bChapter /bb124 /b

83

The Cyber10 office felt different as they stepped inside, everyone tense and watchful… not surprising really when no one could log into the system. Employees looked up as they passed, their gazes following Luca and Sutton with barely concealed curiosity.

Shit, she had made a mistake bying into the office with him.

b“/bbWe /bshouldn’t havee in together… People are staring,” Sutton murmured as they walked toward the elevator. “Also, they’re likely worried about bthe /b

lockdown.b” /b

Luca nodded almost imperceptibly. “Good. Let them be worried.” But he didn’t say anything about them arriving together.

The elevator doors opened, revealing Jake inside. His eyebrows shot up when he saw them there. He looked between Luca and Sutton, but he quickly schooled his expression, hiding any thoughts he had about it and didn’t say anything.

“Boss,” he greeted Luca, then nodded to Sutton. “Morning. Or afternoon, I guess.”

“Jake,” Luca returned evenly. “What’s happening?”

“Systems are still in lockdown as you ordered. I’m having Nicole’s every move watched. She’s been trying to override it but can’t get past your credentials,” Jake said, exining.

Luca’s expression hardened slightly. “Where is she now?”

“Executive conference room. She has called an emergency meeting with the department heads and the development team.”

“Without me,” Luca stated rather than asked. “Interesting.”

“Yes, sir. Said you authorized it,” Jake said.

Sutton felt Luca stiffen beside her. In her opinion, his control was impressive. Nothing showed on his face except mild interest, but she could feel the anger radiating from him. She had known him in a way only a lover could.

“When did the meeting start?” she asked.

Jake checked his watch. “About ten minutes agob./bb” /b

Luca exchanged a look with Sutton. “I would say we arrived at the perfect time, don’t you?”

*

The elevator stopped on the development floor, which also housed conference rooms. As the doors opened, Luca turned to Jake. “Walk with us.”

Jake fell into step beside them as they moved through the development floor. Sutton could see Jake shooting her looks. He was full of energy, almost bouncing with it. He felt included, even though he didn’t understand what was happening.

Employees were at their stations but not working… just staring at locked screens, talking in hushed voicesb, /bior /iscrolling on their phones.

“I need you bto /bunlock a specific terminal,” Luca said quietly to Sutton. “Just yours. bI /bwant to show them what we found.”

She nodded. “I can do that.”

b“/bThe evidence is secure?”

“Triple–encrypted on my private server. I made a backup too on your terminal.”

Jake looked between them, clearly confused but smart enough not bto /bbask /bquestions yet. Sutton was bsure /ball his questions would bbe /banswered bsoon /benough. Sutton was d Luca had trusted her.

bHer /bteam was bnot /baround, the development team would be in the conference broom/b. The floor wasn’t empty by bany /bbmeans/bb. /b

b1/3 /b

b10:28 /bbMon/b, b14 /bbJul /bV

They reached Sutton’s workstation, and she sat down, her fingers already moving across the keyboard before she bfully /bsettled in the bchair/bb. /bbLuca /bbstood /bbehind her, close enough that she could feel his presence like a physical force. She could feel the heating off bof /bhim.

b“/bI’m inb,/bb” /bshe said after a moment. “The system’s epting my

credentials.”

b“/bGood.” Luca turned to Jake, saying quietly. “I need you to go to the conference room. Tell Nicole I’ll be joining the meeting shortly. bDon’t /bbtell /bher Sutton system is online. Don’t tell her anything.”

Jake nodded, his expression serious. “I don’t know anything.”

“Jake.” Luca’s voice held a warning.

“Okay, got it. I’m going.”

As Jake left, Luca pulled up a chair beside Sutton. “How long will it take to prepare the evidence?”

“Just a few minutes.” Her hands moved efficiently, pulling files from the secure server, organizing them for presentation. “Do you want the full data dump or just the highlights?”

“Highlights first. We can go deeper if needed.”

She nodded, focused on her task. Luca watched her work, his eyes moving between her face and her screen.

“You’re remarkable,” he said quietly.

Sutton nced at him, surprised by the frank admiration in his voice. “I’m just doing my job.” Very conscious of the people around them.

“No, you’re doing much more than that.” His voice was low enough that no one else could hear. “You saved thispany. You saved Kingston’s data. And you caught the person who tried to sabotage both.”

Her fingers paused over the keyboard. “We caught them together.”

“You did the heavy lifting. I just watched on.”

The simple statement, delivered without ttery or exaggeration, made something warm bloom in her chest. She pushed the feeling away, focusing back on her screen. She had work to do.

“All set,” she said after another minute. “I’ve queued up the security footage, the keystroke logs, and the timestamp corrtion that shows Nicole deactivating the security protocols right before the attack.”

Luca nodded, standing. “Transfer it to the conference room system. I want them all to see it at once.”

Sutton hit a few more keys. “Done.”

As they walked toward the conference room, Sutton felt the tension building again. The corridor seemed longer than usual, each bstep /bbbringing /bthem closer to a confrontation that would change everything. She didn’t think this would happen smoothly. Nicole would put up a fight. Sutton hoped bshe /bwould find out what Nicole’s motive was and why Nicole had targeted her.

“Nervous?” Luca asked quietly.

“No,” she replied, surprising herself with how true it felt. “Just ready for this to be over.”

His hand briefly touched the small of her backb, /ba fleeting bgesture /bbof /bsupport. “Stay close to me.” Sutton saw his eyes bdrop to /bbher /bbbelly/bb. /bbWas /bbhe /bbworried /bNicole would physically attack her?

They could hear voices from inside the conference room bas /bthey approached. Nicole’s voice carried bclearly /bbthrough /bbthe /bbdoor/bb, /bbconfident /bband /bbauthoritative /b

-obvious that the system failure originated bin /bthe development department. bSomeone /bbeither /bbmade /bba /bbcatastrophic /bberror /bbor /bbdeliberately /bbsabotaged /bi bKingston /bbount/b.”

b2/3 /b

10.20

Luca paused, his hand on the door handle, listening.

“And given the timing,” Nicole continued, “and the fact that the problem started right after certain personnel were hurriedly promoted beyond their qualifications, I think we need to consider this might not have been an ident.”

Sutton’s stomach tightened at the implication. Nicole was already setting her up to take the fall. Why that little bitch.

Luca’s jaw clenched. Without waiting any longer, he pushed the door open.

The room fell silent instantly. About fifteen people were seated around the long conference table, with Nicole standing at the head, a presentation disyed on the wall behind her. Jake sat to one side, his expression carefully neutral.

Every head turned toward them.