Page 3

Kabir

Sebastian fucking Blackthorn.

My next destination was the Blackthorn building across the bridge. The place where the happy couples lived. I fucking hated it.

But I needed some help. I needed a Sebastian hater to tell me that he wasn’t good enough and Amelia would actually see me. So I went straight to Logan and Kaylan’s apartment and knocked.

The door swung open and a freshly fucked Kaylan answered the door. “We literally just ended breakfast.” I rolled my eyes.

A blush crept up her cheeks and she smiled coyly. Logan wasn’t far behind her.

“I need to talk to you,” I declared, pointing squarely at him before making my way into the living room. Kaylan caught the drift swiftly.

“Umm… you guys… talk? I need to—”

She cut herself off and disappeared back into the sanctuary of their bedroom while Logan chuckled.

I slumped onto the couch, my body heavy with frustration. Logan followed, a smirk playing on his lips as he eyed the couch and then me.

I shot up immediately, repulsion clear on my face. “The couch? Seriously? You have guests sitting on this thing. Behench—”

Logan’s laughter filled the room, rich and unbothered. “Relax, we were in the bedroom.”

Grudgingly, I sank back into the allegedly filthy couch, elbows digging into my knees. “I… I need the dirt on Sebastian,” I blurted out. “Tell me what kind of monster he is.”

He cleared his throat, his expression sobering. “He’s not?”

That wasn’t what I wanted to hear. Frustration surged through me. “You used to hate him. What, is he your brother again?”

Logan watched me closely, a knowing smile curling his lips. “What’s this really about?”

Exhaling sharply, I spilled half the beans. “Amelia wants to date him.” I gritted my teeth. “And I need that to not be an option.”

He clicked his tongue thoughtfully. “So, you’ve finally realized you’re in love with her, huh?”

His words hit me like a punch to the gut. I whipped my head towards him, denial ready on my lips. “What? No! I mean—we’re friends, and I—” I caught myself, cutting off the feeble denial. “You know what, fuck it. Yes, I am in love with her. Have been for years.”

He chuckled softly, clearly not surprised by my admission. “But, I can’t be with her, yaar . She’s like the golden hour. And our friendship… she’s not even… it’s too damn complicated to turn our friendship into something that’s real.”

In that little living room, with Logan’s smirk watching me unravel, I confessed to more than just him; I admitted to myself the depth of my feelings for Amelia, feelings I could no longer shove aside.

He nodded, his expression thoughtful. “I’m not even going to address the golden hour comment. But I’m sorry, man, I just don’t get it. What’s so complicated for you both to have something real?”

Exhaling deeply, I was on the brink of spilling the rest of the beans. “Back when I was in university—”

“Alright, stop right there.” He cut me off abruptly. “The fact that you’re ready to dump this story on me and not her should tell you something. You’ve got some healing to do, buddy.”

I frowned, irritation creeping in. “What?” I challenged.

“Just talk to her, Kabir. Tell her what you were about to tell me. Let her understand the whole picture. If it makes sense to her, fantastic. If not, well… you’re probably messing up and she’s probably right.”

I rolled my eyes at his bluntness. “Thanks for taking my side, buddy .”

He raised a finger. “First off, there are no sides here. I’ve always thought you two were meant for each other. And second?” He held up his thumb. Who the fuck uses the thumb like that? “I know from experience that talking to the women in your life will immensely increase your lifespan.”

I just stared at him. He was probably right. But I couldn’t shake the sinking feeling that I’d already lost Amelia.

My fear of losing her friendship was morphing into a harsh reality, and I hadn’t done a damn thing to stop it.

“She kissed me,” I blurted suddenly. Logan’s eyebrows shot up for a split second before his expression settled.

“There you have it. You like her. She likes you too. Win-win.” He grinned.

I buried my face in my hands and groaned. “ ‘Like’ is way too mild a word for what I feel, man. But I can’t go through all that again. I’m just conflicted.”

Logan frowned, clearly puzzled. “I might not get all the details, but you’re being ridiculous. Sure, Sebastian might genuinely like her, but you? You’re head over heels! Wouldn’t her dating Sebastian ruin your friendship anyway?”

“That’s pretty much what she said.” I mumbled.

He laughed and clapped me on the back, a bit too hard. “Just talk to her, Kabir.” He stood up, clearly ending our chat.

As I walked towards his door, I muttered under my breath, “Keep this from your girlfriend, will you? I don’t need Amelia hearing about this.”

“Fiancée.” He corrected me with a wink. “And she probably heard everything, but we’ll zip it.”

I must have been collecting flies in my mouth with the way my jaw dropped because Logan started laughing.

Another one bites the dust, I guess.

???

“We really do need to find this so called Doom Switch.”

Sebastian’s voice pulled me out—grating, sharp, interrupting my musings of Amelia and our fucking kiss.

That kiss.

Was I really about to bury it? Pretend like it hadn’t split something open inside me?

That I hadn’t tasted something that had the potential to burn me alive?

That history wasn’t on the verge of repeating itself?

I exhaled slowly, pushing away the intrusive memory of her lips. The absolute nerve of this man—talking about fucking mission logistics this early in the morning.

