Chapter 22
TWENTY-TWO
E llie’s heart raced as she crouched behind a stack of crates in the dimly lit warehouse. The air hung heavy with tension, a stark contrast to the bustling streets of New York City just beyond the walls. She glanced at Zy, his muscular frame taut with anticipation, then at Adonis, whose piercing eyes scanned their surroundings with calculated precision.
“Are you sure about this?” she whispered, her voice barely audible.
Zy’s hand found hers, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “We’ve got this, Ellie. Trust me.”
She nodded, drawing strength from his touch. The past few days had been a whirlwind of emotions and revelations. Learning about the stolen code in her game, uncovering the betrayal within Zy’s company, and now this high-stakes sting operation to catch the culprits. It felt surreal, like something out of one of her video game plotlines.
A soft beep from Adonis’s earpiece broke the silence. “They’re here,” he murmured, his body coiling like a spring ready to unleash.
Ellie held her breath as the warehouse door creaked open. Two figures entered, their faces obscured by the shadows. As they moved closer to the center of the room, the weak overhead lights illuminated their features.
Ellie’s blood ran cold. “Oh my God,” she gasped, recognizing one of the men. “It’s Grant.”
Zy’s head snapped toward her, his eyes flashing with concern and barely contained fury. “Your ex?”
Before she could respond, the second man spoke, his voice dripping with arrogance. “Well, well, cousin. Fancy sniffing you out here.”
It really was Corbett. Zy’s cousin. The pieces of the puzzle suddenly clicked into place, and Ellie felt a wave of nausea wash over her. This wasn’t just corporate espionage – it was deeply personal. They were both targeted by Corbett and Grant.
Zy stepped out from their hiding spot, his presence commanding the room. “The game’s over, Corbett. We know what you’ve done.”
Corbett’s cocky grin faltered for a moment before he regained his composure. “And what exactly is it that you think I’ve done, dear cousin?”
“Cut the crap,” Zy growled. “We know you stole our proprietary code and implemented it in Ellie’s game. The question is why?”
At the mention of her name, Ellie emerged from behind the crates, locking eyes with Grant. Her ex-husband’s face contorted into a sneer.
“Well, if it isn’t the ice queen herself,” Grant taunted. “Still riding on the coattails of others, I see.”
Ellie bristled, but before she could retort, Corbett’s laugh echoed through the warehouse. “Oh, this is rich. You mean to tell me you haven’t figured it out yet, Zyan?”
The use of Zy’s full name seemed to flip a switch. Corbett’s devil-may-care attitude evaporated, replaced by a simmering rage that made Ellie take an involuntary step back.
“You want to know why?” Corbett spat. “Because you’ve had everything handed to you on a silver platter. The company, the respect, the adoration of the family. And what do I get? Passed over for lead engineer, stuck doing menial tasks while Vince gets all the glory.”
Zy’s brow furrowed. “Corbett, if you wanted more responsibility, you could have come to me. We’re family?—”
“Family?” Corbett scoffed. “Don’t make me laugh. You’ve never seen me as an equal. So when Grant here approached me with an opportunity to take you down a peg, how could I resist?”
Ellie’s mind reeled. “You... you planned this together?”
Grant’s smirk made her skin crawl. “What can I say? Great minds think alike. It was almost too easy, really. Corbett steals the code, passes it to your new programmer – who, by the way, was more than happy to sabotage you for the right price – and voila! The great Elliot Madden, brought low by her own game.”
“You bastard,” Ellie hissed, her hands clenching into fists.
“Now, now, darling,” Grant drawled. “No need for name-calling. Here’s how this is going to go. You’re going to kill that little game of yours, or I’ll make sure the whole world knows about your stolen code. Your reputation will be in tatters, and this time, there won’t be any coming back from it.”
The threat hung in the air, heavy and suffocating. Ellie felt her dreams crumbling around her, years of hard work and dedication about to be wiped away by the vindictiveness of two men.
But then she felt Zy’s presence beside her, solid and unwavering. She looked up at him, seeing the determination in his eyes, and found her own resolve strengthening.
“No,” she said, her voice clear and strong. “I won’t let you destroy everything I’ve worked for. Not again.”
Grant’s face twisted with rage. “You little?—”
What happened next unfolded in a blur of motion and sound. Corbett, seeing his plan unraveling, lunged at Zy with a roar of frustration. In an instant, both men shifted, their human forms giving way to massive tigers.
Ellie stumbled back, awe and terror warring within her as she watched the two beasts clash. Teeth and claws flashed in the dim light, growls and roars echoing off the warehouse walls.
“Ellie, get down!” Adonis’s voice cut through the chaos.
She dropped to the ground just as a gunshot rang out. Her head snapped up to see Grant, wild-eyed and desperate, aiming a pistol directly at her.
Time seemed to slow. She saw Grant’s finger tightening on the trigger, heard Zy’s anguished roar, and then... Adonis was there, throwing himself in front of her as another shot cracked through the air.
“No!” Ellie screamed as Adonis crumpled to the ground.
In that moment, Zy tore away from Corbett’s lifeless body. With a bone-chilling roar, he launched himself at Grant. Ellie could only watch in stunned silence as Zy’s massive tiger form tore into her ex-husband, ending the threat once and for all.
When it was over, the warehouse fell into an eerie quiet, broken only by the labored breathing of the wounded and the drip of blood on concrete.
Zy shifted back to his human form, his eyes wild as he scanned the room. “Ellie? Ellie, are you all right?”
She nodded numbly, her gaze fixed on Adonis’s still form. “We need to get him help. Now.”
Zy was already on his phone, barking orders for a cleanup crew and medical assistance. As they waited for help to arrive, Ellie knelt beside Adonis, applying pressure to his wound.
“Hey,” Adonis croaked, his eyes fluttering open. “You okay, boss lady?”
Ellie let out a watery laugh. “I should be asking you that, you idiot. Why did you do that?”
Adonis managed a weak smile. “Couldn’t let anything happen to my brother’s girl, could I? Besides, you’re family now too.”
Zy joined them, his hand resting on Adonis’s shoulder. “Thank you, old friend. We owe you everything.”
As the paramedics arrived and whisked Adonis away to the specialized shifter clinic, Ellie found herself enveloped in Zy’s strong arms. The events of the night crashed over her, and she clung to him, letting his steady heartbeat ground her.
“It’s over,” Zy murmured into her hair. “You’re safe now. We both are.”
Ellie pulled back slightly, meeting his gaze. “Zy, what are we going to do about the code? My game...”
To her surprise, a soft smile played at the corners of Zy’s mouth. “Ellie, I love you. And I want you to be my wife – not just my mate, but Mrs. Ashford in every sense of the word.”
Her heart skipped a beat. “What? Zy, we’re already mated. Why?—”
He silenced her with a gentle kiss. “Because I want the world to know that you’re mine, and I’m yours. In business and in life.”
Tears welled in her eyes. “I love you too, Zy. But the code?—”
“Is yours,” he finished. “There’s no such thing as proprietary information between husband and wife, right? What’s mine is yours, including that code.”
The weight of his words hit her, and Ellie felt her knees go weak. “Zy, you can’t... that’s your company’s intellectual property. I can’t ask you to?—”
“You’re not asking,” he said firmly. “I’m giving it to you. Your game, our future – they’re one and the same now.”
Overwhelmed by the magnitude of his gesture, Ellie buried her face in his chest, letting the tears flow freely. In the span of a single night, she had nearly lost everything, only to gain more than she ever thought possible.