Testing.
I met with Ronan in my office.
“They’re probing our southern flank,” he says, placing photos across my desk.
“Internal breach?”
“Not confirmed, but timing suggests intelligence leak.”
My jaw tightens.
“Monitor communications. Quietly.”
“And her?” he asks.
He doesn’t need to clarify.
“She remains uninvolved.”
Ronan’s expression shifts, almost imperceptible.
“With respect, she is already involved.”
“I will handle it.”
His silence tells me he doubts that.
After he leaves, I pour myself a drink and stare out over the estate grounds.
Somewhere in this house is a vulnerability.
And I do not tolerate vulnerabilities.
CHAPTER 21
The data room was always too cold. Seraphina had never noticed it before. Now the air felt like ice against her skin as the monitor light painted her face pale blue. Rows of numbers blurred in front of her. Shipment codes. Export timestamps. Encrypted pulls.
She blinked slowly and leaned closer. There it was again. An off site login tied to internal clearance. Her pulse slowed instead of quickening the way it did when something terrible was beginning. She ran the cross reference again, the system didn’t glitch, the clearance number didn’t change.
Elias Moreau.
Behind her, the door opened.Lucien Viremontstepped inside quietly, shutting it with the soft click of control. He had been looking for her. The estate security team had reported her badge scanning into the lower level after midnight. Ronan had raised an eyebrow. Lucien had said nothing. Now he watched her standing too still in front of the monitors. “You shouldn’t be down here alone,” he said evenly. She didn’t turn. Her voice came out thinner than she expected. “Were we breached?” Lucien’s gaze sharpened. “Why would you ask that?” Slowly, she rotated the screen toward him. The glow illuminated both their faces now.
He stepped closer.
Studied.
Analyzed.
The air shifted.
Repeated data extractions.
External pings routed through a masked server.
Internal access key.
Elias.
