Page 86 of Monsters Wear Crowns
“Sinclair Solutions is under attack. And they’re also targeting your client logs and banking info.”
I expected him to argue, to tell me I wasn’t going anywhere, but he didn’t. He just nodded once. “Let’s go.”
The car ride was tense and silent. Rafe’s fingers tapped against his thigh, his jaw set in stone. I was trying to stay calm, but panic pressed against my ribs like a vice. If they got to our client database, if those files were compromised, the fallout would be catastrophic.
Laura was waiting when we arrived, her face pale and furious. “It’s Moreau. Ithasto be.”
Rafe’s eyes darkened, but he said nothing.
I followed Laura into the war room–walls lined with monitors, code streaming across the screens in an endless, frantic rush. My team was already there, working at breakneck speed.
“They’re good,” Laura said tightly. “But we’re better. They haven’t gotten through yet, but–”
An alert cut her off. The red flash of a breach attempt–and this one was closer.
“Damn it,” she hissed, fingers flying. “I need you on the secondary firewall. Now.”
I slid into the chair beside her, and for a while, there was nothing but the sound of keys and the pounding of my heart. Rafe stood behind me, watching everything, reading every move as if he understood exactly what we were doing.
“They’re relentless,” Laura muttered. “And smart. This kind of attack… it’s coordinated. Someone with serious resources is pulling these strings.”
We both knew who.
The next breach hit harder and faster. A cascade of warnings flooded the screen. My fingers flew over the keys, heart racing. “Laura–”
“On it!”
But it wasn’t enough. The walls were starting to crack.Holy fuck.
“Pull the client database offline,” Rafe said suddenly, his voice calm and commanding.
Laura’s head snapped toward him. “We can’t–”
“You can,” he said. “Do it now, or they’ll take everything.”
I hesitated–but I knew he was right. With a few keystrokes, I cut the connection. The system screamed warnings, but the threat eased–for now.
Laura sagged back in her chair. “That buys us time. But they might try again.”
I turned toward Rafe. “He’s not going to stop, is he?”
“No,” Rafe said quietly. “Not until there’s nothing left of me.”
Chapter 17
The night felt too still. Too quiet. I sat in the back of Rafe’s car, my muscles tight with exhaustion. The day had been endless. The breach, the damage control, the constant pressure mounting from every side. Laura had held the line at Sinclair Solutions, but I knew the walls were closing in. Moreau was pushing harder, and it was only a matter of time before something cracked. My driver, Rafael, kept glancing in the rearview mirror. I noticed it immediately.
“Something wrong?” I asked, my voice sharper than I intended.
“Just being careful, Miss Sinclair,” he said, but there was tension in his words. He was watching for something. Or someone.
The hair on the back of my neck rose.
A black SUV suddenly cut in front of us, tires screaming against the pavement. Before my driver could react, another slammed into us from the side, the impact throwing me hard against the door. Pain shot through my shoulder as the world spun. Metal groaned, and the car lurched wildly before righting itself.
“Stay down!” Rafael barked, pulling his weapon. The first bullet cracked the windshield.
My heart slammed into my throat. Glass spiderwebbed, but the reinforced windows held. Rafael returned fire, his shots sharp and controlled, but there were too many of them.
