Page 18 of Reckless: Chaos

“No.” Ryker’s response is immediate.

“Yes.” Mine comes just as fast.

We stare at each other, alpha power meeting beta defiance. The others watch like it’s a tennis match, tension building.

Then Ryker’s mouth curves into a dangerous smile. “One wall.”

“Three.”

“Two, and you let me approve the colors.”

“Two, and I’ll consider your opinion while completely ignoring it.”

A muscle ticks in his jaw. “You’re impossible.”

“Part of my charm.” I take a step closer, challenging him on instinct. “Come on, Alpha. Let a little chaos into your perfect system. Isn’t that what this whole thing is about?”

The room goes silent, everyone holding their breath. Because this isn’t just about paint colors anymore. This is about control and freedom, about boundaries and trust, about finding balance between what they are and what I am.

Ryker moves suddenly, closing the distance between us. His hand cups my jaw, thumb brushing my lower lip in a gesture that’s both possession and question.

“Two walls,” he says softly, dangerously. “And next time you want to jump out of a plane? You take me instead.”

The shrill cry of a phone slices through the moment—not the standard ringtone of everyday disasters, but the distinct,ominous tone of the red phone mounted on the wall. My stomach plummets before anyone moves toward it, that sound programmed into all of us as the harbinger of catastrophe.

Ryker’s hand drops from my face as he moves to answer it. The loss of contact feels like a physical thing, leaving cold where there was warmth.

“Locke.” His voice carries that edge of command again, but something in his expression makes my stomach drop. His eyes find mine as he listens. “When?”

Finn steps closer to me, his hand finding the small of my back. Steadying me for whatever’s coming.

“I see.” Ryker’s jaw works. “No, she’s here. You can tell her yourself.”

He hits the speaker button just as Quinn’s voice cracks through, tight with tension. “Someone breached our systems. They didn’t just take your files, Cayenne—they erased them. All of them. Everything we had on the beta virus, on Sterling Labs, on your investigations. It’s gone.”

The floor seems to drop away beneath me, my balance failing as blood rushes from my head. I grab the edge of the desk, knuckles whitening. “The backups?—”

“Corrupted. They knew exactly what they were looking for and how to destroy it. This wasn’t some random hack. This was...” He pauses, and I hear what he’s not saying.

This was personal. This was targeted. This was someone who knows exactly what I can do and how to counter it.

“The USB,” I whisper, and feel four sets of eyes lock onto me. “The one hidden in the mansion. It’s the only copy left.”

“Don’t tell me where it is,” Quinn orders. “Don’t tell anyone. Because whoever did this? They’re coming for you next.”

The line goes dead, leaving us in silence that feels like drowning.

“Well,” Jinx’s voice carries dangerous edges, “guess the honeymoon’s over.”

“We need to move the USB,” Finn starts, but I cut him off.

“No.” The word comes out stronger than I feel. “We need to decode it. Now. Before they find a way to take that too.”

Ryker studies me for a long moment, alpha assessment warring with whatever this thing is growing between us. “You know what this means?”

I do. It means someone knows what I found. Knows what I’m capable of. Knows enough about me to predict my moves.

It means the game just changed.

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