her shower.
Her slouchy ripped tee and dark jeans short circuit my thoughts.
I swear it’s like she doesn’t know the kind of damage she does just by existing.
Like she hasn’t unraveled all three of us in under four days and fit right into our home as if we built it just for her.
“It can’t be fixed from here,” she guesses, stopping in front of me. “You’re going in?”
“Security pinged the anomaly five minutes ago. We’ve got eyes on everything, but…” I shrug. “We want to be sure.”
“I’m coming.”
Silas doesn’t even look up. “No.”
She arches a challenging brow. “If you’re going to try ruining my day, at least look at me while you make the attempt.”
I can’t help the grin that tugs at my mouth. “Let her come.”
Silas finally glances up. “Why? We’ll be occupied, and she’ll have nothing to do.”
“I’ll be on my best behavior, sir,” Eris smarts with more animation in her voice than I’ve heard from her. “Just put me in the corner with a deck of cards, or a bag of candy, or—”
“This is your fault,” Silas tells me, pointing at her.
“If it’s Callie…” I say evenly, ignoring the way he clearly wants to argue with Eris, and she’s happily instigating him. “She’s going to want to see who goes in and who’s left here. There’s nothing she can do if we all go in.”
Kieran exhales slowly, then nods. “Fine. But you stay close to Jace or me. Leave Silas to his tasks, or he’ll bite our heads off.”
“Not exactly a hardship.” Eris rolls her eyes. “What kind of trouble could I possibly get into?”
That earns a low huff of a laugh from Kieran and a sharp look from Silas that says, Don’t encourage her.
I step closer to her, lowering my voice. “Are you sure you want to come? We could be hours.”
Her gaze lifts to mine, unbothered in a way that makes me uneasy and stupidly proud at the same time. “I don’t like being kept in the dark.”
“Neither do we.”
“Then we’re aligned.”
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.
“She’s poking all of us on purpose,” she says. “Trying to get a rise.”
“We don’t get provoked easily,” I murmur, stepping in behind her. “Neither do you.”
She glances over her shoulder. “Don’t I?”
“Only when you want to.”
I brush her hair off her shoulder, and she turns, putting us so close that the air changes. The heat of her hand brands my chest, marking me as hers.
I’m learning nothing is ever accidental with Eris.
“Have you ever done anything inappropriate in your office, Jace?” she asks.
I chuckle. “Define inappropriate.”
Her expression is wicked and calculating. “Something that would make me want to come in your office.”
I take her by the hips and lift her onto the glass desk without a word. She gasps, more surprised than startled, fingers catching in the front of my shirt like she’s preparing to drag me down with her.
Movement to my left has me glancing briefly away from Eris.
Silas.
He doesn’t interrupt. He watches from just inside the doorway, arms crossed and gaze intent, as if this is part of the equation now.
I step between her knees, leaning in until my mouth brushes her throat. “This isn’t my office, Eris. That’s at home.”
“If you’re going to pin me here…” she threatens around a quiet moan that I feel more than I hear. “You better mean to enjoy the consequences.”
I grin. “Do you really think I’ll leave you hanging?”
Silas steps further inside, his presence filling the room even before he says a word. The door opens as soon as he closes it.
Kieran stops on the threshold, taking in the scene, assessing the situation I’ve put our goddess of discord in.
He leans back against the wall and says evenly, “You always start the party without me?”
Eris looks between the three of us, a dangerous smile stretching across her lips as if she’s just remembered exactly how much control she has.
“Can we take this home?”