I lean forward slightly, resting my fingertips on the cool surface of the table.
“This position places you where few people ever stand, Harper.”
Her name slips out before I can stop it, low and deliberate.
Her eyes flash, but she recovers instantly.
“I’m aware. That’s why I accepted.”
A lie.
She accepted because Sera insisted. Because Harper refuses to run from anything and because part of her wants to prove she can walk back into my world and leave unscathed.
I watch her fingers hover over the keyboard, composed yet tense at the edges.
“We’ll begin with a systems map,” I say. “Kiro will escort you to the secure server room after this meeting. You’ll work under my oversight.”
Her brow arches, a subtle challenge.
“Directly under you?”
“Yes,” I answer. “Given the sensitivity, I prefer to supervise personally.”
“Professional oversight only.”
“Of course,” I reply, even though the words feel like iron in my mouth.
A moment of silence stretches taut between us—sharp, delicate, ready to snap. The air hums again, the same low frequency that lives in my servers and in my blood.
She clears her throat, turning the laptop toward me slightly.
“Show me the breach analysis.”
She’s deflecting.Smart.I allow it.
I circle to her side of the table, stopping just behind her chair. She stiffens almost imperceptibly, only because of how familiar I have been with her body.
Professional distance in this physical proximity?
I gesture to the diagram on her screen.
“Anton’s fingerprints appear on two of the packets. He’s either escalating or testing us.”
Her voice lowers. “And you want me to confirm which.”
“Yes,” I say. “And to tell me why his patterns intersect with files from your last assignment.”
She turns slowly in her chair, looking up at me. “So you think I’m involved.”
The accusation is quiet, but it lands like a slap.
“No,” I reply, tone cold enough to frost the table. “If I did, you wouldn’t be sitting in this room.”
Our eyes hold.
“You didn’t give me the incident-response timeline.”
“It’s in the shared drive. Folder labeledIgnatov Shield Review – Preliminary Notes.”
