Page 3 of Reckless: Collision

Keep moving forward.

Into the unknown.

Into danger.

Into the next chapter of my fucked-up life.

As we descend in the elevator, cramped together in a box of steel and unspoken tensions, I can’t help but wonder.

How long can I keep this up?

How long before I shatter completely, taking my pack down with me?

How long before Puritan City Alpha Security realizes they’ve got a ticking time bomb on their hands?

The elevator dings, doors sliding open to reveal the grimy streets of the city I’m sworn to protect. A city that doesn’t know how close it came to witnessing the meltdown of a lifetime.

Time to see if I’ll survive another day of playing at normalcy, or if I’ve just found a more interesting way to destroy myself.

Either way, it’s gonna be one hell of a ride.

And may whatever gods are left have mercy on anyone who crosses my path when I finally snap for good.

Because I will.

All in time.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

Chapter 1

Cayenne

“The thing about penetration testing?”I purr to my center monitor, fingers dancing across three different keyboards. “It’s all about knowing when to be gentle... and when to push harder.”

Bass thrums through my veins, barely drowning out the news broadcast droning from my left screen. Something about increased beta hospitalizations in the financial district. Again. The other two monitors bathe my apartment in electric blue, reflecting off floor-to-ceiling windows where Puritan City sprawls below like a neon-lit playground. From the forty-second floor of the Omega Guardian building, even the city’s shadows look prettier.

My unicorn-print pajama pants definitely clash with the whole professional investigator aesthetic, but comfort beats style when you’re cross-referencing trafficking data at 2 AM. Besides, who’s going to judge me?

The potted plant I keep forgetting to water?

“Another beta hospitalization reported in the Sterling Heights area,” the newscaster drones. “Sterling Labs representatives assure the public their new health initiative will?—”

I tune it out, focusing on my actual job—verifying that every trafficking operation we shut down stays shut down. It’s methodical work, following digital breadcrumbs backward through time, making sure no new patterns emerge.

Except... I’m not doing my job at all.

I frown at my center screen, fingers pausing over the keys. Something about these beta illness reports nags at the back of my mind, an itch I can’t quite scratch.

So when in doubt, hack it out.

“Playing hard to get?” I murmur as another encrypted file crumbles under my attack. My heart races with that familiar high—better than coffee, better than chocolate, better than that time I reprogrammed Times Square to play Mario Kart. “Baby, you should know that only makes me want you more.”

My music cuts out mid-beat, replaced by an incoming call. Aria’s face flashes on my phone screen, her grin as familiar as my own reflection after twenty years of friendship. I tap accept with my pinky, not breaking rhythm on my main keyboard. “Shouldn’t you be sleeping like a normal person?”

“Quinn says your signature just pinged his monitoring system.” Her voice carries equal parts amusement and concern. “He’s watching you bounce around Sterling Labs’ secure servers.”

“Would you believe routine trafficking investigation follow-up?”

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