Chapter 9
ACE
The August heat still hadn’t eased as I navigated the morning traffic toward Poppy’s office.
Sunlight glared off the cars around me, a stark contrast to the warmth radiating from the woman sitting in the passenger seat beside me.
My fingers tightened around the steering wheel as I glanced over at her, possessiveness surging in my chest.
Poppy had become my new favorite distraction.
It had been hard as fuck to let reality back in after the amazing weekend we’d spent together.
I loved having her in my space…which was quickly becoming ours.
Her adorable rambling was as cute as it was sexy, and I could easily sit and listen to her talk for hours.
She was sunshine and vivid color, bursting into my life and bringing joy I didn’t know existed.
Just being with her was almost as appealing as being inside her.
“You’re staring,” Poppy murmured, casting a sideways glance at me. Her lips quirked into a shy smile as a faint blush spread across her cheeks. “I can practically feel your gaze burning holes into the side of my head.”
“Can’t help it.” My voice was deliberately teasing as I offered her a lazy grin. “It’s not my fault you look that fucking good.”
Her blush deepened, and she leaned back into the seat with a soft laugh, shaking her head. “You know, I never thought I’d get used to your brand of flirting. It’s intense, but I kind of like it. A lot, actually.”
The earnest admission hit me square in the chest, causing a pleasant ache to form. I reached over, squeezing her thigh gently. “Good. Because I have no intention of stopping.”
The rest of the drive was filled with an easy silence until we pulled up to the building where she worked.
I leaned over and brushed a slow, possessive kiss against her lips, savoring the sweet little sound she made in response.
Her fingers curled into my cut, tugging me closer as her mouth opened eagerly beneath mine.
It took all my strength to pull away, my forehead resting against hers as I exhaled slowly, reigning in my control.
“Have a good day, baby,” I murmured, my voice rough.
“You too,” she whispered, her green eyes wide and a little dazed. “See you tonight.”
It wasn’t a question, but a statement. I couldn’t resist the grin that spread across my face as I watched her climb out and walk toward the building, waiting until she disappeared through the doors before finally pulling away.
Twenty minutes later, I was at the compound, making my way straight to my office. I dropped onto my chair and fired up my computer to dive headfirst into work, determined to continue unraveling the shitstorm I’d uncovered.
I’d been meticulously mapping time stamps, noting each instance of the repeating clearance patterns. It hadn’t taken long to confirm that someone was using compliance responses to test reaction times, probing for weaknesses, and searching for holes they could exploit.
Over the next few days, the probe clusters steadily grew.
My gut tightened each time I analyzed the data, watching as the seemingly innocuous transactions increased.
There was no immediate theft, no obvious signs of intrusion—just methodical testing.
Then the pattern widened. It wasn’t only our shell companies being poked at.
My irritation grew into anger, simmering steadily beneath the surface, a quiet determination taking root in my bones.
I hadn't yet managed to merge enough details to figure out exactly what was happening, but a picture began to take shape. And I didn’t like it.
By Thursday, I’d traced the clusters back to a single department—Poppy’s.
I exhaled sharply, sitting back in my chair and rubbing my jaw.
It made sense in a twisted sort of way. Poppy’s compliance department handled clearances, transaction validations, and financial auditing.
But something about the realization filled me with a protective anger.
I didn’t know how involved she was, but I did know, without a doubt, that if my girl had been dragged into this somehow, she was completely unaware.
She was everything the world wasn’t. Bright and innocent. And someone was using her department as their testing ground, jeopardizing her safety without her knowledge.
That wasn’t fucking acceptable. A fierce need to protect her from this shit burned through my veins.
I turned back to the data, digging deeper and pushing harder, determined to pinpoint exactly who was behind the probes and why.
This was no longer just business; it had become personal.
If this shit turned out to be dangerous, there was no fucking way I’d let Poppy be a casualty in someone else’s twisted power play.
The following day, I continued methodically analyzing every piece of data, connecting time stamps and validation windows while looking for the smallest pattern that would reveal the hand behind the scheme.
My back ached, and my eyes burned from staring at the screen, but I was too focused to stop now.
Then I saw it.
My pulse accelerated as I traced the clearance patterns again, double-checking just to be sure. But there was no mistake. Every cleared flag came from a single validation window—tied directly to a single employee ID.
Without hesitation, I reached for my phone, hitting Wizard’s number. He picked up after two rings. “What’ve you got?”
“Employee ID for the flag clearances.” My voice came out colder than I intended, my anger barely concealed. “Need you to confirm the source for me.”
I gave him the number, and he just grunted. Then I heard rapid typing on his end, the faint murmur of code shifting as he penetrated the company’s servers. There was a short stretch of silence before Wizard’s voice finally broke through. “The ID matches a junior compliance analyst—Poppy Fairbanks.”
