Chapter 18
Cain
Leo has been avoiding me for three days.
The way he takes the stairs instead of the elevator. The way his emails are shorter, more careful. The way he doesn't meet my eyes when I pass him in the hallway.
He knows I know.
I let him stew. Let him imagine what I'm going to do. Fear is more useful when it's had time to curdle.
At 4:32 PM, I text him: My office. Now.
He's at my door in four minutes. Not three which would have been eager, almost hopeful. Not five which would have been defiance. Four. The sweet spot of someone who's been waiting for the axe to fall and is too terrified to delay it.
He's sweating. I notice the moment he walks in. Beads on his forehead. Damp patches under his arms. He's trying to look calm, but his hands are shaking.
"Close the door."
I don't invite him to sit. I stay standing by the window, back to him, watching his reflection in the glass. I want him to feel the weight of my silence. I want him to remember it later, when he's lying awake wondering if he still has a job.
"You've been avoiding me," I say.
"I..." He stops. Swallows. "I thought you were busy with the William deal."
"Leo."
The sound of his name makes him flinch.
"Three days ago," I continue, "I asked you to check the security feed. I asked you to tell me who'd been accessing the system without authorization. You sent me a report." I turn to face him. "An incomplete report."
His face goes pale. "I sent you everything I had."
"You sent me what you wanted me to see. You left out the part where you gave Rose Sophie administrative access."
The words land like a physical blow. Leo's mouth opens. Closes. Opens again.
"Cain, I can explain."
"Then explain."
He runs a hand over his face. He's not lying; I can see that much. He's a terrible liar. That's why I hired him. The man who can't deceive is useful for security. But he's also useful to people who know how to use him.
"She came to me," he says. "Three months ago. She said someone was following her. Said she was scared. Said she needed to monitor the floors more closely, but she didn't want to bother you with it."
"She told you she was being stalked."
"Yes."
"And you believed her."
"She's a board member, Cain. She's someone you trust. Why would she lie about something like that?"
Because she's been in love with me for years. Because she watched me get married, then watched me get divorced, and decided to wait. Because she's patient in the way only the truly obsessed can be.
But I don't say any of that. Instead, I say: "And you didn't think to verify? To check with me?"
"I thought I was helping."
"You thought you were being a decent human being." I step closer. "Leo, I'm going to tell you something, and I need you to understand it completely. You don't get to be a decent human being. You're my security lead. You get to be paranoid. You get to assume everyone is lying. That's your job."
He nods. His eyes are wet. Guilty. Genuinely ashamed. "I know."
"What else did you give her?"
"Nothing. Just the cameras."
"Which ones?"
He winces. "All of them."
All of them. My office. The hallways. The elevators. The apartment. She saw everything. Grey in my office. Grey in my apartment. Grey in my bed. She saw me watch him. She saw me want him. She saw me break.
"Did she copy anything?"
"I don't know. Maybe. She had access for three months. She could have downloaded whatever she wanted."
Three months. She's been sitting on this. Watching. Waiting. Choosing her moment. I walk back to my desk and sit down. The anger is there, cold and sharp, but I need to be clear-headed. Grey is at his apartment, packing, waiting for me to tell him it's safe. I can't afford to lose focus.
"Here's what's going to happen," I say. "You're going to give me every text, every email, every conversation you had with her. You're going to tell me exactly what she accessed and exactly when she accessed it."
"Yes."
"And then you're going to have a shadow. Benjamin. He'll be with you at work. He'll be with you at home. He'll be with you when you take a shit. Consider it... protective custody."
Leo blinks. "You're monitoring me?"
"I'm protecting my assets." I lean forward. "You made a mistake. A big one. But you made it because you were trying to help someone who asked for help. I understand that. I'm not firing you."
"Not yet?"
"Not yet. But if you ever, ever give anyone access to anything without my explicit authorization, you're gone. I don't care how long I've known you. I don't care how sorry you are. You're gone."
He nods. "Understood."
"Now get out. Send me everything by end of day."
