6. hunter #2
“Not much. Her school record is clean. No family standing attached to her, no obvious money behind the transfer, no Quorum history under Matthews. She listed one emergency contact, a woman with a different last name. The woman is real, the number is real, but there’s nothing tying her to anybody here. ”
I looked at the contact information. Jade Bellamy.
The name meant nothing to me. The only thing that did stand out was the university.
Nichlas went to Westbridge, too, I mutter to myself.
Their majors didn’t match up and what little I knew about Westbridge, campuses were split by their academic track. They should have never crossed paths.
Malakai hummed as he read over my shoulder. “Parents?”
Ronan just shook his head. “Not listed in anything useful. No one connected to the application who gives us a reason for why she’s here.”
I sat back and looked at Echo’s photograph again.
Unknowns were a problem on their own. An unknown circling someone my father had personally protected was worse.
If she had come in under a known family, I could have called somebody.
If she owed a favor, there would be a person attached to it.
If she had money behind her, there would be a trail somewhere.
People at Aldrich didn’t just appear. They always arrived connected to something.
Ronan snorted as he nodded toward Kai. “You’ve been watching her longer than I have, haven’t you?”
Kai glanced at him, then back at the profile. “She’s pretty.”
The comment was casual enough that it might have ended there if Ronan hadn’t smiled. Malakai saw that and his expression changed just slightly. He crossed the short space between them before Ronan said anything else, caught him by the front of his shirt, and pulled him into a kiss.
Malakai kissed him hard, one hand still twisted in the fabric at Ronan’s chest, and Ronan let him take control for a few seconds before his hand came up behind Kai’s neck. Then Ronan bit his lower lip.
Malakai pulled back with a sharp breath, his eyes dropping briefly to Ronan’s mouth. The grin that followed was small but unmistakable.
I let them have another second before tapping my fingers once against the desk. “Enough.”
Malakai released Ronan and came back toward me without looking remotely embarrassed. Ronan settled into the chair again, mouth curved but attention returning to the problem now that Kai had shut him up.
I turned the laptop back toward myself. “They both went to Westbridge. Different majors and they never should have met but they definitely know each other.” I tapped the folder.
“Well, actually he knows her. And if he’s asking for more coverage because of her, that means she’s either going to be an issue or she’s dangerous. ”
Ronan’s expression lost the last of its amusement. “Or both. Hunter, I pushed him to answer what the fuck was going but Nichlas backed off. He started saying maybe he was imagining it, maybe she just happened to be in the same places.”
“After he asked for coverage.”
I glared at her file, suddenly intrigued because apparently Nichlas was important.
She might have answers I needed. “Find out who she is,” I said.
“Where she was before this, who she belongs to, who she talks to when she isn’t on campus.
And until we know why Nichlas is scared of her, keep an eye on both of them. ”
I opened my mouth to say something else when a knock on the door interrupted.
A growl of frustration slipped through my lips as the door swung open, Camille stepping inside with another woman from the Voss circle behind her, both of them dressed for something more deliberate than an afternoon on campus.
Camille had never needed permission to get this far into our space. Her family had been tied to mine too long for guards to stop her at the outer doors, and she knew exactly how much that access was worth.
Her gaze moved over Ronan, then Malakai, before settling on me. “You missed the message about Friday.”
I grit my teeth. “I saw it.”
Malakai leaned over to me so that his lips were inches from my ear. If Camille hadn’t been here, I would have punched him in the throat. “Why is your ex here? I thought we didn’t like her.”
We don’t, I told myself but I stuck my dick in crazy one time and now she thought she had access to me at all times.
Camille popped out her hip, placing a hand on her hip.
I tried to remember why I liked her but couldn’t.
“The mixer starts at eight. My father wants the final attendance numbers before tomorrow, and Desmond apparently wants the Quorum tables filled before anyone starts handing invitations to people who shouldn’t have them.
” She crossed the room while she spoke and set a thin folder on the corner of my desk.
The woman with her stayed near the door, quiet enough that Camille could pretend this was business while still having someone there to watch her conduct it.
I pulled the folder closer. Voss mixer, donor confirmations, family names, the usual list of people who expected to be seen in the correct room with the correct people. “Kai can send you the numbers tonight.”
Camille glanced at Malakai, but she didn’t direct the question to him. “And Nichlas?”
That made me look up. “What about him?”
“He’s been making noise again. One of our people heard he asked for more coverage.” Her eyes flicked toward the open file beside my laptop and then to Echo’s profile still sitting on the screen. She didn’t ask who the woman was, but I saw the moment she registered the name.
“Nichlas is handled.”
“I’m sure he is.” Camille came around the desk instead of staying on the other side of it, familiar enough with the room to know exactly where she could stand without technically being in my way.
Her hand settled briefly against my shoulder as she leaned closer to look at the paperwork. “You look wound up, baby.”
I turned my head and glared at her fingers slowly curling into my shirt. Camille left it there for another second before removing it. She had always been good at pretending a correction had been her decision.
“You’ve been buried in here all afternoon,” she continued. “You could let somebody help you relax before you start making everyone miserable.”
There had been a time when the comment would have meant something different between us. She knew that, and she had brought another person into the room knowing it. That was the point.
“Watch it, Camille.”
Her expression stayed smooth. “I’m still under your family’s protection.”
“That gives you safety. It doesn’t give you access to me.”
The woman near the door looked away fast enough to make it obvious she had heard every word.
For a moment, something harder showed behind her smile.
Then it disappeared, and she picked up the conversation exactly where she wanted it.
“Fine. Then make sure Desmond gets what he asked for before Friday. My father doesn’t want another argument over placements, and neither do I.
” She tapped one finger against the folder.
“And if Nichlas is becoming a problem, deal with it before people start asking why he matters enough to require extra attention.”
That was more useful than the rest of her visit. I held her gaze for a second, but she gave me nothing else. Camille knew how to carry information without admitting where it came from, and I knew better than to ask questions in front of an audience she had chosen herself.
“I’ll handle it.”
She nodded once, collected her friend, and left without trying to touch me again.
I swiped a stray glass off the table, letting it shatter on the floor before turning the laptop toward Malakai and Ronan.
“Find out who the fuck she is. Keep watching her, and don’t let her get close enough to Nichlas to turn this into something I have to explain to my father. ”
Malakai glanced at Echo’s profile again, a devilish grin spreading across his face. “I’m already watching her, boss.”
That did not make me feel better.