Page 73 of Peyton's Price

Mason insisted he wouldn’t discuss such a sensitive subject with an outsider were it not for the fact Ethan had vouched for her.

“You know, I thought he was wasting my time insisting I look into this thing,” he told her after they had exchanged overly polite greetings.

“And you don’t now?”

He sighed. “No. Wheeler insists there was a leak somewhere, but he couldn’t track it down. But Ethan says you’re pretty sure it wasn’t anyone on Raske’s crew.”

“Priya, Matthias’ assistant, is certain. She vetted everyone very thoroughly. Also, there’s the fact they’re all still a part of the crew. If they had been responsible, I think they would have left.”

“Hmm. I think the only way Wheeler sleeps at night is telling himself it wasn’t one of our own,” Mason shared, rifling papers in the background.

“Does that mean you’re going to look into this more?”

“It does, but I’m going to need some help. Your help.”

Ethan had told Mason about her coding background, including some of her lesser-known exploits on the dark web.

Peyton hadn’t realized Ethan had known about her time as a hacker. She had been strictly white hat, but she’d done enough to make something of a name for herself—or she would have had she signed her work.

“There are mountains of records to comb through,” Mason informed her. “I’m not even supposed to have some of these, but I traded in a few favors. Discreetly, of course. The investigation on the group took years. There’s a pile of communications I need backtracked and cross-referenced. I need to know if anyone intercepted those messages. According to what Ethan told me, you have the kind of background that could cut through this shite like it was butter.”

“I see.” Peyton held the phone closer, checking her surroundings to make sure no one could hear the conversation.

She had some misgivings about getting involved, but Peyton knew she could help—up to a point.

“I might be able to help comb through the data, but without access to Interpol’s servers, I can’t promise I can trace any eavesdroppers.”

“That’s all I can ask,” he said, promising to send her the information. He began to give her instructions with the intention of setting up a secure drop. She interrupted, directing him instead to a private encrypted server she had set up in college.

“I must warn you,” he said after taking down the address. “The records I’m going to send will include photos of Belarus. You might not want to look at those.”

“I’ll take that under advisement,” she replied before hanging up.

Both Matthias and Priya had seen those pictures. Poor Agent Wheeler had lived through the nightmare. Peyton didn’t want to punish herself, but if she didn’t find something for Mason in the reams of memos and surveillance, she’d do what she had to. Matthias and Priya needed peace of mind. And the victims needed justice.

She just had to get it for them in secret. Peyton rose from the deck chair, heading inside to get ready for dinner.

Relax.Whatever Matthias doesn’t know won’t hurt him.

Chapter 32

After a tense few days alone with Matthias, things with him returned to normal—mostly. He avoided his office, spending a lot of time with her, dining and watching movies in the ship’s private theatre. They even swam, racing each other in the pool.

Peyton tried to bring up their argument, but Matthias had gently taken her hand and said he didn’t want to talk about it. He wasn’t angry or upset, just…firm. She didn’t have the heart to try again.

Still feeling unsettled, Peyton was thrilled to see Liam when he returned from his business trip.

And he wasincredibly happyto see her, too. He found her on the deck outside Matthias’ stateroom mere minutes after the helicopter landed on the platform.

“I missed you so much,” Liam panted, trying to simultaneously pull up her dress while pushing her panties down.

Humming nonsensically, Peyton pushed her backside against him. “I missed you, too. Six days is too long.”

Liam had arrived just in time for a glorious sunset, which he had completely ignored in favor of stripping her naked.

Peyton grabbed on the rail for support, going weak-kneed when Liam thrust his hand into the bodice of her gown. He covered her breast with his large hand, kneading it until her nipples peaked so hard they almost hurt.

“Now that you’re here, we should wait for Matthias,” she said in between panting breaths.

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