Page 58 of Reckless: Chaos

“Comfortable?” Jinx asks with false sweetness. “Good. Because we’re going to have such an interesting conversation when those pressure points wear off.”

I slam the trunk closed on whatever muffled response he tries to make.

“Finn, you’re driving.” I toss him the keys. “I need to make some calls.”

“And I need to watch our friend,” Jinx says, sliding into the back seat. “Make sure he doesn’t try anything cute like morse code with his boots.”

As we pull away from the compromised facility, I can’t shake the feeling that we’ve just stepped into something much bigger than we realized.

The drive weighs heavy in my pocket. Whatever’s on it better be worth all this.

“We can’t take him back to the mansion,” Finn says what we’re all thinking as we hit the highway. “Not with Cayenne there.”

“I know a place.” Jinx’s voice carries that edge that means someone’s probably going to bleed. “Old warehouse district. Used to clean up PCA messes there.”

I catch his eye in the rearview mirror. “The kind of place with good soundproofing?”

His grin is all teeth. “The kind of place where no one asks questions about screaming.”

A thump from the trunk punctuates his words. Our guest is either trying to morse code after all, or really doesn’t like where this conversation is heading.

“Take the next exit.” Jinx leans forward between the seats. “Let’s see what our new friend knows about Sterling Labs. And who else might be watching our beta.”

As Finn turns onto a road that doesn’t exist on any map, I wonder if Cayenne will ever forgive us for what we’re about to do to protect her.

Then again, considering what these hunters were willing to do to get that drive...

Maybe she’ll want to help.

Chapter 13

Cayenne

Wakingup thoroughly debauched in an omega’s nest should feel like victory. The sheets still carry traces of last night’s pleasure, twisted evidence of how thoroughly Theo took me apart and put me back together. My body aches in all the best ways, marked and claimed and... alone.

The nest holds impressions but no warmth. He’s been gone a while then, probably stress-baking downstairs because apparently mind-blowing sex works up an appetite. The thought brings a smile I’ll later want to scrub off my face with steel wool.

I stretch, cataloging new bruises like digital timestamps of passion. Each one a reminder of how perfectly I fell for the distraction. A+, would definitely get played again.

God, I really am my own worst hack.

The need for caffeine drives me out of the nest, wearing one of Theo’s shirts because apparently, I’m still committed to this morning-after fantasy. The kitchen feels wrong immediately—that particular emptiness of a space recently abandoned. No baking omega, no prowling alphas, not even Finn with his morning crossword and perfectly pressed slacks.

I go through the motions of making coffee anyway, muscle memory taking over while my brain catalogs the wrongness. Thequiet holds weight, like the moment before a system crashes. Like the silence before an attack.

I’m reaching for a mug when I notice it. Or rather, notice what isn’t there.

The magnetic clip that held my drive—the one thing standing between Sterling Labs and more dead betas—is gone.

Ice floods my veins as I search the kitchen, though some part of me already knew. Knew the moment I woke up alone, knew when Theo kissed me last night with such artful desperation. Such carefully choreographed passion.

I’ve been running penetration tests since I was fifteen, but this is the first time I’ve been the one getting penetrated.

Metaphorically and literally.

The front door opens just as the rage starts to build, heavy footsteps carrying exhaustion and secrets. I pour my coffee with hands steady enough to defuse a bomb, surprising myself with how calm I feel. It’s the kind of calm that comes before everything burns, before systems crash and empires fall.

Time to see just how well my pack of liars can explain themselves.

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