Page 23 of Betrayed Auctioned Mate

I can’t stand the thought of her being a target. Not again. Not after everything.

I glance at Keira, trying to gauge her reaction. She always was good at putting on a brave face, acting like nothing could rattle her. But I know her better than that. I see the tension in her shoulders, the way her fingers tap restlessly against the edge of the table. She’s worried, even if she won’t admit it.

Something inside me snaps. Before I can stop myself, I speak up. “We need to do more than just block a hack. This is a problem.”

The room goes quiet. I feel half a dozen stares burning holes in me. Aris meets my eye silently, raising one eyebrow. I can tell by the look on his face that I’m about to walk a thin line.

Keira’s head jerks up, her eyes narrowing.

“I’m fine, Ado,” she says, her voice low but firm. “It was just a failed hack. They didn’t get through. This kind of thing happened all the time at the agency—happens, I mean.”

“That’s not the point,” I snap back. “The point is they’re after you now. You’re on their radar, and that puts you at risk. We can’t just act like this is normal.”

Byron leans back in his chair and folds his arms. “We’re all on their radar, Ado. This isn’t new. Keira’s no different from the rest of us.”

I glare at him, my anger flaring. “Stay in your lane, Byron.”

Byron’s eyes narrow. “Careful, Ado. I get that you’re upset, but that’s not fair. We all do what we can.”

“That’s rich coming from you,” I snap. “Always so quick to play it cool, but where were you when that guy got away? If Keira’s in danger, it’s because we weren’t prepared.”

Before Byron can respond, Zane pipes up in a biting voice. “Watch your mouth, asshole.”

I turn my glare on Zane, ready to fire back, but Byron holds up a hand. “Shut up, Zane, stay out of this.”

Zane huffs but goes silent. I spy Maisie in my peripheral vision. I see a shiver run through her. I realize the room has gone deadly silent around us.

Byron’s calm acceptance of the situation only makes me angrier. He’s too relaxed, too willing to let things slide. I can’t shake the feeling that we’re not taking this seriously enough or doing enough to protect Keira.

Keira stands suddenly, pushing her chair back with a loud scrape.

“Enough,” she says, her voice cutting the room in half. Olivia breathes out so hard that her breath whistles. “I’m fine. I’m not some fragile thing you need to protect.”

“Keira—” I start, but she cuts me off.

“No, Ado, I don’t need this right now.” I can see a flicker of anger and frustration behind her eyes. She’s done with this conversation.

Aris finally steps in, his voice disappointed and final. “Alright, that’s enough for today. The meeting’s over. Everyone go cool off. We’ll reconvene tomorrow.”

No one argues. Chairs scrape against the floor as everyone begins to gather their things, the air still thick with unease. Bigby murmurs with Rosa and Veronica. Wind whistles against the high windows, as if even it is trying to listen in on ourfracturing tempers, our stupid dramas. I feel stupid. I feel like I’ve been set aflame.

Keira brushes past me without a word, her face tight with anger.

I catch up to her in the hallway. She’s fast, but I’m faster. I can’t let it end like this. Not again. We haven’t talked about what happened on the stakeout. We haven’t talked about anything.

“Keira,” I call after her, my voice strained.

She stops, her shoulders stiffening, but she doesn’t turn around. I take a few more steps until I’m close enough to see the set of her jaw, the way she’s holding herself together by sheer force of will. “Can we talk? Please?”

“What is there to talk about, Ado?” She turns to look me in the eye. Her stare staggers me every time, even now. “You made your point. I made mine. And I don’t need your opinion on my safety—I don’t need that kind of lecture fromyou.”

“That’s not what I was trying to do,” I say quickly. My tongue is thick and heavy. Somehow, I can’t speak now, even though it feels like when Keira’s there, all I do is speak. But now I can barely breathe. “I just—damn it, Keira, I never meant to leave you behind. Not back then, and I don’t want to now. I—”

Keira throws a hand up to stop me talking. I look her in the face and she is livid. She looks desperately angry, the kind of hot, hopeless anger of someone who already lost.

“Leave me behind?”she demands. “Is that what you think happened? You didn’t just leave me, Ado. You abandoned me. You left me in a hellhole, with no idea if you were even alive or dead, and I got myself out, and I lived, and not a single bit of it was thanks to you. And now you think you can just waltz backinto my life and act like nothing’s changed? Like you have a right to me?”

The words punch through me and reduce me to nothing. I try to respond, but the weight of everything we’ve been through—everything I left unsaid—closes around my throat, choking the air out of my lungs.

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