He walks to the door. Pauses. "Cain... I'm sorry."
"Get out, Leo."
I sit in the silence for a long moment. Then I pull out my phone and call Rose. She answers on the first ring.
"Cain." Her voice is warm, almost flirtatious. Like she's been waiting for this. "I was wondering when you'd call."
"You accessed my surveillance system. You manipulated Leo. You used his decency against him."
"I used what was available. You should be impressed. I've been planning this for a long time."
"Planning what?"
"To get your attention." She pauses. "It worked, didn't it?"
I close my eyes and take a deep breath. When I open them, my voice is flat. "What do you want?"
"You know what I want."
"Tell me anyway."
"I want him gone. I want you to send him away. Terminate him. Whatever you have to do. Just get him out of your life."
"And if I don't?"
"Then I'll make him go. One way or another."
The threat lands. I feel it in my chest, a cold, sharp pressure.
"Rose," I say quietly. "If you touch him, I will destroy you."
"You can try."
"It's not a threat. It's a promise."
She laughs. Not a pleasant sound. "You think he's safe because you're there? You think he's innocent?"
"I don't care if he's innocent."
"You should. You should ask him what happened the last time someone found out what he really is. Ask him why his mother left."
The words hit like a knife. I don't respond.
"Think about it, Cain. You have forty-eight hours. Then I go public with everything."
She hangs up.
I stare at the phone for a long moment. My hands are steady and my mind is clear, but inside, something is burning. Grey's past. The sealed juvenile record. The mother who walked away. I always knew it was there, but I didn't dig. I told myself I didn't care. But now Rose is using it like a weapon.
And Grey is alone in that apartment, packing his things, waiting for me to tell him it's safe. I dial his number. He answers on the first ring. "Cain?"
His voice is shaky. Nervous. He's been waiting for me to call. Has he been sitting by the phone this whole time?
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I'm at my apartment. Packing."
"Good." I pause. "Listen. I need to tell you something. About Rose."
"What about her?"
"She accessed the surveillance system. She's been watching us for months. She has footage. She has everything."
A long silence. Then, softly: "Everything?"
"Everything."
Another silence. Then: "What do we do?"
I close my eyes. What do we do? What do we do when someone knows everything? What do we do when someone is determined to destroy us?
I should stay here. I should find out exactly what she has before I move. That's what the strategic Cain would do. The one who built an empire by being patient, by waiting for his moment, by never letting emotion make decisions for him.
But Grey is in that apartment, and he has been scared his whole life of being found out, of being left, of being too much for anyone to want. I can't be patient.
"I'm coming to get you," I say.
"What? No. You have meetings."
"Fuck the meetings. I'm coming to get you."
"Cain."
"Don't leave the apartment. Don't open the door for anyone. Wait for me."
I hang up before he can argue and walk out of my office. Rose's office is at the end of the hall. I stop at her door. She's inside. Standing by the window. Phone in her hand. She turns when she sees me.
"Going somewhere, Cain?"
"Stay away from him."
She smiles. "Or what? You'll threaten me again? You'll protect the little stalker who broke into your apartment? Who's been collecting your things like a lovesick teenager?"
"You don't know him."
"I know enough. I know he has a past he's been running from. I know you don't know what it is. And I know that when you find out, you'll stop seeing him as precious and start seeing him as a liability."
"Rose, I'm going to say this one last time. If you touch him, I will burn your life to the ground."
"You're choosing him over me? Over your career? Over everything?"
"Yes."
"Then you're making a mistake," she says.
I turn and walk away. Her voice follows me down the hall.
"Forty-eight hours, Cain. Think about it."
I don't look back.
The elevator is empty. The descent feels endless. The lobby is crowded with people I don't see. The doorman says something I don't hear. I'm already in the car. Already on the way to Grey. The streets blur past. My hands are steady on the wheel. My jaw is tight. My heart is pounding.
I have never loved anyone. Not like this. Not in a way that made me reckless.
But Grey makes me reckless. Grey makes me want to burn the world down just to keep him safe.
And I will.