Page 52 of Claws and Controllers

“Hey,” she said, her voice still husky. “You okay? I woke up and you were gone.”

Zy crossed the room in a few long strides, pulling her into his arms. He breathed in her scent, letting it calm his frayed nerves. “I’m fine. Just thinking about our next move. I’ve called Adonis over.”

Ellie nodded against his chest. “Good idea. We need all hands on deck for this.” She pulled back, meeting his gaze with determination in her eyes. “We’re going to figure this out, Zy. I have faith in us.”

He smiled, marveling at her strength. “I do too,” he agreed, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

The elevator chimed, announcing Adonis’s arrival. Zy gave Ellie a final squeeze before releasing her. “Why don’t you get dressed? We’ll need your input on this too.”

As Ellie disappeared back into the bedroom, Zy strode to greet Adonis. His friend and right-hand man looked as impeccable as always, despite the early hour and urgency of the call.

“What’s the latest?” Adonis asked without preamble, following Zy to the kitchen where a pot of coffee was already brewing.

Zy poured two mugs, sliding one across the granite countertop to Adonis. “We’ve identified a potential source of the leak. One of Ellie’s newer employees, a programmer she hired about six months ago.”

Adonis’s eyebrows shot up. “And you’re sure?”

“As sure as we can be without confronting him directly,” Zy replied, taking a sip of his coffee. “The timestamps on the stolen code match up with his work logs.”

“Damn,” Adonis muttered. “Have you told Ellie?”

Zy nodded grimly. “Last night. She’s... processing.”

“I bet,” Adonis said. He leaned against the counter, his expression thoughtful. “So, what’s our next move? Do we confront this guy?”

“Not yet,” Zy said. “I want to know if there’s any connection between him and Vince. This feels too coincidental.”

Adonis nodded, pulling out his tablet. “I’ll start digging. What’s this guy’s name?”

As Zy filled Adonis in on the details, Ellie joined them, now dressed in jeans and one of Zy’s T-shirts. She looked small in the oversized shirt, but her expression was all business.

“Morning, Adonis. It’s nice to see you again, even if it is once again under these crappy circumstances,” she said, reaching for the coffee pot. “Caught up to speed yet?”

“Getting there,” Adonis replied with a nod. “I’m sorry about your employee, Ellie. This can’t be easy.”

Ellie’s mouth set in a grim line. “It’s not. But I’d rather know the truth than live in blissful ignorance.”

Zy felt a surge of pride at her words. He’d known Ellie was tough, but her resilience in the face of this betrayal only reinforced his admiration for her.

“All right,” Zy said, setting his mug down. “We need a plan. We can’t just confront this guy without solid evidence, and we need to figure out how deep this breach goes.”

Adonis nodded, his fingers flying over his tablet. “I’m running background checks now, looking for any connection between Ellie’s employee and Vince. It’ll take some time to compile everything.”

“While we wait,” Ellie interjected, “why don’t we set up a trap of our own?”

Both men turned to her, intrigued. Zy couldn’t help but smile at the spark of determination in her eyes. “What did you have in mind, love?”

Ellie set her coffee down, her excitement palpable as she outlined her idea. “We know this guy has access to my systems, right? So why don’t we plant some fake ‘proprietary’ data and see if he takes the bait?”

Adonis whistled low. “Not bad, Ellie. A digital honeypot.”

Zy’s mind raced with the possibilities. “We could extend it to Vince too. Set up similar traps in both systems and see who bites.”

“And how they’re connected,” Adonis added, already typing furiously on his tablet. “I can have our cybersecurity team set it up within the hour.”

As they hashed out the details of their sting operation, Zy found himself marveling at how seamlessly Ellie fit into their dynamic. Her innovative thinking complemented his strategic mind and Adonis’s technical expertise perfectly.

Hours passed in a flurry of activity. Zy coordinated with his security team, ensuring every angle was covered. Ellie worked on creating believable but ultimately fake code to use as bait. Adonis orchestrated the digital traps, weaving an intricate web to catch their thieves.

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