Page 84 of Commander

God, how could I be so stupid as to forget Hamir loved to record himself driving that damn Hummer. The cameras on the vehicle were the only way they could have gotten the pictures.

There had to be some means of corrupting the original feed.

I pulled out my own cell and began texting the North American tech unit for Solon. After relaying the instructions, I looked up at Tyler. “Tech is going to scrub any data sources associated with Hamir. We have a lock on his servers and satellites.”

“It isn’t as simple as a few calls to the right people, T,” Ameera said and then ran frustrated fingers through her short hair. “This went out to all news media outlets. The Ustafs want revenge and the best way to do it is to ruin your reputation, and in turn, Ashur’s.”

I closed my eyes, pinching the bridge of my nose. “They’re going to paint me as a traitor who negotiates with terrorists.”

No one was going to believe the majority of the pictures were fakes. I’d be tried in front of the court of public opinion before an investigation was even launched.

Oh God, Ashur. No one would believe he’d had no knowledge of it.

I should never have agreed to marry him. I knew I was a liability to him, and now it had come true.

“I need to make a few calls to Geneva. They’ll have a plan already in the works.” I moved over to my desk, settling my hand over my stomach to will away the wave of nausea starting to creep up again. As soon as it calmed, I looked between Tyler and Ameera. “The two of you need to completely distance yourself from me and, if at all possible, from each other.”

“Pretending Ameera and I don’t have a connection, won’t be a problem. She’s made it very clear that I am her past, not her future.” He gave Ame an angry glare and then turned his attention to me. “You, on the other hand, will be impossible. I work for your husband and I am a longtime friend.”

“You work for me too. I will not have you tied up in this. That is a direct order.”

“Does that mean you aren’t stepping down?”

“My job as the director of Solon is the least of my concerns at the moment.”

“Only the director outranks me, so unless you’re Command, I will ignore any directive coming from you.”

“I second what he says.” Ameera came to lean over my desk. “If you weren’t my ride or die, would you have come to save me? Don’t even for a second think I’ll let you take the fall for something that’s my fault. I will go before the media and claim it was me before I let anything happen to you.”

“Dammit. I’m trying to save your careers.” I smacked my hand on my desk as tears burned the backs of my eyes. “Because of me, Ashur may be impeached. I won’t have your futures on my conscience too.”

“If it gives you peace of mind, I will happily step down from my role as a UN ambassador in a heartbeat,” Ameera said. “I was planning to transition out of my role there anyway.”

“Don’t you dare do that. I would never ask you to give up the job you love.” I glowered at Ameera, who responded with her own glare.

“And for the record, counselor, that man you refuse to admit you love will survive anything thrown at him. Why do you think his opponents call him an asshole? He doesn’t give a shit what anyone says. Plus, he’s a fucking tech billionaire.”

“He’s not an asshole.” I dropped my head to the desk. I was the asshole for thinking I could keep who I was from Ashur.

Maybe if I’d told him, this whole mess wouldn’t have happened.

“For the love of God, Tara. In all the shit I said, the asshole part is all you got?”

“She heard you. She’s just ignoring you.” Tyler came around the desk and crouched in front of me. “T-Rex, time’s up. You need to tell Ashur before someone wakes him and gives him the news.”

“Someone did wake him,” Ashur said from the doorway of my office.

He held up a phone to display the picture of me holding the gun. Anger, hurt, and betrayal radiated from him.

“When the two of you are finished reporting to your director, I’d like a word with my wife.”

* * *

I waitedten minutes before searching out Ashur. He needed to calm down and I had to call the board. As I expected, a plan was in the works and would be implemented within the next twenty-four hours.

Being that it was only two o’clock in the morning, the news reports on the incident would be limited. But in a few hours, it would be a different story.

I opened the door to the family room adjacent to the master suite to find Ashur sipping scotch from a tumbler and sitting in a chair positioned at the corner of the room.

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