A wave of rage surged through me, my jaw clenched so tight I felt a pulse in my temples as I ground out, “She’s being fucking used. Someone’s turned her into a passive filter, clearing the flags without knowing what they really are.”
And they were going to fucking pay.
Wizard was silent again, and in that beat of hesitation, I heard the unspoken skepticism.
He didn’t say a damn word, but I knew him well enough to sense his uncertainty.
And that made my anger burn hotter—not at him but at whoever had put Poppy in this position.
She wasn’t just collateral; she’d been framed as the fucking mastermind.
I didn’t bother trying to convince him since he wasn’t the one I had to worry about.
“Send me what you’ve got,” I told him, my voice clipped. “Compile everything we have. I’m gonna let King know we’ve got new information.”
“On it.” Wizard’s tone was cautious, but he didn’t say anything else as he disconnected.
I fired off a text to my prez.
Me
I have an update on the situation with the compliance probes.
His reply was quick.
King
Meet in my office in twenty.
I pulled together every shred of data I’d uncovered, added everything from Wizard, and meticulously arranged it into a secure file on the club’s server.
It didn’t take me long because I’d naturally kept it all organized from the beginning.
Every detail, time stamp, and pattern went into it—ready to be laid out clearly so King could see exactly what we were dealing with.
Once that was done, I stalked down the hall to his office.
My frustration was at an all-time high as I rapped once on King’s door and pushed it open.
He was already behind his desk, reading something on the screen of his laptop with his typical scowl firmly in place.
He looked up when I entered. His gaze was unreadable as usual—something that irritated the fuck outta me when we played poker.
But I still kicked his ass because my talent for reading people, especially when playing cards, was unmatched.
At the moment, though, I could only discern enough in his gaze to know that he was assessing me.
Nobody liked being the subject of his intense study—it made even the toughest of men want to squirm.
“You look different,” King observed, a hint of curiosity in his voice.
Now wasn’t the time to go into that, so I shut the door firmly behind me and crossed the room to stand in front of his desk. “Yeah, well, shit changes. But right now, we’ve got bigger issues to focus on.”
King nodded, his eyes narrowing slightly. “Show me.”
I laid out everything we had—clear but concise, leaving nothing vague or uncertain, except my relationship with Poppy. I’d get into that later.
“The micro-probes, the repeating clearance flags, the pattern—it’s all been coming from one validation window. One ID that belongs to a junior compliance analyst—Poppy Fairbanks.”
His eyebrow rose just slightly, his stare sharpening further. “The junior analyst you met with?”
“Yes.” I met his gaze without flinching. “And before you ask, she’s got nothing to do with this. Poppy is completely unaware. Someone is using her access without her knowledge.”
I held King’s gaze as tension stretched between us.
After a minute, I cut through the silence. “She has no idea she’s being used. I know that without a doubt.”
King leaned back in his chair, his gaze astute and penetrating. “How do you know?”
I shrugged. “She’s mine.”
The words were firm, leaving no room for doubt.
King held my stare a moment longer, then finally nodded, the last traces of tension easing from his expression.
He didn’t question me any further about her involvement.
He didn’t need to. King trusted his brothers implicitly, something I knew better than most. Still, I was grateful for his faith in me and relieved that he trusted my judgment without hesitation.
Something close to amusement flickered in his usually hard expression. “I wondered why you were so vague about what happened at the compliance office. Wouldn’t have guessed it was because of a woman.” Then he shrugged. “Hell, maybe I should’ve.”
I neither confirmed nor denied his suspicion.
“Only a woman would distract you from your reason for being there.” A faint smirk touched his lips, rare and oddly knowing. “The right woman.”
This time, I couldn’t hold back the slight smirk that spread across my lips.
“You’re not wrong,” I finally admitted.
His head tilted slightly, and one corner of his mouth twitched. “Does she know that yet?”
I shook my head. “Working on it. She’ll definitely figure it out when she sees two pink lines.”
The unexpected laughter from King was a deep rumble, utterly shocking and so damn rare unless he was with his wife or son. It felt like stumbling upon a fucking unicorn.
When his mirth abated, King shook his head in mock exasperation. “Guess I’d better let Flint and Razor know to keep the pregnancy tests stocked up. You boys are certainly doing your best to go through them.”
A chuckle escaped me. “You’d know all about that.”
King grunted, his eyes still amused. “Yup. Knocked up Stella right after we met.” I just grinned, and he squinted at me. “You planning on ruining my record?”
His mouth curved slightly when I nodded arrogantly. I hadn’t waited even a day to start working on getting Poppy pregnant. Hopefully, she already was.
King inclined his head toward a closet where I knew he kept a stash of extra cuts in a smaller size. “I’ll send a vest out to be embroidered today. It’ll be done early next week. Just let me know when you’re ready for it.”