Page 88 of Cursed

“They grew up,” Xavier replies.

Knox laughs, the sound echoing down the corridor. “No, they got pussy whipped. X can’t stay away from Mira for more than a few hours, and Landon’s practically attached to his hacker by an invisible leash.”

I feel my jaw tighten, but maintain my neutral expression. “Crude as always, Knox.”

“But accurate,” Vane adds. “You used to be the coldest of us all, Landon. Now you’re rushing home to what—watch her type code?”

“When your intelligence exceeds that of a concussed goldfish, Vane, perhaps you’ll understand the value of someone like Sadie.”

Vane steps toward me. “You think you’re so superior. At least I know what I am.”

“And what’s that?” I adjust my cuffs, refusing to give him the satisfaction of visible irritation.

“A monster.” He bares his teeth in a feral smile. “I don’t pretend otherwise.”

Knox slides between us. “Save the psychoanalysis for therapy day, boys. Some of us have actual fun to attend to. Bianca is on her way to Purgatory.”

I check my watch again. Sadie should be finishing the initial system scan now. “Enjoy your drinking,” I say, turning away. “I’ll be doing something productive.”

Xavier gives me a look loaded with meaning. “Tomorrow. Nine sharp. I want updates on Orlov and a plan to flush out our leak.”

I nod once and walk toward the elevator, my mind already shifting to the security protocols Sadie might have uncovered. My phone vibrates with a text, and I slide it from my pocket.

Found something interesting in the backdoor code. Signature matches someone internal.

A smile tugs at my lips before I can suppress it. She’s remarkable.

“There it is,” Knox calls after me. “That little smile. You’re actually falling for her, aren’t you?”

I turn slowly, face wiped clean of expression. “I appreciate valuable assets. Something you might understand if you ever thought with your brain instead of your cock.”

Knox laughs. “I’ve never seen you rush home to anassetbefore.”

I step into the elevator without responding. My brothers’ taunts are irrelevant distractions. Sadie is a puzzle I’m still solving—a mind as brilliant as it is broken. What exists between us is far more complex than the simplistic emotions my brothers would understand.

The doors close on their knowing smirks, and I release a breath. Time to return to Sadie.

36

SADIE

The soft click of the penthouse door announces Landon’s return. I don’t look up from my laptop, continuing to compile the evidence I’ve spent the afternoon gathering. Since the Hunt ended, we’ve slipped into a strange rhythm—not fully domestic, not entirely captive. A limbo between the two.

“Show me what you found.” Landon shrugs off his jacket, draping it over the back of a chair before pouring himself a whiskey.

“I traced the backdoor signature.” I spin my laptop to face him. “It’s Greg Hollins—your head of cybersecurity.”

Landon’s expression doesn’t change, but I’ve learned to read the shifts in his body language. The slight tensing of his shoulders. The way his fingers tighten around his glass.

“He used a variation of his standard coding pattern. Clever enough to fool most people, but...” I shrug. “Not me.”

“Show me.” Landon sits beside me, close enough that our thighs touch. These casual points of contact no longer startle me like they once did.

I walk him through the evidence—the timestamp anomalies, the specific encryption methods, the digital fingerprints Hollins left behind, thinking no one would recognize them.

“He’s been feeding information to Orlov for at least three months,” I conclude. “Every shipment route, security protocol, distribution point.”

“So before he even approached us to make a deal.” Landon’s eyes flash with rage as he pulls out his phone, dials Xavier, and puts it on speaker. “It’s Hollins,” he says without preamble.