Page 74 of Reckless: Collision

I clear the search, close the browser, and slide the phone across the bathroom floor. “Was on the floor.” The words come out slurred and sleepy, maintaining my cover even as my mind races with everything I’ve discovered.

“Oh my gosh, you’re a total lifesaver!” Her genuine gratitude hits like a virus in my system.

I’m a thief, but thanks. Add it to my growing list of sins.

I wait until their voices fade before standing on shaky legs that have nothing to do with alcohol. The mirror shows me exactly what I need them to see—smeared eyeliner, flushed cheeks, the perfect picture of a tipsy beta who’s had too much fun.

But my eyes tell a different story. They hold the sharp focus of someone who’s seen too much, learned too much. Someone who needs to run.

I could do it. Right now. The back exit’s close, security focused on the front. One quick sprint and I’d be ghost, digital wind, a glitch in their carefully constructed system.

Think this through, Cayenne.

Now isn’t the time. Play it smart. Gain their trust, then run. Figure out if Sterling Labs is who you think they are, then expose it all.

Patience.

I scoff at my own reflection. I do not have patience. None at all. Not when betas are dying while I play house with a pack that makes me want impossible things.

The door feels heavier as I push through it, like the weight of what I’ve learned is trying to hold me back. Theo stands at the railing, all artistic grace as he surveys his underground kingdom.

“Hey.” I lean beside him, close enough to feel his heat but not his comfort. “I’m done.”

“Let’s go.” He slips his hand in mine like it belongs there.

No questions. No suspicion. Just simple acceptance that makes my chest ache.

Part of me wants to stay here, lose myself on that dance floor below. Drink until the headlines blur and the numbers stop counting lives. But my girls are down there, and despite what I told Theo earlier, my guilt has nothing to do with Sterling Labs and everything to do with the danger I brought to their door.

That, and I forgot. Forgot that Dash played in a band. Forgot that Aria never missed his shows. I just...forgot.

Which makes me a shitty fucking friend. The guilt isn’t about names or blood or corporate secrets. It’s about forgetting the simple things that used to define my life. The people who used to be my whole world.

When did I start measuring friendship in past tense?

Theo leads me out back where Ryker’s already in the SUV, engine running like he expected this early exit. Maybe he did. Maybe those alpha senses caught more than just my forced tipsiness.

Quietly, Theo opens the back door and I climb in, finding myself squashed between him and Jinx like the world’s most dangerous sandwich. I focus on the windshield, not trusting myself to look at either of them. Not when my skin still burns with secrets and stolen information.

I’m not drunk. They think I am, and I don’t even have it in me to pretend anymore. They’ll smell the truth anyway—the sharp citrus of deception cutting through any artificial sweetness.

No one says a word as Ryker pulls out. The silence feels weighted, like the air before a system crash.

Maybe it’s the somber mood I’m projecting, or maybe it’s the headlines still scrolling behind my eyes like a terminal readout of death. Whatever it is, the quiet stretches too thin, too fragile.

Jinx’s hand lands on my knee, squeezing once before he leans in. “You good?”

No. I’m so far from good it isn’t even in the same programming language.

I turn to look at him—this beautiful disaster who once made me forget everything in a bathroom stall. I need that kind of oblivion right now. Need him to override my system with sensation until I can’t remember the numbers. Can’t see the bodies. Can’t feel the weight of Sterling burning into my skin.

Sterling.

Something must show in my eyes because his smirk turns feral, all psycho charm and deadly promise. He leans closer, his breath ghosting my ear. “I know you aren’t drunk, and you’ll tell me exactly why you were in that bathroom for so long.”

I turn away because... busted.

“What?” Ryker’s growl vibrates through the SUV.

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