“I’d say it’s in the White House somewhere. Or the Pentagon.” Delara added.

“Pentagon feeds intelligence to the White House. Maybe we can find a way to break into the White House during a cabinet session,” I muttered, throwing out words without caring where they landed.

Truthfully? I wasn’t even in this conversation. Not really. Not when Amelia was sitting across from me instead of next to me, stiff, deliberately avoiding my eyes.

Look at me, dammit.

As if I’d tugged on some invisible string, her gaze flicked to mine—just for a second. Then, just as quickly, she looked away.

And straight at… Sebastian?

What the fuck?

I frowned, but whatever the hell was happening across the table wasn’t my business. Or at least, it shouldn’t be. She wanted to date him. It shouldn’t bother me.

Right?

“And do what? Ask nicely for the keys to the White House Situation Room?” Zarek scoffed, shaking his head. “We need a more solid plan.”

“Well, Squad Six is out if we want to show our faces, considering they know all of you,” Delara smirked, and Logan rolled his eyes beside me.

“Doesn’t mean we’re useless,” Dylan shot back. “They know we’ve gone rogue and will retaliate. At worst, they expect an attack.”

“And at best, they’ll come to you .” Sebastian pointed his fork at Zarek, clearly implying what we all knew but didn’t want to say out loud.

Squad Six needed to be ready.

“I’m hoping they’re unaware of our location,” Zarek muttered.

Suddenly, as though the conversation reminded her, Kaylan asked, “Has anyone heard from Pedro or Lancaster?”

“Alpha Squad Two, right?” Zane asked, and Kaylan nodded. “No, is the short answer. Kabir?”

Silence settled over the table as all eyes flicked to me. Zane’s, expectant. Kaylan’s, questioning. Amelia’s—still locked on Sebastian.

I groaned.

A sharp jab to my ribs jolted me—Logan, obviously trying to keep me chained to the realm of sanity. A brief glance at Zarek told me he’d rip my head off if I didn’t speak up within the next two seconds.

I clenched my jaw, cleared my throat, forcing my brain to remember what the hell we were talking about.

“Uh… yeah, so,” I started, my voice rough. “We made brief contact when they were in a small town about a hundred klicks north of Springfield, Missouri. That was… maybe a month ago? They’re not there anymore.”

I felt Logan watching me. Too closely.

I knew what he was thinking—what everyone was thinking—my head wasn’t in this conversation.

Logan finally looked away from me, deep in thought. “I’m still wondering where the damn prisoners are. There were a hundred and nine at Ravenrock, including me, and we only found thirty-eight during Operation Tantalus.”

Delara sniffed. “ Only thirty-eight? Darlin’, Seb and I almost died getting them out alive.”

Kaylan jumped in. “He’s just saying that we still don’t know where… seventy-one? No, seventy of them are. Plus Martha.”

Sebastian spoke next, but all I noticed were Amelia’s eyes tracking his movements. “We’ll get there. Right now, our priority is the Doom Switch.”

Unable to take another moment of watching Amelia watch Sebastian, even if it was just in a professional capacity, I pushed up from my chair, my movements sharp, restless.

Mumbling a half-hearted excuse, I left the lounge and made my way to the command center.

Machines will help. They’re friendly. They won’t look at Sebastian fucking Blackthorn when I demand their attention.

It wasn’t until I hit the ‘-4’ floor that I realized Zane had followed me.

I needed to get my head on straight. I couldn’t afford to be this distracted over a woman I couldn’t have.

Shouldn’t… have?

I really needed to talk to her.

“How do you plan to do it, though?” Zane’s voice cut through my spiraling thoughts.

“Do what?” I frowned, confused.

Now he was frowning too. “Uh… you said you wanted to hack into the White House network for internal events.”

I did?

My brain might have been completely fried, but apparently, I was still making sense without meaning to. And honestly? That sounded like a damn good idea. A distraction. Something useful . Something that might actually get us answers instead of leaving me simmering in frustration.

“Right.” I cleared my throat, rolling with it. “I’ll probably use Sentrix version 5.4 to override the White House Crazon, mask it as a false breach. Assuming they’re running Crazon for security.”

Zane’s lips twitched. “They have to be. Probably got that shit wired into the Pentagon, too.”

He stopped walking abruptly, turning to me with a gleam in his eyes.

“No.” I said firmly as he opened his mouth to speak. “I know where you’re going with this, and hacking the Pentagon is suicide, Zane.”

He clicked his tongue, clearly unimpressed by my lack of recklessness. “Would’ve made things quicker, though.”

I snorted. “Quicker, but not safer. And would’ve put us in a federal black site within the hour.”

Still, my mind was already piecing things together. “Right now, I just wanna find out what on-site, internal events the White House has coming up. Charities, galas, a fucking birthday party… whatever. Might give us a way in.”

Zane nodded, rubbing his jaw. “Makes sense. Low risk, medium reward.”

Exactly. If we played it right, those events could be our way in—a chance to interact with the cabinet off-record, without accosting or provoking its members. Maybe even sneak our way into the White House Situation Room.

Maybe I wasn’t completely useless after all.