TheCostaswant a war, andIfully plan to obliterate their entire operation, brick by digital brick.
Myheavy boot taps the floorboards as the terminal hums.Thesolid heat ofKaila'sarm presses firmly against my bicep, grounding the rage into lethal focus.Keepingher secure means finishing this job.
5
KAILA
Myeyes burn.Theblue light from the six monitors arrayed in front of me feels like it’s bleaching my retinas.Blinkingis impossible.Thetarget is too close.
Stale, recycled air fills the loft, charged with enough static electricity to jump-start a tank.Underneaththe ozone, the heavy scent of pine and gun oil blankets the room.Daniel.
Asolid wall of heat presses against my back.Hismassive frame towers behind my chair, radiating a possessive energy that threatens my concentration.Iforce my attention back to the screen.Lettingthe towering tracker distract me gets people killed, even if he kissed me senseless an hour ago and left me aching inside his oversized leather cut.
"Focus,Ghost," he growls.Thelow rumble of his voice vibrates through the heavy leather draped over my shoulders.
"Iam focused,"Isnap back.Myfingers fly across the mechanical keyboard he gave me, the clatter echoing over the hum of the cooling fans. "Thisencryption is nasty.Arolling algorithm shifts the pathways every timeIbypass a firewall."
"Don'tlook for the door," he commands, leaning over me.Alarge, scarred hand plants onto the desk next to my mouse. "Lookfor the window they left open for the money."
Greedalways makes these bastards sloppy.
Ishift my code, abandoning the brute-force attack to slip into the sub-routine managing their external accounts.Myribs vibrate with the force of my pulse.Theheavy, thudding rhythm prepares my body for a physical fight.
"There,"Iwhisper.Astream of data flickers on the third monitor, revealing a transaction log. "They’rerouting payments to a private server node in theEasternCliffs.Apayroll drop."
"That'sthe compound,"Danielsays, hot breath washing over my neck. "IsolatetheIP.Pinit down."
"I'mtrying, but?—"
"Doit,Kaila."
Thecommand rings with absolute certainty.Hisunwavering belief pushes my fingers faster.Grittingmy teeth,Iexecute the script and lock my lungs.
Thechaotic stream of numbers freezes on the screen.Ablinking red dot appears on the geo-map, confirming the coordinates.
"Gotyou,"Ibreathe. "Ifound the node.Wehave eyes on the compound."
Neitherof us moves.Theglowing red dot illuminates the dark loft.Thatpixelated marker forms my brother's cage, representing our first real victory against theCostas.
Athick arm reaches past my shoulder.Danielgrips the power cord to the main comms unit and rips it out of the wall, severing us from the rest of theClubhouse.
"Daniel?"Ispin my chair around. "Whatare you?—"
Dark, dilated eyes lock onto mine.Aferal hunger burns in his stare, fueled entirely by the fact thatIsit before him wearing his leather vest and nothing else underneath but cotton panties, my jeans discarded on the floorboards where he’d kicked them aside.
"Wefound him," he grates out. "Youdid good."
"Wedid good,"Iwhisper.
Denim-clad thighs bump against my bare knees.Theoxygen evaporates from the loft, replaced by pure tension.
"Itold you," he murmurs.Largehands grip the arms of my chair, caging me. "IpromisedIwouldn't claim you until the filth washed away.Untilwe secured a victory."
Iswallow hard. "Wehave a win."
"Yeah."Hisintense gaze drops to my lips, trailing lower to where the heavy leather gapes open over my cleavage. "Wedo."
Itilt my chin up, meeting his descent.Hismouth crashes onto mine—a brutal claim, no questions asked.Hedevours my lips with a feral, desperate hunger tasting of dark roast coffee.