Maybe I should have told them. Maybe they would have understood the situation I found myself in. Or maybe The Oracle was right to want secrecy, to want me to keep this connection from them.
They wouldn’t understand how I ended up in this position. They’d feel betrayed. It could compromise the mission.
Besides, Spencer and Leo were best used for protecting our hostage. The girl who caught my blindspots. I couldn’t trust myself to keep an eye on her, not without the past bubbling back into my chest and forcing its way to my mouth.
Their protection of her would have to be enough.
“How do you know Gabe?”
The question made my heart stop. And of course it came from her, Kiera’s smug face on the couch.
“Excuse me?” I scoffed.
Crossing her arms, Kiera shook her head. “The press conference. You recognized his name. How?”
Leo and Spencer’s eyes flicked between us, realizing Kiera was telling the truth and that I was keeping something from them.
“I know him from the industry. He’s a startup kid, we both work in tech.” I tried to swallow the nerves, wanting her to buy it. To be fair, it was the truth. At least part of it.
It was only recently that we’d become actually connected in our businesses. Before that, Gabriel was just my father’s little pet project — a new person to keep on a leash. A way to make up for the past.
“Really? That’s it?” Kiera pushed, her eyebrows raised with suspicion.
I leaned forward in my chair, hands gripping the arm rest as I stared her down. “Oh, Viper. You think you caught a mouse? I’m the fucking eagle that grabs you from a meadow and devours you before you can even bare those fangs of yours.”
Standing, I licked my teeth and doubled down. “I don’t fucking know him. Just some twat I recognize from the trades.”
Clearing my throat and diverting attention, I nodded to Leo. “Callahan, we have work to do.” I tilted my head toward the door, knowing she would fill in the blanks.
We both knew what was next for Kiera, what we required to let her truly into the fold. Even if it was the last thing I wanted.
And I needed Leo’s help to do it.
As I left the room, nodding a farewell to Spencer and ignoring Kiera’s angry, green eyes, my mind jumped back to the phone.
If Gabe and Isaac were so serious about their hunt for Kiera that they’d issue a company branded app and distribute it to their pack of wild boars then it was time for me to go directly to the tech prodigy myself.
Turning to Leo, I lowered my voice. “We need to talk about increasing security. Weapons. Guard dogs.”
“Security cameras?” Leo suggested.
I shook my head. “No, can’t be trusted. Gabriel’s network will be able to hack into it.”
Of course it was highly illegal for a private company to hack into a private security system, but that had never stopped Isaac or Gabe in the past. The only way it could be safe was with the help of Laniidae’s hacking genius, Teresa Mendez.
The rest of those girls were a chaotic mess. But Mendez was smart, considered, and worth her salt.
It was a shame she had no interest in motorcycles, or she'd have made a worthy recruit for Valemont Violence. Maybe I could have recruited Kennedy to teach her a thing or two --- god knows they spent enough time together --- but I had a feeling she had other opportunities on her radar.
She might be able to get us on an undetectable network.
I’d do whatever it took to keep us all safe. More than anything, I needed Kiera. And so did The Oracle. Which meant I didn’t have a choice.
Despite how infuriating she was, I couldn’t risk anything happening to Kiera, not under my watch. Not ever.
15
KIERA
