“The diamonds?”
“Yes.”
“Were there processors embedded in certification hardware?”
“Yes.”
He absorbs things quickly.
“They were going to use distributed modeling systems through legitimate supply chains.”
“Yes.”
“To destabilize financial forecasting? Infrastructure analysis?”
“Yes … and more.”
Each answer strips another layer away.
“And if you had cleared it cleanly?” he asks.
“I probably would have disappeared,” I reply. “Quietly. Permanently.”
His expression shifts.
“Because you’d know too much.”
“Yes. They would have taken me back to Russia or some other country where they would continue to use me.”
“And now?”
“Now I am a liability to very powerful people.”
The word hangs between us.Liability.Hawk steps closer. Close enough that I feel his warmth again, but he doesn’t touch me.
“You didn’t hesitate upstairs,” he says.
“I did,” I correct softly. “Just not long.”
His voice lowers.
“Why?”
I hold his gaze. This is the moment. I can still choose to deflect. Telling him means there is no more distance.
“Because if I cleared it,” I say quietly, “I would have been free.”
He doesn’t look away.
“And I didn’t want that freedom if it meant becoming what they expected me to be.”
His voice is steady.
“And what did they expect?”
“That I would always choose survival over integrity.”
Silence settles around us.
