Page 94 of The Syndicater (Dark Verse 6)

The name rang a bell in Morana's head but she couldn't remember where she'd heard it. At the party maybe? She tried to remember but she'd been so horny for Tristan that night, everything else was a giant blob of blur.

Shaking her head at herself, she opened another browser and pasted the name in, looking up public records. Only a few hits came back and one of them made her breath catch.

Lyla Blackthorne, COO, Blackthorne Group.

Blackthorne Group.

Mr. Blackthorne.

The face suddenly came to her, a tall, intense man with heterochromatic eyes dressed in a black suit.

Dante introducing him as an associate. Amara mentioning she had met him before. Tristan greeting him curtly.

And his mismatched eyes, trained right on Luna, or Lyla, as he kissed her hand, took a seat by her side.

Her husband.

The Shadow Man.

And they'd all met him before. He'd been right in plain sight, right in front of them, literally consuming Luna, or Lyla, right in front of them.

Damn.

Morana wasimpressed.

She had already been impressed by him before, but she was even more impressed now, especially after learning everything he'd done for her. Even without Luna telling them all, it was right in her face. The luxury one-of-a-kind property in her name, the position at the company giving her power to control all his assets, the gold necklace that was an emotional talisman, and so much more they didn't even know about.

Out of more curiosity, she looked up the company to see what they did and couldn't find much except vague summaries and financial records. Her eyebrows hit her hairline.

Damn, the man wasloaded.And the fact that he'd given all of it to Luna…damn.

Deciding it was time to get all the cards on the table, she looked up property in Tenebrae under his name. Nothing came up. She checked with the company name. Nada. She was pretty sure he had some, but maybe through shell companies, which would take longer to hack and find.

Or maybe he didn't and just preferred to stay in a hotel during business trips? She hacked into the top five hotels in the city and looked for a reservation under his name. Struck gold in the third hit, coincidentally the same hotel she and Tristan had stayed at once.

She dialed the hotel line, and the receptionist picked up.

"Hi," Morana said sweetly. Could you please connect me to penthouse suite 1403? My friend Mr. Blackthorne is staying there, but I can't reach his number."

"One moment, please, ma'am." The front desk lady must have checked the records. "Whom should I say is calling?"

Morana thought for a quick second, a name he would recognize. "Miss Reaper."

"Of course."

The line went on hold, generic music playing in her ear as he put her thumb in her mouth out of anxiety, almost biting her nail before stopping herself. She just hoped he answered.

And then, the music stopped, and a deep voice came on.

"I was wondering how long it would take you to figure out who I was after last night, Miss Vitalio."

Holy shit, he knew. He knew what had happened. Of course, he did. How?

"Whose phone did you hack?" she asked, so she would unhack and protect it for her friends.

He chuckled, and Morana was happy for Luna. Because while she loved her whiskey and sin voice, she could admit with pure feminine appreciation that this man had a hot voice too.

"I'll let you figure that out."

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