50. Leo
LEO
I never wanted to look at a computer screen again in my life.
We’d been pouring over the files for days now and had turned absolutely nothing.
Hardly looking away from the screen, I fumbled around the end table for my energy drink — knocking over a few dirty napkins and empty takeout boxes. I hated that shit, it tasted like battery acid. But it was the only thing that could keep me locked in on the task at hand.
It was all a dead end.
Dom and I had pulled every file off of the remote server and had spent the days following reading though every file we could.
Across from me, Dom threw her head back as she rubbed at her face. “This might be a lost cause, Doc.” I wasn’t sure when she’d moved to the floor. Even from my spot in the living room chair, I could see how bloodshot her blue eyes were.
I didn’t want to admit that she was right. All of the emails were just old men jabbering on and on about weekend plans. There was no smoking gun.
Maybe they aren’t as stupid as we thought they were.
“We don’t need the cache to take over Zeus. We already have the shares.” Dom set her computer on the ground next to her.
Scoffing, I shook my head and kept scrolling. This wasn’t just about taking over Zeus. I needed to know who my parents really were. How involved had they been? Was all of this just a goose chase to distract us from whatever Isaac was planning?
Ignoring Dom, I clicked another email open. “Quiet down, silver spoon. You’re just a pussy about hard work.”
The dig clearly got under Dom’s skin, she stood from her place on the couch and crossed the room to me. Slamming the computer closed, Dom growled. “I know when to fight and when to save my energy.”
Just as I opened my mouth to reply, rising from my own seat, I spotted Kiera in the doorway.
Her brows were lifted in confusion as she watched us. If she hadn’t shown up, I just might have given Dom a taste of my rage. I had plenty of it to spare.
But the waft of delicious scent that accompanied my girl made all of that melt away for just a moment. Her hair was heavy and wet from a shower, smelling like every good fucking thing on the planet.
I wasn’t sure how she did that: took all of the weight of our circumstance and carried it without a word.
The glow of her green eyes told me she had been listening, that she knew I was about to kick Dom’s ass. All of this had become ridiculous, even Kiera took turns reading through endless files.
Dom must have been reading the same concern on her face that I was. Something was on her mind.
Dom hissed. “Spit it out, Viper.”
Sucking in a breath, Kiera crossed her arms. “I want to meet with Maura.”
“Absolutely not.” Dom and I barked in unison. We didn’t agree on much but we were both determined to protect our little captive.
Kiera stepped forward, undeterred. “I know she’s been in contact with Isaac. I can get answers from her.”
“Your mom doesn’t know shit.” Turning away, Dom leaned against the wood mantle.
“She might, she might know when Zeus is going public.” There was a determination now that hadn’t been just a few nights ago. When we’d sent Spencer off to talk with Caleb, I thought I’d gotten her off of this ludicrous idea.
Clearly not.
Kiera was at the center of the room now, pleading with me. “If she knew what he’d done, what he did to my dad… maybe she would tell me what she knows.”
My heart ached for her, watching her grasp at straws to believe her mother wouldn’t protect another evil man over her own daughter.
A voice in the doorway drew all of our eyes. “Even I think this is a terrible idea, Bunny.” Spencer’s arms were crossed, showing off her patchwork tattoos.
“This is bullshit. Everything else we’ve tried is a dead end.” Kiera was really pissed now, her chest heaving. “The Oracle is pissed and shut out. We’re stuck here with nowhere to turn. Poor Viv is just in limbo out there.”
She wasn’t wrong, we were racing blind through a maze constructed by a mastermind. And every corner was another empty corridor.
Her eyes flicked between all of us, pulling on our hearts and the trust she’d built with each of us. Goddamnit if she wasn’t the most beautiful little devil I’d ever seen.
“You all know that we’re running out of time.
Every day is more dangerous than the last. It’s now or never.
” Her words made the room silent, quiet enough to hear a pin drop on clouds.
Without a date for the IPO or any files to turn in, we would be completely screwed when Isaac pulled the trigger on going public.
We’d be forced to scramble together a plan to stop him.
With a date, one Maura just might have, we could create a real plan. Something that Isaac couldn’t counter.
Spencer blew out air. “Fuck.”
There was no stopping her. If I knew one thing about my Princess, it was that she’d do it whether I liked it or not.
Looking over at Dom, I clenched my jaw. “We’re better off helping her pull this off than risk her getting hurt because we both know she’ll do it anyway.”
Dom’s face turned to a snarl, hating that her new plaything wouldn’t be so obedient.
“What if it’s a trap?” Her blue eyes pierced daggers into me.
I turned my attention back to Kiera. “Then we’ll have to outsmart them.”