Page 69 of Reckless: Chaos

He stiffens atmercenary. Amateur.

“I have a nail kit in my bag,” Willow offers, all helpful beta energy. “We could give him a makeover while we chat!”

“Girls,” Cayenne sways slightly, playing up the tequila. “Focus. We’re here because...” She scrunches her nose adorably. “Why are we here?”

But I catch the way our prisoner tracks her movement. The recognition in his eyes.

“Sterling’s daughter,” he mutters, then looks like he wishes he hadn’t.

The giggles stop.

“What did you just call me?” Cayenne’s drunk act vanishes like smoke.

Shit.

This might be a longer night than we planned.

“I didn’t...” The prisoner catches himself, but the damage is done.

“No, no.” Ginger waves her phone like a weapon. “Please, continue. This is so much better than my usual content. My followers will eat this up.”

“You can’t?—”

“Post this?” She grins. “Honey, I’m already live. Say hi to my two million followers.”

She’s not, of course. But the fear that flashes across his face is real enough.

“Oh my god,” Aria perches on the arm of his chair, invading his space with predatory grace. “Are you saying our Cayenne is, like, secret royalty? That’s so fetch.”

“Nobody says fetch anymore,” Willow sighs, but she’s moved closer too, her scent carrying notes of steel beneath the sugar.

I lean against the wall, content to watch. Even Ryker’s stopped protesting, fascination winning over protocol.

“You know,” Cayenne examines her nails like they hold secrets. “It’s funny. All this time trying to figure out SterlingLabs’ endgame, and the answer just walks right into our hands. Well, stumbles. After getting shot.”

“I won’t tell you anything.” But his voice wavers.

“You already have.” She looks up, and there’s nothing drunk in her expression now. “The question is, what else are you going to share with my bestie’s followers?”

“Two million viewers and counting,” Ginger adds cheerfully. “Oh look, someone’s already identifying your face. Amazing what facial recognition can do these days.”

Our prisoner pales. “You’re bluffing.”

“Maybe.” Cayenne shrugs. “But here’s the thing about being Sterling’s daughter...” Her words are slow as though they taste like ash in her mouth. “I learned from the best how to make people disappear. Digitally speaking, of course.”

“Speaking of disappearing,” Aria produces a nail file from somewhere. “These cuticles really need to go.”

“Did you know,” Ginger scrolls through her phone, “that Mercury is in retrograde? That’s, like, so bad for keeping secrets.”

“The worst,” Willow agrees, sorting through her truly terrifying collection of nail care implements. “Mercury retrograde just makes everything come out.”

The prisoner’s eyes keep darting between them and Cayenne, like he can’t quite believe this is happening.

“Speaking of things coming out,” Cayenne drops into a chair across from him, kicks her feet up on his armrest. “Let’s talk about Sterling’s little tracking program. The one that keeps alerting him every time I breach their systems.”

His jaw clenches. Bingo.

“Oh em gee,” Aria gasps, still wielding her nail file with menacing precision. “Is that why they always know? That’s like, super creepy stalker behavior.”

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