I sweep her classroom before the kids arrive.
I sit either in the hallway or across the hall in an empty supply closet with the door open.The idea is not to frighten the kids or draw attention.
Kai offers to swap detail with me.
I punch him again, and now he’s sporting a Band-aid over his nose.
Asshole can stay in the fucking truck.
I won’t trade places for anything.
There’s a school-wide trip scheduled for Saturday—some Broadway show.Big.Busy.Loud.
The kind of environment I hate securing because chaos is a predator’s best friend.
I insist on going with her.As in right next to her, not watching from a distance.
The principal is not happy.
But my boss offers to pay for the buses and donate the same amount back to the school.
That makes a difference.
Money always does.
And if that’s what it takes to keep her safe?
I’ll reach into my own offshore account and spend every damn cent.
No hesitation.
She’s worth it.
I’m outside her place in the truck, parked half a block down in the shadows like we do every morning.
It’s six-fifty, which means in twenty-five minutes, I get to walk up her front path, knock on the door, and see her sleepy little face light up like I’m not the devil in a suit.
Best part of my damn day.
I’m sipping bad coffee, watching the porch lights flicker on, when Kai suddenly sucks in a sharp breath beside me.
“What?”
“We got some intel,” he mutters, eyes locked on the tablet in his lap.
I snap my attention his way.
“Talk.”
He scrolls, face going tight.Then he reads it out loud.
“You know how we couldn't locate Marco Rosetto?And how we only suspected big brother has ties to that data leak case we’ve been tracking for months?Well it all just got confirmed.”
My spine goes rigid.
“Confirmed how?”
“Encrypted file dump.Cross-referenced with metadata from the initial breach.His signature’s all over it.Our sources say he just got back stateside, and the moron is in New York—been hiding out, but someone’s tracked him down.And these are somebad dudesafter him, bruh.Like, serious players.”
