Page 26 of The Echo of Forever

I’d used it to download whatever was on Echo’s hard drive in his office today while he was gone. Luckily, it’d finished before he returned and caught me, but not in enough time for me to sneak out.

I was being reckless for no reason at all.

Carmen tucked my gun and shuffled over to the free-standing monitor, slipped the drive into the USB slot, andwaited. The screen blinked once, then loaded up a beautiful string of nothing. Zero fucking files.

“Knew it,” I mumbled. “He only pretends to be careless. Everything’s probably locked away somewhere on that compound.”

Carmen huffed, arms crossed.

“Let me kill him. Easy peasy.”

“You scared they’ll fire you if I get benched?” I asked, tipping my head.

I wasn’t sure if she was more worried about me or herself.

“I couldn’t care less about being fired. I’m trying to understand what you want from breaking the alliance?”

The migraine settled behind my eyes, and I walked around my desk to sit.

“What I want is to not have my head feel like it’s being split open daily. You wouldn’t understand, and I’m not about to keep explaining myself. Remember your position in all this.”

I closed my eyes.

“Right,” she mumbled. “My position is standing behind you at all times. Understood, boss.”

I opened one eye, then the other.

“Once you wrap your stubborn mind around the fact that I’d rather die than marry that man, we’ll be on the same page. I’m not built for a velvet cage, never have been.”

We sat in the tension for a second, but eventually I moved on. She would never get it, and it wasn’t my job to make her.

As long as Carmen didn’t cross me, she was useful.

“I need more on Demetrius,” I said. “Don’t care if you have to finesse it from his brother, find something and do it fast.”

She looked as if she wanted to argue, but nodded instead.

“You got it,boss.”

I left the office altogether, knowing full well Carmen would be working late, digging up as much as she could on Demetrius.

No matter how she felt, I was indeed the boss. And until my father made good on his word, because he would, what the fuck I said goes.

I made it to my car in time to miss the sky opening up on my fresh twist-out. The rain pelted my windshield, and not even the wiper blades were doing enough. But I made it home and out of the storm safely, only to find Kai rummaging through my pantry in the dark.

“Who gave you a key?”

At least he’d had the decency to leave the lights off and blackout curtains closed.

“Swiped it from your mother,” he said, turning empty-handed. “There’s no real food in here.”

I dropped my bag on the living room floor.

“The goal is to keep you, and everybody else we share a last name with, out. What do you want? I’m in a bad mood and will put you down if you piss me off.”

He raised his palms, the key to my place dangling from his big ass paws. My brother had a defensive lineman’s physique with the agility of a running back. He’d always been quick on his feet and not just in the physical sense.

I saw the bargain coming before he opened his mouth.