She opened the laptop and played the recording for Dom, watching his reactions as the voices filled his office. BeccaMatthews’ murder had nearly destroyed him. It had put him in the crosshairs of an investigation that could have ended with him in prison. They’d put Frank Dalton behind bars, but that hadn’t been the end of it. Which was exactly why Siren had been on the case ever since.
When the recording ended, Dom sat back in his chair, his jaw tight.
“Meridian?” he asked.
“I’m guessing it’s part of their financial pipeline. I’ve been looking for something to connect the dots for the last eighteen months.”
“And the witness is Reed Bright,” Dom said, scratching his chin. “The son of Cory Bright, the founder of the Bright Institute.”
“He was playing a gig at the brewery the night Carl was killed. He had an ambient recorder running on the patio. It picked up everything.”
“Does anyone know he has it?”
“He says he told Danny, the sound guy. But if one person knows, there could be more.”
Dom nodded slowly. “Steel Protection takes over his security. We retrieve the original recording and assess the threat level.”
“Agreed.”
“You take point on protection. You’ve been on this investigation for eighteen months now. You know what we’re looking for.”
“There’s a complication,” she said hesitantly.
Dom waited, raised an eyebrow. “What is it?”
“Reed Bright is my... my mate. We were matched on mate.com on Sunday night. We haven’t spoken until now. But you know what they say about fate…”
Dom studied her for a long moment, his expression unchanging. He had met Valeria during the Becca Matthews investigation, so he understood what it meant when mates and missions collided.
“Can you handle it?” he asked. He needed to know she could do the job. “Can you keep your feelings out of it?”
“Yes,” she said with no hesitation. “I know the case. I know what we’re looking for. I’m the best person for this.”
She paused and met his eyes. “And my wolf won’t let anything happen to him. I can assure you I will protect him with everything I’ve got.”
Dom considered her and nodded.
“All right. You’re on protection. You can deal with the personal stuff later.”
She turned toward the door.
“Siren.”
She paused and looked back at him.
“Don’t let later become never.”
She didn’t respond, just walked out the door. But the words followed her down the hallway. She stood outside the door of the conference room and took a deep breath, centering herself.
She was about to spend a lot of time in proximity to her fated mate. The one she’d rejected. The one whose simple messagehad been sitting on her phone unanswered for twenty-four hours.
She pushed through the door, and Reed looked up at her when she entered.
“Steel Protection is taking over your security,” she said. “I’m on your detail.”
He nodded.
“We need to retrieve the original recording. And you need to pack a bag.” She kept her voice level. “You’re not going home for a while.”
