Chapter 23 #2
My momentary confidence falters as Ezra pulls up another document, this one a detailed analysis of Travis’s online behavior labeled “Liability Assessment”. The clinical term turns my stomach. They’re discussing a living person as if he’s a spreadsheet entry, a risk to be calculated and managed.
I sink back in my chair, the leather too slick beneath my sweaty palms. The technical discussion had pulled me forward, engaged me as an equal. But this cold evaluation pushes me away again, reminding me that the Rockfords approach everything, even human lives, as assets or liabilities.
“Primary leverage points include employment stability and prior legal vulnerabilities.” Ezra highlights sections of the report. “Secondary pressure can be applied through financial channels or residential security.”
“English, please,” Saint interjects, his boot an impatient tap-tap on the floor.
Ezra barely spares him a glance. “We can threaten his ability to gain employment, expose his past, or freeze his accounts. Separately or in combination, we can make it impossible for him to live anywhere near here.”
My fingers curl into the armrests as the conversation continues, its terminology growing increasingly detached.
“Neutralization options.”
“Containment strategies.”
“Acceptable collateral impact.”
Each phrase strips away Travis’s humanity, reducing him to a problem requiring a solution.
Yet when they shift back to the technical challenges of how he might have masked his digital footprint and how to trace the RF receivers for the hidden cameras, I find myself leaning forward again, drawn into the discussion by the familiar.
“The transmitter range tells us he had to be within a hundred feet,” I offer, pointing to the specs of one tiny camera. “But he could route the signal through a secondary device to extend the range.”
Sebastian rubs his chin in consideration. “We can run a frequency analysis.”
“Yes.” Warmth spreads through me at being able to share this part of my life with someone who understands what I’m talking about. “Each relay point creates a signature disruption pattern.”
For a moment, I’m not the victim to be protected or the Omega to be sheltered. I’m a collaborator, contributing valuable insights to the operation. The feeling of being respected is intoxicating.
Then Gabriel mentions “cleanup procedures,” and reality crashes me back into my seat. The scale of their response dwarfs anything I could have imagined when I first blocked Travis online. This isn’t about protection anymore. It’s about the Rockfords eliminating a threat to what’s theirs.
Which now includes me.
My body betrays my conflict, shoulders hunching when they discuss worst-case scenarios, spine straightening when technical challenges arise. I’m caught between worlds, neither comfortable with their methods nor willing to reject their protection.
“We’re getting ahead of ourselves with cleanup procedures,” Saint cuts in, slicing through Gabriel’s explanation of digital footprint elimination. “Killing him too soon could mean losing valuable information.”
The temperature in the room drops several degrees. Milo’s fingers freeze above his tablet. Ezra straightens from his casual lean against the wall. Even Jade, who suggested the permanent solution at breakfast, turns his full attention to Saint.
“What kind of information?” Sebastian asks.
Saint’s jaw tightens, the muscle pulsing beneath his skin. “Travis was caught multiple times in the past, which points to sloppy behavior. But with Micah, his methods suddenly upgraded, and he was fast to disappear. It doesn’t add up.”
“You think he had help,” Ezra states, not a question but a confirmation.
“I think he had funding.” Saint’s eyes sweep the room, challenging anyone to dismiss his theory. “Someone saw a vulnerable Omega with an online presence and decided to outsource their sick fantasy.”
My stomach twists at the thought of not just Travis watching me, but someone else. Someone providing him with money and resources. Someone who might find another Travis if this one is removed.
“Interesting theory.” Gabriel taps his pen on the table. “But speculative. We deal in certainties.”
“Your certainties will get you a dead stalker and a new problem in three months when his replacement shows up,” Saint fires back. “Street tactics aren’t pretty, but they work. We take him alive, squeeze him for information, and if he squeals, we follow the money.”
“Both approaches have merit.” Sebastian steeples his fingers beneath his chin as he considers. “A hybrid strategy could serve us well.”
Gabriel scoffs. “Hybrid, how? We either eliminate the threat or we don’t.”
“We identify the root cause first,” Sebastian counters. “Then eliminate all branches.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time.” Jade pushes away from the door. “If this Travis guy does have a backer, maybe he’s connected to our other operation.”
“You’re grasping at straws,” Gabriel scoffs.
“At least I’m reaching for something,” Jade snarls. “It’s been two months since—”
“Enough,” the Alpha at the back of the room says. “If you can’t keep your personal emotions out of this, then take a walk, Jade.”
With a snarl, the young Omega turns and stomps out of the room.
