“Marrock keeping you up all night?” The words were out before Xander could think about it and he turned away from her.
“There Edwin came to visit, in the middle of the night.”
Xander bit his cheek, keeping his expression neutral. It annoyed him that Harper didn’t deny being with Marrock, though he knew full well that’s where she was...he wanted her to .... Hide it? That was absurd. Maybe he wanted her to realize how much it sliced him, to know how many nights she was spending in Logan’s bed. But the pure hatred he felt for Edwin pushed those thoughts to the side. He couldn’t stand people who preyed on those weaker than themselves and Edwin Greyson, didn’t know how else to be a human. “I guess that’s something Logan and I have in common,” Harper said. “Awful family members.”
Xander picked up the two files on the table beside Harper and quickly flipped through them.
“Hire her,” he said, handing it back to Harper.
“Jillian Levi? Why?”
“One of her jobs while in school was a part-time admin for a construction company. She can handle us.”
Harper shook her head at him. “What would people do if they found out how talented you were?”
Xander laughed. “Run the other way.”
Harper grinned at him, and for a moment, it felt like nothing had changed.
A beeping sound alerted him to someone entering the office. “Rest as long as you need to, Angel.”
Seeing her bordering on weakness only affirmed to him that keeping her at a distance was the right choice. Harper didn’t need him to be anything more than her boss and protector.
“Good morning, Meg,” Xander said. “Come on in.”
“Is it? I thought it was still nighttime. Anyways, look what we picked up. I believe this is legit.”
Meg bumped the corner of his desk, causing his tray of pieces to shake.“Sorry.”He smiled, thinking someone out there was going to find her adorable.
“Here, look at this.”
Xander took the iPad from her, looking at the censors that denoted the location of the technology they were trying to find.
“Mexico?”
“Yes, and if I combine with this”—Meg reached over and split the screens, showing a transcript of a phone call—“I think it’s likely the sale is going down, and I think the sale originated here, in this part of the world.”
His pulse raced, anger clouding his vision for a moment. If that was true, then the aircraft had definitely come from Dorian Martin.
“Time to get Team Stealth to the airport. Thanks, Meg.”
After Meg left, he called the Bandit Brothers and told them all to get to the airport, except for Erik.
“Xander, we’ve got a problem,” Ares breezed into the office.
“We have several. What now?”
“After we had that meeting with Dorian I put out my out feelers, seeing if anyone was searching for girls from Blakvasitakin. I thought it was a long shot but Dorian’s specific comment about a live-in whore made me want to cover the bases.”Xander’s mouth grew dry. Blakvasitakin was the country Harper and her family were from. “What did you find out?”“Someone has been looking for a girl around Harper’s age, from Blakvasitakin.”
Xander’s mind whirled. It could be a coincidence. But he didn’t believe in those.
“Is this the same ping as you got before, saying her family was looking for her?”“I don’t know, yet,” Ares said. “The first one related to her real name. This one is searching for any girls, her age on the Darknet.”
“We have to find out.” His heart hammered. Harper might think she was out of danger, but Xander knew better. He knew not to let his protection on her slip.“I know. We’re on it, we’re doing everything we can.” His brother was right, Xander shrugged his shoulders, trying to release the tension in his body.
“You good?” Ares asked.“I’m fine. You know you’re always after me to invest in physical things, instead of people.”
“Yes, I would like us not to work so hard,” Ares said with a smile.
