Page 34 of Bonds of Pain
Poe’s face is inches from mine as he studies the screen, his scent of driftwood and salt mixing with my bourbon-chocolate. His eyes narrow to slits.
“And only the basement camera was affected?”
“Bingo.” I swipe through the other feeds from the same timeframe. “Hallways, living room, kitchen—all intact. Just that one room during Maya’s heat.”
Poe straightens, his expression unreadable. “Who has access to delete security footage?”
“That’s the interesting part.” I lean back in my chair, cracking my knuckles. “Only the four of us. Even the king can’t waltz in here and access the terminal.”
Poe raises a single dark brow. “So, if I didn’t do it and you didn’t do it…?”
“Exactly,” I sigh.
The implication hangs between us. Either Logan or Cillian erased evidence of something they didn’t want us to see that happened during Maya’s heat.
Maybe they’re just protecting her modesty.
Maybe it’s something else.
Maybe I’m sick and fucking tired of constantly feeling out of the loop.
“When did secrets become part of the way we operate?” Poe asks, his voice dropping lower.
I swivel my chair to face him fully. “Three people know what happened in that room. Only one of them is likely to tell us anything.”
Dark eyes narrow with sudden alertness. “You’re not working Maya over. I won’t let you hurt her.”
For fuck’s sake, the cold-blooded assassin is in love.
“I’m not going to torture her. Couldn’t do that even if I wanted to,” I grudgingly admit.
His slight smile turns mocking. “You like her.”
“What’s not to like? She’s beautiful, available and well-trained. It doesn’t have to mean anything more than that.”
Poe rolls his eyes. “Yeah, keep telling yourself that.”
“A little positive reinforcement goes a long way. You’ve apparently already seen that for yourself.” I level a finger at him. “And don’t think I’ve forgotten that you almost got her killed.”
Poe shrugs off the implied threat, but his gaze on me is watchful, as if he’s looking for something behind the words. “Sure thing.”
That was footage I had watched, stress tightening my shoulders when I saw that piece of shit former guard launch himself at Maya. Even though I knew I was seeing the attack after it had occurred, and Maya was already safely ensconced back in Logan’s den.
Even still tied to that chair, Darius would have torn her apart if Poe hadn’t been there to deal the death blow.
“Why don’t they teach Omegas how to defend themselves,” I grouse, only realizing I’ve spoken aloud when Poe answers me.
“Because that’s what we’re supposed to be here for.”
The image of Maya’s stricken face feels burned into the back of my retinas. The attack by that guard hadn’t put that lost look in her eyes. That had been there from the moment she first emerged from the basement after her heat.
“Do you think they did something to her?” I ask.
Poe has enough respect for my intelligence not to ask who I mean.
He sighs. “I think the more important question is what you want to do now.”
“Maya is the key to all of this, I can just feel it.” I turn away from the terminal to find him watching me. “So, we stick close to her, and we eventually get the truth.”