Gabriel whistles. “Way to kick a kid when he’s down, Aaiden.”
“He’s not a kid. He’s a trained assassin who’s gone off the handle with good reason, but it makes him dangerous.” Aaiden stands from his seat. “He needs therapy, not more bloodshed.”
Silence falls over the room as the Alpha stalks out, and telling looks go around the room.
Then Sebastian shifts in his chair, turning his chair toward me. “What do you think we should do, Micah?”
Everyone’s attention swivels to me. Even Saint turns, his expression unreadable.
For a moment, with my mind still caught up in Rockford family drama, I can’t remember what we were discussing before.
And when I do, my pulse quickens. What answer will satisfy them? What answer will I be able to live with?
The two questions war within me, neither yielding ground.
“I…” My voice cracks, and I clear my throat. “I don’t want anyone killed.”
A ripple of reaction moves through the room, ranging from raised eyebrows, exchanged glances, and slight shifts in posture. Sebastian’s expression, though, remains unchanged as he waits for me to continue.
“But Travis needs to be stopped,” I add, finding strength in the words. “Not only scared off or warned. I’m not the first Omega he’s stalked, so even if we scare him away from me, he’ll just shift his fixation to someone else. Someone with fewer resources.”
Milo leans closer, his interest piqued. “And how would you accomplish both objectives?”
Instead of mocking, the question holds genuine curiosity.
I draw a deep breath, organizing my thoughts. “We combine approaches. Saint’s right that Travis might be working with someone else, and killing him could destroy a lead. But the Rockfords have resources Saint doesn’t.”
Saint’s boot nudges mine under the table in acknowledgment.
“Saint has contacts who can apply pressure without leaving official traces,” I continue, warming to my idea.
“The Rockfords have the legal power to crush someone through legitimate channels. If we combine both to trap Travis between street justice and corporate destruction, we can break him without killing him.”
The room falls silent again, but this time the quality of the silence is contemplative rather than judgmental.
“That… could work,” Ezra admits, respect flickering in his expression.
“A pincer movement,” Gabriel adds with a predatory smile. “Corporate death from above, street justice from below.”
“And we get our information without permanent solutions,” Saint concludes with satisfaction.
My skin prickles with nervous heat. Today, I’m taking an active role in a man’s downfall instead of allowing Saint to handle it for me. The ease with which I slipped into this side of their world fills me with both pride and discomfort.
Sebastian’s expression softens. “An elegant solution that meets all objectives.”
The praise washes over me, warming corners of my heart left cold for as long as I can remember. For all the moral complexities of this moment, being valued for my mind rather than protected for my status feels good.
“We’ll need to coordinate timing,” Milo says, already typing notes into his tablet. “Legal pressure first, to establish a paper trail for deniability.”
“Then street pressure,” Saint adds. “When he’s already off balance.”
“I can freeze his accounts through regulatory channels,” Ezra offers. “Nothing illegal, just bureaucratic hell.”
“I’ll talk to some people who can make his neighborhood less comfortable,” Saint counters. “So he can’t run back home when he burns through his cash.”
The planning unfolds with frightening efficiency, roles assigned and timelines established.
Throughout, Sebastian watches me, his attention never straying far from my face. When our eyes lock, an understanding deeper than words passes between us. He sees me now, not just as his Omega to protect, but as a true partner.
“So we’re agreed,” Sebastian concludes as the planning winds down. “We move forward with Micah’s approach. I want daily updates. He’ll crawl out of his hole when he’s pressed hard enough, and that’s when we’ll get him.”
Chairs scrape back from the table as the meeting adjourns. The Rockfords disperse, Gabriel with a parting wink at Saint, Ezra typing on his phone as he exits.
Saint lingers, his hand coming to rest on my shoulder, before Milo shows him something on his tablet, and the two move away, their heads bent in conversation.
Sebastian rises last, circling the table to stand beside my chair. His palm cups my cheek, thumb brushing across my skin in a gesture so tender it’s hard to believe it comes from the same man who orchestrated a campaign to destroy another human being’s life.
“You did well,” he murmurs.
The simple praise carries more weight than it should. Today, I earned a voice at the Rockford table, but their protection doesn’t come for free. It demands participation, alignment, and complicity.
As Sebastian helps me from my chair, I can already sense the shift taking root. The Rockford name carries power, but it’s coated in blood, and now some of it stains my hands, too.
For better or worse, I’ve claimed my place in the family.
Travis will be stopped.
And I will never be the same.