Page 13 of Whatever It Takes

Easton likes mysteries and puzzles.

I figured he didn’t want to know her background, because that would ruin the appeal of uncovering it on his own. Also, just looking at her, I could tell she wasn’t a threat. But maybe she is, and she’s just really good at faking?

Nah, I don’t believe that.

My jaw falls as I hit wall after wall.

Hmm.

The government tried to cover something up, but not much stays hidden from me.

Is there some way they’re investigating us? Not all the contracts we take are legal. Not remotely so.

Giving up isn’t in my default settings, so I try a regular search ofBianca Manzowhile my programs work on getting into the government servers.

My jaw practically hits my chest as I lean forward.

Okay, cool overreaction, man.

Only, what I find is mind-blowing.

Briar Maxwell is Bianca Manzo. I don’t have to go past the first few search results to be sure about that. The wavy dark hair, bluish-gray eyes, and plush lips are a match.

Damn.

Uncle Sam did her dirty.

They locked her down in their database but didn’t do anything to scrub her from the rest of the internet. Anyone with facial recognition software could find her in two seconds flat.

Scanning through the information, I learn all about her history. I’m just not sure what I’m supposed to do with it.

Briar hasn’t told us.

I can only assume that means she’d like to leave Bianca in the past. The backdoor program dings, letting me know I’m into the files the government doesn’t want anyone perusing.

And damn, it’s not pretty.

The Manzo family set up their daughter in an arranged marriage with Avan Barrett out of New York.

That guy, I have heard of.

Avan was a slimeball that took the Barrett family fully into the era of omega trafficking. It’s unreal any family would trust their daughter with that kind of human filth. The reality is, they traded her for a family union that would lead to increased power and territory.

They didn’t care if Barrett killed her.

Okay, it’s all speculation on my part after reading through the multitude of reports, but the one from Bianca herself makes my fists clench. The government made her all sorts of promises if she testified, but everyone they wanted locked up was dead, except for her brother, Titus Manzo. Only, she didn’t have anything concrete on him.

They pushed to send her undercover to obtain evidence against him, but she refused, statinghe would kill her without a second thought if he caught wind of her working with them.

They gave her a flimsy-as-fuck new identity, didn’t bother to wipe any of her old information, and sent her out in the world to be a sitting duck.

I wouldn’t be surprised if they aren’t waiting for Titus to find her. After all, if he kills his sister, they’ll finally have something to pin on him.

And this is why I refuse to work with the government, even though they’ve offered me ludicrous sums of money to do so.

I’m barely done deep diving into the Manzos when Easton calls me into his office. Not bothering to knock, I let myself in and stomp over to his desk with my laptop in hand.

“We’ve got a problem,” I say, setting the computer down.

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