"And I never have to hear from you ever again?"
"Never."
"They could kill me for this," he tells me what I already know.
"I wouldn't ask if it weren't absolutely necessary."
"You must be desperate if you're calling me."
"Can you do it?"
"Child's play, Silver. Of course I can do it. It's whether I'm willing."
"Please." I hate how the word sounds slipping out of my mouth but come to terms with the fact that I would say anything to get him to agree.
"Fine. Send me details. I can get you in for a few days, but that's it, do you hear me? I won't risk my life any more than I have to for you." Archer hangs up, not giving me a chance to thank him.
"Who was that?" Cora asks me.
"Only the best hacker I've ever come across."
"He can really get a feed in The Manor? How's that even possible?" Miller leans against the counter and looks right at me.
"There isn't anything this kid can't hack, I'm telling you, he's damn good." With my phone still in my hand, I know there's another phone call I need to make, one that I don't want to do in front of them. "I have another lead I need to follow up on. You two okay or are you going to fist fight?"
I could cut the tension between Miller and Cora with a fucking butter knife. The two of them need to fuck it out of their systems and get over it. I don't know who's more stubborn, and it isn't helping our situation.
"I'm fine," Cora says, her default statement I'd love to erase from her vocabulary.
Miller shrugs. "I don't know what you're talking about."
I roll my eyes and step toward Cora, kissing her cheek briskly. "I'll see you later, Angel." Grabbing onto Miller's shoulder on the way to the door, I tell him, "Don't fuck this up."
He doesn't bother responding and I don't care either way. I leave them behind to deal with whatever is going on between them and dial Dominic the second I'm in the parking garage downstairs.
"Yeah?" he answers.
"Dom, it's Silver. Can we talk? It’s urgent."
"When?"
"Now."
"Meet me at The Manor." He hangs up, and I head directly there, not wasting another moment or allowing myself to feel guilty about not discussing this with Cora first.
Her trust is important to me, but it means nothing if I lose her to Ricardo...and I refuse to let that happen.
The drive is short, made even shorter by the broken speed limits and red lights I've run. I don't care about anything other than the steps that need to be taken to free Cora from Ricardo, and the sooner I do that, the sooner we can begin our happily ever after—whatever that might be.
I pull up in the line of cars, park behind a construction truck, and hop out of mine, hitting the lock button on the key fob and marching straight into The Manor. People attempt to make eye contact with me, and I have to navigate around construction workers, but I don't pay a single one of them attention, the only person I'm here for is that big and brutish old man.
Catching his eye,I continue walking, not turning around or acknowledging him. I head straightintoone of the secluded rooms off the lobby and wait for him tofollowme in.
"What's this about?" he says once he's inside.
I take in his perfectly polishedexterior—the tailored suit and shiny cufflinks. Dominic is a man of class andsophistication, something Ricardo knows nothing of. He's brutal and known for his ruthless nature, and I wouldn't be surprised if he could crush me with one word to any of his henchmen.
"I know about yourproblem," I start. "I found your mole. He's dead. But not before he told me who he was working for."
