“Why?”I asked.
“It may not be safe,” she answered firmly.“Come, sit.”
“I don’t want to si?—”
Just then, the door to my den opened, and Katherine quickly stepped through, closing the door behind her.
“Katherine,” I stated, shocked to see her.“What are you doing here?”
I’d been asking to see her for days, but no one would let me.Had Daniel finally allowed her to leave their suite?
Her eyes shot to mine, the bruises from the week before on her face fading into a yellowish purple and brown, the colors angering me instantly.
“I came to see you,” she answered, quickly sauntering over to me.“What’s going on?Why is the house in complete disarray?”
We both sat down on the couch, our knees almost touching.I glanced at Sloane, who stood against the wall, watching us intently.How much would she let me speak?
Turning back to Katherine, I caught the worry in her tired eyes.
“Earlier, my tracking signal had been disrupted, so Darren had the entire estate lit up to find me.But I was in one of the parlors the whole time,” I said with an eye roll at the end.
Katherine frowned as she looked down at my diamond-studded collar still secured around my neck.“That’s quite a reaction, especially since you’re clearly still here.Why hasn’t anything calmed down yet?The guards are all acting like an attack is imminent.”
I looked away for a moment, fearful of giving voice to the words.“Because Darren has a…theory…for the signal disruption that he wants to investigate.”
Her frown deepened as she dipped her chin and tilted her head.“A theory?”
I paused as I looked in Sloane’s direction—not directly at her, but enough to see her in my periphery to judge her blank expression.We both knew what I had heard, and I was sure she understood the context, but I was not willing to divulge more than that.So I shrugged my shoulders and brushed it off.
“I don’t know much more beyond that.Although it did seem like Darren and Daniel were arguing about it,” I offered, hoping to steer the conversation in a different direction.
Katherine sighed as she looked down at her lap to fiddle with her hands.“I’ve noticed they’ve been fighting a lot more lately.Ever since the attack on the server farms, Daniel has been even more unbearable than usual.”
I felt my heart stop mid-beat as my breath caught in my lungs.“Wait.What did you just say?”
Katherine glanced back up at me, confusion knitting her brows.“Didn’t Darren tell you what happened?It was a huge deal,” she exclaimed.
I shook my head, trying not to seem too eager for the information I was practically foaming at the mouth for.“No, I’ve barely seen him.What happened?”
Katherine’s eyes widened as her shoulders tensed.“Some group attacked three of Triguard’s server farms and wiped out all three buildings with explosives.The company is in complete disarray because of it.Almost everything was lost.”
I could feel my body start to shake from the adrenaline rushing through my veins, my stomach dropping straight to the fucking floor.
Breathe, Jaden.Don’t forget to breathe!
When I didn’t respond because I was still too busy trying to covertly catch my breath, Katherine placed her hand gently over mine.
“Jaden, are you okay?You look paler than usual,” she remarked.
Sucking in a large breath to get my brain to work, I shook off the trembles that were gathering up my spine.“I’m fine,” I said, my mouth dryer than dust.“I’m just surprised Darren didn’t tell me.That’s pretty damn big.A data loss of that magnitude could bankrupt them.”
Katherine nodded.“I don’t know what’s going to happen to the family company, but it’s not looking good from what I keep overhearing.”
Holy shit.Holy shit.Holy shit.
“Do they know who was responsible for the attack?Was it Matt?”I asked, trying to conceal the desperation in my voice.
Katherine shrugged.“I don’t know.Daniel hasn’t said.The only reason I know any of this is because I overheard him arguing with Darren about it on the phone a few days ago.”