Page 92 of Bound

Meanwhile, I wrap my arm around the warm, soft woman next to me. The only woman in this world who is my weakness.

My type.

My soulmate.

Erin says, “Somehow Carlos knew you had the microfilm⁠—”

“Or guessed it,” Isobel says.

Erin says, “And he told the Morettis you had all of Marina’s information on them.”

“Information they would kill to keep secret,” Isobel agrees.

Rafe says, “Whether he knew you had it or not, telling them would ensure they would come for you.”

Isobel looks at him. “I’m almost certain that’s what he’s done. He would have found some way to get revenge on me for betraying him. Even in death.”

“Carlos never left a door without setting a trap behind it,” I say.

Erin whispers, “He destroyed everything he touched. So why wouldn’t he leave a fire in his wake?”

For a moment, the room is still. Quiet. Too quiet.

Gregory breaks the silence first. “We use the archive.”

Everyone looks at him. Me with fatigue. Isobel with hope. Erin with curiosity.

“We’re likely the only ones, aside from Carlos, who have seen Marina’s files. She took such care to ensure no one knew Isobel had them that not even Isobel did.” He stands over his laptop screen, his glasses slipping down his nose as he stares at it. He pushes them up. “We make all the information we have impossible for them to take.”

“Still not following,” Blaze offers helpfully.

Rafe’s expression sharpens. “Distributed release.”

Gregory nods. “Copies. Encrypted. Several locations. If anything happens to Isobel, the files go out.”

Blaze whistles. “Oxford has become a criminal.”

Gregory looks unoffended. “I prefer the term anarchist.”

I almost laugh.

Almost.

Isobel does not. Her face is pale. “There is something else,” she says. “Something Marina didn’t put in the files.”

My attention snaps back to her. “Say it.”

Isobel looks at the floor. “I should have told you a long time ago.”

I know. I know before she says it.

The baby.

The grief I carried like a locked room inside my chest.

Erin moves closer to me. Holding me up.

It’s something to do with the baby that still holds us bound to our terrible past.