Twenty minutes later, I was at the compound, making my way straight to my office. I dropped onto my chair and fired up my computer to dive headfirst into work, determined to continue unraveling the shitstorm I’d uncovered.
I’d been meticulously mapping time stamps, noting each instance of the repeating clearance patterns. It hadn’t taken long to confirm that someone was using compliance responses to test reaction times, probing for weaknesses, and searching for holes they could exploit.
Over the next few days, the probe clusters steadily grew. My gut tightened each time I analyzed the data, watching as the seemingly innocuous transactions increased. There was noimmediate theft, no obvious signs of intrusion—just methodical testing. Then the pattern widened. It wasn’t only our shell companies being poked at. My irritation grew into anger, simmering steadily beneath the surface, a quiet determination taking root in my bones. I hadn't yet managed to merge enough details to figure out exactly what was happening, but a picture began to take shape. And I didn’t like it.
By Thursday, I’d traced the clusters back to a single department—Poppy’s.
I exhaled sharply, sitting back in my chair and rubbing my jaw. It made sense in a twisted sort of way. Poppy’s compliance department handled clearances, transaction validations, and financial auditing. But something about the realization filled me with a protective anger. I didn’t know how involved she was, but I did know, without a doubt, that if my girl had been dragged into this somehow, she was completely unaware.
She was everything the world wasn’t. Bright and innocent. And someone was using her department as their testing ground, jeopardizing her safety without her knowledge.
That wasn’t fucking acceptable. A fierce need to protect her from this shit burned through my veins.
I turned back to the data, digging deeper and pushing harder, determined to pinpoint exactly who was behind the probes and why. This was no longer just business; it had become personal. If this shit turned out to be dangerous, there was no fucking way I’d let Poppy be a casualty in someone else’s twisted power play.
The following day, I continued methodically analyzing every piece of data, connecting time stamps and validation windows while looking for the smallest pattern that would reveal the hand behind the scheme. My back ached, and my eyes burned from staring at the screen, but I was too focused to stop now.
Then I saw it.
My pulse accelerated as I traced the clearance patterns again, double-checking just to be sure. But there was no mistake. Every cleared flag came from a single validation window—tied directly to a single employee ID.
Without hesitation, I reached for my phone, hitting Wizard’s number. He picked up after two rings. “What’ve you got?”
“Employee ID for the flag clearances.” My voice came out colder than I intended, my anger barely concealed. “Need you to confirm the source for me.”
I gave him the number, and he just grunted. Then I heard rapid typing on his end, the faint murmur of code shifting as he penetrated the company’s servers. There was a short stretch of silence before Wizard’s voice finally broke through. “The ID matches a junior compliance analyst—Poppy Fairbanks.”
A wave of rage surged through me, my jaw clenched so tight I felt a pulse in my temples as I ground out, “She’s being fucking used. Someone’s turned her into a passive filter, clearing the flags without knowing what they really are.”
And they were going to fucking pay.
Wizard was silent again, and in that beat of hesitation, I heard the unspoken skepticism. He didn’t say a damn word, but I knew him well enough to sense his uncertainty. And that made my anger burn hotter—not at him but at whoever had put Poppy in this position. She wasn’t just collateral; she’d been framed as the fucking mastermind. I didn’t bother trying to convince him since he wasn’t the one I had to worry about.
“Send me what you’ve got,” I told him, my voice clipped. “Compile everything we have. I’m gonna let King know we’ve got new information.”
“On it.” Wizard’s tone was cautious, but he didn’t say anything else as he disconnected.
I fired off a text to my prez.
Me
I have an update on the situation with the compliance probes.
His reply was quick.
King
Meet in my office in twenty.
I pulled together every shred of data I’d uncovered, added everything from Wizard, and meticulously arranged it into a secure file on the club’s server. It didn’t take me long because I’d naturally kept it all organized from the beginning. Every detail, time stamp, and pattern went into it—ready to be laid out clearly so King could see exactly what we were dealing with. Once that was done, I stalked down the hall to his office.
My frustration was at an all-time high as I rapped once on King’s door and pushed it open. He was already behind his desk, reading something on the screen of his laptop with his typical scowl firmly in place. He looked up when I entered. His gaze was unreadable as usual—something that irritated the fuck outta me when we played poker. But I still kicked his ass because my talent for reading people, especially when playing cards, was unmatched. At the moment, though, I could only discern enough in his gaze to know that he was assessing me. Nobody liked being the subject of his intense study—it made even the toughest of men want to squirm.
“You look different,” King observed, a hint of curiosity in his voice.
Now wasn’t the time to go into that, so I shut the door firmly behind me and crossed the room to stand in front of his desk. “Yeah, well, shit changes. But right now, we’ve got bigger issues to focus on.”
King nodded, his eyes narrowing slightly. “Show me.”
